Thanksgiving a la Mexicana

The last official field trip of the semester -- Part 3

Our final destination was the city of Campeche, located on the western side of the Yucatán peninsula. Campeche was the first port used by the Spaniards during the conquest and also became a target for pirates during the colonial period. As a result, a wall was built around the city for protection. We are pictured at one of the main forts that now houses a museum on the first floor (third photo) and the remains of the fort above. This group photo is our current top pick for the most favorite group shot. If it is the big winner, I will have it enlarged and then hung on a wall in the upstairs hallway along with photos from many, many other semesters.

Even though this was our final field trip, the semester does not end until December 12. Between now and then, we have plenty to do. We are hosting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday for host families, instructors and staff. Everyone is then taking off for a long weekend. We have rented a large beach house in nearby Progreso for the first weekend in December. Classes will continue to meet until the 11th. Then there are all of those other "leaving Mérida" celebrations that the students have planned that I know nothing about!

The last official field trip of the semester -- Part 2

Welcome to Edzna, our last archaeological site of the semester. The joy of this site is that it is so far off the usual tourist track that what few visitors there are can climb to their heart's content which was one of the reasons this site was included in the visit. Needless to say, my students took one look at this main temple and were not seen again until it was time to leave. They had an absolutely wonderful time. Here they are searching for ways to scale the very top of the temple. Luckily for the temple, there was no way up.Edzna had not been discussed in the civ class so the group arrived with no prior knowledge; we did not have a formal guided tour. Most of their time at the site was spent on this highest temple. When asked as we were leaving, how they would describe Edzna if, as a wild example, they were given a bonus question on their final civ test, there was at first a lot of moaning and groaning about how the site wasn't covered in class, no tour, etc. "How are we supposed to know anything about this site?" And then one student threw out an observation that was followed by another and then another. They talked about public vs. private space, probable type of government based on the layout of the site, the geographical orientation of the site, the meaning of the very small ball court, the architectural style of the main buildings, the glyphs, and the probable Maya period to which this site belonged. I was proud of them, but, most importantly, they were proud of themselves.

The last official field trip of the semester

This weekend's field trip included several stops. The first one was a small village called Becal where the entire village is dedicated to making hats. Once again, I don't know why the photos are in reverse order. Here are students modeling the finished product. Below is the shaping machine. Once the hat has been woven, it is placed in this machine. This particular family makes about 10 different styles; each style has its own mold. The mold is heated by propane gas and left in place only about 10 seconds.
This woman weaves an average of 2 hats per day in a small underground grotto on the family's property to keep the palm strands flexible. It takes 12-15 days to weave the finest quality hat. The wholesale price varies from $2.00 USD to $80 USD. We were unable to ascertain how much a weaver earns per day, but we all expressed concern about her working conditions and the long-range effect on her lungs, wrists, back and eyes.

The palm strands are dyed and semi-dried before weaving.

The colors of my life

I had heard of an obscure junk shop but had not yet been able to check it out until yesterday when I was in the neighborhood. I was thrilled to find these wonderful examples of Guatemalan folk art. I am planning to use these pillow covers below on my patio chairs.
This pillow case will look wonderful on my bed.

And I saved the best for last. I love these bookends!

What is your definition of paradise?

We were lucky enough to be invited to the beach house of one of our Spanish teachers for the weekend. The photos speak for themselves.

Hacienda tour continued

The goal of this field trip was to visit haciendas that are still producing henequen. All are in various states of disrepair as you can see above. Below is a photo of henequen leaves waiting to be "de-fibered."

The photo below shows the fibers drying in the sunshine. The drying process takes about 2 days. The fibers are then moved into the rope plant.