Where is Pátzcuaro, México? (What is Pátzcuaro?)
Pátzcuaro is a lakeside town in the Southern Sierra Madre mountains. It is located in the state of Michoacan, in central Mexico, just a few hours between Mexico City and Guadalajara.
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Pátzcuaro is one of my favorite Mexican towns because while it holds some of the greatest cultural treasures in the country, it is still a small, unassuming place.
Some of Pátzcuaro's claims to fame include:
*Located near Paricutín, one of the youngest volcano's in the world, and one of the 7 Wonders of the World (because its "birth" was witnessed (and recorded) by humans.)
*One of the largest and arguably most beautiful plazas in Latin America.
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*Where the most beautiful and meaningful rituals for the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) take place.
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*Because of the area's history as an artisan cooperative, Pátzcuaro offers one of the most extensive collections of crafts in Mexico.
*Lake Pátzcuaro is famous for the "butterfly" fisherman. So called because their nets resemble huge butterfly wings on the early morning water.
*Speaking of butterflies, it is near to where the Monarch butterflies migrate for the winter.
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Pátzcuaro is where our pen pals live! My friend, Francisco is the director of CELEP, a Spanish school and eco-tourism operation there. He is also a teacher at a local school. He and I are excited as this is the first time our schools have made such a correspondence. Judging from the enthusiasm of the 7th and 8th grade students at Hillcrest Middle School, there will be plenty of pals to pen. Mr. Collins 7th grade REACH students have been selected to be the first batch of students to write letters. They did a wonderful job at writing thoughtful letters. Everyone wrote almost entirely in Spanish even though they it was only the second day of school! The class has until Wednesday, September 9th to perfect their letters so I can send them off. Hopefully the class will come prepared on Wednesday for the group photo to send along with the letters.
For the rest of the classes who are interested in having a pen pal, I haven't forgotten about you. However, since this is a new project, (and their school down there is small) we are going to start with this first batch of 'pals' only, until we get a good idea of how many more students we can match up with "amigos."
In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of Pátzcuaro!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PD5g5JDAngLrCmW9Pot0C3hqxw7FcPQTsu28VTv-xqDyvz2mX74GnIh5qczSjMLaGBPbLUYgZU2FVzCXgaCTBXPIS0MmhJMt10fKw1FDqbU5ELoA0C0ddnwF9fHfqRMqFfNuPbUE90PH/s400/800px-Patzcuaro.jpg)
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