Language and Culture in the Yucatán Peninsula

Spend 2 weeks at the beach, exploring Mayan ruins, Gods and pyramids, as well as colonial history in the cities of Mérida and Valladolid.

Take a boat ride through a biosphere where exotic species of birds exist; swim in an ancient underground lake; and enjoy a theme park with a Mayan twist.

You’ll never forget these experiences, and you’ll never have a better way to be immersed in Spanish—sure beats sitting in a class!

Study Spanish through immersion in the Mexican culture, and see first-hand the spectacular art and monumental architecture of Mayan and Aztec civilizations. In this program, students will spend approximately 3 hours each day in class meetings, including on Saturdays and Sundays, with a 9:00-12:30 schedule. Topics covered in the classes will include grammar, communication and culture, with varying kinds of practical exercises, written and oral.

Besides daily classes, students will have about 4 hours of required class group activity: guided visits to sites of cultural, historic or artistic importance, as well as student presentations on site related to various cultural topics in the places we will be visiting during our stay in Mexico. All of the information needed for these presentations and activities will be available either in information students receive before the program begins or in México. The objective of these activities is to acquire a better knowledge about México and its historical context, and the way of life of its people, as well as their customs and traditions, all of which will help students to communicate better in Spanish.

SPANISH 201. Intermediate I. A course designed to help students develop skills in speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing in Spanish, and apply these skills in a context that recognizes and explores the particularities of Spanish and Latin American cultures. Prerequisite: Spanish 102 or an appropriate placement test score. Followed by Spanish 202. 3 credits. (Satisfies Goal 10 and Waives Goal 9)

SPANISH 202. Intermediate II. Students will continue to develop the skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing at a higher level, integrating a wide variety of topics and materials from the target culture. Prerequisite: SPAN 201 or appropriate placement test score. Successful completion of this course satisfies the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree and is prerequisite for upper-level courses. 3 credits. (Satisfies Goal 10 and Waives Goal 9)

Successful completion of this program waives Longwood University's Goal 9 (as an "approved international experience"), in addition to satisfying Goal 10

Mandatory Pre-travel Sessions:
You are expected to keep the following dates clear on your calendar. If you cannot attend one or more sessions, you must talk to prof. Sánchez in advance.

October 18, 2007: 3:30 pm (Grainger 322)
INFO MEETING January 29, 3:30 pm (Grainger 322)

Inability or failure to attend pre- travel classes or orientations may affect your participation and course grades

$2,650 Program Price Includes:
*Round-trip Airfare Richmond-Mérida / Cancún-Richmond
*All transportation in Mexico
*Accommodations in 3-star/superior hotels
*2 meals per day
*Excursions, visits and tours
*Medical insurance (ISIC card)
*Longwood University transcript
**(Tuition is not included in the above cost; you will receive a separate bill for tuition.)

$650 deposit due February 15, 2008
Other important deadlines:
March 7: $1,000 payment
April 10: $1,000 payment

Make checks payable to Longwood University

Take payment form to Office of Cashiering, Lancaster
**Please write Mexico Account number #82085 on form

Cultural and Historic Highlights

MERIDA: City Tour (Governor’s Palace, Cathedral, Altar of the Fatherland),

IK-KIL: Cenote (swimming)

UXMAL: Mayan Ruins Tour (Pyramid of the Magician, Nunnery Quadrangle, Ball Court, Governor’s Palace, Great Pyramid, Dovecote)

CHICHEN-ITZA: Ruins Tour (El Castillo Pyramid, Main Ball Court, North Temple, Temple of Jaguars, Temple of the Skulls, Platform of the Eagle, Platform of Venus,

Sacred Cenote, Temple of the Warriors, Tomb of the High Priest, Observatory, Temple of Panels)

COBA: Ruins tour on Bicycles (Coba Group, Nohoch Mul Group, Conjunto Las Group)

Today we take our scheduled flight to Cancun or Merida. Upon our arrival, our English-speaking guide will meet us at the airport and we will transfer by private bus to our hotel in Merida.

DAY 2 LANGUAGE CLASS & MERIDA

This morning we have language learning with Professor Sanchez. After a break for lunch

we will take a Guided City Tour of Mérida, which will include a visit to the Governor's Palace, where we can admire the paintings by Fernando Castro Pacheco. Next we walk across the main square to visit the Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in Latin America. Our city tour concludes with a scenic drive along the Paseo de Montejo with it's magnificent mansions, before viewing the Altar of the Fatherland, a magnificent monument and an ideal spot for a photograph. We also visit the Teatro Peón Contreras, an opulent theater designed by Italian architect Enrico Deserti a century ago. The theater is noted for its Carrara marble staircase and frescoed dome.

DAY 3 LANGUAGE CLASS & IK-KIL CENOTE

This morning we attend our Spanish Language Classes. This afternoon after lunch we travel to the Ik-Kil Cenote, a natural underground lake where we will have a chance to swim and cool off from the heat, before returning to Merida. This evening we have a typical Yucatan Dinner, featuring foods local to the region.

This morning we attend our Spanish Language Classes. After our classes we will enjoy lunch in the center of Merida’s main square, before we continue with a visit to the Hacienda Yaxcopoil. A henequen plantation surrounds the house, and the mansion is now a museum with a fascinating insight into life on a hacienda. We will also receive insight into the growing of the natural fiber, which made the area so wealthy in the Colonial Period.

This morning we attend our Spanish Language Classes. This afternoon we will take a tour of the Mayan ruin site of Uxmal. Our visit will include: the remarkable Pyramid of the Magician, which is unique because of its rounded sides, height, and steepness, and the doorway with heavy ornamentation, a characteristic of the Chenes style, features 12 stylized masks of the rain god Chaac; the Nunnery Quadrangle, which resembled a Spanish convent and was possibly a military academy or a training school for princes, who may have lived in the 70-odd rooms; the partially restored Ball Court, including the Turtle House, a little temple decorated with colonnade motif on the facade and a border of turtles; the Governor's Palace, an imposing three-level edifice with a long mosaic facade done in the Puuc style and 103 stone masks of Chaac that undulate across the facade like a serpent and end at the corners, where there are columns of masks; the Great Pyramid, a massive, partially restored nine-level structure, with interesting motifs of birds on its facade, as well as a huge mask; and the Dovecote, a small building with a lacy roof comb that looks like the perfect apartment complex for pigeons. On Thursday nights, performers present Yucatecan songs and poems in Parque Santa Lucía which you can attend for free.

DAY 6 LANGUAGE CLASSES & DZIBILCHALTUN

This morning we attend our Spanish Language Classes. Our afternoon commences with a guided tour of the Museum of Anthropology in Merida, followed by a visit to the ancient city of Dzibilchaltun, with ruins dating as far back as 500 BC. Dzibilchaltun was a great urban center for the Yucatan, and flourished for almost 2000 years, it covers over 17 square kilometers and contains an estimated 8,000 structures, the most striking of which is the Temple of the Seven Dolls, named for the offering of seven clay dolls in human form found inside. We will also have the opportunity to swim in the Cenote, a natural turquoise pool within the location. We return to Merida for the evening.

DAY 7 PROGRESSO BEACH & CELESTUN

This morning we travel to the coast to enjoy time at Progreso Beach. We will have the opportunity to swim, or explore the stone pier, which is one of the longest in the world and is used to transport people from the cruise ships that arrive at this location. After lunch at a local restaurant by your own expense, we travel to Celestun, a national biosphere, where many of the most exotic species of Yucatan birds exist together. We will take a Boat Ride to view the beautiful and unique pink flamingos in their natural habitat, and cruise through the dense mangroves that surround this biosphere. This evening we return to Merida, where we can listen and watch a local cultural music or dance performance in one of Merida’s beautiful squares.

DAY 8 MERIDA - EK-BALAM - VALLADOLID (3 NIGHTS)

Leaving the town of Merida we travel to the spectacular and recently excavated Maya ruins at Ek Balam, which, owing to a certain ambiguity in Mayan, means either "dark jaguar" or "star jaguar." Relatively unvisited by tourists, the Ek Balam ruins have been undergoing extensive renovation; More than any of the better-known sites, Ek Balam inspires a sense of mystery and awe at the scale of Maya civilization and the utter ruin to which it came. Built between 100 BC and AD 1200, the smaller buildings are architecturally unique, especially the large, perfectly restored Caracol. The principal buildings in the main group have been reconstructed beautifully and two small pyramids flank the imposing central pyramid (at more than 100 ft. high, it is easily taller than the highest pyramids in Chichén Itzá and Uxmal). On the left side of the main stairway, archaeologists have uncovered a large ceremonial doorway of perfectly preserved stucco and stonework. The doorway represents the gaping mouth of the Earth god. Those that choose can climb to the top of the pyramid and view unrestored ruins to the north, and the tallest structures at Cobá, to the southeast. We will continue into central Valladolid and the main square, the social center of town and a thriving market for the prettiest Yucatan dresses anywhere.

DAY 9 LANGUAGE CLASS & GRUTAS DE BALAMKANCHE
This morning we resume our Spanish Language Classes. After lunch, your afternoon offers a guided tour of the Grutas de Balamkanche, huge caves discovered in 1959. Maya artifacts found here suggest that this was a place of worship as early as 300 BC, dedicated to the rain god Chac. We will be able to view some of the Maya objects still in situ, which include miniature corn-grinding stones and decorated incense burners.

DAY 10 LANGUAGE CLASS & CHICHEN ITZA

Today we commence with Spanish Language Classes and in the afternoon explore the ruins at Chichén Itzá, which has two parts: the northern zone, which shows distinct Toltec influence, and the southern zone, with mostly Puuc architecture. Our visit will include: the El Castillo Pyramid, built with the Maya calendar in mind, as the four stairways leading up to the central platform each have 91 steps, making a total of 364, which when you add the central platform equals the 365 days of the solar year; the Main Ball Court, the largest and best preserved anywhere, with Carvings of scenes showing Maya figures dressed as ball players and decked out in heavy protective padding; the North Temple, with sculptured pillars, as well as badly ruined murals; the Temple of Jaguars, a small temple with serpent columns and carved panels showing warriors and jaguars; the Temple of the Skulls, an obvious borrowing from the post-Classic cities of central Mexico; the Platform of the Eagle, a small platform with reliefs showing eagles and jaguars clutching human hearts in their talons and claws, as well as a human head emerging from the mouth of a serpent; the Platform of Venus, also called the tomb of Chaac-Mool because a Chaac-Mool figure was discovered "buried" within the structure; the Sacred Cenote, the great natural well that may have given Chichén Itzá its name, which was used for ceremonial purposes; the Temple of the Warriors, named for the carvings of warriors marching along its walls, also called the Group of the Thousand Columns for the rows of broken pillars that flank it; the Tomb of the High Priest; the Observatory, a complex building with a circular tower, whose modifications reflected the Maya's careful observation of celestial movements and their need for increasingly exact measurements; and the Temple of Panels, the ruins of a steam bath named for the carved panels on top.

This morning we resume our Spanish Language Classes. During the afternoon we visit the ruins at Cobá ("water stirred by wind"), one of the most intriguing cities built by the Maya in the Yucatán. An important city-state, Cobá flourished from A.D. 632 until after the flourishing of Chichén Itzá, around 800, at which time Cobá slowly faded in importance and population until it was finally abandoned.

Scholars believe Cobá was an important trade link between the Yucatán Caribbean coast and inland cities. We will Rent Bikes at the site and take a guided tour of the excavated portion of the city, which is greatly spread out. Our tour will begin with the Coba Group, and include: an impressive pyramid, the Temple of the Church; the ruined juego de pelota (ball court); the visible remains of the sacbé (Elevated Maya Road) to Yaxuná; and intricately carved stelae by pathways. Next we visit the Nohoch Mul Group, including El Castillo one the tallest pyramids in the Yucatán, where we can climb to the top for great views of the unexcavated jungle-covered pyramidal structures poking up through the forest all around. Next we explore the Conjunto Las Pinturas, where the main attraction is the Pyramid of the Painted Lintel, a small structure with traces of its original bright colors above the door. We continue to Playa del Carmen, a beach town that is perfect for enjoying the simple pleasures of a seaside

Today after your Spanish Language Class we visit Xcaret, an ecological and archaeological theme park, which is one of the area's most popular tourist attractions. Xcaret celebrates Mother Nature, and the jungle setting and palm-lined beaches are beautiful. Once past the entrance booths (built to resemble small Maya temples), pathways meander around bathing coves, the snorkeling lagoon, and the remains of a group of real Maya temples. We'll have access to swimming beaches, marked palm-lined pathways, a wild-bird breeding aviary, a charro exhibition a botanical garden and nursery; a sea turtle nursery that releases the turtles after their first year; a pavilion showcasing regional butterflies and a tropical aquarium where visitors can touch underwater creatures such as manta rays, starfish, and octopi. Another attraction at Xcaret is a replica of the ancient Maya game pok-ta-pok, where six "warriors" bounce around a 9-pound ball with their hips.

This morning we attend our final Spanish Language Classes. We will enjoy our lunch then explore the Tulum Archeological Site, a Maya fortress-city overlooking the Caribbean. By A.D. 900, the end of the Classic period, Maya civilization had begun its decline, and the large cities to the south were abandoned. Tulum is one of the small city-states that rose to fill the void, and came to prominence in the 13th century as a seaport, controlling maritime commerce along this section of the coast. The most imposing building in Tulum is a large stone structure above the cliff called the Castillo, which was a temple, as well as a fortress. In front of the Castillo are several unrestored palace-like buildings partially covered with stucco.

DAY 14 FREE DAY

DAY 15 DEPARTURE FROM CANCUN

For more information:
Laura Sánchez sanchezl@longwood.edu
Grainger 312 (434) 395-2995

Mandatory Pre-travel Sessions: You are expected to keep the following dates clear on your calendar. If you cannot attend one or more sessions, you must talk to prof. Sánchez in advance.