Guanajuato

This weekend Janet and I took a weekend trip to the cities of Leon (leather and shoe capital of Mexico) and Guanajuato. We went to Leon Saturday morning en-route to Guanajuato to see the shoe markets and a little bit about the shoe industry. That’s about it for Leon, but Guanajuato is an amazing city. It is an old silver mining town that is nestled in a valley. This basically gives the town three layers: (1) the old mining tunnels under the city are now used for most of the car and bus traffic, (2) the main/center part of town, and (3) the rest of the houses that are build ascending the valley walls on two sides of the city.

The city is also the birthplace of Diego Rivera and his boyhood home is now a museum that contains sketches for his murals and of Frida, as well as water colors and other paintings. There is also a unique tradition that was imported from Spain. During the weekend nights, there is a group of students from the university, called the Estudiantinos, walk through the streets dress in medieval Spanish dress playing traditional musical instruments, telling jokes, singing, and passing out wine to the crowd that gathers to follow them through the streets. There is also a “Romeo and Juliet” story that takes place in the callejon de beso (alley of the kiss) where the street is so narrow and the balconies of the houses are so close, that two forbidden lovers were able to kiss from their respective houses.

Guanajuato also has unique soil that creates natural mummies. In Mexico, it is very common to only bury someone for 6 years, after this 6 years the body is removed, cremated, and the site in the cemetery is rented to someone else. When this occurred in Guanajuato though, it was discovered that with the combination of minerals in the soil and a very dry climate, the bodies being removed were fully mummified and many are now on display in the museum of the mummies. They even go so far as to sell mummy shaped candies. All in all a good weekend away from Queretaro and first experience with the Mexican bus system. This week things are pretty much back to normal with Spanish classes, training, and working on our technical project that is an assessment of a nearby watershed……