Thursday, we had visitors from Tulane University, where students can earn optional college credit, and CIEE Portland. They observed our classes and activities on Thursday and Friday, and even went to Taylor's house for lunch to get a feel for the homestays. For Into the Community, students purchased postcards, wrote... Continue reading

Wednesday, we had an excursion to the Lavender Project, a cooperative that grows lavender and creates X and sells a variety of products using it. We toured the actual lavender fields as well as the areas where they make pillows and embroidered cloths and soap. They even sell lavender honey,... Continue reading

Monday, our Into the Community topic was the weather and climate. In th afternoon, we had a debriefing session. On Tuesday, each level had different Into the Community tasks: Level 1 went to the papelería (paper store) to buy pencils and notebooks, Level 2 went to the library to look... Continue reading

Friday night we had tacos and then went to see lucha libre. Below, a taco, and some of our students with lucha libre masks which they received from the tour guides. Saturday morning, we took a few pictures in the zocalo, or main square of Mexico City, and then went... Continue reading

We had a wonderful meal in the afternoon. The meal was mushroom soup, avocado and nopal salad, rice, black beans, and chicken in poblano sauce. The students enjoyed the meal so much that they wanted to take a picture with the chefs. This house had a grass yard, which is... Continue reading

On Friday, we left Guanajuato at 5 am to go to Teotihuacan on our way to Mexico City. After arriving, we had a breakfast of tamales and quesadillas and learned about the agave plant and its many traditional uses, including paper and a needle and thread, as shown below: We... Continue reading

Here's a video some of our students made. We tried to post it yesterday and the link didn't work. Thanks to Bryce for sending us the link! We think this is a great representation of how much our group is enjoying Guanajuato and also shows a number of scenic parts... Continue reading

On Tuesday evening, we went on a callejoneada, which is a like a traveling serenade where a group of musicians dressed in traditional colonial outfits guide a group of people through the many callejones, which are very narrow and often steep streets while singing and dancing traditional Spanish and Mexican... Continue reading

Today for our Into the Community activity, we went to clothing stores. Later, we discussed what's in style and topics like similarities and differences between how people dress here and in the US. For our cultural activity, we had a salsa and bachata dance lesson. Host brothers and sisters were... Continue reading

Friday, we had a guacamole contest and went to a taqueria. For our Into the Community activity, where students go out and apply what they've been learning, students were put into teams of three. Each team received 100 pesos and went to a market to buy the ingredients for guacamole... Continue reading

Today all students had a short interview with Tania, Isidro, and Eva, the three instructors, to confirm their level and class: beginning, intermediate, or advanced. Then Liz and I gave a quick assessment, which we will use at the end to measure growth. Students had class with their teacher, and... Continue reading

Anatoly teaching us about Son Jarocho music and dance. Anatoly and his friends/students performing. After the Son Jarocho performance. In the gazebo of the Jardin de la Union, a famous park in the center of Guanajuato. At the Jardin de la Union. At the Jardin de la Union with our... Continue reading

This morning we met at Plaza de la Paz. The students are becoming more familiar with the downtown area. We all walked together to find some of the main attractions and landmarks. Some of the places we visited include the University of Guanajuato, important historical sites related to the Mexican... Continue reading

Yesterday we arrived and spent the evening with our host families. Today we had an orientation and met the teachers and CIEE staff. After a break for lunch and some downtime, we learned about el son jarocho, which is a type of music and dance from the state of Veracruz.... Continue reading