Adventures in Yucatan, Mexico

     Today we had our final meal together as part of the Salem College program. Yesterday morning, the students presented their final projects: 15 minutes presenting a topic that they are interested in, completely in Spanish! We heard about the regional geology, traditional dances of Mexico, the concept of family, city parks, desserts, religion, the changing role of the Yucatecan mother, and the Mayan language. The students put a lot of effort into their projects, and it showed! Chloe describing the formation of cenotes , the sinkholes that are the only sources of fresh water in the Yucatecan peninsula, there are no lakes or rivers. Lola talking about the modern generation of mothers in Yucatan Olivia teaching us about the Mayan language of yesterday and today Isabel comparing family structures in the U.S. with what she has seen during her time here.  The whole group: coordinators, professors and students!

     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......