Four MCC students learned about Mexico’s Mayan heritage and culture during a study abroad trip in June.
Maria Suchowski, MCC director of Assessment and Institutional Research, accompanied the students on the seven-day trip and provided this description of the experience:
Departing on June 8, the MCC group flew south to Cancun, situated at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and then we visited Merida, capital of the Yucatan state and an ancient Mayan capital. We toured the government palace and cathedral and then visited the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal with many sections dating from the sixth century. Our next stop was the sacred Mayan city of Chichén Itzá, which was mysteriously abandoned in the seventh century. One of antiquity’s most spectacular ceremonial centers, the mighty pyramid of El Castillo once served as a giant calendar more accurate than our own. We also visited a natural well deep inside a subterranean cave – many rivers in the Yucatan flow underground. From there, we moved on to the colonial city of Vallodolid, then proceeded to the city of Playa del Carmen. An excursion to Tulum offered a look at the walled Mayan city on the Caribbean Sea that managed to fend off attacks by the Spaniards until the 16th century. Some members of the group also visited Rio Lagartos, a protected biosphere that supports the largest breeding colony of flamingoes in the world, and Ek Balam a rich Mayan city dating to 300 B.C., which was newly uncovered and opened to the public about 10 years ago. The group returned on June 15.
Students and community members may learn about London, England, during a study abroad trip May 18-25, 2010. For more information about this opportunity, contact MCC Performing Arts Coordinator Valerie VanderMark by e-mail at valv@montcalm.edu or call 989-328-1218 or visit www.montcalm.edu/studyabroad.
Participants in MCC’s Study Abroad trip to Mexico included, from left, Carolyn Frank, Judy Frank, Belinda Slock, Maria Suchowski and Joe Fletcher.