Dairy Science 375

• 2005 Tour Itinerary and Picture Gallery
• (Almost) Unedited Comments From Student Evaluations
• Numerical Student Evaluations

2005 Itinerary and Picture Gallery of Site Visits

• M. 01/03, 2005 Arrival at Hidalgo International Airport, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mx — Check in Hotel Mendoza and walk through the historical center of the City
  
  
• T. 01/04, 2005 Historical Center: Cathedral, Palacio del Gobierno, Instituto Cultural Cabañas, Museo Clemente Orozco, Plaza de los Mariachis
  
  
• W. 01/05, 2005 Driving toward the Pacific Coast, we will pass the volcano "El Fuego" that was spewing ashes. INIFAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Forestal y Agropecuarios: Tropical Dairy Grazing System, Dual Purpose Cattle Operation of Don Rafael Gonzales
  
  
• R. 01/06, 2005 Acatic Dairy coop including a feed mill and a collective dairy replacement raising facilities; Acatic collective dairy farm, Universidad de Guadalajara - Campus Los Altos
  
  
• F. 01/07, 2005 Los Cristeros Tequilla factory, PROAN (Proteinas Animales), feed mill, poultry unit, swine units, and dairy unit; Government sponsored dairy coop for small producers, Catholic museum in San Juan de Los Lagos
  
  
• S. 01/08, 2005 A Large Dairy in Aguascalientes El Gigante and Saturday afternoon walk through Aguascalientes. Drive to Guanajuato with vehicle exchange (Good bye to our University of Guadalajara host — Hello to our Monterrey Tech host)
  
  
• S. 01/09, 2005 A World Heritage (Patrimonio de la Humanidad) and Colonial City of Guanajuato, a beautiful city with "tons" of things to visit including La Basilica, La Universidad de Guanajuato y Museo de Mineralogia, Las Minas y Templo La Valenciana, El Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera, Alhondiga de Granaditas, Museo de las Momias and more... But we have to keep going to reach Quéretaro before dark. We have only a one hour stop in St Miguel de Allende, another World Heritage and colonial town — More about the World Heritage Program of the United Nations, here.
  
  
• M. 01/10, 2005 Campus of Monterrey Tech in Quéretaro including an amazing lecture by Dr. Alejandro Ardilla on the history, cultures, religion and social movements of Mexico. La Serpentina Dairy goat farm and specialty cheese. Evening in Quéretaro historical center
  
  
• T. 01/11, 2005 Dairy Day: Visit of the ISO 9000 approved La Montañesa with a double rotary parlor and La Hondanada a grazing Jersey operation which process and market its own dairy products. Today, we also had an interesting side visit of Frixenet Winery!. Last night in Quéretaro.
  
  
• W. 01/12, 2005 Drive to Cuatitlán on the outskirt of Mexico City to visit the processing of Alpura, the second largest dairy cooperative of Mexico. After fighting Mexico City's traffic, we visited the archeological site of Theothiuacán, a city built two thousand years ago with pyramids of the Sun (the third largest in the world) and the pyramid of the Moon. We waited until after the 11:00 PM traffic to enjoy a night visit of Mexico City
  
  
• R. 01/13, 2005 Central de Abastos, the main food market that serves the 20 millions people of Mexico City. Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Castle of Chapultepec and Basilica de Gualdalupe.
  
  
• F. 01/14, 2005 Traveling back home, but not without thanking at those who made this trip possible.
  
  

• Guadalajara was an awesome experience. I loved it. I liked the many Plazas and the cabaña that used to be an orphanage. I had personal connection to the place because it is where my dad lived part of his childhood. My dad’s side of the family still resides there so I got to see them too. The visit to Tlaquepaque was interesting but I wish we could have stayed there to eat. Zapopan was not really necessary since the art market place was already a contrast to the poor part we saw coming out of the Guadalajara airport and also places like Colima where we observed the rich part of Mexico. E.V.
• I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the visit of Guadalajara. My favorite part was the murals of Orozco. I thought that this was a great place to start the trip because on the way there from the airport I had some major culture shock. H.M.
• I really enjoyed this first day, I felt it was a great introduction to the country. While I was sick that day and therefore may not have enjoyed it as much as some, I thought it was a great day. I honestly wouldn’t change much about the morning visits. However, when we visited the art market I would maybe emphasize that if the students are going to purchase something artsy or of good quality this is where they should do it. I figured there would be other places along the trip, and I regret not purchasing something there. The tour of the rich section of town was interesting, yet I think you could probably get rid of it in favor of doing something else in town, such as shopping or visiting museums. J.B.
• The visit to Guadalajara was great because it gave us all a chance to indulge into the Mexican culture. I learned a lot about the history of Mexico and I think that is also an important part of the trip. The pm visit I don’t remember as well but it was a nice drive to see more of the city. K.S.
• Guadalajara was a beautiful city. I loved seeing Orozco’s paintings. The location on our hotel was perfect. It was easy to see everything with it being close. I really enjoyed the government buildings and the cathedral. When visiting the “black market” it was definitely eye opening as to how the culture differed from ours. While the city was beautiful, I thought the drive to see the “rich” section was time that could have been spent doing something else. It was a long drive and the rich section only seemed to last about two blocks. I did enjoy seeing the market though. I believe to understand the culture it is important to see the local art work. This area was a good place to go to see this art. L.S.

• The INIFAP place was a little disappointing because I though we were going to learn more about fruit agriculture. Don Rafael’s farm was interesting and the fact that he fed his cows lemon pulp was astonishing. The trip to Manzanillo was well worth it because some of us had not seen an ocean before. I live on the west coast of the US but seeing it was wonderful too. The resort was awesome but I wish we stayed there a little longer. E.V.
• INIFAP was a good stop as a whole, but I defiantly got more out of the Holstein station verses the tropical trees. I liked the mini parlor and grazing aspects. It was very interesting. But the tropical trees are something that I would reconsider for next year. I did not get anything from it. The Gonzales ranch was a great stop and you should go again next year. It was very fun, interesting and I took a lot from it. It was so different from anything that I have ever seen before. And the hotel in Manzanillo was AMAZING and fun! H.M.
• Even though this day had a lot of driving, it was one of the most interesting. I enjoyed visiting the two dairy farms and being able to compare and contrast them. I felt that the tour of the tropical tree station was a waste of time though. If we had not stopped at the tropical tree farm, we might have been able to spend a few more hours at the beach which I think everyone would have appreciated. The evening in Manzanillo was very relaxing and a special treat. J.B.
• I thought the tropical grazing and the ranch were great visits. They showed us how different farms can be, even in close proximities. They raised their cattle in very different ways and both worked well for their situations. The tropical trees just were not quite as interesting, however. The night in Manzanillo was really good and I would definitely repeat it, except maybe get there earlier so that you can see more of the ocean and city while it is still light out. K.S.
• I was very impressed with the experimental station. The quality of cattle was very good. I also was impressed by the grazing systems and the irrigation. I wish we would have had more time at the tropical tree farm. It was interesting to see the different varieties of fruit and trees that we do not have here. The Gonzales ranch was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. It was the only resource poor farm that we visited. I was impressed with how well they utilized the resources they did have. The cattle looked pretty good for what they were being sustained on. Don Rafael seemed to be very educated in what he was doing and fully utilized his land to gain profit in any way, yet he seemed to respect what he had. I don’t think we were able to take full advantage of our time in Manzanillo because we had gotten in to town at about dark. The hotel was definitely beautiful and I enjoyed our night there. L.S.

• Acatic was a nice stop. I liked to see the different types of heifer facilities and the feed mill was interesting. The cooperative of 17 investors was extremely interesting. The parlor and milking area were a lot better than I expected when looking at the outside of the barn. It was a very good stop and I got a lot out of it. The lecture was a little long and I did not feel that I got a whole lot out of it. The evening in town was relaxing. H.M.
• The tours of the coop and collective dairy in the morning were a great start to the day. They helped to show us the diverse Mexican dairy industry. I felt that the afternoon was also interesting and allowed us to learn a little more about the history and culture of Mexico. J.B.
• I learned a lot about how the cooperatives were run this day and I think it was beneficial. I also think the university stop was good too because it gave us a sense of what the education is like there. K.S.
• The coop and dairy farm was another highlight of the trip. I enjoyed seeing businesses that had an interest in helping the small farmers become educated and move ahead. I was not impressed with the heifer raising facilities. The animals seemed to look healthy but they were dirty and their pens seemed to lack the comfort needed for quality heifer raising. The co-owned dairy seemed to be doing a great job. The workers seemed to be very knowledgeable of their jobs and the cattle. They used many of the modern techniques used in farming for things such as breeding. The lecture on the history of Jalisco was definitely an important part of the trip. I believe it is important that the students learn the current situation and the history in order to understand the predicament of the farmers. The history helped us understand why things were done in certain ways. L.S.

• All the PROAN facilities were cool except for the swine. We didn’t get to see any pigs so why did we go there? The food at the BBQ was delicious. The best meal I ate during the Study Tour. The small dairy center was a little disappointing because we didn’t see any cows. The Museum and Tequila factory were seriously very educational because I learned a whole lot I didn’t know and everything was interesting. E.V.
• The tequila factory was very interesting. The Proan tour as a whole was great. It is one of my most memorable days from the trip. The only suggestion from that portion is maybe reconsider the swine portion. We were not able to see much there. As for the barbecue, it was one of the highlights of the trip! But maybe cut down on the time spent there so that you have more time at their dairy. I found the conversation at the Gov sponsored farm very interesting and would do that again, but maybe earlier. And I really enjoyed the trip to museum. I liked all of the artifacts and the stories that she told along with them, it was nice to hear it as we looked on with the guide. H.M.
• This was probably one of my favorite days on the trip! I am so glad that we were able to finally organize a trip to a tequila factory. The trip to PROAN was unbelievable. I was amazed at the technology that the family had invested in their operations. On future trips I would skip the swine unit, and spend more time at their dairy. In my opinion, PROAN should be its own day. The BBQ was amazing and truly the best meal of the trip. I felt bad that we arrived so late to the small dairy coop center, since we were not able to really get as much out of it as if we arrived there a few hours earlier. The Museum in San Juan de Los Lagos was interesting, however I wish we could have also visited the church. J.B.
• The museum and the tequila factory were both interesting to go to. I think the small dairy cooperation would have been a much more interesting trip if we would have been able to tour it some more and go visit some of the small producers in the area. PROAN as a whole was a great visit to take. It was amazing to see all that one person/family could own and control. It was really neat to see how the poultry facilities were set up and how they package everything right there and fresh. I don’t think the swine facilities are as crucial because we didn’t really get to see anything except the outside of the buildings and the manure pit. It was really cool to see their dairy facilities too. The owner’s barbecue is a must because it gave us all a chance to sit down, have a real Mexican-made meal, and visit with the others that were with us. K.S.
• I really enjoyed the tequila factory. It was very interesting to see the processes taken to make tequila. I thought the factory was beautiful. PROAN was also a huge highlight of the trip. The farm was so massive and impressive. Another aspect that I found great was that even though their laws for waste removal were nonexistent they still utilized the manure properly by using it in bricks and other things instead of polluting the land. The barbecue was so much fun. Their kindness and willingness to open their home was definitely worth remembering. I think we could have passed on the swine facility because we were unable to go inside or see the animals. A suggestion may be to have the family take pictures for the future students to see instead of driving all the way out there. I wish we had been able to spend more time looking around at the sponsored coop. The work they were doing seemed very important because they were helping the small farmers improve. I was grateful that the catholic museum was kept open for us. Once again learning about the culture of Mexico aided in helping me appreciate everything that I had seen. L.S.

• I really enjoyed the walking tour of Lagos de Morenos. It was very relaxing and there was a lot to see. I gave us a peak at their culture. El Gigante was an OK stop. It did not seem very special or different to other big dairies that I have seen, and the guide was not able to answer many of the questions that we had. I enjoyed the evening in town and it was a nice drive to Lagos de Morenos. H.M.
• I thought the visit to EL Gigante was interesting, however at times it seemed like we maybe stayed a little too long there. The walking tour of Aguascalientes was relaxing, but also had the appearance that we had just a block of extra time we were trying to kill. Maybe something could better fit in that time spot. J.B.
• It was neat seeing another large dairy and how different they run things, though we may have spent a little too much time there. I enjoyed the tour of Aguacalientes because we got to see were the bull fights and chicken fights are held. K.S.
• El Gigante was a beautiful farm. They seemed to be doing a wonderful job with cow and calf care. The pens were very clean and the animals looked comfortable, except for the older pens with the young heifers. Their means of feeding was very innovative by using the many different feeds to cut costs. Agualcalientes was one of my favorite cities. I especially liked the cock fighting area. The mariachi band was also very neat. Guanajuato was my favorite city. I thought it was gorgeous. L.S.

• Guanajuato was an overall awesome place that should be visited again. The mines are the best thing there. E.V.
• I really enjoyed the visit to Cristo Rey. The visit of the mines was pretty interesting as well. However, I did not feel that I got a lot out of the mummies. That is defiantly a trip that I would cancel for next year. H.M.
• The visit to Cristo Rey was definitely worth the trip up the mountain. However, I felt that we were rushed the rest of the day and I didn’t like the visit to the Museo de las momias at all. The trip to the mines allowed us to see yet another aspect of the history of Mexico. I was fairly disappointed with the shopping in San Miguel de Allende and would rather have done more of my shopping the first day in Guadalajara. J.B.
• I think Cristo Rey showed how important their religion is to them and it was also a beautiful place. The cultural visits this day didn’t seem as interesting as I thought they would be, but were still good visits. I don’t think the stop in San Miguel de Allende was important to our experience. It seemed a lot like the other towns we had stayed at and many of the stores had much higher prices than other towns also. K.S.
• Cristo Rey was a phenomenal monument to see. It is amazing to me that a country has such a strong belief as to pay such large tribute. Even though each person is an individual they seemed to be equal with their catholic beliefs. I also liked the visit of the city. Many of the other students didn’t enjoy the mummies, but I really liked it. Especially the one that was buried alive! I enjoyed the mines also. L.S.

• I thought this day was very exiting. The campus was very welcoming. I really enjoyed the goat farm and the owner was a very cool guy. The hotel in Queretaro was nice and their food was delicious. E.V.
• I thought that this was a great and beneficial day all around. The campus tour was good and it gave me insight because I am considering the summer program that they offer. Also, the lecture was very interesting for me because I like to learn about other cultures. The goat farm was great stop. He was very helpful and informative. And, of course, I very much enjoyed the free night in town. I think the Arturo added a great deal to this portion of the trip. H.M.
• I felt that the visit to Monterey Tech was great. I don’t think you could have picked a better speaker for our discussion that day. The goat farm allowed us to get another perspective of the dairy industry and the owner was very hospitable. It might have been nice to leave a little earlier here though, if I remember right we were there for near 5 hours. The evening in Queretaro was great as it allowed us to get some shopping done. J.B.
• Monterrey Tech was a good stop to learn a lot about how we could come back and the choices we would have if we were to come back. It was a good introduction to the program there. The lecture was really interesting to listen to. For me, La Serpentina was a must, but as I am sure you now know, I am very interested in the dairy goat industry. I think the others also got a lot out of the stop also though because usually when people speak of the dairy industry, cows are the only animals that come to mind. Dairy goats are a big part of their culture too and I think it was good that this was included in the trip. I also think it was nice for us to have some free time in this city to explore a little and have some time away form the group as a whole. K.S.
• I enjoyed visiting the campus. It was beautiful. The lecture was very enlightening. It explained so many of the questions I had about the economy and history. The goat farm was also a great trip. Dr. Ardilla is a great man. He really loved what he was doing and his animals. He treated them all as pets. Queretaro is a beautiful city and also one that I plan on revisiting. L.S.

• This was a laid back day. I liked the Jersey farm. It was so green! E.V.
• This was a great city to visit. The free evening was very fun and educational. I felt the visit of Montanesa was good to see. They had nice records and other highlights, but, again, it got a little lengthy. I did not get much benefit from the winery tour. And the grazing jersey is already critiqued in the next question. H.M.
• The visit of the ISO 9000 dairy was another example of diversity that we ran across during the trip. I wish we could have spent more time walking around the dairy talking rather than simply sitting in the office all morning. The winery tour and the visit of Bernal were a nice addition to the trip. I absolutely loved the tour of the grazing Jersey farm. While I am partial to this style of farm for obvious reasons, I thought it was an excellent stop. I just wish we could have not spent so much time waiting around for the owner. The night it Queretaro was good, however to experience the nightlife it would be better to have this part of the trip closer to the weekend. J.B.
• The two farms this day were very interesting to go to. I thought the jersey farm was really neat because it was a set up we had not seen yet, and because he made his own yogurt. The winery was interesting too but I think it could have been made a little better, maybe by going to see the plants or something like that. K.S.
• La Montanesa was a beautiful farm. Many of the farms were great but it was nice that we learned about many of the SOP’s that they had formed. These standards are really what make a farm run. Even though we waited a while to be allowed to go into the winery, I really thought it was a great experience. It was a beautiful factory. I wish we would have had the chance to walk through the vineyards though. The grazing jerseys were another great trip. The sophistication of the irrigation and rotation was impressive. I enjoyed seeing the farms where the milk went right from the cow to the making of the cheese and ice cream on the same site. L.S.

• The first day in Mexico City was really busy and fun. The pyramids are a must for next year. That was amazing. The Jersey farm was a good example of a successful farm. Alpura was a neat place to visit and it’s a part of the dairy industry even the experienced farmer students didn’t really know much about. The evening dinner was nice but I think we could have chosen a better and cheaper place to eat. E.V.
• I felt that Alpura was a good stop but tended to get a little long. For me , Theothihuacan was a great stop and worth the time that we spent there. It was a great learning experience and a site that I won’t forget. The visit of la Hondanda got very long. The evening dinner was nice but for next year it would be a good idea to decide on something instead of walking half way around the city trying to agree on a spot to eat. H.M.
• I thought the tour of Alpura was quite interesting especially to see how high-tech their facilities are. I really am glad that we also visited Theothihuacan, which was amazing even with the smog. The evening dinner and tour I felt was marginal since we were all tired and spent quite a bit of time wandering around before deciding on a place to eat. J.B.
• Alpura was a great stop because we got to see a lot of the manufacturing and “behind the scenes” stuff. Theothihuacan was also a great stop because it showed us a very important part of their past and their culture. It was also neat to see Mexico City and how so many people can live in one city. K.S.
• The tour of Alpura was very interesting. I didn’t like that they were so selective about the members of their cooperative. The pyramids were one of my favorite places. It was so amazing to see all of the history. When I first arrived in Mexico City I was disappointed to how dirty and poor it was. But, I did enjoy visiting the buildings on the night tour. The church was gorgeous. But after hearing that many of the buildings were sinking I could only wonder what it will look like in a couple hundred years. It was disappointing to see that the people were so disrespectful of the pyramids that they built over them. L.S.

• Learning about how local businesses run was very interesting. The Museum was huge. Worth the trip. E.V.
• I think that the central de abastos was a good experience but I felt that it was a little unsafe. Also, the museo de antropologia got a little long. H.M.
• The morning at Cenrtral de Abastos was mostly a waste due to the amount of time waiting around. Also I wished it would have been explained more in detail about why it was so unsafe there, it just put everyone in an uncomfortable mood. The Museo was interesting, but at times it seems like we spent too much time there. We were unable to visit the Castle because it was closed. J.B.
• It was interesting to see the Central de Abastos and how it was run and how controlled it was. The museum was interesting at first but after the first couple rooms/buildings, it got really long and not as interesting. K.S.
• It was very enjoyable spending the day in Mexico City. The museum was wonderful. I was great to see the different types of architecture from the different groups: Aztecs, Mayans, etc. The Central de Abastos was also great. We were unable to see the Castle of Chapultepec because it was closed. L.S.

• The program was awesome and I’m glad I had the chance to attend it. I felt perfectly safe walking around in Mexico by myself; safer maybe than on the road. The road was bumpy sometimes and narrow at other times. E.V.
• It was great to get a chance to taste authentic food. Also, I felt that the overall program organization was pretty good. Things went pretty smooth. Except for Wauton’s driving! J/K H.M.
• I thought the driving at times was honestly scary. However, towards the end of the trip we became used to it and adapted to it. The program seemed to be fairly well organized except for the half dozen or so stops where we sat around and waited for prolonged periods of time for our appointments. The food was good, yet after getting sick the first night I was leery about being too adventurous. J.B..
• I think we attended many important visits and got to see a lot of different sides of the Mexican culture. Traveling on the road was sometimes a little scary with our first driver but we all survived without a scratch so overall I would say it was good. When we were on our own, I never felt like I was in danger or anything so that was good also. We had the chance to experience many different Mexican meals and even American meals in Mexico and no one got sick. So I think that is good also. K.S.
• The program seemed to be very well organized. I think there may be a way to organize it so that there wasn’t so much driving. We got most of the things done that were planned and we still had time to go off on our own. I rated the driving so low because our driver was pretty unsafe and drove too fast. I felt fine about being out alone out in a group. I just made sure I was cautious and watched what was going on around me. Of course I thought the food was great! L.S.

• 1 or 2 = It was an awful visit, I did not learn anything. Don't repeat this visit next year.
• 3 or 4 = It was a poor visit, I did not learn much. Repeat this visit only if you have to.
• 5 or 6 = It was an ok visit, I learned some. I would be ok to go back.
• 7 or 8 = It was a good visit, I learned a lot, You should go back there.
• 9 or 10 = It was a "super" visit, I just did not know about that! You definitely need to go back there.