Adventures in Yucatan, Mexico

     Our students from COA right now are nearing the end of their stay in a rural community. They have been there together since Monday and will return tomorrow evening. They've had quite a few adventures, here's a taste of what they've been up to! enjoying the village green Lilyana Kendall Waiting to meet families Emanuel Haleigh Rosa Emma Galo Emily Jay fitting right in! Guillermo Nina Heading out early for a bird-watching expedition Preparing vines for basket-weaving  Everyone hard at work! The students with their mentors and final products!

     This morning we headed off to the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya to learn about the rich culture of the Yucatan. Two of our professors came along to guide us through the incredible amount of information!      We started out learning about the meteorite that landed along the coast of the Yucatan peninsula, causing a dramatic climactic change that killed the dinosaurs but allowed mammals to evolve. We learned about Mayan architecture, traditions, ceramics, burial practices, the ceremonial game juego de pelota,  world view, the class war, the age of "green gold" when henequen plantations were ubiquitous and much more.

     Yesterday we had a full, but incredibly rewarding day! We got up early to head to a pueblo on the outskirts of the city to prepare a meal from beginning to end. A local family welcomed us into their home and showed us how to cook a traditional dish: pollo pibil . "Pib", is a method of cooking underground in a pit filled with hot stones that acts as an oven.      The first step was to meet the chickens... two of the birds we bought from a neighbor the "market" group sharing what they bought: tomatoes, chiles, onions, and achiote the final words of the rooster as witnessed by a curious kitty Raul explaining the process of softening dried corn kernels to be able to grind them into masa  for tortillas plucking the birds after a hot bath finding banana leaves for later on in the process preparing the meat taking the seeds out of the achiote, a spiny green fruit that has seeds with a special flavor and...  a charact