Cultural Connections

Have you ever had the unusual and unique pleasure of hearing teenagers complain about not having enough time to.....spend in a *contemporary art museum*? That is exactly what happened on Wednesday during our visits to El Museo de La Ciudad de Mérida and El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Macay.  One of our students, Lucy, herself an artist, was chief among the complainers. They needed more time, more time! There was the collection of pre-Hispanic archeological pieces from the Yucatan region, and the Mexican realism and transferable murals of Fernando Castro Pacheco.  Even on the walk between museums, students got to marvel at the exhibition of six giant human figures called Construction and Deconstruction by Mexican scupltor José "Jovian" Villavicencio Anaya, all the while eating paletas de coco o fresa (coconut or strawberry popsicles) from the street vendors.  And that was JUST Wednesday.  Thursday was our first introduction to the Mayan ruins of Dzibilchaltún with its famous Casa de las 7 Muñecas (House of Seven Dolls) and other ancient structures, which visitors are allowed to climb and explore.   The students definitely climbed and explored, working in teams to create the best photograph of the day.  This outing was a good precursor for our upcoming trip on Saturday to the über-famous Mayan ruins, Chichén Itzá. There will be no climbing those famous structures, but students will be allowed to take a dip in a nearby cenote, which is a natural sink hole created by above-ground openings to cave systems.  As if museums and ancient Mayan archeological sites weren´t enough, we finished our midweek cultural excursions in a Zoom interview with two local, but well-known and supremely talented artists: Maria Moctezuma, Mexican activisit, composer, performer and producer of folkloric music, and CIEE´s own Spanish-language teacher, Marisol Naranjo, who, little did we know, is also a brilliant dancer, actor and dance therapist! CIEE´s tailored curriculum connects daily language lessons to weekly themes (creativity and cultural arts, anyone?) and equips students with the vocabulary and language structures they need to discuss, describe, evaluate and compare what they see on our field trips in conversations with their host families, local artists, and each other. Forget watching Tik Tok videos and texting friends; here is the amazing Yucantan culture to discover and explore.  We´ve already seen so much and we are only half-way through our study abroad adventure. There's certainly no need to hurry!