Day 10
We started the day with a very good breakfast: scrambled eggs, potatoes. ham, corn tamale and a cinnamon cake. We were unable to leave on our tour at the scheduled time as the roads were quite icy. So it was about 10:30 before we drove to Creel. In Creel, a population of 8,000, we saw lots of shops and vendors selling to the tourists. We did not spend long there due to the weather. We drove out to see the Tarahuamara Indians who live in a cave. Some time ago a movie was filmed in the area where these Indians live. Because of this they are not as shy as the other Indians in the canyons and agreed to allow people to visit there cave home. There are about 60,000 Indians living in the canyons and 10% of them still live in caves. Some of the others are nomadic moving to higher grounds in the summer. Others live in houses in small villages. Many of them migrate to the caves in the winter to keep warm and then to an area where they can grow crops in the summer. The road to the cave was very rough and wet due to the rain and snow in the area. It actually was more like a trail in some areas with large potholes. On the way to the cave the bus got stuck!! We were only a short distance from the cave so we walked on to the cave through the mud and yuck. There was a light rain at the time (mist) and it was cold. The cave is not a deep cave. It had 2 levels. The lower was their living area. They had a very large container that catches water from run-off in the caves ceiling. At the time the container was full and the overflow just ran down the floor and out of the cave. In the upper level to the back they keep their animals, goats and dogs, at night. Also in the upper level was a very small sleeping area and a place where they had fire for cooking and heating. Two families live in this cave. They grow vegetable crops on the land and hunt for food. We learned some interesting facts about the Tarahuamara tribes. The women and children make baskets, blankets, dolls, beads and other items to sell to the tourists. The women and girls all wear very bright colorful clothing. When it is cold they wear several layers of skirts for warmth. They remove the top layer when it needs washing and put on another underneath. Most everywhere we went we saw clothes hanging on the line or being washed. Most of them wear sandals made of rubber tires and leather ties unless it is very cold. We almost never saw any men. One of the crops they grow is corn. They have a fermenting process for it and make a liquor which they drink at celebrations. However most of the men drink it all the time and are alcoholics unable to function. The boys are considered adults at the age of 11.The girls begin having babies at about 11 years old. The women carry and care for the infants until they can walk and then they are left to fend for themselves. Most of them live to be about 65, some a few years longer. We also went to an Indian Boarding school. Children come from several miles around to attend school here. If they live too far away to make the trip daily they stay at the school Monday through Friday. The Indian families do not have cars so the children have to walk to school. The school is for children K through 6. The classroom we visited was Kindergarten children. They were wearing coats as it is a cold day and the room has no heat. The Indian families are quite large and only ½ of the children go to school at a time. That way there are always some at home to help with the work. They only go to school through 6th grade if that. No children in Mexico are required to go to school at all but many do go through 6th grade and in the rural areas and smaller towns only a few attend high school. In the bigger cities 85% graduate from high school and most attend college. The cost to go to college per year is $75 with no cost for room and board. One other thing we found interesting is that all children in Mexico wear uniforms to school. These uniforms are very much like the ones we see in the US. Because of the weather conditions there were some things on the schedule for today that we did not get to do. One thing was to eat the sack lunch provided to us on the banks of a lovely lake. But with the rain and snow off and on and the cold we opted to eat in the bus as we drove home. We did arrive back at the hotel safe and sound and had some time to rest and listen to some Mexican music before eating a nice dinner: black bass with cream sauce, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, bread and cake. We were tired and went to our room to read and went to bed early.