{"id":195,"date":"2018-09-11T17:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T17:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=195"},"modified":"2019-04-24T18:17:43","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T18:17:43","slug":"summer2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/summer\/summer2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2018 Ethnographic Field Study in Oaxaca, Mexico<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In summer 2018, seven SDSU undergraduate students majored in Foods and Nutrition (3), Sustainability (2), Environmental Science (1), and Chemistry (1) completed a two-week ethnographic field study in Oaxaca Mexico.<\/p>\n

June 22<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We crossed the US-Mexico border and took off from the\u00a0Tijuana International Airport for Oaxaca.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Crossing the border<\/em><\/p>\n

June 23<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The SOULA group landed in Oaxaca City and visited Monte Alb\u00e1n, one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica. The students explored the magnificent ruins and learned about the history of this ancient socio-political and economic center of the Zapotec civilization.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Monte\u00a0Alb\u00e1n archeological site<\/em><\/p>\n

June 24<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We visited the\u00a0Tlacolula Sunday market to document the local produce and food products and observe how the vendors interact with customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tortillas on a comal<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Local fruits<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students buying chapulines<\/em><\/p>\n

Following the\u00a0Tlacolula market safari, students visited Mitla, the Zapotec religious center. We admired the unique, intricate mosaic designs of the buildings and learned about the rise and fall of this ancient city.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Palace at Mitla<\/em><\/p>\n

June 25<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The group traveled to the Ixpantepec Nieves, an indigenous Mixtec community, where the students lived and worked alongside farmers and their families for four days. On June 25 evening, two farmers gave a lecture on corn seeds and soils.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Maestra Angelina (left) giving the group a tour of the community<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The soil lesson<\/em><\/p>\n

June 26<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Students learned how to identify, collect, and cook wild greens in the morning. In the afternoon, they worked with a farmer in a milpa field.\u00a0The farmer taught the students the technique of\u00a0tilling the soil with an oxen-driven plow and the Mixtec method of planting the corn, bean, and squash seeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Collecting wild greens<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cooking lesson<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students driving yunta and planting seeds<\/em><\/p>\n

June 27<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The SOULA group was introduced to the nixtamalization of corn and its nutritional significance. Students practiced grinding with a metate to make salsa and masa and enjoyed the delicious tortillas.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cooking corn seeds in limewater<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Grinding the nixtamalized corn seeds into masa<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Making tortillas<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students enjoying tortillas made by themselves<\/em><\/p>\n

In the afternoon, students hiked to the foothill of the community and investigated the use of irrigation by farmers who have access to the water source. They also visited a water reservoir established in the community for rainwater collection.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Left: Dr. Larom and students checking a water sprinkler in the milpa field; Right: Dr. Larom and Trevor hiking to the water reservoir<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Water reservoir for rainwater collection<\/em><\/p>\n

June 28 – June 29<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The group traveled back to Oaxaca City on June 28 and took a chocolate tasting and learning tour of\u00a0Oaxaca’s various markets and chocolatiers on June 29.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chocolate atole, a traditional Mesoamerican hot chocolate drink with red (left) and white(right) cacao in the background<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tejate, a traditional Oaxacan cold chocolate drink<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students enjoying tejate\u00a0in\u00a0the Benito Ju\u00e1rez Market<\/em><\/p>\n

June 30<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Students took a cooking class, in which they shopped for local food ingredients and learned how to cook in the Oaxacan way.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Shopping in the market<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Genesis making chocolate<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Jesus cooking beef “tripe”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aubrey and <\/em>Yazley\u00a0decorating tortilla<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shruti toasting chapulines and chicatanas<\/em><\/p>\n

July 1<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Students explored the beautiful city of Oaxaca.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oaxaca city sign in front of the\u00a0Church of Santo Domingo de Guzm\u00e1n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Inside of the church<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fountain in the\u00a0Cultural Centre of Oaxaca<\/em><\/p>\n

July 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The SOULA group returned to the Ixpantepec Nieves and stayed for three days. On July 2 evening, two farmers gave a lecture on fertilizers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The fertilizer lesson<\/em><\/p>\n

July 3<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Don Juan gave a horticulture lesson to the SOULA group. The students toured his garden full of apple, avocado, banana, fig, papaya, peach, pomegranate, and plum trees.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students in Don Juan’s garden<\/em><\/p>\n

In the afternoon, students weeded in Don Juan’s milpa field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students weeding in the milpa field<\/em><\/p>\n

Students learned how to cook with the seeds of huaje<\/em>, the tree Oaxaca derives its name from.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Splitting the huaje pod<\/em><\/p>\n

July 4<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the morning, students learned how to cook pozole<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pozole soup<\/em><\/p>\n

In the afternoon, students prepared a milpa field for the second tillage. We investigated the erosion problem in the community. Don Juan explained his erosion management experiments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students working in the milpa field<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The community suffers from erosion<\/em><\/p>\n

July 5 – July 6<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The group traveled back to Oaxaca City on July 5 and took a mezcal tour on July 6.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Various agave hearts for mezcal production<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The SOULA group in front of a pit oven<\/em><\/p>\n

July 7<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The group took a ceramics class on July 7.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ceramics class<\/em><\/p>\n

July 8<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Summer Field School was concluded. We left the beautiful Oaxaca City and returned to San Diego.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer 2018 Ethnographic Field Study in Oaxaca, Mexico In summer 2018, seven SDSU undergraduate students majored in Foods and Nutrition (3), Sustainability (2), Environmental Science (1), and Chemistry (1) completed a two-week ethnographic field study in Oaxaca Mexico. June 22 We crossed the US-Mexico border and took off from the\u00a0Tijuana International Airport for Oaxaca. Crossing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":192,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-195","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions\/345"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soula.sdsu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}