...museums

The city of Guanajuato is the capital of the state of Guanajuato. It is home to a university and many museums. It is a sister city to Ashland, Oregon. Here are some of the places we were able to visit in our free time:

Museum of the Mummies: This was rather creepy. Not my favorite place at all, but had my photo taken there to prove to my students that I had gone. When I visited with parents at conferences the week before our trip every person I told that I was going to Guanajuato said, "Oh the mummies! You have to see the mummies." OK, I've seen them. I won't go again.

Alfred Duges Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Gto: This was an interesting museum with a large variety of animals. We were surprised we were allowed to take pictures.

The Museo Iconografico de Quijote was delightful. We were allowed to take pictures in the courtyards but not in the galleries. There was a wide range of work all relating to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. When I Googled this to get information on why Guanajuato is connected to Cervantes I didn't get much.

The Diego Rivera Museum is located in the house where Diego was born. He lived in Gto as a very young boy. The downstairs rooms are set up as a home would have been during the time he lived there, and the upper floors are a gallery of some of his paintings and sketches.

We also visited the Alhondiga de Granaditas Regional Museum but would have had to pay extra to use our cameras. Since I had the cash flow problem of not being able to withdraw any money from the bank machines and David was paying my way into all the museums, we didn't pay the extra. We did ask a young man a simple question about the doors and he gave a wonderful history of the entire building. This picture is of the walkway leading up to the entrance. There were many vendors there selling all kinds of trinkets.

...playing hookie

I didn't really play hookie today, but it sure felt like it. I got to wear shorts, linger over a wonderful lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and hang out with a fun group of kids. The club that I advise took a field trip to Pendleton where we explored a couple of museums and toured the underground. We had planned on touring the Pendleton Woolen Mills as well, but time got away from us. No one seemed to mind. We did, however, have time to stop at DQ for ice cream on our way out of town. It was a very good day. We all enjoyed the TCI--it's a good little museum with many artifacts of the native peoples from this area. And the underground tour is always a surprise to kids--they had no idea it existed. But museums like the Heritage that show old household and farming items? M'eh. I finally figured it out--while I walk around exclaiming at the things on display that my grandparents used, they're noticing things that are still in use today in rural Mexico!


Tamastlikt Cultural Institute
Heritage Station Museum
Pendleton Underground Tours