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A Week Away

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We began our week-long adventure at 6am on a Saturday morning. We loaded up the van and headed east toward expert artisans, Mayan ruins, ecological reserves and small communities.

Working with a third-generation potter whose specialty is making clay whistles. The family uses clay that they make themselves from a mixture of mud, rock, red and white soils found in local caves. 

Showing off our silvatos (whistles) in front of the oven

Entering the Mayan ruin of Ek Balam and stopping for an introduction under the great ceiba 


We made it to the coast!


Floating around in the salt flats

The natural Mayan spa

In the evening, we put on art workshops for the children in the community





After our workshops were finished, we went to learn from the master hammock weavers


After a few days of traveling around, we arrived to the community that we would call home for four days and met our host families. Here is Cata with hers!

Julia

Haley

Amy

Melissa

Susana

Moni

Ella 
Miranda


Sathish

Off they go! 

Observing medicinal plants on a walk along the sac-be

Wedging ourselves back into our ride for the morning!

This tree gives gourd-like fruits (jicaras) that when dried become very durable. They are used as mugs and bowls in most households.

Helping a family harvest the pepitas from squash. The seeds will be dried in the sun and then toasted

We found jicama!


Early on Wednesday morning, we arrived to our host's backyard to begin our gastronomy workshop. The process of making tamales began with buying the chickens and slaughtering them

Then it was time to bring the corn to the molino to be ground into dough

Dipping the chicken in boiling water makes it easier to pluck

A student learns to butcher and clean a chicken

Meanwhile, preparing the col for the tamale filling

Once the chicken has been cooked, it must be shredded

Still stirring the col
 
It's a long process, so we take a break to whip up some hand-made tortillas to snack on


Our hosts get the earth oven up to temperature

And after a full day of hard work, we get to enjoy a delicious homemade meal

The group with our hosts for the day

We put together another round of art workshops, this time parents joined in, too! 


On our last day, we woke up early to go bird watching


And then it was time to say goodbye to our host families who invited us into their homes. 







On our way back to Merida, we stopped to visit another local artisan who makes baskets out of vines. We learned how to identify and harvest good materials.


And then we got to work weaving



After a delicious and well-deserved lunch, it was time to head back to the city

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