A Day of "Alternative Tourism" in Guanajuato!

Greetings folks,

Kim here, Program Leader for the Language & Culture high school summer program in Guanajuato!  Yesterday we went on an excursion with our amazing group of students to Hacienda de Arriba, a space that is devoted to conservationist efforts and which now also offers "alternative tourism".  

While there, we first went on a short hike in which a guide showed and explained the environmental history of the area, which included anecdotes about coal mining, the transition into conservationism, and the current processes for protecting the area:

During our short hike, we also learned a ton about the medicinal properties of some of the plants, such as Casahuate (which can cure venomous snake bites or ease muscle pain) and Pirul (which is good for head aches).  Later, we went back to the center to make a pomada (a word that loosely translates to "lotion") with the plants that we had learned about earlier:

^Local expert Ricardo, 4 years old, was there to help us along the way, reminding us the medicinal properties that the plants we were working with had.

After that, our group learned how to make tortillas, which involved a few steps:

First, students had to roll the masa into medium sized balls:

After that, the students placed their balls of masa onto the prensa to flatten them:

Then, the students had to carefully remove their tortilla from the prensa to place on the comal:

One of the final activities of the day was baking bread, which the students had a blast doing and also learned how to use a horno de leña:

¡Muchísimas gracias Hacienda de Arriba!

With love, Guanajuato Language Session II: