Sadly our year has ended and we are all making our way back to the states :(

Thanks for all the help and encouragement, we are all going to miss little Juventino Rosas. Attached is the picture we printed, framed and gave our many hosts in Juventino before we left.

Zacatecas

This past weekend we traveled to the old mining town of Zacatecas where the majority of Mexico´s silver comes from. We climed La Bufa (a mountain overlooking the city) and then took the teleferico down to an old mine where we witnessed the depths and caverns where men would work 15-18 hr days at around 115 degree temperatures. The city is also known for its colonial architecture and beautiful cathedral pictured on the right.

Time of the Rain

The summer is the time of rain in Guanajuato and as a result the roads have become even worse which is a feat we thought impossible. The fields are flooded and everyone retreats inside from around 4pm until the rain stops.

One of the communities we visited last week is called Rosillo and is pictured above with our fantastic pickup truckthe padre loaned us.

Fiesta 4 de Julio

We had a large celebration to honor our nation´s independence day and share some very american traditions with our mexican friends. We required eveyone to come in red, white and blue, we facepainted, ate watermelon, grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, loaded the place with little american flags and banned tequila. It was a large success and if only we had been able to find some fireworks I think we would have felt like we were home.

San Jose de las Pilas

Today we finished our time in the booming San Jose de las Pilas. We had to take a 1hr siesta for a special kindergarten graduation mass that the community had. the best part was that after the mass the kids were dressed up and preformed some dances in front of their school. It was fun to watch the little guys run around without much rhythm or care for what they were supposed to be doing.

We are also sad to say goodbye to melissa and joseph who head back to the US on Saturday :(