Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacan

To this

The sky went from this.

Every year millions of butterflies migrate from all over North America to Michoacan, Mexico.

To this.

The forest went from this.

The Burra. 2 Shots of tequila, 20 ounce beer, shot of grenadine. Surprisingly delicious. Mom, Dad, you will both be drinking these.

The view from inside the statue's head at the top of the island.



Isla de Janitzio

Local Fishermen

Got to love a woman who does what she wants. These are some bad ass mofos:

Make sure to watch the movie!

http://www.bittenandbound.com/2008/11/24/pink-sari-gang-gulabi-gang-photos-and-video/

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

Mark Twain

A view of the city at night.

A museum we visited in Querétaro.


Literally the most sour orange I have ever tasted.

After a full week of volunteering at Centros Las Libres, I can confidently say that this really is the perfect place for me to study abroad. The women who work in the organization are confident, accountable, and efficient while balancing being caring, playful and fun. Their motivation and personal management demonstrate the potential efficacy of a non-government organization. Often with these types of organizations, holes in accountability and poor leadership lead to wasted resources, time and unsuccessful efforts. I hadn’t realized the extent of this until reading Easterly’s White Man’s Burden, which opens with the disheartening statistic that over 2.3 billion dollars have been spent over the past 5 decades on foreign aid and there is little to no correlation between this money and improvements in decreasing poverty. Fortunately, any fear I had of working with such an organization has been completely appeased. Along with the knowledge I will gain on womens rights, on working in a Latin community, and on the process of making small changes that affect big issues, the Spanish I am learning, the fun I have eating with the women and hearing them speak passionately about important issues and the friends I will make are all making my experience completely wonderful.

The other thing I realized over the week is the importance of committing to a long period of volunteer work, especially in a new community with language barriers. My first month will give me the opportunity to adjust, learn more Spanish, understand the organization and the work environment and learn the culture of Guanajuato. Then I still have 5 months to develop, carry out and see the results of a more personal project. Without this extensive amount of time, I wouldn’t be able to credibly address any of the issues facing this community. Even though I speak Spanish proficiently, I cannot speak in the language needed to address a group of women on sexual health with any semblance of authority. Even though I have researched women’s health and women’s rights, I wouldn’t be able to grasp the intricacies of this community and the factors which have lead to a culture which supports machista traditions and interactions in Guanajuato. Being here for 6 months won’t give me complete insight, but surely it will give me much more than 4-6 weeks would. I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity and this challenge.

"3/5 mujeres mexicanas han sufrido violencia intrafamiliar"

One of the many statistics I read today while working at Centro Las Libres

Climbing the Bufa

In a cave we found!

We made it to the bufa!

View of Guanajuato from the Bufa

Climbing the Bufa

One view from the top

Some random tires in a blown out part of the rock.

View halfway to the top.

The Bufa is the peak on the right.

I started work at Centro Las Libres this week! The women there are absolutely wonderful. They work in a small white house with a beautiful garden and a great view of the city. When I got to work one of the lawyers explained a lot about the current situation in Guanajuato.
*The law states that any woman in Guanajuato who becomes pregnant because of a violation can access an abortion. In practice when women have gone to court to get permission, they have been sent to jail for between a few years and 10 years for trying to “murder” their child.

*Because incest falls under a different set of laws, it does not fall under the definition of a violation. Therefore, victims of incest have no legal access to abortions.

*There are several cases of women giving birth to stillborn babies and subsequently being accused of intentionally murdering the child. We visit a group of 10 women in jail for this “crime” every week. One of them is 22 and will be in jail until she is 48.

*In regards to violence against women, Guanajuato offers the least protection of any state in Mexico. After Las muertes en Juarez hace 10 años (http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/l_lasmuertas/muerta1.htm) all of the states passed laws specifically describing the protection and resources that the government will provide for women and victims of femicide. The government in Guanajuato refused to pass such laws, stating that violence against women is no different from violence against any individual and the state should not be required to provide extra resources for women.


The organization addresses these issues among others by offering protection, legal representation, free professional counseling, educational workshops in the city and in the communities surrounding the city and a safe haven for victims of violence and sexual abuse. In the organization there are 3 lawyers, a weekly psychologist and several volunteers. My jobs this week included translating websites and e-mails sent by grant organizations in English and reading through newspapers to find and save articles about any of the issues pertaining to Centro Las Libres. In the future I will be able to help with the sexual health workshops and in organizing visits to the jail and communities outside the city. I couldn’t be more excited about everything I am about to learn!

Outside of volunteering, I love it here. How could anyone complain in a city that has $1.50 beers, $1 quesadillas and salsa dancing until 5 in the morning?

I thought it was very interesting that people involved in the inquisition first wore these white cloaks later associated with the KKK. Especially considering the KKK is anti-Catholicism




This is the location of one of the first battles for Mexican independence. Hidalgo led a group of Indigenous and Mestizo peasants to battle against the Spaniards who had turned a large stone granary into a military stronghold. The small holes in the walls of the building are from rocks thrown my the Indigenous army. The legend goes that they could not enter the fortress until el Pípila, a war hero, threw a huge bolder at the wooden doors to break them down. The army then charged the building killing all of the Spaniards inside. The fortress has since been turned into a Mexican history museum.