Last Friday, we visited three haciendas as a part of the study of the colonial period in Yucatán. Once the Spaniards had gained control of indigenous people and land, they found there was little, if any, gold, silver or other precious metal or gems to send to Spain or to reward faithful soldiers. The only available reward was land. As a result, the peninsula was divided into estates of various sizes and given to soldiers depending upon their rank, family importance, time of service, etc. The new owners were not only given the land but also the people who lived on and worked the land. Many haciendas had their own monetary systems. The early haciendas produced cattle and corn, but beginning in the mid-1700s, a new crop was discovered in a plant that is native to the area: hennequen or what we know thanks to Pottery Barn as sisal.
The plant was used mainly to make rope for export to Europe; the industry flourished until the mid-1900s when synthetics made the natural fibers obsolete. Sound familiar? Substitute "plantation" for hacienda, "cotton" for sisal, and "slaves from Africa" for indigenous people and you could be talking about the South. Fortunately for this area, there is some renewed interest in sisal because of the market for natural fiber rugs. Shown below is one of the few remaining rope making operations.
The photo below is one that always makes me happy....students taking notes. They usually have to submit a written assignment following a field trip for the civilization trip. The trips are also topics for conversation and composition in their Spanish classes.
For some reason, I cannot post more than 3 photos at a time. I will post more photos on another entry.
2 comments:
love the travelogue and the very 'teacherly' sound of today's entry. do i remember a very early entry saying you weren't sure if you could teach??
I was terrified. The books I read made all the difference. In fact, my beach reading was actually re-reading the sections of the books that talked about how to hold students' interest during the last weeks of the semester, suggestions for final exams, presentations, grading AND how to motivate students to provide constructive evaluations. I am definitely feeling better going into next semester. I have probably learned more than the students this semester!
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