Veracruz Testing Center

1. Veracruz Testing Center Located in the city and port of Veracruz, it was inaugurated in May 2006 with the purpose of offering a space where the people of this area could have the opportunity to take courses within the program from BYU Independent Study, through Internet as well as live classes that complement the Web courses. Initially We are teaching the ESL 41 and 43. In the location here in Veracruz, we teach and extra ESL course beside these ones, and we provide the students material to practice listening and speaking. We have created and recorded material for this specific task. Our immediate goal of establishing a 100% practical teaching method has been almost completed; and now with the great opportunity to have BYU Students helping us here in Veracruz. We we want to present to you and to them a plan with goals that we want to fulfill During the time the students will be here. We want them to enjoy their internship. We want them to get The most they can from us, We want them to know that we can provide the best chance for them, We want them to pick up Veracruz as their first option for the internship. PALACIO MUNICIPAL EN VERACRUZ

2. Our work program for the BYU interns covers the following points: 1. - To provide them with a good and healthy atmosphere where they can to develop their abilities, skills and knowledge as teachers of English as a second language. 2.- To give this young people an opportunity to visualize the teaching of English as a second language as a business where they can establish their own companies. We will show them how good can be the Mexican market for this service, and how can they even think about teaching ESL courses to any speaker Spanish people in or out the USA. We will show them all the administrative, productive and operative process that we follow here in the Veracruz Testing Center, as well, We´ll show them how we create and developed new material to accommodate our student’s needs. 3. - To submerge them in all the history, culture and customs of the zone, through a program of guided visits to historical places, ruins, museums and other cultural places, not only in Veracruz city but any other place in or around the zone of the Port, in order to provide them with experiences of knowledge and personal enrichment. 4. - To provide them with an intensive, practical, and free course of Spanish as a Second Language.

3. Our ESL groups includes people from different ages. In this moment we have classes for kids from 8-12, teenagers, single adults, and adults of all ages. The most of our students attend to other schools to get and academic degree, since elementary school to master and doctorate degrees. But also We have housewives, employees who work in different types of industries, providing or developing different kinds of services, As well we have students that work by their own, or who owns their own companies. The majority of the students are LDS, but we also have students who are not, but they have adapted themselves to the good healthy and warm atmosphere that occurs within the Veracruz Testing Center. Having all this different people give us a wider perspective, enrich us as persons and provide of more opportunities to reach the goals that the BYU internship program follows.

4. In summary, and because of what we said before, We want to extend an affectionate and warm invitation to come to Veracruz and to participate with us, of this interesting experience. In Veracruz Testing Center, We are ready and we have arranged all the stuff in order to make this work together, We want our students and your students to succeed Our courses are distributed throughout all the year, reason why We can receive your students in an uninterrupted way, without mattering if it is spring, summer, autumn or winter. You are always welcome. The lodging will be provided for free with LDS families who live as close as it is possible to the Testing Center in Veracruz. Veracruz, have 4 stakes and a LDS Temple, so, the students can attend them. There is no greater ambitious than the man can aspire than to learn always something new, something that can elevates him and with this new knowledge helps others to get the same desire. I am convinced that in Veracruz Testing Center, we share the same ideals that BYU has always impelled. And finally I just say what President Spencer W. Kimball said: Do it! Following in a brief way something about the history of Veracruz and some images too, Enjoy them! “El Malecon”

5. Veracruz City: The city of Veracruz is a major port city on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is Mexico's second largest Gulf city and the most important port on Mexico's east coast. It is located 105 km(65 mi.) along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most populous city, with a population of about 500,000 in 2000. It is often referred to as Puerto de Veracruz to distinguish it from the state. The people of Veracruz are known as jarochos Climate: The climate that predominates in this zone is warm subhumid with rains in summer. The annual average temperature is of 25.3°C. Gastronomy: As it is known, the typical food of Veracruz is the seafood, which can be tasted in restaurants of the City of Veracruz, or, on the old part of Boca del Rio to only 15 minutes in car from downtown by all boulevard. Delicious and traditional dishes can be tasted, next to a group of jarochos trovadores, that with his rhyme and jokes, sometimes red, give more flavor to their foods.

6. The city is known for its rich traditions of music, including marimba bands, danzón and comparsa. A special kind of music called son jarocho, a mix of Mexican folk music and Cuban son, was developed in southern Veracruz state, in and around Veracruz, Veracruz. La Bamba is the most famous example of son jarocho. An equally rich dance tradition parallels Veracruz's unique musical styles. In downtown Veracruz, a large marble-tiled zócalo, called the Plaza de Armas or Plaza Lerdo, is the heart of the city's lively nightlife. It is lined with arcades that house bars and cafes. On a nearly nightly basis large groups of people sit outside in the plaza enjoying food, drinks and cigars, while they watch musicians and dancers that perform in the square. Veracruz's 18th century cathedral and 17th century Palacio Municipal are also located on the plaza. The yearly Carnaval festival in Veracruz, a nine-day party in February or March, is the most spectacular festival of its kind, and it's also the oldest organized Carnaval in Mexico. The city also celebrates a yearly Afrocaribeño festival in July. These fesivities illustrate the fact that the city is in many ways more connected to Caribbean culture than that of inland Mexico. The malecón harbor-front walk along the docks draws many tourists, more from within Mexico than foreigners. The city has several beaches as well, like Villa del Mar and Mocambo. CULTURE “Jarochos” dancers

7. Aquarium in Veracruz Downtown “Mojarra frita” Fried Tilapia Fish Carranza´s Lighthouse

8. Veracruz History The sea port was founded by Hernán Cortés, who first landed there in 1519 at the start of his quest to conquer Mexico for Spain. It was named La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz ("The Rich Town of the True Cross"; the name is also occasionally given as La Rica Villa de la Vera Cruz). It was the main port of New Spain, the port where silver from the mines of Mexico was loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleets for shipment to Spain. The port was harassed by hostile powers and by pirates; pirate bands succeeded in pillaging the city in 1653 and in 1712. In response to such dangers the large fortress of San Juan de Ulúa was built on an island in the harbor, beginning in 1565 and substantially expanded several times later. A natural harbor, Veracruz has been fought over throughout its history, and boasts the title "Four Times Heroic" in reference to the expulsion of the Spanish in 1815, the 1838 occupation of the French Navy in the Pastry War, and resistance to the United States's occupations of 1847 and 1914 (see: Siege of Veracruz and U.S. occupation of Veracruz, 1914). During the Mexican-American War, US forces led by Gen. Winfield Scott took the city on March 29, 1847 after a siege. It was captured by France in 1838 and again in 1861. In 1914 it was occupied by the United States for seven months because of the Tampico Affair, this time under Major General Frederick Funston. The railroad connecting Veracruz to Mexico City, 425 km (264 mi.) inland over mountain ranges, was constructed during the administration of Benito Juárez and inaugurated in 1873 San Juan de Ulua Castle

9. Ancient Cultures in Veracruz OLMEC The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, roughly in what are the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Their immediate cultural influence went much further though, Olmec artwork being found as far afield as El Salvador. The Olmec predominated in their lands from about 1200 BC to about 400 BC and they are, in fact, claimed by many to be the progenitors and mother culture of every primary element common to later Mesoamerican civilizations. Olmec culture originated at its base in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, where distinctively Olmec features begin to emerge around 1150 BC. The rise of civilization here was probably assisted by the local ecology of well-watered rich alluvial soil, encouraging high maize production. This ecology may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization: Mesopotamia and the Nile valley. It is speculated that the dense population concentration at San Lorenzo encouraged the rise of an elite class that eventually ensured Olmec dominance and provided the social basis for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture. Many of these luxury artifacts, for example jade and magnetite, must have come from distant locations and suggests that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica.

10. Azuzul Twin Colosal Olmec Head Olmec Mask Baby Jaguar

11. TOTONAC The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the state of Veracruz. They built the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (which city they claim to have built). Until the mid-19th century were the world's main producers of vanilla. The region of Totonacapan was subject to Aztec military incursions from the mid-15th century until the Spanish arrival. Despite the establishment of Aztec fortifications throughout the region, rebellion was endemic. Major Totonac centers were Papantla, with an estimated population of 60,000 in 1519, Xalapa (around 120,000), and Cempoala (around 80,000). Cempoala was the first major Indian center encountered by Hernán Cortés in his march to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. The Totonacs of Cempoala joined forces with Cortés and, along with the tlaxcalan Indians, contributed significantly to the Spanish conquest. Totonacapan became incorporated into the Spanish regime with comparatively little violence, but the region was ravaged by epidemic diseases during the 16th century. Today, approximately 90,000 Totonac speakers reside in the region.

12. El Tajin “Voladores de Papantla” (flyer Men) Smiling Face Zempoala