Adventures in Yucatan, Mexico

     Just yesterday, we spent the morning working with an archaeologist at one of her dig sites, helping to clear the debris from the ancient foundations of Mayan houses. Here is a brief look at what the work consisted of!

     On behalf of all of us here at PICY,  ¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero año Nuevo! The students have the 24th (Noche Buena) and 25th (Navidad) off from classes, but we'll be together again on Friday for a normal school day. Here are a few photos from Monday night's Christmas Festival, including some photos of the students with their Yucatecan families (two students escaped with their families before I could take their photo!).  Emmanuel Guillermo Emma Rosita Galo y Lilyana Nina Seth Jay Kendall Karla giving the welcoming address Dance of las chicas Merengue! Mexican Christmas carols The meal ( tamales y espaghetti) And of course, the pi ñata!      Happy Holidays from all of us here in Yucatan!

     Yesterday we went on a field trip to an archaeological site that has many un-restored pyramids in the area surrounding the site that is open to visitors. We were able to go and visit one of these sites that, from the road looks like a small mountain. That is the first indicator that there is something special because there are very few natural hills in Yucatan, let alone mountains! To arrive to the base of the location, we drove down a rough dirt road and then got out  to follow three   señores and our guides who were opening a path for us through the forest with machetes. After about a forty-minute trek and a detour to observe the ruins of a mayan house, we finally arrived at the base of the "castle." Another trek to the top and we were rewarded with an incredible view! At the bottom once again, we shared the traditional mid-day snack of pozole , which is slightly cooked cornmeal that you dissolve in water and drink with salt and chile. It's still made dai...

    We are smack in the middle of our first week of classes. The students arrive each morning from 8 to 12 for their respective classes of Grammar, Language and Application, Mayans of Yesterday and Today (an anthropological look at the historical and contemporary culture of Yucatan) and  Poder y Palabra  (Power and the Word, a look at the political environment of Mexico to explore the context in which Yucatan is situated). All of the classes are, of course, taught in Spanish, and the students have pretty hefty packets of material for the duration of the course.  #534, Calle 534 sitting area outside Mini-classroom in el jardin View of the patio with our Jicara tree! Spanish classroom Our library The kitchen Our bulletin board with featuring past student projects Some of our facilities  Workspaces Poder y Palabra classroom tortugas! "Mayans of Yesterday and Today" classroom ...

     This past week has been full of activities. We attended a conference at I.N.A.H. ( Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia ) which spanned the entire week and was devoted to presentations from researchers on their findings regarding the Mayans in Northern Yucatan. We heard experts speak about cosmovision, architecture, speleology, archeoastronomy, bioarcheaology, anthropology, as well as epigraphy and the Mayan language. As the conference was geared more towards experts and less toward the general public, much of what was presented was difficult to understand, but nevertheless interesting to catch a glimpse of at the very least. Our students between speakers- photo taken from article about the conference: http://yucatan.com.mx/merida/educacion-merida/maya-y-espanol-deben-ensenarse-juntos Emily interviewing a participant during the break The group lining up to check in with Karla Some students interviewing a speaker Artifacts on di...