History, as it was taught when I was young, can be pretty dry and boring.  Read a text book, memorize a bunch of dates and names (something I am NOT good at!) and take a test.  I did have one teacher, Mr. Glennon, who was rather passionate about the subject of American History.  He would march around the front of the classroom, pen over his shoulder like a rifle, expounding on the details of some battle fought long ago.  Other than that, my experiences with learning about history were rather dull.  When I began teaching older elementary students, I was thankfully working with a staff of amazing and creative teachers.  One, Glyn Davies, was a master – truly!  He won a national award for teaching excellence!  His methods, which I gladly adopted, were to encourage his students to become the “experts” so that they could teach others.  When it came to learning about Ancient Civilizations, for example, we would decide what the criteria for a society was (food, shelter, technology, etc) and the students would then go to town learning about their specific area.  From this, they would create a display and when we had a big “Expo” with all three Grade 6/7 classes, our students would proudly teach the younger visitors all about their subject matter.  Not only did our students learn how to find out information, but also how to teach it to others in an interesting way.  It was such a pleasure to work educators like this!  I was reminded of our student “docents” recently as we toured the Museum of Anthropology here in La Paz.  Part of the museum has been marked with QR codes so that one can instantly read about the subject matter in their own language, which was extremely helpful.  Even more enjoyable though, was meeting a docent on the next floor where there were no such codes.  This young man was fluent in English and very excited to be able to share his knowledge of both the history of this region and the current political scene as he sees it.  His enthusiasm reminded me of my students and their passion for sharing the topic they had become expert in. 

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Having finished the tour, I am much more aware of the history literally written all around – history here is written in the street names, such as Nicolas Bravo, who was a soldier and the first vice-president of Mexico, or Cinco de Mayo, which is the day celebrating a victory over the forces of Napoleon III.  So, finding your way around La Paz, you soon come to understand the names and dates that are important here. For example, I will always know what year the revolution happened as we have driven down Revolution 1910 a thousand times! 

By far my favourite way to learn about the history of this region is by wandering the town and viewing the many murals painted on walls everywhere. In 2017, a group called Colectivo Tomate invited artists from across Mexico to take part in the project Ciudad Mural. The artists met, collected stories and history from the local community, both from professional teachers and historians to regular people like the fishermen who work in the waters here. As well, they traveled to the Espiritu Sanctus, an island that looms large in both the history and current economy of this area.  From this arose 15 spectacular murals which encompass more than 1300 square meters in the city.  These murals tell not only the history or this region, but also the importance of the connection between us and the environment.  So, any afternoon strolling through the streets of La Paz becomes a lesson in both history and ecology.  And chances are, you will be walking in the sun and enjoying the warmth at the same time!  I am wonderfully reminded of the way my own students would represent what they had learned when I view these wonderful works of art.

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One of my favourite murals is the one pictured below because I just love the story behind it.  It is taken from a tale of how the first people of this area, a tribe called Pericues, named this by the Spaniards who began arriving in this area of Mexico during the 1500’s.  Early in its history, the Baja was a lush environment, filled with a variety of both plant and animal life.  As it become more of a desert climate, survival became difficult for the people inhabiting this area.  Although they could find plenty of fish to eat from the sea, water and other nutrients were not so easily found.  The Pericue people needed to develop ways to maximize the food value of what they ate and in so doing, came up with an original (if not nasty sounding) way of getting the most of the Pitaya, the fruit of one type of cactus.  They found that by retrieving the seeds that had gone through the digestive tract, cleaning them and then pulverizing them, they could make a drink which was called “the second harvest”, thus gaining more fully all nutrients from the fruit.  Of course, the question we always ask is “How did they figure this out?”, the answer I do not have, but will leave to your imagination.  The pink liquid that the boat in this mural is floating on represents this drink. Hmmm….

Since the mural project finished, other artists have continued to create works on walls in the city.  There is one person who specializes in goats.  Again, I have no idea why, but there you go!  They are distinctive and you know right away this person’s work.

Another artist who was part of the original group is Uli Martinez.  Here are several of his works from that period.

Today, Uli continues to live and create art in La Paz.  Our good friend, Nadya brought us to see his latest effort just this past week.  It is amazing to see such a large work in progress!  In addition, Uli has some of his work on display at a local restaurant.  In each of his works it is evident that Uli continues to stress the importance of recognizing the interconnection of mankind and the environment.

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