Spanish Track: Week 2

Pretty view from Quialana

This week Torey and Gabby had a pretty good week.

 On Monday, we had class in the morning in a library next to the botanical gardens of Santa Domingo.  Here we learned lots about different plants, from their different classifications to their different medicinal uses.  We hope to be able to explore the botanical gardens soon after learning so much of the different plants their.  There are over 7,000 species of plants in Oaxaca according to Edith and half of those are in the gardens here!  Wow!

View of the pueblo

After a short break and comida, we met up with Edith again to visit the pueblo of Quialana.  First, we picked up Edith's sister and had a second comida with them and then we were off.  The pueblo is about an hour outside of Oaxaca and is very quant and beautiful.  We spoke with some women there who were embroidering beautiful clothing and bags.  We were also lucky enough to speak with one of the leaders of the community who was a very strong and respected woman.  She spoke about the history of the pueblo and its various leaders in the past. Our other conversation was focused around the privilege that we have as Americans to enter Mexico so easily while Mexicans need to work for years, save up a lot of money, and go through the process of getting a Visa.  Even after all this, many times they still can't enter our country.  We also discussed the struggle the woman of the pueblo have to obtain a visa since many times everything they own is in the names of their husbands and for this they do not seem like very good candidates for a Visa.

The church

The market

On Friday, we stayed in the classroom and looked at the different political and ethnic regions of Oaxaca.  Finally today, Sunday, we got up bright and early to go to Tlacolula, which is about an hour outside of the city.  Here there is a huge market every Sunday that people come to from all different pueblos around Oaxaca to both sell and buy.  We saw everything from clothing to brightly dyed chicks.  We also visited a church in Tlacolula that is located right next to the market. This church was built in 1561 and was gorgeous inside.  There was great detail everywhere and you could see the Spanish influence throughout the architecture.  We ended the day by eating some delicious chicken tacos.

That's all for this week folks! Our last class with Edith is Wednesday so these final days should be filled with learning!

Con mucho amor,
Gabby y Torey