OSEA Field School, MIRA Project 2005
Multimedia Interdisciplinary Research in Anthropology
collaborative and comparative study of tourism destinations and cultures

Selections from Student Evaluations, OSEA Summer Field School 2005 - The MIRA Project

Note as of 2009, OSEA facility was relocated from Mérida to Pisté

Educational Experience
Personal Experience
Overall Program Structure.

Facilities and Lodging

1. Evaluate the OSEA facilities and resources, taking into account the nature of the field school setting and experiential learning.
2. Evaluate the lodging accommodations and the arrangements for room and board in each of the locations where the field school was conducted.

Questions and Student Responses, given in order of participant

Evaluate the OSEA facilities and resources, taking into account the nature of the field school setting and experiential learning.

1. All OSEA facilities were suitable for the small group size and the informal atmosphere of Quetzil's houses served as a fine seminar location. Access to Quetzil's kitchen and water was great, we made do under the circumstances. Technological resources were sufficient, although one student was pretty much out of luck when her computer died, there wasn't really an extra one around for her to use.
2. The OSEA facilities themselves where seminar was held were comfortable.
3. The OSEA facilities were for the most part adequate for the program. Sitting on stools for three hours at Quetzil´s house in Merida could be a bit uncomfortable. Some new plastic chairs would be a suggested investment.
4. The facilities were sufficient, although it would have been an improvement to have more computer resources available for student use at the centers in Merida and especially Piste.
5. The OSEA facilities were great. The classroom in Quetzil's house was fine, and seminars were workable with the readings that were given to us.
6. I thought the facilities were fine I especially liked having to take the bus to Quetzil's house in Miraflores because it gave us a chance to "experience" public transportation and the everyday lives of people. Although some of the settings were extremely hot and an extra fan here and there would have been nice, I think overall the facilities were fine.

Evaluate the lodging accommodations and the arrangements for room and board in each of the locations where the field school was conducted.

1. The heat of the rooms in Posada Olalde in Pisté made it difficult to work with our laptops indoors, but other than that, Posada Luz was great for doing work as was Casa Hotel Tucan in Playa. All three posadas were centrally located near where we were conducting our field research and were comfortable enough to stay in for weeks at a time. Of the three, Posada Luz was the nicest and most comfortable, it was great to have a pool and lots of space to spread out to do our work.
2. I felt as though all accommodations were reasonable, given specific locations and the overall situation of the field school. My favorite posada was the Luz in Merida. I feel as though aside from having great facilities, which the others did as well, the Luz provided us with as much water as we wanted, and also a kitchenette in the room itself so that we could prepare our own breakfasts, individually. These two things made my stay a whole lot nicer. In terms of the mini "vacation" at the middle of the term, I think there was a misunderstanding in terms of lodging. People thought they would be provided with housing should they still wish to remain at that location and not travel around Mexico, but this was not the case. We felt a little flustered as we had to rush to find lodging. I'm not sure if people understood from the beginning of the program that they would have to figure out where they'd live for those 3 nights. I think everyone would have been fine paying for their own lodging, but they were not expecting to, and hadn't really budgeted for it.
3. Luz en Yucatan was a lovely place to stay. Madeline yelled at us once for being too loud in the pool one night. She apologized a couple weeks afterward and was otherwise a very pleasant host. I highly recommend rooming future OSEA students at Luz. Board in Merida was excellent as well. The food from the cocinas economicas near Quetzil`s house was always excellent. Breakfast was fine for the first couple of weeks in Merida. Toast, fruit and cereal was good, although I would suggest buying milk instead of Nido. It´s faster, and better. Casa Tucan in Playa was also a great place to stay. Again, a great location, friendly staff, comfortable rooms. The meals in Playa were good as well. Luz en Yucatan was a lovely place to stay Posada Olalde was a great place o stay also. The Olalde family was super nice, accommodating and helpful. They did´nt even charge to do laundry! Food in Piste was a bit tricky. We were often on our own to buy food for lunch so we were given money but it wasn`t always the same amount. One day Quetzil was gone and we were only given 30 pessos for breakfast and lunch. It wasn`t enough. The money allotted for meals should be consistent to avoid confusion and disgruntled students.
4. The hotels, especially the Luz, were very nice choices. It would have been nice though to have had more guidance or help with lodging during the break (for example, making arrangements with the hotel so that students could stay in the rooms during the break if they chose to).
5. However, in Piste there were no desks at which we could work, so it is good that we did our final projects in Merida, or it would have been quite difficult. Other than that, the hotels and posadas we stayed at were fine.
6. The lodging in Merida, Playa, and Piste were great, the food was awesome too. What I would suggest would be to make it extremely clear that the room and board for the Off-days is not provided for, especially on weekends because that was an extra expense I was not counting on.

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Educational Experience
Personal Experience
Overall Program Structure.