Hola from Oaxaca!Our second week of geology started bright and early Monday morning with our first real assignments. We debriefed about our past three field trips and wrote up lab reports with our findings. On Tuesday, we continued to work on our lab reports. After class, Mary Lucia surprised us with a celebration cake, which commemorated our 60 something day of being in Oaxaca (we have yet to find the significance of this number though!). We all commented on things we wish to celebrate about our time in Oaxaca thus far and everything to come. Early Wednesday morning, we left for our overnight geology field trip to San Sebastian de Las Grutas, which was about two and a half hours from Oaxaca City.
When we arrived, we put our stuff down in our cabañas and explored our new surroundings. For
the first time in what seemed like forever, we were surrounded by big trees, a lot of green, and even a fairly sizable stream. We immediately began to explore, wearing our rugged gear, of course. After our explorations, we were served lunch of egg soup at a at a local family's house up the hill from our cabañas.Following lunch, some of us took a little bit of a siesta while others continued exploring. We then walked up to the mouth of a cave for a guided tour of images in the rocks and explanations by Barry. A man from the pueblo guided us through the cave with his lantern powered by a car battery encased in wood with a handle for carrying. He pointed out the different formations with names like "the eagle", "the monk", or "the rhinoceros". His role as a guide was his tequio or service to the community. The cave was huge and seemingly endless and the chill inside provided a welcomed change from the usual hot climate.
When we returned to the cabañas, most members of the group either explored more or played some bonding games that we learned from our camp counselor group members. We then walked back up the hill for a delicious dinner of chocolate y pan dulce, followed by tlayudas, a group favorite, and quesadillas with incredible condiments—homemade
salsa, which was unexpectedly very spicy, and some of the best guacamole we have ever tasted. The night ended with a spectacular campfire, thanks to some of our rugged group members, complete with impossible riddles, creepy ghost stories, and songs by Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Carley Simon, Simon and Garfunkle and many more. The only thing missing was roasted marshmallows, which had mysteriously disappeared from our cooler while we were at dinner!On Thursday morning, we woke up, went to breakfast up the hill and then got to work on a geology lab. Our trip to San Sebastian de Las Grutas couldn't have come at a better time. We all needed a chance to spend time together and see a little bit of green, which is exactly what our trip provided, along with some quality time with some cool rocks, which is needless to say.
We left to return to the city around eleven thirty or twelve so that we would get home just in time to have comida with our respective families. On our way to school on Friday, we were all pleasantly surprised to encounter hundreds of adorable kids dressed up as animals, princesses, recycling bins, and many more creative costumes, to celebrate “Samaritan Day.” This day marks the beginning of spring and is also celebrated by all the stores giving out different kinds of fruit-flavored water to anyone passerby. It is a custom in Oaxaca City celebrated on the fourth Friday in Lent. The tradition is based on the parable of the Good Samaritan.In geology class that day, we learned all about earthquakes and how they are formed.On Saturday, there was an alternative technology workshop at Santo Domingo that was sponsored and organized by Universidad de La Tierra, or UniTierra for short, and CEDI (The Center for Intercultural Encounters and Dialogues), which are the organizations and school that were founded in part by Gustavo, our Anthropology professor. Many other booths were of places we had visited previously during our time here. Other than the workshop, which was attended by some members of our group, we have all had a fairly relaxing weekend, catching up on sleep and work, and gearing up and getting excited for our three day field trip to Apoala with Barry starting on Monday.
Hoping all is well and starting to warm up in the North!
Con paz y amor,
Molly and Carey
