Classes and Museums

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Hola!
Well I have now been in Guanajuato for 3 weeks - which is just crazy! Time already feels like it is going by very quickly! Last Monday I started my classes. I like them all, and the professors are all really awesome. I have Literature of Latin America, Conversation, and Grammar. I start at 8 and am done by 12 so I really like the schedule. Not too much homework yet, so I really like that as well.
We also started salsa dancing classes last week! It is sooooo much fun, even though I'm really not good at all. We have classes, which are free, twice a week. Lots and lots of fun. One time I had a Mexican partner who helps out with the class, and it was pretty awesome having a partner who knew what he was doing. Made me feel like I could actually dance!
On Saturday we toured museums here in Guanajuato. We started at the Museum of the Mummies. The oldest mummies are from the 1860's, when it was necessary to dig them up from the cemetery to make room for more bodies. (Bodies are continually dug up, as people here have to pay for plots in the ground, and usually cannot afford it after a few years. )But, instead of finding skeletons, they discovered that the bodies had mummified. This happens because of the minerals in the soil and the extremely dry atmosphere that combines to preserve the bodies in this way. (According to some scientists anyway...others cannot find an explanation) It was interesting to see, but definitely a little strange at the same time. The museum has the smallest mummy in the world, which is a small fetus. I'm not sure the story behind it, but is displayed with a pregnant woman. Again, interesting, but strange.
Next we went to a museum called Hacienda del Cochero, which dates back to the 17th century, and displays torture instruments used during the Spanish Inquisition. If you've ever seen the "Saw" movies, there were torture things just like in these movies. Things where people would be stretched, heads cut off, and whipped and just tortured in any way imaginiable. Pretty sick to look at and think about.
From there we headed to a silver mine. It was pretty cool to go down into, and nice to finally see something that wasn't so morbid. This part of Mexico is really known for it's mining - particularly for silver, but also for gold, nickel, lead, etc.
This weekend I spent a lot of time with my family, which is always fun. On Saturday I went out with my host brother, Jesus, and his friends. It was nice to do something different and hang out with locals and speak Spanish all night. We went to the "elite" night club here in Guanajuato. It was like nothing I have ever seen before - like a club that you see in the movies, and just huge. The kind where there is a possibility you get rejected at the door, either because you don't know people or because you're not dressed right. It's that elite. But I had a lot of fun.
Not much else going on this week - just classes, more salsa dancing, and more tours of museums in Guanajuato this weekend. I also get to go to a wedding with my family which I'm very excited about! I also finally received my laptop, after it had been stuck in customs for a week. Yay! This means I am about to upload pictures... 😊
Lots of love! Adios!
P.S. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger and look at them all at once.

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Photos

Mummies!
Not a great picture...as they are behind glass...but you get the idea...lots of mummies.

Baby mummy
Pretty sad...There were a bunch of cases with little mummies like this one.

Hacienda del Colchero
torture chair....

More Torture
The basin would contain water and the person would be spun around.

to lighten the mood
My friend, Tim, and me.

Silver Mine
Going down into the silver mine.

Valenciana
Church next to the silver mine...also right next to the school where I take my class with Mexican students.

Comments

[Cindy Stolp]

Eeeewwwww!!!!
Hola! So, I guess my previous comment on how beautiful your photos were, doesn't really apply to these...freaky!! It reminded me of when I was a little girl, and there used to be a couple of mummies in the basement of the Minneapolis Public Library in downtown Mpls. They scared the heck out of me...but I still just had to see them every time we went there! Very interesting information to go along with the photos (exhuming the bodies, etc.). Let's see; you have about 280 more photos to post, right? :-) I can't wait to see them, even if they are macabre! Adios, mi poco bailarín de la salsa! Cindy

[Kelsey]

Where do the mummies go?
What do they do with the bodies they dig up after people can't pay for them? :-/