Final Week: Despedidas y Fiesta!

Two weeks ago, the UVM Oaxaca Study Abroad Program 2016 wound down to a fin, and reality sunk in that it was time to head back North of the border. Many students embarked on their journey home the day after the program ended, and some invited their parents down for a week of adventures and vacation to show them the Oaxacan ropes. 

But before the big despedida, students had some classes to finish up! Arts and Sciences focused on their trip to La Mixteca and La Costa by creating videos that represented the essence of the trip and their Music of Anthropology class. The videos concentrated on student interviews, the history and identity of the regional music, and of course highlighted the different sounds and rhythms that they experienced on the trip. They then presented the videos at Prof. Sergio Navarrete's house, and they were quite impressive productions! Here is a small taste of the videos:

Food Systems and Global Health tracks finished up with Dr. Jean Harvey by taking a trip to PUENTE, which focuses on "farming, consumption, and commercialization of amaranth" which provides resources and nutrition to poor farmers and families of Oaxacan communities. You can visit their website here for more information:

Puente Oaxaca

Source: http://www.puentemexico.org

Saturday before the program ended, we finished up with a fiesta at SURCO, where there were final reflections of the program, the study abroad experience, gifts, great music and dancing, and of course lots of food from the Isthmus and Central Valley regions of Oaxaca! Here are some pictures of the festivities:

Thank you to all of the students and organizations we worked with for an incredible semester of learning from each other, living, your extremely hard work throughout the semester, and experiencing Oaxaca to the fullest. We appreciate your participation and knowledge so much, and look forward to seeing you return to Oaxaca sometime in the (near?) future!

Abrazos!

- The In-Country Crew :)