This summer, 12 students and two faculty members are traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico to immerse themselves in the culture and language of Oaxaca, Mexico and develop their conversational fluency and understanding of daily life in Mexico by living with Oaxacan families and attending class at the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez. Please enjoy this blog post from Aidenne ’26 where she shares how an unexpectedly early bus set the tone for a memorable day filled with Spanish poetry, Oaxacan history, and hands-on creativity painting alebrijes in the village of Arrazola.
¡Hola todos!
As per usual, we started our day with Spanish classes from 9-12, following a brief panic among myself, Luca ‘26, and Daisy ‘26, upon realizing that our go-to bus, “Ruta 10” was speeding away at a strangely early 8:24 (usually, the bus arrives after 8:30, but we’ve found that the buses can be a bit inconsistent). We struggled in vain to catch up to the bus, which heartlessly drove away. Luckily, another bus heading to a similar location came along and we made it to school with still ten minutes to spare!
From 9-12, I attend a very small class, “Mexican Culture and Civilization,” with Julie ‘26, which, due to our Spanish level (we come from Spanish 5 Honors), is essentially a history/ethnic studies class taught in Spanish. Today, we discussed our thoughts about Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz, read some Spanish poetry, and learned about Benito Juárez, the first indigenous president of Mexico–he was also from Oaxaca.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed delicious tortas (sandwiches) on our way to Arrazola Village, where we visited the home of the late Manuel Jiménez, creator of the first wooden “alebrijes”. Though Manuel Jiménez passed away in 2005, his son, Isaías, has been maintaining the home and mini-museum of his father’s artistic achievements. Isaías enthusiastically explained to us the story of how Señor Jiménez came to such artistic prominence–Señor Jiménez started working on a hacienda with his father at only eight years old, but quit at 12 years old to pursue his artistic dream, and worked countless jobs on his way to becoming a successful artist–and even when he finally managed to sell his first “alebrije”, he only earned two pesos. Of course, since then, Señor Jiménez became quite successful, and making alebrijes became a family tradition/business. Isaías also explained to us how he had turned down a total of five generous offers from foundations, both Mexican and foreign, who were seeking to buy the house from him in order to create their own museum about Manuel Jiménez–instead, Isaías prioritized owning the house and being able to pass on every part of his father’s legacy to his children.
After the tour through the little museum, our group went outside to paint our own alebrijes! As we created our own colorful creatures, we admired many dogs and cats walking around the house/lawn. Everyone’s creations turned out so beautifully.
¡Hasta luego!
