A lot has happened since the last post, 3 weeks ago. When I last left off we were in the City of Puebla, since then we have traveled through numerous sites, a few towns, cities, and ultimately landed in Mexico City.
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| A rap circle in the plaza, the bellas artes are spreading! |
During our travels we would eat breakfast at the hotel around 7:30 and start our day by driving or walking to where we would be drawing for the day, it would vary from being just outside the hotel to several hours away. On our way to a new city or town we would stop somewhere along the way to draw, such as the abandoned mining town of Mineral De Pozos, this happened several times.
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| (Above) The Long Furnace of Mineral De Pozos. |
A river once ran through the mountains and terrain, it flooded often and destructively. After being diverted to the subterranean. The riverbed was paved and a road replaced it, this currently acts as the only main road in and out of the city.
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| (Above) Street art from a tunnel in Guanajuato. |
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| (Above) Drawings from the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato. |
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| (Above) View from the Monumento al Piplia Guanajuato. |
Our trip, although rigorously academic in nature is peppered with lessons of life (they’re free on this trip!) and opportunities to variously infuse our experiences with exciting flavors. To list these situations would diminish their uniqueness. To hopefully satisfy – think - a month of frequent uncomfortable situations. A majority of the time you can only relate through being Human.
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| (Above) 10 Pesos for pictures with the mummies! |
Finally, we arrived in Mexico City, after almost a month on the road we can unpack without thinking of how if all fits back together in the morning! To top the relief of unpacking, Mexico upset Germany the next morning in the World Cup. For the first few days we explored the Centro Historico. The buildings in this area span many generations. From when Mexico City was known as the City of Palaces to structures such as the Torre Latinoamericano and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. One of these first nights was magically spent around the Angel of Independence, I highly recommend a quick Google search as I was unable to capture it well.
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| (Above) View from the top of the Torre Latinoamericano. |
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| (Above) Aztec sculpture at a street corner in the Centro Historico. |
As the week progressed we moved throughout small parts of the modern massive city. We spent our days at Biblioteca’s, Hotels, Museums, Cathedrals, Housing Projects and the Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera house in San Angel.
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| (Above) Museo Soumaya. |
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| (Above) Biblioteca Vasconselos. |
The official start of our studio class was about a week ago now. It has been filled with satisfying work as we split into site model and analysis groups. Friday afternoon came and we had a few critics from the United States and Mexico City to view the work! The project will be worked through over the next 5 weeks, we will have two regular critics with a visitor every now and then!
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| (Above) Group site analysis for the first week of studio. |
Yesterday we spent our morning at Teotihuacan and finished the afternoon at la Villa de Guadalupe. Two pilgrimage sites near each other, both have massive importance in the development of the country today. Creating an interesting comparison between the ancient and modern country.
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| (Above) Looking at the image of Guadalupe from below. |
As we prepare for a relaxing day after a long week of hard work we wait, both here and in the United States for the Mexican Presidential election outcome…
-Bryan Murren
P.S.
It’s been a busy week since the above text was written. As I work through editing it, I believe it’s only right to provide an update. After a long Friday at the Universidad Iberoamericana my sister and mother met me at their hotel, they were visiting for the 3 day free weekend. That night we dove straight in to the heart of Mexico at the Luchador, the arena filled quickly with chanting, drama, and frequent booing. The day after consisted of a trip to the Luis Barragan house and studio, a few hours at the San Angel market and an afternoon in the Centro Historico. Yesterday, their last full day started with a visit to the Torre Latinoamericano, the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia filled the middle of the day and we ended the day watching the Folkloric Ballet at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, not too far from the Torre. Being able to share such a wonderful experience with family was a blessing.
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Bryan is spending the 2018 summer term in Mexico with our U of A Faculty-Led: Latin America Urban Studio program.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
Bryan is spending the 2018 summer term in Mexico with our U of A Faculty-Led: Latin America Urban Studio program.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
