The designs as Mitla
Mitla Ruins
Hierve El Agua
Hierve El Agua
Monte Alban
Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan
Oct.2 Protests in Mexico CityMonday, 24 October 2011
Monte Alban, Zaachila, Mitla, Hierve El Agua
Boy this has been a busy week. We've gone a visited a bunch of different sites.
Sunday we visited Monte Alban, which is the largest and oldest ruins site in Oaxaca. It was inhabited by the Zapotecs from ~300 BC to ~500 AD. The ruins are found at the top of a mountain, and the mountain is completely flat. It is believed that the Zapotecs spent 200 years flattening out the mountain before they built the ruins that remain there today. It is crazy to think that generations of people spent their lives flattening a mountain so the future generations could build upon it and live there.
On Thursday we visited the Zaachila market. It is massive and sells everything. We had to pick a vendor and do a quick interview to practise our spanish. Danielle and I choose a bread vendor and I'm pretty sure she thought we were crazy lol. We bought some bread to make up for it though. There was a massive meat section and there were pig heads, tails, and feet everywhere. The meat is just out in the open, but there are no flies. There were also alot of people carrying around chickens and turkeys, They tie their feet together and hold them upside down. Apparently this keeps them calm and from pecking people.
On Saturday we went to Mitla which is the second largest ruins site in Oaxaca. There was a crazy amount of detail in the buildings. The amazing thing is that the designs are all individual rocks that they place together to make the design, they didn't just carve a massive rock. The designs are perfectly aligned along the entire building.
We also went to Hierve el Agua on Saturday. It was the most amazing view I have ever seen. We were up in a mountain and we were surrounded by other green mountains that seemed to go on forever. We get to this place near the edge of a cliff and there are pools of beautiful blue water. It is full of 11 different minerals and has bleached the cliffs making it look like there are waterfalls of white going over the edge. There are also a couple areas where the water looks like it is boiling but really it is just bubbles from the rocks floating up the water. We got to swim in the beautiful blue water and look at the surrounding view of the green mountains. It was amazing.
PS I am still trying to figure out how to add pictures onto the blog. Hopefully I will have some up soon.
Sunday we visited Monte Alban, which is the largest and oldest ruins site in Oaxaca. It was inhabited by the Zapotecs from ~300 BC to ~500 AD. The ruins are found at the top of a mountain, and the mountain is completely flat. It is believed that the Zapotecs spent 200 years flattening out the mountain before they built the ruins that remain there today. It is crazy to think that generations of people spent their lives flattening a mountain so the future generations could build upon it and live there.
On Thursday we visited the Zaachila market. It is massive and sells everything. We had to pick a vendor and do a quick interview to practise our spanish. Danielle and I choose a bread vendor and I'm pretty sure she thought we were crazy lol. We bought some bread to make up for it though. There was a massive meat section and there were pig heads, tails, and feet everywhere. The meat is just out in the open, but there are no flies. There were also alot of people carrying around chickens and turkeys, They tie their feet together and hold them upside down. Apparently this keeps them calm and from pecking people.
On Saturday we went to Mitla which is the second largest ruins site in Oaxaca. There was a crazy amount of detail in the buildings. The amazing thing is that the designs are all individual rocks that they place together to make the design, they didn't just carve a massive rock. The designs are perfectly aligned along the entire building.
We also went to Hierve el Agua on Saturday. It was the most amazing view I have ever seen. We were up in a mountain and we were surrounded by other green mountains that seemed to go on forever. We get to this place near the edge of a cliff and there are pools of beautiful blue water. It is full of 11 different minerals and has bleached the cliffs making it look like there are waterfalls of white going over the edge. There are also a couple areas where the water looks like it is boiling but really it is just bubbles from the rocks floating up the water. We got to swim in the beautiful blue water and look at the surrounding view of the green mountains. It was amazing.
PS I am still trying to figure out how to add pictures onto the blog. Hopefully I will have some up soon.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
The Mexican Classroom
I was not sure what to expect when I entered my first Mexican classroom but it was definitley eye opening. I am teaching at Instituto Pedagogico Profra Margarita Aguilar Diaz A.C. which is private school. I teach at the elementary school, the middle school, and the high school so there is a wide range of ability. The teachers move from school to school, teachers who teach english do so in all of the school. Both the students and the teachers wear uniforms and when the principle enters the class everyone stands up and says "Good Afternoon Maestra." Liz (my teaching partner) and I first went to the schools on a Monday. Every Monday morning they start off the day with a flag ceremony, the national anthem, announcements for the week, and other important information. At this ceremony Liz and I got introduced to all the students. The middle and high school students seemed curious about us but not overly excited. In the elementary school all the kids started cheering and seemed really excited to have us there.
The first class that we observed was a gr.6 english class. The energy in the classroom was unreal. There was never a moment of silence and hardly a moment where it wouldn't be considered loud. The kids would often get out of their desk and not pay attention to the teacher. It was the polar opposite to the gr.12 classes back home where it is a struggle sometimes to get the students to speak. The teacher did not seem overly concerned with the students moving around. She would pick a specific student and ask them to answer a question while everyone else did whatever they pleased. When we moved into the gr.12 class, however, the energy was alot lower. They were still quite talkative and more energetic than the Canadian classes, but they were managable and it was more of a learning environment.
Going to the elementary school was a new experience for me since I have only been in high schools. I first observed a gr.3 class there and again there was a tremendous amount of energy. The kids were hardly in their desks, but they seemed more engaged with the material. They were moving around but listening to what was being taught to them. Instead of raising hands like back home, they all just yell out answers. When I first walked in the class the kids began cheering and about 10 of them jumped up and were hugging me. They were touching my hair and asking me many questions in really fast Spanish that I could not understand. They were cute and it was nice to have them so excited to have me there.
I am eager to spend more time in the Mexican classroom. It is quite different from back home and I feel I will be able to learn alot from my time there. I think I will be able to bring home a new a wider understanding of education.
The first class that we observed was a gr.6 english class. The energy in the classroom was unreal. There was never a moment of silence and hardly a moment where it wouldn't be considered loud. The kids would often get out of their desk and not pay attention to the teacher. It was the polar opposite to the gr.12 classes back home where it is a struggle sometimes to get the students to speak. The teacher did not seem overly concerned with the students moving around. She would pick a specific student and ask them to answer a question while everyone else did whatever they pleased. When we moved into the gr.12 class, however, the energy was alot lower. They were still quite talkative and more energetic than the Canadian classes, but they were managable and it was more of a learning environment.
Going to the elementary school was a new experience for me since I have only been in high schools. I first observed a gr.3 class there and again there was a tremendous amount of energy. The kids were hardly in their desks, but they seemed more engaged with the material. They were moving around but listening to what was being taught to them. Instead of raising hands like back home, they all just yell out answers. When I first walked in the class the kids began cheering and about 10 of them jumped up and were hugging me. They were touching my hair and asking me many questions in really fast Spanish that I could not understand. They were cute and it was nice to have them so excited to have me there.
I am eager to spend more time in the Mexican classroom. It is quite different from back home and I feel I will be able to learn alot from my time there. I think I will be able to bring home a new a wider understanding of education.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Welcome to Oaxaca
My first week in Oaxaca has been amazing. Luz Maria, my homestay mom, picked me up from the bus station after our 7 hour ride from Mexico City. She is extremely nice and speaks very slowly so I can understand most of what she says. I'm living in the north section of the city with 6 other girls, while everyone else is either in the central or the south. Liz, a girl from my program, lives right across the street from me with my homestay mom's sister. It's been great because we've been able to do alot of stuff together.
The routine here is a little different from back home, but I'm really enjoying it. I wake up in the morning and have breakfast with Luz Maria. I usually have a plate of fruit with some nuts, and a plate with eggs, ham, and beans. My homestay dad, Adolfo, told me they're going to try and make me fat lol, I eat sooo much food here. After breakfast, us girls from the north walk or take the bus down to Ollin, the spanish school. It takes us about an hour to walk. After school, we go back home and have Comida (the big meal of the day) with our families around 3. We always start with soup and then have the main course. It always tastes so delicious. Luz Maria makes some kind of different water every time. We've had rice, tuna (a catcus fruit), orange, chocolate, and other yummy kinds. After Comida, I'll have a siesta, or I'll work on some homework. Then around 5 all of us usually get together in the Zocalo and do something in the evening. I really like this way of going about the day.
Luz Maria is always worried that I am cold because it is the end of the rainy season (It's only rained twice, and for 20 mins at that) because she says she's always cold. I'm pretty sure I come home sweating everyday because it's that hot lol. I can only imagine how hot it will be once the hot season hits. The siesta is great because it's during the hottest part of the day so you don't have to suffer through it.
So far Oaxaca has been great. I feel very much at home in the house I'm staying in, my homestay family is very welcoming. I'm beginning to learn how to get around and how the buses and taxis work here. Tomorrow we start in our schools, so that will be an experience for sure. I really have no idea what to expect. I'm sure it will be great though
The routine here is a little different from back home, but I'm really enjoying it. I wake up in the morning and have breakfast with Luz Maria. I usually have a plate of fruit with some nuts, and a plate with eggs, ham, and beans. My homestay dad, Adolfo, told me they're going to try and make me fat lol, I eat sooo much food here. After breakfast, us girls from the north walk or take the bus down to Ollin, the spanish school. It takes us about an hour to walk. After school, we go back home and have Comida (the big meal of the day) with our families around 3. We always start with soup and then have the main course. It always tastes so delicious. Luz Maria makes some kind of different water every time. We've had rice, tuna (a catcus fruit), orange, chocolate, and other yummy kinds. After Comida, I'll have a siesta, or I'll work on some homework. Then around 5 all of us usually get together in the Zocalo and do something in the evening. I really like this way of going about the day.
Luz Maria is always worried that I am cold because it is the end of the rainy season (It's only rained twice, and for 20 mins at that) because she says she's always cold. I'm pretty sure I come home sweating everyday because it's that hot lol. I can only imagine how hot it will be once the hot season hits. The siesta is great because it's during the hottest part of the day so you don't have to suffer through it.
So far Oaxaca has been great. I feel very much at home in the house I'm staying in, my homestay family is very welcoming. I'm beginning to learn how to get around and how the buses and taxis work here. Tomorrow we start in our schools, so that will be an experience for sure. I really have no idea what to expect. I'm sure it will be great though
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Mexico City
We arrived in Mexico City at 9pm so it was already dark and hard to see the city. Driving to the hotel Mexico City didn't seem too different from Vancouver or Victoria; alot of buildings, cobble stone road, billboards all over. The hotel that we stayed at is very nice. Nicer than many back home.
On Saturday, Ian took us around and showed us the zocalo (the main city square). We visited the Cathedral, the President's Palace, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. We went up in a tower and saw just how big Mexico City is. The outskirts look as though they are creeping up and taking over the surrounding mountains. The outskirts of the city are much more poor than the central part where we stayed. There are close to 36 million people who live in Mexico City, almost the same population of Canada. Yet the city never felt overly crowded.
On Sunday we took a bus to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids. When the Aztecs discovered Teotihuacan it had been abandoned for over 500 years and there is no evidence to indicate who lived there. So it is unknown who lived there and who built the pyramids. There are two pyramids in Teotihuacan the pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon. And they each align with the sun and the moon somehow.
When we returned to Mexico City there was a large demonstration going on. It was for the anniversary of the 1968 massacre. In 1968 there were many Mexican students who were protesting peacefully before the olympics. As they were protested the government opened fire on them and ended up killing approximately 400 students. So over 40 years later hundreds of students walk the streets carrying banners saying things like never forget never forgive. They walked right past our hotel.
Mexico City was a great experience. The food was amazing and the people were also been very nice. There were many people trying to sell us things, but if you just say 'no gracias' they leave you alone. It has been a great introduction to Mexico so far and I can't wait until I get to Oaxaca and get to my homestay.
On Saturday, Ian took us around and showed us the zocalo (the main city square). We visited the Cathedral, the President's Palace, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. We went up in a tower and saw just how big Mexico City is. The outskirts look as though they are creeping up and taking over the surrounding mountains. The outskirts of the city are much more poor than the central part where we stayed. There are close to 36 million people who live in Mexico City, almost the same population of Canada. Yet the city never felt overly crowded.
On Sunday we took a bus to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids. When the Aztecs discovered Teotihuacan it had been abandoned for over 500 years and there is no evidence to indicate who lived there. So it is unknown who lived there and who built the pyramids. There are two pyramids in Teotihuacan the pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon. And they each align with the sun and the moon somehow.
When we returned to Mexico City there was a large demonstration going on. It was for the anniversary of the 1968 massacre. In 1968 there were many Mexican students who were protesting peacefully before the olympics. As they were protested the government opened fire on them and ended up killing approximately 400 students. So over 40 years later hundreds of students walk the streets carrying banners saying things like never forget never forgive. They walked right past our hotel.
Mexico City was a great experience. The food was amazing and the people were also been very nice. There were many people trying to sell us things, but if you just say 'no gracias' they leave you alone. It has been a great introduction to Mexico so far and I can't wait until I get to Oaxaca and get to my homestay.
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