4 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #3

Today we ventured out to Cajones to visit the rural school Jaime Torres Bodet. Now, when I say rural, it was approximately 15 minutes of driving down unpaved mostly rocky terrain, I am surprised that we did not need a 4X4. I got an opportunity to chat with a student teacher named Donovan. We had a great conversation about education and learning second language. This school itself had about 4 classrooms and there were three student teachers there.


Donovan and his class at JTB.

After visiting the school we arrived at Resplandor International, a community center erected by volunteers from U of A. The center offers the community a place to gather as well as take classes, and be seen by a doctor. The center is still in process of being finished and will be a great opportunity to do some manual labor while I am here.


The exterior of Resplandor International


The interior of Resplandor International

We then had some extra time before we left, so we were taken to a home in the town where two deaf children live. There we met Jesus and Valencia and their parents. They were such a wonderful nice and inviting family! They were so grateful for the help they received from the participants last year and they are looking forward again to this year.

Later that afternoon after la comida we took a tour of Guanajuato by van. We saw so much! We were able to see Diego Rivera's house where he grew up in Guanajuato not far from the town's center. Our first stop was the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato which is a museum that houses approximately 100 mummies exhumed from the cemeteries in Guanajuato around 1865. The town imposed a burial tax that many could not pay and therefore the bodies were exhumed. To their surprise the bodies were very well preserved...


Close up of one of the mummies of Guanajuato

After the mummies we ventured to a silver mine, which unbeknownst to me Guanajuato was a booming silver town back in the days. We ventured down many stairs deep into the mine that was done under very little light. We had an opportunity to see silver still within the rock.


The long descent into the mine


Raw silver in the rock, it appears white

We then went to a museum of the torture implements of the Spanish Inquisition. Some of the devices were actual artifacts while most were just replicas. Important to note, we had only been paying 30 pesos for each museum which equates to about $2.40 American. Anyways, it was quite chilling and haunting the kind of things that were done to people who had gone against the Bible at that time.


This would ruin your day!

The final stop on our tour of Guanajuato brought us to the outlook which provided a breathtaking view of the city. It is located on a hill at the foot of the statue of El Pípila, a hero of the Mexican Independence, who set the first battle in motion by setting fire to a door at a grain storage building located in Guanajuato, called Alhóndiga de Granaditas. Miguel Hidalgo and three other major leaders of the Mexican Independence were beheaded and their heads hung from the four corners of the building to quell the insurgents. Their remains rested in the Angel of Independence in Mexico City recently on May 30th when they were removed for analysis. Okay, enough didactic ramble...the views from atop this hill were amazing, it afforded a complete panoramic of the city.


Alhóndiga de Granaditas


The statue of El Pípila, hero of the Mexican Independence


The view of downtown Guanajuato at night, under a 10 second exposure. Teatro Juarez and El Jardin can be seen in the bottom right hand corner.

We then decided to have a night on the town and found a great place in El Jardin opposite to the Teatro Juarez atop a restaurant called VanGogh called Zilch. They have amazing live music and great atmosphere. The greatest part about it is that it is free. We just hung out with great conversation and great music and had a great time!


Band playing at Zilch