Symbolic Migration

The Symbolic Monarchs are in Mexico!
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"Emiliano Zapata," Elementary, La Mesa de los Alzati community, Zitácuaro Municipality, Michoacan
We decided to visit today, after this Christmas and New Year´s break, a school located at an Otomí community, --the nearest indigenous community to the Monarchs Sanctuaries Located at La Mesa de los Alzati community. There were, in one of the groups, some children whose grandparents still speak Otomì as the family language and who agreed to come to the board. There they pronounced and wrote a word in Otomí with its meaning in Spanish.
Grade 4A	Grade 4B	Grade 3A and B
Grade 2A and B	Grade 1A	Grade 1B
Grade 5	Grade 5	Buying tacos for lunch
		Grade 6 learning life cycle and with the symbolic butterflies (to the left)
	This is a photo image of the pyramid build by the Matlatzinca Indigenous people. These people are supposed to be a branch of the fallen Mexica Civilization who came to this point after their fall in the year 700 after Christ.
"Valentín Gómez Farías" Elementary in Aporo, Michoacan
Grade 3 Morning Shift	Grade 2 Morning Shift	Grade 1 Morning Shift
The middle picture (above) shows the children holding the only text book in the Elementary level that gives them facts about monarchs.
Grade 1 Morning Shift	Grade 6 - Section B	Grade 6 - Section A
Grade 5	Grade 4	Grades 1 and 2
		Valentín Gómez Farías Elementary is a school which, for the first time, will participate with Journey North. Both teachers and students, really excited to do it.
Grades 3 and 4	Grades 5 and 6
	Every Monday at every Mexican school, we render honor to our Mexican flag. Here the children of the Valentín Gómez Farías Elementary, at starting the afternoon shift.
"Robert Owen" Elementary in Aporo, Michoacán
Robert Owen Elementary is participating for the first time with Journey North.
This is the first school in the region which has a vegetable nursery where children participate actively over the year.	Grade 2	Grade 1
This is the second school we have found which has lunch service at school. Every child should pay 4 pesos every day to get a cup of "atole de avena", a main dish (meat, beans, soya, etc.) and a dessert. Very nutritious!!!. The main support to provide this service at schools should be the Municipal authorities and it is supposed to be mandatory at every goverment schools, however not all directors and teachers, or not all authorities accomplish this goal at their schools.
Grades 1a and 3a	11AM is lunch time at school.
"Lázaro Cárdenas" Elementary, Otomí community, Zirahuato, Michoacán
"Lázaro Cárdenas" Elementary is located at the town of Zirahuato, the central part of the Otomí community in this region, 40 km. away from Angangueo. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find a bilingüal Otomí-Spanish child since their own parents scarcely speak (better understand only) any Otomí.
Grade 1, morning	Grade 2, morning	Grade 3, morning
Grade 3, morning	Grade 4, morning	Grade 4, morning
	In most Government (Public) schools, children clean up their classrooms at the end of the day. Mostly groups are formed to take turns every week. Although every schools counts on cleaning personnel, children are requested to do this as part of their discipline in classroom.
Since the Three Magicians Day ( look it up!) just passed a couple of weeks ago, (January 06), some girls have been allowed to bring their dolls to play at lunch time.
Afternoon Grades 1, 2, and 3	Afternoon Grade 4	Afternoon Grades 5 and 6
"Juan Gutenberg" Elementary, Indigenous Elementary, Zirahuato, Michoacan
"Juan Gutenberg" is an Otomí Indigenous school visited this year for the first time by Journey North. It is located around 40 km. from Angangueo.
		The weather here is much warmer tan in Angangueo, since it is several hundred meters lower than the Monarch’s Butterfly Reserve. All these schools visited in Zirahuato are very close to the pyramid shown before.
Whole school, Grades 1-6	Playing football (soccer) at lunchtime
Writing in Otomí	Here a girl writes some words in hñahñu (Otomí). Today children are hardly able to speak some sentences and their parents might only be able to speak a little bit. It is their grandparents who are still completely bilingüal. Being an Indigenous school means that the Federal Government are training and providing bilingüal teachers and extra support in order to rescue the traditions and languages of indigenous regions in our country.	A poster hung in most schools stating the goal of rescuing language and traditions of this indigenous Otomí.
“Niños Héroes”, Kindergarten, Zirahuato Community, State of Michoacán
“Niños Héroes” is an Indigenous kindergarten with a Multigrade Group. Its only classroom is now being constructed with cement and glass-windows. They plan to finish soon.
The group gets their butterflies	The church can be seen from the school	The community cemetary is right behind the school
“Vasco de Quiroga” Elementary, La Estación Community of Zirahuato, Michoacán
	There are 22 children in this school This is the last school visited in Zirahuato, a region Journey North has now finished visiting for the first time. We hope we will be back to this area next year.
Grades 1-3, 4-6 with their 2 teachers		School is out and the students are walking home. Here 2 childrens' mother comes to meet them and walk home.
“Leona Vicario” Elementary, La Estacion Community, Zirahuato, Michoacán
These 2 photos show the entire Leona Vicario Elementary in one place		The teachers with butterflies they liked
"Fiesta de Quince Años," Aporo, Michoacán
It is in México a very traditional event in all families to celebrate the 15 year old anniversary to our daughters (not with boys at all, I do not know why), with a religious ceremony and, in many cases Not often now, but not seldom either, we can see a girl dressing the typical "Charro" suit for women, and the 6 or up to 12 gentlemen accompanying her at the church and then opening the dancing at the big fest awaiting. Dancing with her accompanying gentlemen will mean that this girl is being presented to the social life in the community for the first time, which means or implies, from this moment on, that her dressing --general looking--, behaviour, even the chance to get a boyfriend is open from this moment on. Most girls and families, in big cities but now mostly in towns and villages dream of this moment in their lifes.