Cenote (Sinkhole) Zaci 7/2

We headed out early this morning for our visit to Chichen Itza. On the way we went to visit one of the Cenote's (sinkholes) that are common here in the Yucatan. I learned that there are no rivers in the Yucatan due to its interesting geology. The Yucatan sits on top of limestone. When it rains all of the water filters down through the porous limestone. Over time part of the limestone will crumble and open up a sinkhole full of fresh water.

Shrine outside of Cenote Zaci

7/1 Valladolid, Yucatan

We spent the night in a quaint little Spanish Colonial town. I enjoyed seeing all the colorful buildings and walking through the town square. We had the opportunity to visit one of the oldest Catholic Missions in Mexico. It was build in the 1500’s.

Our Hotel in Valladolid

Courtyard Restaurant at the hotel

Huge candle. Each evening they add more candles to the top. It is beautiful when it is burning.

Fountain in the Town Plaza in Valladolid

Church on the town plaza in Valladolid

This is the original Catholic Church fortress in this area build around a sink hole. It was build in the 1500's.

July 1 Cancun Day 2 /Quintana Roo To Yucatan

Cancun Beach with all the seaweed that Tropical Storm Alex washed ashore.

We had a free morning in Cancun. I took another walk along the beach in the morning. This time I walk down the beach in the other direction from all of the hotels toward some private residences. There is a lot of construction happening all along the beach. I learned that Cancun is a city that is only about 40 years old. The Mexican government decided to develop that area of the Yucatan to bring in tourists it is now known as the Maya Rivera. They also developed the state of Quantiana Roo around then.

At noon we left our hotel and went to visit a vocational high school in Cancun. It was very interesting to see. The students prepared a wonderful lunch and performed for us. It was very touching. Watching the kids just reinforces that no matter where in the world you go kids are kids.

This tiny library is the only one for the whole high school.

The students made lunch for us and performed songs and several regional dances.

Our Fulbright group with the students and teacher from the school

After we left the school we boarded the bus and headed for the small colonial Spanish village of Valladolid, Yucatan

June 30 First Day in Mexico-Cancun

Today was a travel day and we go off to a bit of a rough start. Our plane was delayed out of Austin due to tropical storm Alex that has since turned into hurricane Alex. We finally got to Dallas with no time to spare. The airline shuttled us directly from our arrival gate to our departure gate so that we didn’t miss our flight to Cancun. Once we made it to Cancun we boarded our tour bus that will be our home away from home for the next 29 days and made the short trip to our hotel.

The front of the hotel we stayed in while in Cancun

This was my breath taking ocean view!

The beach behind the hotel.

Cancun is amazingly beautiful. The ocean is a gorgeous Jade color. I enjoyed a long walk on the white sand beach behind our hotel. Unfortunately it was hard to make it down to the water because of all the seaweed that hurricane Alex has caused to churn up on the beach.

Due to my technological difficulties I will post the picture of the seaweed on my nest entry:)

Last Day in Austin

This is a recreation of a rock head that we will actually get to see while in Mexico. This one sits in front of the Latin American Studies building at UT

Today was a very mellow day. In the morning we were back at UT to discuss the format of our curriculum projects and how to complete all of the federal paperwork associated with the program. We also discussed briefly what to expect on our first days in Mexico. We have had a free afternoon and a small group of us chose to go and explore the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library. I learned a lot about his presidency and found it very interesting that he was first a public school teacher and through out his time in congress and as president he was a huge supporter of public education. He wrote and signed much legislation for civil rights and educational reforms that are still in place today. He was a very fascinating man and it is unfortunate that the Vietnam War over shadowed all that he was able to accomplish domestically. At the LBJ library there was also an exhibit on Walter Cronkite's life as a news reporter. It is amazing all of the history he had the opportunity to be a part of and report on.

This beautiful fountain sits right outside of the Latin American Studies building and the LBJ Presidential Library.

This is part of the LBJ exhibit. It's entitled "The Thousand Laws of the Great Society" It shows all the laws that LBJ was involved with writing and passing during his life of public service. Many for economically disadvantaged students.
This was the portable type writer that Walter Cronkite took with him when he was covering WWII. It struck me that this was his laptop. :) Time may pass but certain things never really change.

As I am writing this today a huge storm has arrived and we are being pounded by some pretty strong thunder storms. It is raining so hard that I can barely see the bridge and river out of my hotel room window. I have my fingers crossed that the storm passes before morning. Tomorrow we are off to Cancun.

First Day of Orientation

Orientation Day at UT Austin

We spent today at the University of Texas in Austin in the Latin American Studies Building. We had the opportunity to hear 4 different presentations. My favorites were learning more about the history of Mexico and having a tour of the Latin American Library along with viewing of some of the rare special collection materials housed there. Here are some pictures of the amazing historical documents and maps archived in this library.

This is a lithograph by the artist Carmen Lomas Garza. She has written and illustrated a couple of children's books that depict day to day life. I have read and shared her books with several of my classes over the years. What I found interesting about this picture was that it was of a situation that would never make it into any children's book.

This is a map of a Mexican village from around 1580ish that not only depicts the geography of an area but also was used to show the genealogy of the community. I love the way the artist illustrated the river.

This is one of the most important maps from the new world. It is also from around 1580. The red boarders show the different community boundaries.

Both of this maps are illustrated answers to a questionnaire that was sent from Spain to be answered by the different Spanish controlled communities. 1557-1575

This is a document signed by Cortez

This is a final memoir written by Santa Ana and on these pages it talks about the Alamo.

This is one of the first books publish in the new world. It is a 3rd edition of a dictionary. Very Cool!

This is a much more recent-Mexican movie posters.

Overall-- as you can tell, seeing the special collections in the library was my very favorite part of the day! I can't wait to see what we learn tomorrow.

Howdy from Austin, Texas

Hi from Austin Texas.

I made it to Austin yesterday. I finally got to meet my fellow travelers! This is going to be a wonderful adventure. Everyone that is involved with this seminar has been fantastic! I am thrilled to be getting to know such a talented and diverse group of women!

We took a wonderful dinner cruise on the river last evening and got to enjoy downtown Austin. I learned that Austin also is home to the largest urban bat colony in the states. We were anticipating seeing the dusk bat flight of 1.5 million bats. Sadly we only got to see a few dozen before it got to dark to see anything.

All the tourists waiting on the bat flight that happened after it was to dark to see them.

Downtown Austin looking at the bridge that the colony of bats live in.

This is the view out of my hotel room window