Greetings from Mexico!
This past weekend was an incredible experience. We went to the Piedra Herrera Santuary, the winter resting place for monarch butterflies. It is extremely excluded and protected from human contact and there were over 200,000 butterflies in the air and on the trees. When the butterflies all began to fly, it sounded like several thousand leaves were falling; it was breathtaking.
Next, we visited the city of Toluca, which holds the worlds largest stain glass window exhibit, named Cosmovitral. It’s an incorporation of the Mexican cosmovision that describes the duality between male and female, the connection between humans and nature, and the struggle of humans to choose light over darkness and to get ahead in the world. It was a powerful display and we arrived just as the sun was setting, cascading warm light throughout the exhibit.
The following day, we visited the Nevado de Toluca, a dormant volcano that stands at an impressive 15,390 ft. It was quite a hike to get to the summit, but it was completely worth it.
I got my snow after all!
– AnnMarie Eliason
*AnnMarie Eliason ’13 is a social work major with a Latino studies concentration. She is studying abroad in Mexico for second semester.