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“‘Where do you suppose we are?’ ‘Where do you think?’ ‘Well, I don’t remember any ruins in México’”

Cool Uncle Figure

Our history professor holding a Northwestern flag at Monte Albán

My history class during this study abroad trip has been by far one of the most meaningful history classes I have had in my life. My Mexican history has never gone more in depth than that the Spaniards colonized current day México and mixed with the indigenous people. My time studying at la Universidad Panamericana has opened my eyes to details behind the history of México from pre-Hispanic culture to current day México. Our professor is so passionate about what he teaches that it is impossible to not get excited. He brings in different artifacts to go along with the lessons such as codices (pre-Hispanic books written by indigenous people), vanilla reeds and a mecate (a rope made of horse hair) to go with our lessons regarding trade and commerce, and maps to show the growth of the city. We also went on excursions almost every Friday. The biggest was a trip to Oaxaca, a state southwest of México City. We left for Oaxaca on Thursday morning and returned to México City on Monday morning. One of the best parts is that since our history professor went with us, as much as we may have been tourists, exploring the ruins of Monte Albán, visiting a gigantic weeping willow, visiting former monasteries turned museums and Catholic churches with their doors still open, we also remained students as our professor gave us pieces of history along the way. As a bonus, he also offered fun facts along the way as he pointed out land marks like volcanoes or took us into Catholic churches to point out the intricacies in their decor. Throughout this trip, he tied together everything we had learned throughout our history course to show us the big picture of how all the lessons and their pieces of history collide.

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