Day 5 - en los médicos clases de español.

              Field Trip Day – It was a cultural day journey into the pueblo (town) of Tequila. This town is famous for its tequila ever since a man by the name of Jose Cuervo  came and opened, The José Cuervo Tequila Factory, La Rojeńa . This is the first of four that continue to operate in Guadalajara. I was excited to find out that we would be touring the factory and finding out about where Tequila comes from and how it is made into the alcohol that so many people purchase yearly. Jose Cuervo is the number one distributor of Tequila in the world. It comes in three different types: blanco, reposado, and anejo. Their name is indicative of the number of years it spends inside wooden barrels.

The plants used to make the Tequila are called agave, planta de agave. Within the plant toward the base, the pina (pineapple) is located. The pina is known as the heart of the agave. The plants take 7-10 years to be ready for cutting.

Once a pina is ready, the process of making tequila can begin. The plants are chopped down to size with machetes. Then they are put into very large ovens, where they stay for about 30 hours. Once that is done, the pina needs to sit and cool for approximantly 8 hours. The pina is then taken to be milled and juiced. The juice of the agave plant is put into large vats, for the fermentation process. The pina fibers are placed into a truck, where it can be taken and used to make recycled products. From there the juice of the pina is put into barrels, for the aging process. This process can be from just a few months to many years. I found the processes of making tequila very interesting. I never realized how detailed the process was. After we completed our tour we were given free time to shop and eat.

The small town had some beautiful architecture. The people were friendly and kind. I took many picture and the following are just a few of what what I captured.

              

The chopping of the agave plant

The chopping of the pina.

                                                                       
                                                                    The Oven

The Mill

Unfotunitly we were unable to get photos of the vats and barrels, because the gases that they use and snapping a photo, could case a spark.

One thing that I always have to remember with nursing is -TAKE TIME for yourself on your days off.

Favorite Spanish sentence of the day – Puedo tomar una foto, Por favor?  – I choose this photo because I practiced my Spanish speaking skills by asking some gentlemen in Tequila if I could, “Can I take your photo, Please?

                                                                         The Gentlemen

                                                          The Church in the center of the plaza

                                     My friend and I infront of the church in the center the plaza