Piedras Encimadas

Since my last post it has been a long 10 days waiting for a root canal. I ended up with a golf ball sized infection on my jaw that actually entered my jaw muscle as well, making it impossible to actually do the root canal because I couldn’t open my mouth. After a week in Queretaro and several attempts, I was finally able to get a root canal on Friday, but still not able to get the crown due to more issues getting my mouth open wide enough. So on Saturday I was finally able to head back to Puebla (I initially left thinking I’d only be gone 2 days, but that turned into 10). After a quick stop in Tequisquiapan on the way home, I finally made it back to Puebla on Saturday night. On Monday, we had the day off work to commemorate the Mexican Revolution, so I decided to head up to the Sierra Norte and visit a place called Piedras Encimadas, a valley with odd rock formations. It was amazingly cold and foggy, sensations that you actually enjoy when you live in a mild climate.

Zacatlan Workshops

One of the steps of the process of Ordenamiento (a land use zoning or classification, which is what I am doing most of work in) is a workshop to include participation from the municipalities and allow people that actually live in the area to give their opinion or concerns about the program. On December 3rd we had the 1st workshop for the Ordenamiento of the Necaxa-Laxaxalpan watershed in Zacatlan, Puebla. Zacatlan is in the Sierra Norte, or the norther, mountainous part of the state. We stopped for breakfast at a place with a great view of one of the canyons on the edge of Zacatlan.
The municipal palace was already decorated with piñatas for Christmas.

This is the banner for the workshop, which was heald in the municipal auditorium.

After a general introduction to the process of an ordenamiento and advances specific to the watershed, participants were broken up into groups based on the sector they were representing (agriculture, mining, forestry, and tourism).
While we were in the municipal auditorium, it also kinda looked like a German beer hall with this stain glass window.