Week 1: Orientation at La Villada

FINALLY IN OAXACA!!!

After much anticipation and many delayed flights, all the students arrived safely to Oaxaca City by Sunday night. However tired and frazzled by so many hours of traveling, they were all eager to get to know the city and to try some traditional Oaxacan food.

On Monday afternoon, after a morning of relaxation and city exploration, we headed up to La Villada Inn, a beautiful retreat center in the northern part of the city, with picturesque views of the ecological reserve San Felipe del Agua and the extensive Sierra Norte mountains.

Looking over the valley from Villada Inn...










Eating was high up on the list at the retreat, with every meal having a different flare. Food ranged from your typical American hamburger with french fries, all the way to the most traditional Oaxacan food: tamales (vegetables or meat wrapped in cornmeal dough and then steamed), tlayudas (large, crispy corn tortillas covered in beans, quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese), tomatoes, cabbage, avocado, and salsa- a personal Mexican pizza!), and taquitos (crispy rolled corn tortillas filled with a mixture of shredded pork, tomatoes, and chiles, and for the vegetarians diced potatoes and cheese). We owe many thanks to the kitchen staff and owner, Julia Salazar Robert, for their hard work and dedication to keeping us content and full, not to mention caffeinated with delicious coffee!

Content after eating an excellent meal.

                                               Some of the amazing cooks from La Villada...

Monday was an introduction day, where the program directors and professors, Jonathan Treat and Oliver Froehling, introduced themselves, their organization SURCO (see link: www.surcooaxaca.org) and the outline of the semester. Students went around the room and introduced themselves, and we learned about the diverse majors and minors that they are all studying at UVM (Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Global Studies and Health, Spanish, Community Entrepreneurship, Biology, Nutrition and Dietetics, etc.)

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paisaje_ejido_seri_1.JPG

Tuesday was a much more intensive day, focusing on Profesor Froehling's class, Community, Culture, and Place. He gave us an introduction to the Mexican political system, and how 500 years of colonialism and now globalization has shaped what we see today in Mexico. Oaxaca is a unique state in Mexico for following its own indigenous political systems (there are 16 different indigenous groups just in this state!). One of the most surprising facts about Oaxaca is that about 80% of the land is not private property, and is actually broken into ejidos, or communal land where many individuals decide how to use the land appropriately. There is a lot of pressure in the state of Oaxaca to assimilate these indigenous groups into the mainstream, but we see a lot of resistance from them as well.

Wednesday, we had the honor of listening to two guest speakers from Oaxaca. Our first guest speaker, Kiado Cruz, is from a small Zapotecan village called Santa Cruz Yagavila. He explained to us about the idea of comunidalidad, which is a difficult concept to explain in English, but essentially is our connections with the land, the environment, and the people that inhabit(ed) the land. He explained the four pillars of comunidalidad as:
1. La tierra y territorio- land and territory
2. Asamblea- the governance process
3. Tequio- the contribution, participation, and intellectual and physical labor that is shared between community members.
4. La fiesta- parties.
Each one of these pillars is an integral part of the community, and changes based on what indigenous group and community someone is from.

Our second speaker, Silvia Hernandez (Chivis), talked to us about the 2006 protests that happened in Oaxaca, and the positive and negative change that has been forged out of those manifestations. Both speakers were very informative and gave us a deeper understanding of the struggles and constructive transformations happening in the state.

Chivis with Oliver...

Thursday was the last day of the retreat, but we didn't leave before trying the delicious vegetarian sweet and savory tamales that the kitchen had made. Professor Froehling then gave us a very illuminating tour of the city of Oaxaca, starting in the richest neighborhood, San Felipe del Agua, going all the way to the squatter town where people were creating a life for themselves, and then to the best view of the city from the Auditorio Guelaguetza.

The students also had an exciting afternoon when they all got to go home with their homestay families, local Oaxacans that they will be staying with and learning from for the next 3 1/2 months.

Friday morning, students geared up to walk around the archaeological site, Monte Albán. Monte Albán is a pre-columbian ruin founded around 500BC where the inhabitants actually leveled a mountain in order to build their civilization, and to have a powerful defense location. It was used as a sociopolitical and economic center that focused on trade, religion, astronomy, and the famous ball game known as ulama. The site was abandoned about 1,000 years later due to a weakening political system. It is now an extremely important site in Southern Mexico that is only partially explored, and visited daily by tourists from all over the world.

This concludes the first week of the 10th annual UVM Oaxaca study abroad. Students will start to post in the blog next week, so keep your eyes peeled for their enlightening discoveries and exciting news!