The Ancient Ruins of Tulum

We left Mexico City and traveled to the Yucatan to experience another geographic region of Mexico.  In Yucatan, we visited Playa del Carmen and Tulum where we were able to explore 5 caves and Tulum ruins.  The Tulum ruins were built overlooking the Caribbean Sea and were truly remarkable.  The Mayan people built their city here for easy trade access.  

  

Mexico City

It was a shock after leaving Oaxaca to be in Mexico's biggest city, Mexico City, with over 20 million people living in the metropolitan area.  We began our trip with experiencing the Frida Kahlo museum.

Frida was a famous painter and women's rights and disability rights activist.  

Following the museum, we went to the Zocalo and the enormous Anthropology Museum that contained ruins from various tribes leading back to BC.

The next day, we took a double decker bus tour to see the diverse sites scattered across the enormous city!

We were only in Mexico City for 4 days, but we were able to see a whole new side of Mexico! 

Adios Oaxaca!

Our 75 hours of intensive Spanish class have come to an end!  We're sad that we are leaving our new Oaxacan friends, but excited to use our Spanish with our students and their parents back in Chicago!

After class, we celebrated with a potluck going away party where everyone brought a typical Mexican dish to share.  

Oaxaca, we'll miss you!

Monte Alban Ruins

Monte Alban was the old Zapotec capital on top of the mountains that overlooked the valleys of Oaxaca.  A tour guide helped us learn about the various Zapotec traditions, such as their unique ball game that they played as a form of worship.  We also learned about their various medical treatments, such as brain surgery through ancient drilling methods.  At birth, they deformed the babies' skulls by wrapping a band around their heads.  The Monte Alban ruins were the most impressive ruins we've ever seen! 

Guelaguetza Festivities

The Guelaguetza takes place annually in Oaxaca to showcase the various Oaxacan traditions and dances of the 7 regions of Oaxaca.   Within each region, towns have their own dances and costumes.  They also display their region's products, which they throw out to the screaming crowd at the end of their dance.  

Benito Juarez and La Sierra Norte

Solexico brought us on a tour to La Sierra Norte, up in the mountains in the state of Oaxaca.   Our first stop was a Fabrica de Tapetes (a rug factory)  where they make authentic rugs out of wool and natural ingredients.  

Next, we went to the town of Benito Juarez, where the Oaxacan native, president Benito Juarez lived.  Benito Juarez was very popular for his support in fighting for human rights and the poor.  He was also the first indigenous president.  

 "Men are nothing, the principles are everything."

In el pueblo de Benito Juarez, we hiked up the mountain trail to enjoy the beautiful view of the Oaxcan landscape.

At the mountain peak, we had to cross a swinging bridge to arrive at 3 zip-lines from various mountain tops.  I don't know which was scarier, the bridge with jumping children or the zip lines with over a 500 foot drop.  Out of fear, two swedish students on the trip were unable to zip line, but Ms.Redding and Ms.Chambers made it across!

Following the zip-lining, we rode in the back of a truck to eat in the center of Benito Juarez.  We had typical food from el pueblo and drank homemade hot chocolate.  Mmm!

Guelaguetza Parade

Today, we experienced the lovely Guelaguetza parade with the coalitions of dancers from all  over the state of Oaxaca.  

The dancers throw their town's products into the crowd.  Shannon caught garlic.