I hope everyone enjoys their time off. Get lots of rest, exercise and fun! Happy Birthday, Alexandra!
And don’t forget to check out the bald eagle cam from our northern neighbors in Canada. (to be more accurate, it is British Columbia, Canada which is northwest) The link can be found in a previous post with a screen shot I took of the nest and the eaglets!
Hi everyone,
Its almost 11pm and we just got back to the hotel. I am very tired after a long day at the colonies in Sierra Chincua. We had an amazing time and saw even more monarchs today.
None of you got my first question correct! The question was: How many yards are in 10,000 feet? The first thing you need to find is how many feet are in one yard. Did you do that? If you aren’t sure, use the yard stick in the front of the room or ask Mr. Gaffney for help! Come on chicos!
Alexandra, Stephanie, Lee’Sa, Sleyker and Dontae got question #2 correct! Yes, the butterflies are drinking water. No Dariel, they are not taking a bath like your brother needs to! Thanks for making me laugh so hard!
This is a photo taken as we hiked the trail to the colony at Sierra Chincua. I never realized there were such beautiful places to see in Mexico. The view was breath-taking and the air so crisp and clean! All you could hear was the wind blowing in the trees and two ravens calling to each other.
Fifteen of the group chose to hike the first part of the trail, the rest of the group did the whole trail on horseback. After we hiked for about an hour, then we met our horses and our guides. Yes, your teacher rode on a horse up the mountain! My guide’s name is Raul and his horse’s name is Ralampago and both of them were very nice. Raul was about 20 years old and he spoke almost no English. He helped me up into the stirrups and we were on our way!
I am going to make this a shorter post as it is getting to be almost midnight. Here are a few pictures from Chincua. It is probably one of the most magical, spiritual, mysterious places I have ever been to. The amount of monarchs was huge and this time we were right in the midst of the mariposas. 
To see them cascading down the mountain was very moving. I had all of you right there with me and thought of you all as the monarchs flitted and fluttered overhead. I wish you could have heard the sounds of their wings whispering as they circled above.
Questions to answer:
1. How many yards are in 10,000 feet?
2. What does cascading mean? Write a definition and a sentence using the word cascade or cascading.
3. I wrote that Raul helped my up into my stirrups and we were on our way. What are stirrups? Write the definition.
I am looking forward to reading all your terrific answers tomorrow night. Please ask Mr. Gaffney for the dictionaries and for help if you need it.
Thanks for being such a terrific class. I am going to bed. Buonas noches…snoring…………
Hi Sleyker, Ameena, Wendy, Kathy and John,
Thanks for reading the blog and following along! I am glad you like all the pictures so far. I am getting ready to go to the first butterfly colony in El Rosario, so this will have to be quick.
Sleyker–yes, the statues are really cool! They aren’t really sure how they made them or what tools they used, but they think they used pieces of volcanic rock to form and shape them. The museum was way cool and you would have loved it! I enjoyed the temple photo that has the skulls in the top! The Aztecs were said to perform human sacrifices! You should look it up and see what you can learn!
Ameena–you would love it here! Last night we went out star gazing and saw so many stars and bats and an owl! There is a nesting pair of barn owls at the top of the hotel. So beautiful! There are lots of flowers were we are now and cool trees. Yesterday I saw orange and pomegranate trees and a cactus that was as big as a tree. I wish you were here with me, too!
Wendy–thanks for following the blog. I appreciate all your words of support. 🙂
Kathy–I still don’t feel better, but am getting there. Keep coming to the blog to see more photos! The stone ‘thing’ is called ‘The Umbrella’. It was quite huge and very beautiful. It was covered with all different symbols–not sure what most of them meant. I have learned so much about the Mexican culture, I can’t begin to tell you! You would love it here.
John–yes we did go into the Silver Mine. Apparently the natives mined it for many years for the silver, gold and other metals. Then Cortez came and forced the natives to mine for him. The natives worked as slaves and literally worked until they died! The silver dust caused their lungs to stop working and they would only live for 10 years. Tragic isn’t it? Oh, my Spanish has been terrible (grinning) but there are a few teachers who can translate.
Well, I have to go have breakfast and get my backpack ready. Love to you all and keep reading!
Ms. Lenahan