One of our two-day excursions led us to Arrazola, where I work in the clinic. Famous for wooden carvings called alebrijes, Arrazola is right next to the mountains. We spent our Saturday learning about how alebrijes are made, and then helped clean up litter and plant trees. In my next post I will go into our hike up the mountains to see Monte Alban, the famous archeological site located near Arrazola.

The home I stayed at had a lot of dogs, and in Arrazola you're bound to spot strays.

The wood to make alebrijes comes from the copal tree, which we helped plant later in the day. First you use a machete to chop the amount of wood needed for what you want to carve.

Next, the bark is sliced off.

The carvers, primarily men, will sketch out what they want to create before carving. As you can see, the coyote above is the final product, which will then be painted, a task usually done by women and children.

As we headed to a local restaurant for dinner, there was a parade going on. Check out the giant people!

And a puppy!