Queretaro, Mexico: Sierra Gorda/ Mr. Calderon Goes to Queretaro

Wow, so this past week has been pretty busy and I haven't had a chance to update with my weekend trip to the Sierra Gorda (which was Jan. 30-Feb 2). In all honesty, I cannot describe all of the things I saw in the Sierra Gorda because words do not do justice for nature's beauty here in Queretaro. Nevertheless, I'll share a few anecdotes to go with the pictures and talk about a few other things that have been going on recently as well.

After flip-flopping between Mexico City, Guanajuato, and the beach, five of us (me, David, Jacob, and the other two Katies) decided to make a trek out into the Sierra Gorda of Queretaro. The Sierra Gorda is a pretty spectacular place, though it isn't necessarily just one place – it's a series of towns and natural wonders within the state of Queretaro (and stretching into a few other parts of Mexico as well). What is so incredibly amazing about the Sierra Gorda is that it really is a piece of land that has distinct ecosystems all next to each other – desert next to green, piney forests…piney forests next to the jungle. At first, I didn't believe our guide when he said that we would, out of nowhere, be in the middle of a forest after driving a couple hours through the desert, but low and behold, we could see the line between the desert and the forest driving on the mountain highway. It was breathtaking to suddenly leave behind the nothingness of the desert and stand smack dab in the middle of a forest without warning – the pictures really speak for themselves. During our trip through the Sierra Gorda, we stopped at Cuatro Palos (a pueblo of 60 people) to look at the view in the mountains, El Chuveje (a gorgeous waterfall in the middle of the forest), Las Adjuntas (the site where two rivers of different degrees of freezing join…we swam in both rivers at the same time!), the Millennium Tree (which is over 500 years old and looks it too), and 18th century Franciscan missions of Jalpan and Conca. I don't have the words or the space to even begin to describe, so check out the link to the pictures:
http://s439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/katons8/?action=view¤t=408dc276.pbr

The ultimate destination of our trek through the Sierra Gorda was a small town called Jalpan, where there still stands to this day an 18th century mission built by the native Americans and the Franciscan monks who journeyed across the Sierra Gorda to evangelize. The most famous of these evangelical monks, and the one who did most of the work, was Fray Junípero Serra. Although I do get a little angry at how history unfolded in regards to the imposition of religion on indigenous peoples, the work of Fray Serra is something to be admired. Not only did Junípero Serra walk the entire distance from Mexico City to the Sierra Gorda, in the mountains and desert without the aid of any horses or carriages, but he also succeeded where the Jesuits and other missionaries failed – he peacefully converted thousands of native Mexicans to Christianity and with their help, built some of the most beautiful missionary churches the world has seen. The facades of the missions are truly a miracle because not only did the indigenous peoples have to create a material that could withstand the elements and still be easy to mold and sculpt, but they also created a structure akin to European cathedrals without any formal training in European art or architecture. As these pictures show, these facades are just as beautiful as the facades of the greatest cathedrals in Europe. As Katie R. put it, there is nothing quite like the man-made beauty of the missions and the natural beauty of the Sierra Gorda together.

The weekend trip came to an end too quickly, but such is life when you have tons of fun like that. I hope you all enjoy the pictures, I know I enjoyed taking them and experiencing the Sierra Gorda.

In other news, I had an exciting day last week when President Calderón visited Queretaro without my knowledge. After my Italian class, I went downtown with Katie and it looked like a revolution had started with the amount of security in the area. The entire downtown area was blocked off by hundreds of armed men (police and army) to protect the President, who was at an event in the Teatro de la República. I honestly couldn't believe that so many people were there to protect the president…it seemed like overkill to me, especially considering the entire downtown area was closed off for 4 or 5 blocks before and after the Teatro. Though, I suppose, if anyone had any doubts about the safety of Queretaro, those doubts can be laid to rest.

Other than that, life has been quiet here in Queretaro…the past two weeks, I've stuck to this city to explore it a little bit more with my friends. If I have some time later this weekend, I'll talk more about what I do on a day to day basis with the people I've met here. Hope all is well and you Michiganders are keeping warm! J



Kaitie