Patzcuaro, Michoacán

As we continue on our field trip, I would like to take you to another part of the beautiful state of Michoacán, known as Patzcuaro. Specifically I would like to take you to the island of Janitzio, located within Lake Patzcuaro.
To get to the island however, we need to take a ferry, such as this one. On the island there are many things to see and do. Upon arriving we can watch the fisherman try and catch these tiny little fish called "charales", which are fried and then eaten. They're kinda like french fries, except they're fish. The fisherman still fish the old fashioned way, the way they were taught using very large butterfly nets. Here we can see one of the fisherman dragging in his net.



Our last stop on the island of Janitzio is going to be the very large statue in the middle of the island. I'm sure many of you had noticed it on your way on to the island. The statue is of local hero Juan Morelos. The statue is approximately 130 feet high and the interior of the statue is decorated with murals .

Chichen Itza

Our final stop on our trip around Mexico are the pyramids at Chichen Itza, located deep in the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula. Chichen Itza was built by the Maya people. The Maya people are probably the best known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. They originated in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C. and rose to prominence around 250 A.D. Like the other pyramids located in Mexico, Chichen Itza was also a large city during its prominence. The largest building located there would have to be " El Castillo" , also known as The Castle in English. It is located directly in the center of all the other pyramids, as you can see on the map. It was built sometime between the 11th and 13the century as a temple to the god "Kukulcan". The pyramid itself with the temple on top is only 98 feet high, so not nearly as high as the pyramid at Teotihuacan, yet still impressive.

Chichen Itza

Lastly on our field trip we are going to visit "El Caracol", also known as the snail. This building apparently got its name from the spiral staircase located inside of it. What makes this building so intriguing is that its doors are aligned to witness the moon's greatest northern and southern declinations. The Maya people believed in their many gods, so they would create buildings such as "El Castillo" and "El Caracol" to line up with certain astrological signs in the night sky. It was because of this that make these pyramids in Mexico so interesting, because without almost no technology, these people managed to create enormous civilizations and line them up with stars in the night.

Home

This concludes our trip around the beautiful country of Mexico. Unfortunuately we didn't have enough time to see everything, which is why I encourage you to travel with your parents. It may seem boring at the time, but you never know what you might discover along the way. I hope you all enjoyed this trip as much as I have, and hopefully you may of picked up a few facts along the way. As they say in Mexico, Hasta Luego!