The day began in the vans going to the Irapuato campus to pick up the UGto students. We all loaded onto the bus and headed to the Corralejo Hacienda, which is now a tequila factory but is also known as the birthplace of Miguel Hidalgo. We went on a tour of the factory including its production operations as well as its museum. |
The Hacienda boasts one of the biggest wine and bottle collections. On the outside of the building you can see the shards of bottle glass that decorate the archways, and on the inside, the windows are made of different colored recycled bottles. We started the tour in the barrel room with those windows and were introduced to how tequila is processed and bottled. It was interesting to hear about the end product of the Agave plants we talked about yesterday in the field.
The piñas are the crown of the Agave tequiliana plant and are what remains after the leaves and roots are removed. The piñas are placed in large ovens that can hold 25 tons of plant material and are baked for 27 hours. Next they go to an autoclave and steamed under pressure for 12 hours. From here they go to the mill where they are thoroughly crushed to extract all of the sugars. |
Next up: Lunch in the rural town of Penjamo at the Feliz Pollo (Happy Chicken), Mexico's version of fast food. | Then we hopped back in the bus and went to the Peralta Pre-Hispanic Indian Ruins. This ancient site was only found in 1999 when the gas company was looking to put a pipeline through part of the hills. What they uncovered was a "village" (see replica to the left) for local Indian tribes between 300 and 700 AD. "According to archeologists the city declined and collapsed due to the overexploitation of the surrounding deciduous rainforest and it was abandoned around 900 CE. The site occupies 150 hectares divided into a center with five surrounding settlements. The most important structure is called the "Patio Hundido" (Sunken Patio), whose name comes from the four pyramids that are at the corners" (Wikipedia, Guanajuato). |
Another long but educational day. Tomorrow we are back to the classroom at the Irapuato campus to learn about 21st century water issues (ecology, aquifer depletion, hydrology, biodegradation-bioremediation) as well as visit the Purisima Dam. Remember to visit the students' blog about the trip at http://mexicoblog2013.wordpress.com/ |