12 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #11 - Diego Rivera house in Guanajuato / US Soccer / Scorpion in the house

This morning I got to sleep in, it was much needed!

After getting ready we hustled to meet some others at Plaza de la Paz and headed to the Diego Rivera house.  This house, not too far from downtown Guanajuato, is the childhood home of Mexico's beloved painter.  If you have read my other blogs from Mexico City, Rivera was the painter who was married to Frida Kahlo and painted all of the murals in the National Palace and Secretary of Education buildings.

Exterior of the Diego Rivera house

The bottom floor is the only level that I have pictures from as they would not allow pictures taken of his paintings.  The first level just had some furniture and original items from the house.  As we ventured up the house became a large collection of Rivera's paintings and artwork.  I have to say he was quite a versatile artist.  His paintings spanned such a wide variety of styles.  I am definitely a fan!!  I so wish I could share what we saw.  You could literally get right up and put your nose to the canvas and see his brush strokes.  What a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

I wanted to take pictures of some of his paintings, we couldn't, so here is his table...

After the visit to Rivera's house we headed to Champs again to catch the US-England soccer match. It was really a good game and the US got lucky with its goal, it just so happens that the goalie for England can't hold onto the ball. I guess a tie is better than a loss, it was a good game nevertheless.

Saturday night was just a restful night, for once, we didn't go out but just stayed in and watched movies. The silence of the tranquility was broken when Marta came in and informed us that there was a scorpion in the drawer in her room. I rushed to my room to get my camera and then assist because I have been dying to see one of these things alive. I had never seen one in the wild. When I got to the room apparently the thing had disappeared so I had to remove articles in the drawer to find him. I finally found him in a table cloth in the drawer. Boy was he fast!! I didn't know they could run so fast!! Anyways, here is a picture of the little bugger...

Escorpión

Tomorrow is going to be a big day, we are heading to San Miguel and to Dolores Hidalgo as well as the hot springs at La Gruta.

11 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #10 - World Cup / Symphonia de Guanajuato

The World Cup begins today!  Mexico is playing South Africa and the children at LGO are ready!

The kids doing their exercises wearing green to support Mexico soccer

After teaching for an hour in Maestro Dany’s class, the children became quite anxious.  Almost immediately after I finished, the children rushed over to the TV to watch the Mexico game.  There is something to be said about the nationalism within Mexico.  They are so proud of their team that they stop school to support their team.

When we arrived at school the children were all either wearing green or wearing Mexico jerseys.  I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to wear our jerseys so I did not wear the Mexico jersey I bought.  But after teaching in Maestro Dany’s class I entered my class and was greeted well.  I asked the class to wait one moment as I took my Mexico jersey out of my bag.  When I unfurled it in front of them, they started cheering.  I asked them if it was okay and they shouted, “YES!”  So I put on the jersey and they cheered.  I took my seat next to some students to watch the game which was a blast!  They had brought snacks and I got to try these puff-style wheel crisps that you put salsa picante.

It quite apparent that everyone in the school was watching because with the cheering and noise level we might well have been in the stadium watching the World Cup.  This was definitely the case when Mexico scored a goal in the game.

We left the school and headed to Champs Sports Bar to watch the rest of the game with our Spanish teacher, Memo.  Right as we got there the game finished up and our Spanish class decided to conduct class at the bar, so we played some vocabulary games with our teacher.  I have to tell you that, here, the world stops for soccer.

Later on we all met at Teatro Principal for Orchetra Symphonia de Universidad de Guanajuato (OSUG), there were about 12 of us who all got dressed up for the occasion.  I couldn't believe it, it was only 40 pesos for the concert ($3.20 American)!  The symphony performed selections from Mozart, Hayden, and Brahms.  They were absolutely wonderful and had this amazing visiting conductor who had to have been like 85 years old.  Anyways, it was kinda cool one of the cellists is Mike the proprietor of Zilch, our favorite hangout, the place I have been raving about the awesome live music.  Then we noticed that the French horn player was the wife of a musician that my friend Angela and I had seen play the previous weekend.  It is very cool how populous Guanajuato is (~200,000 ppl), yet you run into everyone like it is a small town.

Exterior of Teatro Principal

After that we got something to eat and finished the night at Zilch and a salsa bar called El Bar.  I am really enjoying spending time with the people I have met on this trip.  GOOD TIMES WITH GOOD PEOPLE!

By the way Mexico tied South Africa...

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10 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #9 - Recycling at LGO / Dr. Ann Graves

We were quite surprised when we arrived at LGO that there was not going to be any dancing/morning exercises this morning.  But what we found was even better, that the school does recycling as a whole.  Kids literally bring in garbage bags full of recyclables and they put them out in the courtyard for collection.  This is done as a community, the parents are even involved.  What a wonderful thing!

The recycling at LGO

I helped my friend Michelle teach Maestra Alejandra's class, which is right next door to my classroom.  If I haven't said it enough, I love teaching English here!  The kids are so wonderful and they want to learn!

Michelle teaching the class

We went out to PE and played some more volleyball after going through some more exercises.  This time I joined the girls team and they really liked that I was helping them out.  We had an absolute blast.

Some of the children from 6th grade "B", my class.

Later on in the day we had class at Escuela Mexicana and enjoyed a lecture by San Diego State's Head of Special Education Dept., Dr. Ann Graves.  She gave a wonderful presentation on Context and Combination for Literacy Development.

Dr. Ann Graves lecturing to our group

9 de junio - Guanajuato Day #8 - Second day teaching English at LGO

So I am absolutely loving teaching English! We arrived at LGO for the morning exercises. I finally got some pictures. I can express how nice it is to see the kids getting the physical exercise that they need at school. There is definitely more emphasis on physical health for the children. They seem more attentive and alert in the classroom after the 20 or so minutes of exercise.

The children at LGO doing their morning exercises.

When they were done one of the teachers, Alejandra, approached Michelle and I about teaching in another classroom, we immediately accepted. The teacher warned us that the classroom was a little tough. When we arrived the teacher Maestro Dany was very welcoming and let us do our thing. The class was a little more distracted and crazier than the others, but they were not misbehaved by any means. They had a good time learning and we had a great time teaching. They seemed quite disappointed when the lesson was over, but they were happy to hear that we would be back. I think I really am enjoying this teaching English thing.

We finished at LGO and headed to Escuela Mexicana for Spanish class. It is getting better, I am definitely happy that I took Spanish as it is really helping to hone my speaking skills from what I have learned just through conversation. I am really not liking conjugation of verbs though.

Waiting for class outside Escuela Mexicana

Later on that afternoon we had class for our Cultural and Linguistic Diversity class. We engaged in a simulation which separated the class into different "classes". Each "class", red, green and blue group, were all treated differently by the instructors and when the simulation was over we discussed how we felt about the simulation. I happened to be in the green group which was the worst treated group. It really made me upset, even though I knew it was an activity, to be treated with such disrespect. Things like that can really open your eyes to how we treat others.

During the simulation, our view of the red (privileged) group

After class we headed upstairs in Escuela Mexicana for salsa class.  It is getting fun, but it certainly makes a tiring end to a long day.  We dance for an hour and Armando works us pretty good.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the longest days of the week for us, we are literally going from 6am until 11pm.  Looking forward to the weekend!

Paty and Juliana doing some salsa dancing before salsa class

8 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #7 - First day teaching English

When the chidlren got to school today they participated in morning excises. You have not lived until you see about 400 children all doing movement and dancing to music. They have one of the best PE teachers I have ever seen. She is ready to go every morning with music and once the children get their backpacks to the classroom they come down and participate. This goes on for about 20 minutes. It is so nice to know that the children's physical health is still considered a part of their school day. Most children have one hour of PE after this as well. I was quite upset, I had brought my camera, but not my card so I don't have any pictures. I will take some tomorrow.

Once we got to the classroom we were out the door and off to PE. The children got an opportunity to play volleyball, they even invited me to join in. I had so much fun as they were cheering for me and yelling "Vamanos señor Chris!" I have to say that the children sincerely looked happy at school.

So I have to say that I was very excited at the notion of teaching English. Unfortunately there was a conflict in my schedule and I wasn't going to be able to teach at the time that she normally teaches her class English. I made a point to speak with her to let her know the situation. She was so happy to accommodate and quickly suggested a solution by letting me teach at 10-11a. I was so happy that Maestra Carmelita was willing to be flexible with her schedule to accommodate me. Being an itinerant teacher in America, the notion that a teacher would be flexible with me was not even a possibility. Maestra Carmelita has been so wonderful and helpful.

So after about 45 minutes it was finally 10am. Time to teach English for the first time in a foreign country in front of 40 children who speak Spanish. "Just jump in!" was what I told myself. No day but today!!!! I introduced myself to the class and explained that my Spanish is very limited and I assume that their English is very limited...so we can help each other, right? They agreed and we proceeded. I gave each child the opportunity to introduce themselves to me in English, they did such a good job!! We then did an activity on the Smart Board on the geography vocabulary that they are learning which included the words: river and jungle, which came out as: "rriber" and "yoonglay". They worked so hard at it and did a wonderful job. They were such a great and respectful class, a credit to Maestra Carmelita! I can't wait to teach again!!

My friend Michelle and I walked down to Escuela Mexicana for Spanish class and stopped for coffee at Cafe Tal...they roast their own coffee! It is so good!! and it is only 8 pesos (64 cents!!!!!!!!). Circle K coffee isn't even that cheap! Spanish class went well, just a lot of conjugation of irregular verbs...what a challenge!

After La Comida we ventured back to Escuela Mexicana for U of A class. We listened to a lecture by Jackie Mackenzie. She dicussed her studies of Mexico and the indigenous people of the country and the challenges that they face. One of the most striking comments she made was that the poorest of poor will sell goat milk just to buy Coca-Cola to put into their child's bottle because people who drink Coca-Cola are seen as a status symbol and it makes them feel important. Another story that struck me pretty hard was that of a person who urged another to not give the indigenous people the good clothing with the tags still on them. This infuriated this person and she said that you must give these people the best because they will wear it with pride because they will take care of it and will pass it down to their family. When they wear it they will leave the tags on it to be proud that no one before them had worn it...only them! Things like that really show you the state of the poor in Mexico.


Dr. Jaqueline Mackenzie lecturing

After class we walked upstairs to Salsa dancing class...This was my first experience dancing salsa. As if walking 6+ miles everyday and tackling "EL hill" wasn't enough. I sure got a workout and boy was it fun! There are about 11 of us taking the class. It started with the basics but transitioned into some pretty difficult steps. If you haven't heard salsa music, it is quite fast, so if you don't have the steps down...GOOD LUCK!

7 de junio 2010 - Guanajuato Day #6 - First day working at Luis Gonzales Obregon

So I got up at 5am this morning cuz that's when my roommate got up and I didn't want to be late as we have to compete for the bathroom. Anyways, I had plenty of time to eat breakfast and wake up. I would later pay for such an early rise. After getting ready me and Angela walked to LGO for our first day of observation. We filed into the office and met the director of the school. She led us into the common area where all of the children were lined up around the perimeter of the courtyard according to class. Every one of the children was wearing a uniform and they looked so professional.

Since I don't know Spanish very well the assembly was difficult to understand. Nevertheless, the whole school is involved in a Monday procession where the national anthem is sung, the salute to the flag is done, and poems and parts of the constitution recited. There is also music with trumpet and drum accompaniment. This, amazingly, lasted almost 45 minutes and is done every Monday morning at 8am. Every class was so well behaved despite the long time that they had to stand at attention. When the assembly was over the children then all filed to their individual classrooms. I arrived at the classroom and sat in a chair to observe the children. The class I observed was a 6th grade classroom led by Maestra Camela Perez with, what I counted minus about 5 empty seats, 32 students. I had an opportunity to observe a writing prompt being done: "What is the most important thing about the quote of the day?" The quote of the day was: "Respect and a positive attitude is important to a good life for you." They then did some group work where they were constantly watched over for their participation, respect for others, good work, and helping out others. After a couple hours of work the children then took recess, which consisted of having a snack and some down time. The children don't eat lunch at school, they wait til the afternoon to eat La Comida. I said goodbye to my teacher who informed me that she wanted me to teach English to her class tomorrow. I am so excited about this possibility. Definitely looking forward to this! Sorry, no pictures of the school assembly, will post some after next Monday's class.

Then me and my friend from Canada, Michelle, walked to Escuela Mexicana where we met Lenore, Kara, and Coral for our beginning Spanish class. Our teacher, Memo, was really great and very helpful even though we just kinda jumped into the world of Spanish. We learned about regular and irregular verbs. Conjugation was never my strong suit, but I am going to do my best!

Michelle and I then walked to University of Guanajuato where we walked around the campus. It is located in a very beautiful building in the downtown area.


Interior of University of Guanajuato

Later after la Comida some of us went to Mega, Guanajuato "Walmart", and had McDonald's. It was nice to have some American food again. On the cab ride home I got some pictures of the tunnels. There are 23 total tunnels in Guanajuato, the longest being 3km (1.8mi).


One of the tunnels at an incredible rate


Another view of the tunnel, it's like the Indiana Jones ride at Universal

5 y 6 de junio 2010 - First Guanajuato weekend

We woke up on Saturday morning to go to Escuela Mexicana which is where we are going to take our extracurricular classes like Spanish, cooking, and salsa dancing. I will not be doing the last one! This place is also where we will be taking our U of A classes, which is the reason we are here in the first place.

The transition to Mexico has been interesting. The water finally got to me...I have been sick all weekend. I guess it is just expected. Many others in my group have also gotten sick, so I don't feel like I am the only one suffering. The altitude is still affecting me. I am so tired still and feel always out of breath. It may just be the pollution mixed with the insane amount of hills. The altitude from Casa Caballeros, where I am staying, to El Jardin is a difference of 300-400 feet (that is like 3 or 4 blue whales according to mi amiga, Angela).

On Saturday night we went to a few different bars looking for a place to dance. A couple places were quite packed but the dancers there were very good. Typically bars will hire professional dancers to come out and dance with patrons. They make it look very easy. After some bar hopping we decided to go to Zilch again. I have to say the bands they have there are absolutely awesome! This particular band was a latin fusion jazz band. I can't tell you how great they were!

I have been speaking a lot of Spanish, granted it is absolutely horrible in grammar and most of the time I forget what I said two seconds prior. I would say 80 percent of the Spanish I am speaking now I have learned since arriving in Mexico one week ago.

On Sunday, I slept in for the first time and lounged around the house. I got some emails done, read a little, watched a movie and then took a siesta just in time to leave the house to catch the Lakers-Celtics game downtown. It was quite an experience trying to watch a game in English with the audio dubbed over with Spanish, so it just sounded quite mumbled the whole game. Anyways, after a long day it was nice to turn in early and be ready for work tomorrow. I start working at Luis Gonzales Obregon and taking class at Escuela Mexicana.

Sorry no pictures this weekend.

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

3 de junio 2010 - Visit to Guanajuato public schools

Buenos dias! After a small breakfast we headed down "EL hill" to meet up with the other participants to visit Guanajuato schools. We started at Escuela Primeria "Moises Saenz" which is about 15 minutes from Casa Caballeros. The school is beautifully nestled on the side of a hill and educates 400 students.


The courtyard/playground/PE area of Moises Saenz.

The next school that we vistited was Escuela Pimeria "Luis Gonzales Obregon". There we observed some more classes. One in particular was transitioning to an English class. We had an opportunity to see the children learn about greetings through song. We then ventured back down and to our surprise all of the school had congregated in the courtyard and were preparing to see a student production. We were treated to the play which, to the best of my understanding, was a story about a man wanting to provide for his family.

The students at Luis Gonzales Obregon

After LGO we took a ride out to Marfil outside of Guanajuato to another school called Cam. Cam is a special education center serving the needs of ages across the spectrum. There we met a young girl who is deaf and was very excited to show us the picture that she was working on. I had a chance to interact with her. I showed her the pictures that I took of her and her class and she couldn't get enough. It is very sad, she has the chance to listen and speak, but without hearing aids it will be difficult. The family unfortunately is unable to afford them for her, it is not clear as to if the school will help with that cost.


A deaf child at Escuela Cam

We returned to Guanajuato on the public transportation which afforded an opportunity to know how to get around the city. Interesting enough it costs 5 pesos (40 cents) to ride the public bus, but only about 30 pesos ($2.40) to get a cab. If you share the cab then it actually gets you there much faster for only a little more money.

Later that evening, me and some of the other participants gathered at the steps of Teatro Juarez at a place called "el Bar" and enjoyed the night life. We saw a Catholic procession pass by us, were serenaded by a traveling Mexican band, and just got to enjoy a fun night on the town with some friends.


A street serenader in Guanajuato

2 de junio 2010 - Trip to and Arrival in Guanajuato

This morning was a little rough…I indulged a little too much into the tequila last night and am not enjoying the bus ride, it is slightly bumpy and it is rocking a little too much. It is about a four and a half hour bus ride to Guanajuato, I originally thought it was two and a half so I am going to try to get some sleep…

Okay so two hours later and no sleep. The trip to Guanajuato was somewhat uneventful, but our arrival in Guanajuato was great. We got in a van with about six people and all of our bags, we had to sit in the back two rows of seats with the front two full to the roof of the van.

We finally arrived at our host family's home in Guanajuato. The Caballero family is wonderful and have the most beautiful house with the most beautiful view. La comida was ready for us when we arrived and I can say it was without a doubt the best meal I have had since arriving in Mexico. It is served around 3pm and consists of a multitude of wonderful food. We had soup and a stewed chicken breast with vegetables and rice...holy cow! It was a great meal after the long bus ride.
We then met at Escuela Normal for a quick lecture and activities.

Front of Escuela Normal

Then we decided to do a foot tour of Guanajuato with Susie. Although she says that she is not very good with tours, I think she did a great job. The town comes alive at night, people are out like it is the weekend! Susie, Angela and I decided to get a chilada at a cafe downtown at the steps of the Teatro Juarez in El Jardin, one of two theatres in town.

Teatro Juarez at dusk, the cafe can be seen at the bottom of the picture

Angela and I decided to head back on a 30 minute walk back to Casa de la familia Caballeros. The thing about Guanajuato is that it is nestled among mountains and most of the town is very hilly. I believe that we live on the most steep hill in the town. The hill up to the house takes about 5 minutes to descend down and 10 to get up. Now I have been suffering from altitude respiratory issues so this hill has been named "El Hill"...THE Hill! I think Mt. Everest would be a breeze to this one!

When we arrived at the casa de la Caballeros we were given house rules which included a warning about scorpions. They are everywhere in this area and we were told to always check our beds and clothing for the critters. Well I decided to go to bed and to my surprise there was one right in front of my door. Luckily it was dead, but it certainly was a good to be made aware that they do exist in the house. I have five more weeks to find some more. Will post pictures when I see another one.

1 de junio 2010 - Mazahua Rural Schools / Universidad Ieboamericana

Happy birthday to me! We started the day very early. We were up and ready by 6:30 and out the door by 7:15. Today was one of the more eye opening experiences of the trip thus far. After a three hour bus ride to (name of village), a Mazahua village, we visited some indigenous schools. Our group was led by the former director of indigenous education under the Vicente Fox administration, Sylvia Schmelke. In the village we were divided into groups for visiting the various school sites. I was part of the last group which led us up a hill to a school with a marvelous view. The school was a primary school, similar to elementary school except that they included 6th grade, and educated over 500 students from the Mazahua people. Me and another two people entered a 6th grade classroom and got to observe some of the teaching.

Mazahua 6th grade classroom at Escuela Permiera "Lic. Benito Juarez"

Now in America teachers often complain about class size and classroom management. This class had over thirty students and during our visit not once did the teacher have to stop talking to us to correct his kids. They were so well behaved and spoke very politely when spoken to. The language of the classroom is Spanish, but most children go home to their parents speaking Mazahuan. It is sad to learn that the language is almost being eradicated due to the standards of the education they are receiving. The country of Mexico uses the same curriculum across the board. The textbooks come from Mexico City and a child in northern Mexico would be studying the same exact thing as a child in southern Mexico on the same exact day.
The school itself was very small to be containing so many children. There was no running water and the bathrooms, according to a colleague were deplorable. Sanitation is definitely a problem, but the people are living in utter poverty. One of the schools actually had a child who was profoundly deaf and had no language. The teacher knew ASL but the child was struggling to understand. The view on special education is also an interesting topic. When asked how many children receive special services in the school, the director replied that there is only one. The child apparently has some language issues and has trouble reading.

Children at Escuela Primera "Lic. Benito Juarez Garcia"

After that visit we took the long road back to Mexico City. When we arrived, we were at the UIA which is the Universidad Iberoamericana. There we ate another king’s meal, which was insanely cheap, around 50 pesos, which is about 4 dollars. We then listened to a lecture, by Nancy Gurrona, about the current state of the country and some issues and perspectives on the Mexican people from someone in Mexico. We then listened to another lecture from Sylvia Schmelke on the education system in Mexico.

The whole group at Universidad Iberoamericana

We arrived back at CG and almost immediately were out the door to get something to eat. This turned out to be another long walk as the restaurant seemed to keep moving one block further the more we walked. The restaurant we were trying to find was Sanbournes, a chain restaurant in Mexico, which serves a traditional as well as other ethnic foods. My wonderful friends treated me to a piece birthday chocolate cake which was wonderful. I love my new friends. We ventured back to CG and proceeded to enjoy some more cerveza and tequila…almost a little too much. No mas tequila…

31 de mayo 2010 - Secretary of Education - Diego Rivera Murals #2 / Templo Mayor / Long Walk Home

On our third day we went back to downtown historic district to visit the Department of Education building which is home to an even larger collection of Diego Rivera murals than the National Palace. The man had so much intent when he painted. There is so much information in each mural about the state of the country and the culture that it would take days to analyze and internalize each one.

Self-portrait of Diego Rivera

We then had lunch at Casa de Tecuba. This restaurant had been there since 1912. We had the most amazingly tasty agua fresco, like a limeade. The one thing that I noted was how inexpensive the food is compared with America. One could eat like a king and only spend 10 dollars on the whole meal.

The whole group...minus the photographer...

After lunch we ventured back to Plaza de las Constitucion to visit Templo Mayor. This was one of the most amazing archeological sites that we have visited. Templo Mayor was an ancient temple that was discovered just off of the Plaza next to the National Palace and behind the Cathedral. The temple itself was build on layers. Each layer had its own amazing amount of detail. Inside the museum they had model of the temple as it would have appeared in its glory day. This find would be compared to finding a native American temple in the middle of Manhattan. Similar to the Museum of Anthropology, the Templo Mayor contained countless numbers of artifacts restored and put on display.

Templo Mayor facing the Cathedral

After Templo Mayor we were given the afternoon to explore should we so desire. A group of us wanted to go into the Cathedral which was absolutely amazing! This cathedral was literally built within a couple hundred feet of Templo Mayor. We explored for a little bit and then decided to walk back to Casa Gonzalez. We began walking a few blocks before we realized that we were going in the wrong direction. We were redirected and in the process got the scenic tour of Mexico City.

View of the front of the Cathedral

After over two hours of walking we returned to Casa Gonzalez and enjoyed some cerveza and a nice bottle of tequila. I don’t think that I can say enough nice things about the people that I have met with our group. We have all become fast friends and enjoy each other’s company very much.

30 de mayo 2010 - National Museum of Anthropoloy - Xochimilco (so-chee-mil-ko)

I got up pretty early ready to go to the museum of anthropology in downtown Mexico City. I ate huevos rancheros for the first time, it was really good! I have been struggling still with the altitude, shortness of breath and headaches.
At breakfast I got to meet Carlos, an anthropologist, who was our tour guide extraordinaire for the Anthropology Museum. We learned that the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, was going to be in town today to remove the remains of the heros within the Independence Monument for analyzing. This we found was a challenge in getting to the museum as there were many streets blocked due to his arrival. We arrived, albeit, with a short walk from where the taxi dropped us off.
The museum was absolutely enormous! It has twenty-three exhibit halls encompassing twenty acres. There were so many Aztec and Mayan artifacts that it would take days to see and learn about every piece. The most interesting was the remains found within the Pyramids at Teotihuacan. They were the first discovered after scientists used x-ray machines to see inside the pyramids themselves. They were excavated and put on display the same exact way that they were found.

The remains from the pyramid exactly as they were discovered.

After that we entered the Aztec part of the museum we saw the biggest and most iconic, the Aztec calendar (really known in Mexico as the Stone of the Sun). We took a group photo in front of this artifact...you will really get a feeling of it's sheer size!

The group at the Museum of Anthropology

After the museum we headed out to Xochimilco (so-chee-mil-ko) in one of the fereal districts of Mexico City. It located about 17 miles from the center of Mexico City. It really shows the sheer size of the city when you have to drive 17 miles and you still have not left the city. Xochimilco is know for their canals which gives tourists an idea of what Mexico City looked like many moons ago. Mexico City is actually constructed on an ancient lake bed and many of the buildings are noticeably sinking. Anyways, at Xochimilco visitors are treated to a Venitian-stlye gondola ride on boats called trajineras. As you are floated down the slightly crowded canals, vendors and artisans sell their wares. I spoke with a very nice young woman named Alba on my trajinera. I spoke what little Spanish I knew and felt like I could get along better than I originally thought. We were joined by a smaller trajinera for two which was where our food was prepared. We ate, enjoyed cerveza, and soaked in the sights and sounds. There were even trajineras with mariachi bands aboard. In the picture below you will also see my new friend, Alba, seated on the right.

The trajuneras of Xochimilco

We came back from Xochimilco and walked around the downtown area looking for a place to eat, but all I really wanted to do was get a dusk picture of the Independence Monument and I did...then we ate more tacos at El Camineros...mmm!

The Independence Monument at dusk.

Tomorrow we will visit the Temple Mayor located in Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo)which is in the same square as the National Palace. Good night for now...

29 de mayo 2010 - National Palace - Diego Rivera Murals - Aztec Pyramids

Today was a long day! We started quite early on a tour of Mexico City. We stopped briefly at the Independence monument and learned that all the hero's ashes of the Mexican independence are entombed within the base of the spire. It had a beautiful golden angel atop the spire.

Independence Monument, downtown Mexico City

Our next stop was the National Palace in Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo). There we received a thorough tour of the Diego Rivera murals. The first one, from 1928, in the stairwell contains approximately 900 faces encompassing an incredible amount of Mexican history.

Diego Rivera mural in the stairwell of the National Palace

There were several other murals through the hall which depicted various iconic Mexican cultural themes. The last painting was done in 1952. Diego Rivera was the husband of famed Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.
After the palace, we continued on to the pyramids of the Aztecs. This was what I was waiting for the entire trip! We arrived and I was amazed at the sheer size of the archeological site. It had to have been a good mile to mile and a half until we reached the base of the Pyramid of the Sun. The site has two pyramids: Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Sun. The Pyramid of the Moon was the first built but it was closed due to work being done on the site. Apparently they found evidence that there were sacrificial ceremonies done on the pyramids by using x-ray devices. These revealed bodies buried within the pyramids themselves.

The base of the Pyramid of the Sun

When the long walk to the pyramid was over, the long hike to the top began. It is 254 steps to the top, not to mention the countless number of steps we took on the journey to the base. The first ten or fifteen steps were not that bad, but the altitude (7,400 feet) starts to get to you when you are not used to it. The first level about killed me, but I continued as it would be a waste to go all that way to stop there. After another 10 minutes of climbing stairs in utter respiratory pain, I reached the top in victory. I had conquered the Aztec pyramid! What a beautiful sight from the top, it was so tranquil.

From the top of the Pyramid of the Sun (with my good friend Mallory)

We then ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant not far from the pyramids themselves. The food was AMAZING and the mariachi band was fantastic! I tried a new cervesa called Victoria...I don't know if you can get it in the states but I am definitely going to look. You have to drink it 'michelada' style, salt rimmed with lime juice. It is worth a try!
After lunch, we stopped at a store which sold hand-crafted obsidian sculpture. Although the artisans were producing absolute works of art, it was quite pricy...
We arrived back at Casa Gonzalez in time to go out for another bite to eat and some more cervesa...
Tomorrow is the museum of anthropology...until then...hasta luego!