Exploring!

Breakfast

Ball Court

Intricate Detail 3000 years ago

Drawing of the carving above, representing Monte Alban and their main deity, a rain god

Danzante. originally thought to be dancers, now believed to be tortured captives from other cultures, probably Olmecs (notice fat lips and obese figures). They have been castrated and mutilated.

Monte Alban

Secret tunnels lead underground then to the tops of the pyramid. These encouraged Zapotec mysticism, the noble would magically appear up top.

Now covered in grass, the ground and the buildings were all covered in stucco, and presumably painted red.

16th century monastery and church

Represents the 4 Dominicans who oversaw the Spanish conversion of the indians

The tour guide told me to strike a pose, then said I was a super model. Haha, we should have tipped him.

Roof and columns to the right fell during an earthquake. Also, roll tide!

No figures of a crucified Jesus, just crosses.

Recently uncovered in an archway, date unknown

Zapotec dates for start and completion of the church, though they aren't correct. Notice the day of the dead skull to the right, representing November.

It was extra to enter the monastery, so I snuck this picture through a barred window. There is a pool in the middle to the left.

Lunch buffet! Best pico de gallo in the world!

A peacock wandered by at lunch.

Courtyard at lunch. The band teased us with some riffs from the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.

Dona Rosa's grandson demonstrating the process of making the pottery. It was a short 20 min version of a process that takes weeks.

This pot will turn an opaque inky black color during firing.

Sunday morning, looking out our cabin door

On our unaided jaunt through the city, we came across this fountain today!

Hola! Yesterday was adventure day! Julieta (hoo-lee-wet-ah), whose family runs La Villada, hooked us up with a tour of Oaxaca. We had breakfast here at a Villada: fresh fruit  and toast!
     We started out at the ruins of Monte Alban, a once bustling city that was home to the most powerful Zapotecs for over a thousand years. Situated high on top of a mountain, we had some spectacular 360 degree views of Oaxaca. They have tons of pyramids and an ancient ball court. It was so cool! We were exploring a place where people lived 1000 years before Christ. We had a tiny little tour guide who told us all about the site, through broken English, but it was still so informative. They have no idea how the ball game was played, but they have found tons and tons of artifacts. This culture was eventually conquered by the Aztecs and and then by Cortez.
      After Monte Alban, our group visited Arrazola. It is a tiny village outside Oaxaca, where Zapotec indians still live. The Santiago family used to farm and live just like their ancestors, until modern day society made their efforts fruitless and they couldn't survive. The local government stepped in and assisted these farmers into turning their once leisurely practice of making carved wooden animals into a full-time job. I wish I could have taken pictures, but it wasn't allowed. These figures were intricately carved by the men, and painstakingly and patiently painted by the women. It was miraculous to watch them create these, each item being unique from the next. The colors and designs are the some of the most beautiful and creative decorations I have ever seen. Jay and I could have spent hours looking at everything, but the bus was leaving so we purchased a few things and rode to the next place.
     From there we moved on to Oaxaca in the middle ages. In the 1500's, the Spanish came over here and destroyed the indigenous culture in the name of God. They built a giant monastery/church and forced the indians to convert and then build this massive compound. It is called Cuilapan. It is interesting to see how the cultures mixed. There are crosses around the church, but none bear the image of Christ being crucified because the monks did not want to "scare" the Indians. My thoughts based on what we learned at Monte Alban: Zapotec culture believed in human sacrifice to please the gods. They couldn't comprehend a God being sacrificed for humans. So although the priests taught them that Jesus died to save them, an actual figure portraying this would lead the indians to associate Christ with normal human sacrifice. The church was amazing though, and pictures painted during its creation were recently uncovered when the arches were cleaned (picture below). The bells and architecture is all original from its creation.
     From there, our group traveled to a tiny hostel that serves a massive lunch buffet, cooked and served in an authentic manner. I grabbed a bunch of things that I had no clue what they were...and devoured ALL of it! These tortillas were in another league from anything in the states. We gorged ourselves on food, music, cervezas, and coke (its made from natural sugar in mexico, and so much yummier than US coke!). I took a picture of my plates, because it all looked so good!
     After lunch, we traveled to a small village where black ceramic pots were created. Only two places in the world make these (the other is in New Mexico with the Hopi Indians). This ancient technique of baking these ceramics turned the pots black. Back in ancient times they used a secret technique that made the pots shiny, but that technique had been forgotten over centuries. In 1952, Dona Rosa, a pot maker, rediscovered the technique to bring the shine to the pots. You rub them with a piece of quartz before firing. We watched a demonstration. I bought a bracelet for 10 pesos and Jay got a small turtle. We then traveled back to the Zocalo (the main square of Oaxaca), and flagged a taxi back to the hostel.
     We were still full from our buffet, so we snagged a malteada from the kitchen here, tried to figure out how to watch football online, and rested a bit. There is a bar here onsite that is open on weekends. It is kinda fancy, but Julieta makes a darn good mojito, so we hung out a bit and went to sleep.
     Our cabin is so cozy that we slept late today. Oscar loves it here. He keeps trying to play with the dog Miel (Honey), but she is shy. The staff thinks Oscar is the cutest, and welcomes him everywhere! We decided we would do some exploring on our own. Even though we are a mile out of town, Jay and I walked down to town. By down,  I mean about a 500 ft change in elevation. It was super easy to get around, we found what we needed to and had some coffee, and it looked like rain was rolling down the mountains so we decided to head back. Oh man! Walking back up the mountain was exhausting. What a trek! But it was cool being able to navigate this city on our own. So now we are chillin on the balcony under a blanket watching it rain in this beautiful city. We are moving on to Zipolite tomorrow. I'm excited, but sad to say goodbye to Oaxaca and La Villada! We are definitely gonna stop back by and stay at La Villada on our return. Hope all is well in the states. Jay says hi! We miss you all!