stephanieverywherebuthome

[stephanieverywherebuthome]

San Antonio Cuajimoloyas

On January 20th and 21st 2024 I had the opportunity to travel to San Antonio Cuajimoloyas, Oaxaca. Cuajimoloyas is located in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. El pueblo is known for their eco-tourism and mushroom festival. Cuajimoloyas is one of the pueblos who is part of ‘pueblos mancomunados.’ I had the opportunity to learn from a biologist named Ciro and our guides Señor Albino and Señor Tokyo. I also had the opportunity to meet Maria Elena who's been involved with the Museos Comunitarios. Michel and I are the only two students from Kalamazoo College who are part of the Oaxaca Winter 2024 program. 

On the first day there we walked through the forest and had a small lesson with Ciro in the forest about Oaxaca’s biological diversity and culture. Ciro talked to us about his past projects. One of his projects did focus on the jaguar en la Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. The jaguars are an endangered species and protected through the government. While walking through the forest it made me feel free because of the open spaces and the air felt very different from the city air. As we were walking and were in conversation with one another it started raining. The rain may have been there but it was such a beautiful moment to experience with each other. El señor Albino was our guide today. As we walked through the forest he mentioned a lot of different plants (I couldn’t write the names) that are used for herbal medicine and used for altitude sickness (which I had). 

On our last day we had another walk through the forest. We were supposed to have a short and easy walk through the forest with our guide Señor Tokyo but it didn’t turn out that way. Our 2 hour walk turned into a 4 hour and 30 minute walk. I can’t complain because I got to experience walking through a forest with fresh air. We got to see different flowers, trees, rocks, and small rivers. It was raining and it was muddy everywhere but it felt good. After those 4 hours my body ached in a way that made me feel good about myself. This experience felt free because there was so much open space for me to rome around. I am grateful to have been able to do this.