Yesterday we went on a field trip to the ancient ruins of Xochicalco, about one hour from Huehuecoyotl. We started the day with an introduction to communication skills presented by Kathleen Sartor, one of the lead faculty and site hosts. The material she presented is from the nonviolence training developed by the M. L. King center and used to train individuals and organizations in non violent demonstrations against human rights abuses. The concepts and philosophical basis are taken directly from the work of Martin Luther King anfd his associates and used throughout the world today. It looks at the origins of conflicts, and basic communiocation skills needed to deal with adversity and difference.

The field trip in the afternoon was planned to be able to visit the ruins and its temples, and stay for the evening light and sound show recently ignaugurated at this important center fo Mesoamerican civilization. Xochicalco means the place of flowers. It is a citadel built on top of a mountain plateau where the local rulers and inhabitants couls see for miles around and avert the approach of enemies and adversaries. It was also the gathering place for around six hundred tribes from all over Central America. The city was dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl, who was considered to be its protector. The temples still remaining have snake figures carved in granite rock that cover most of the face of the temples. Much of the site has been escavated and reconstructed. It dates to the first century AD and apparently only last as suppreme power center for 250 years. There is an observatory at one end of the site that allows a ray of sun to penetrate to the inside of a large cave through a 50 foot hole. When the sun is directly overhead, in the spring equinox, the light shines through all the way to center of the cave. There rituals and measurements were taken to keep track of the changing seasons and the agricultural cycles. People are alolowed to walk around and climb the temples, which are incredibly impresive and massive. It is one of the largest and most important sites in central Mexico.

There is also a museum and a visitor's center, which is nwhere the evening light and sound show takes place from. people are seated in rows of chairs and treated to a spectacular dance troup's performance. the three or four dancers are accompanied by an assortemnet of precolumbian instruments made by the perfromers, who are dressed in Aztec costumes of feathers and animal symbols. The dancers dance to an insistant drum beat played on one of the biggest drums I have ever seen, over six feet tall and four feet diameter. During intermission the public is encouraged to have their pictures taken with the dancers and musicians while the spectators are taken for a guided tour of yhe museum and then seated again for the second part of the show, which highlights the light and sound presentation. the pyramids and temples come alive with colored lights and a narration of a script set in precolumbian time is heard throuhg loud speakers. It was a view of Mexico from the inside which few tourists get to see.