The Randomness of Atom

San Jose del Pacifico....

2010-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hola a todos!

Well, I just returned from an amazing 6 days in San Jose del Pacifico and Mazunte, two very incredible places in Oaxaca. Since there are many pictures to show, I'll keep this post to San Jose del Pacifico (SJP).

Anyway, after giving a presentation at the Oaxaca Lending Library on what it's like to be an archaeology student in the 21st century working in Oaxaca to a bunch of folks, I packed up to go to SJP with my dear friend Chuck who had kindly agreed to accompany me on this trip. Actually, what with some of the drama that had been going on in the house we were both ready to get the heck out of dodge and relax a bit.

So after settling this kitten I had rescued the night before in with a generous vet, we set off on our adventure to find a suburban to take us to SJP, the first leg of our journey. Thankfully, after wandering around for almost forever we found the place, bought our tickets, drank a caguama, and got on the suburban.

View from our first cabaña.

Now, SJP is the halfway point between Oaxaca City and the beach. Known along the various hippie social networks for having some of the best mushrooms outside of Thailand, SJP is an amazing place, with or without taking hongos magicos. Its a picturesque setting with mountains, pine trees, and yes "agaves in the mist" as Chuck and I joked often.

Speaking of agaves, our first full day in SJP we took a trip along a hiking trail and discovered these gigantic agaves. They were so frickin cool and prehistoric. It was like being in the late Cretaceous period or something.

Me and one fairly gigantic agave.

Chuck and another gigantic agave.

After our hike and a caguama at this Italian restaurant, we went back to our hippie retreat and, embarking on another viaje, watched the clouds roll in. Being 9,000 ft above sea level, we were above the clouds so it was amazing. Just look at the photos below to see what I mean.

View from out cabaña door.

Watching the clouds roll in.

Another view from the same cabaña door.

Sunset arrives.

The next day, we moved to a different cabaña, La Famosa Cabaña Dos. This cabaña sits right at the edge of a mountain, so the view is spectacular. Watching the clouds roll in this time was different and interesting, because we were right at the level of the clouds. So as they rolled in we were enveloped in clouds, which meant rain but also the sensation of being wrapped up in fuzzy. It was amazing.


Watching the clouds roll in....

....like being in a fuzzy, condensed water vapor blanket.

The best thing about the whole journey, other than the temazcal or ritual sweat bath we did, was Pup-pup, our spirit guide and doggy guardian. She followed us everywhere, passed several loyalty-tests, and stayed outside our cabaña doors for the entire cold night. At the end, when we were boarding the suburban to go to Pochutla, she actually jumped on board and snuggled under a seat. I had to drag her off the vehicle, and watch as she attempted to chase our suburban down as it was leaving. Sigh. ¡Qué triste!, but how glad I am to have met her all the same.

Pup-pup, our spirit guide and companion animal.

Next up, Mazunte!

Cheers!

Omigosh, so much fun!

2010-07-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hola a todos!

Well so its been sometime since I last posted, with a promise of adventures to come. Come they did, and it was an especially good time. Since then I have been working and having more adventures. If I have not mentioned it previously, last semester was quite the busy and stressful one, and a vacation was much needed. Anyway, on to the good stuff.

Wednesday, July 14, I went with my friends Chuck and Oscar to the palanque out in Santiago Matatlan where the mezcal they import to the US and around the world is produced. The fabrica is called Don Tacho, after the owner, and he is a lovely man. We got there around nine, and were immediately offered mezcals. Heh. After a lovely and much needed breakfast, we walked around back to where the mezcal is roasted and fermented. After it is roasted, the maguey is pounded with a huge stone pulled by a horse.

Then the liquid is air-fermented and stored in huge plastic barrels. In this picture you can see the person taking out the mash after the fermenting process.

The meeting itself was interesting, as there were these two chavos from Guadalajara were trying to convince the mezqueleros that they needed to modernize, for whatever reason. They were trying to sell this whole mechanized process and admitted within the first two minutes that the process would change the taste of the mezcal. Eck. And of course, with a mechanized process, it stops being mezcal and just becomes tequila, which no one likes nor wants. Objections were raised of course, but who knows what will happen? Hopefully, the history we witnessed that day was resistance to modernization and a preservation of tradition rather then the conversion of mezcal to shitty tequila. Because, above everything else, if they mechanize the production process, the horse pulling the stone and the man taking out the mash will lose their jobs.

Anyway, the next day Chuck, Carolina and I traveled to Mitla to meet with Don Richard for a lecture on Oaxacan archaeology. After a lovely meal at the palapa, from which you can get an excellent view of the cave of Guila Nequitz where they found some of the earliest domestic cultigens, we went to the ruins of Mitla. And got in for free! Excellent.

Unfortunately, it began to pour so we had to jet. At least we got see the best parts of the site. Once the rain had ceased, I took Chuck--Carolina had left to get back to Oaxaca during a lull in the rain--to see other monticulos that weren't part of the formal archaeological zone of Mitla. Most tourists only see the ruins up the hill, the more famous ones, but the modern town of Mitla is actually much smaller than the archaeological town. And the best part? These other structures can be seen for free. So we checked out Patio G, and then my favorite El Magote which is where Megh and I used to go drink beers and watch the storms over the mountains. It was pretty cool. From the top of El Magote you have a view of the entire Mitla valley subarm. Chido.

The next day, after I interviewed the guantero who makes the gloves for pelota mixteca, I went to the Feria de Mezcal, which is a 12 day festival where people get to try mezcal marcas from all over the state. Chuck and Oscar, along with Don Tacho's family, had a stand at the Feria. Chuck, another woman named Blanca, and I got to participate in the calenda which opened the festival. Starting at the Almada de Leon, we walked in the calenda and gave out mezcal to people. It was a good time.

Ok, so that was those 3 days. I promise to post more, including some of the ballgame stuff I have been up to. This weekend, we go to San Jose del Pacifico up in the mountains and then onto the beach. Yeah!

Another week, another short post

2010-07-14T05:31:00.000-07:00

Hi...ok another short post. But not for lack of time...really a lack of well interesting things that I have been up to since I last posted. A lot of reading, a lot of reading, and a lot of reading. Hanging out. Watching movies. Friday night we had a really nice barbecue at the house on Cerro Fortín. Our resident chef Chuck cooked up an awesome meal. Hamburgers with foi grais in the middle--can you believe that? It was so decadent, so rich, so awesomely tasty that Carolina and I chewed our hamburgers forever trying to savor every bite.

Saturday I went to the despedida of my friends Vero and Toño. It was sad to say good-bye to them, especially since I hadn't been able to hang out with them that much at all since I got down here. But we had a good time--drank beer, ate some good meat brought down from Chihuahua, and even took a couple of whacks at a piñata. Good times in all.

On Sunday, since the pelota mixteca game I was supposed to go to canceled, Carolina and I went to the zócalo to watch the final of the World Cup. I was wearing an orange reboso in support of Holanda, mi patria and madre patria, as they say. Unfortunately, the Dutch did not bring their A-game, and lost out to España. Boo. Later that night had a nice indulgent dinner with Chuck, where we basically ordered a whole bunch of stuff off the menu at Temple (one of my favorite fresa restaurants that does a modern spin on Oaxacan food) since the kitchen was about to close and they were only able to offer salads and cold plates. Dropped some money but sometime you have to indulge.

Did I say this was going to be a short post. Ha. Guess not. Anyway, Monday I was off to Cuilapam de Guerro, going to the Ex-Convento to meet with Dr. Marcus Winter, an archaeologist who has been working and living in Oaxaca for years. The Ex-Convento is an old Dominican church that was renovated and they did quite the job. The place is beautiful. Check it out.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to a palanca where they raise the maguey to make mescal to eat some good food and drink some of that fine mescal artesanal. Thursday Carolina, Chuck and I are off to Mitla to see Don Richard who is going to give us personal guided tour of the ruins there. Sweet. So I'll have a lot more to post soon.

Cheers!

El Arbol de Tule

2010-07-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hola everyone! This is going to be a short post (sorry!) and I promise to have more in a day or two. But i wanted to just quickly post about the really awesome Arbol de Tule, which is--as you may have guessed--is a tree. But its not just any tree, its the biggest tree in all of the Americas, and is over 2,000 years old!

Trying to get this thing into a photo so that you can appreciate the massiveness of it is a little difficult. Even the pics I have posted here don't quite do it justice. In this photo, the tree looks skinny and unimpressive, but that's just because its a fairly angular (not round) tree, and from this angle it looks smaller than it actually is. Most of the photos I could only squeeze in a part of the tree at a time.

Actually, its a series of trees really that have grown together to become one over the millennium. But somehow I think that makes the tree even cooler. These different trees are now one, living and breathing and growing together (yes, the tree is still growing!) There's a lot of symbolism in there for whatever you can think of--human society, the household (our basic unit of life), a marriage. Nations. Groups. Biotic communities. Etc.

Also on this tree are some really interesting tree growths. This one looks like a lion, and if you approach it from another angle, there's a lion's face in the lion's face. Heh.

Anyway, I really recommend, if you are ever out by Oaxaca way, to make a trip to St. María de Tule to go see the gigantic tree. $9.00 pesos for a round-trip bus ride and $5.00 pesos to get in--in total, about $1 US to commune with a ginourmous, ancient and symbiotic living creature. What more could you ask for? Oh, and the prices of the tourist goods in the local market are to die for!

Cheers!

Boil the water...

2010-07-03T09:56:00.001-07:00

Hola everyone!

Wow, you think with all the time I have I would be posting more. Well, that's what I thought at least. In Mitla I was a blogging machine--but then, I had ab-so-lute-ly nothing to do with my evenings back then. No articles to write, no books to read. Ah, it certainly feels like the days of innocence sometimes. Back then, my only cares were making it up the hill in the morning, and hoping to run into that one dude I was seeing for a bit back then. Oh well. I'm still having a ton of fun now.

Anyway, as I promised in my last post, here are pictures from our adventures in Hierve el Agua. Carolina (one of my roommates in the house on Cerro Fortín) and I met with Hilary at her hostel. Poor girl wasn't feeling too hot but put on a brave face and came out with us anyway. We walked to the Estación de Autobuses Segunda Clase (2nd Class Bus Station) and hopped on the bus to Mitla.

When we got to Mitla and off the bus, we were approached by this young woman and a guy who turned out to be close to my and Carolina's age (we're both 27). Turns out the driver was going to charge them a lot of money unless they could get more people. Of course we agreed to share a camioneta with them. However, the driver still wanted to charge a lot of money, but thankfully these 3 Oaxacan kids showed up and off we went, with the 8(!) of us squeezing into the back.

Now, I've posted on Hierve el Agua before so I won't be posting a ton of pictures from the hike (but here's one anyway!)

However, the biggest difference between this time and last was while Megh and I swam under a strong sun, Adam, Sophie, Hilary, Carolina and I were hit by rain. In fact, fearing rain and a slippery trail I jetted up the trail, blizting ahead of the others. Needless to say everyone got soaked.

While it was raining, we decided to have lunch and wait it out. When the sky began to clear I packed up my tlayuda even though I wasn't done it and we jetted down to the pools, changing into our clothes in record time. Getting into the pools was so nice...the water was a bit chilly, and it certainly would have been better with sun, but nevertheless we still had a great time and took a ton of fun photos.

One of my favorites is this rather National Geographic-looking shot.

Anyway, it was a great time and we had a lot of fun with Sophie and Adam, even though we had just met them. In fact, later that night they came over for dinner, and the next night we went to their hostel where they cooked us a lovely meal. They're both gone now, off to parts unknown, but I will always have these pictures, the memories, and their friendship on facebook.

I love Hierve el Agua! Tomorrow, El Arbol de Tule!

Cheers.

Hola from my terraza!

2010-06-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I'm sitting on my beautiful terraza working or at least attempting to work (as you can see from the lovely photo above). Hah. When I last wrote, I was waiting to move in a friend of mine's house, but that ended up falling through. Since I had a hint of what was going to happen, I called la Sra. Virgen to see if she had a room available. I rented a room with Virgen last year when I had to vacate the place in Cinco Señores for a month. Thankfully she had a room for room--and funny enough, it is the same room as the one I stayed in last year. How sweet!

So what have I been up to? Well, settling in to my new place. Picking up food for the house so I can eat. Met with Ron Spores on Thursday and chatted with him. Yesterday Hilary, Allan and I went to Ocotlán so I could pick up a machete for Taylor. Our first stop was at the taller of a knife and sword maker in the town. He makes the blades from old recycle tire parts. Allan had wanted a new knife, a switchblade, un poco mas chiquito y ligero (a little smaller and lighter) and I helped him place the order.

Then after placing the order and looking over the Señor's wares he gave us some shots of mezcal, cedrón flavor, which was pretty cool.

After our visit to Ocotlán, Hilary and I went to Sto. Tomás Jaltipec to buy some woven belts and other goodies. On our way we saw this funny sign:

The purses and belts are really pretty here in Sto. Tomás, and the weaving is exceptional. Very fino, mucho trabajo as all the women say. The best part was all the women laughing at me because I was a guera armed with a machete. Always glad to be a source of amusement for las Zapotecas. After spending a ton of money we headed back to Oaxaca and the both of us passed out for a nap.

So as you can tell, a very good time. On Monday Hilary and I got to Hierve el Agua. Should be fun. Will tell you guys all about it!

Settling into mi vida Oaxaqueña

2010-06-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Slowly I am settling into my life here in Oaxaca. I'm still at Allan and Teri's but soon estoy en marcha (I'm on my way) to another house. I will be staying with my friend and colleague Dante. Chido, should be good. Today I went with another colleague Dante and an girl I knew from my first season at El Palmillo, Hilary. She came out with me yesterday from Mitla and we went out to el Centro to see an exhibition by a friend of mine.

Anyway, Memo was up to eat Thai food when suddenly he got a call. Apparently they had found some bones on a milpa or corn field where they had recently went across it with a tractor. When he went to go check it out, Hilary and I went with him. It was a pretty neat opportunity as we got to go to places the public does not have access to, such as the milpa, which was simply covered in telcapetes or ceramic fragments. Some of them were pretty frickin big! Another thing we got to do was enter a part of the site which is open to the public but where certain sections are restricted access, included this awesome tomb pictured below.

So that was pretty cool. I really liked the fact that we got to see this up close and personal, like only a few feet away! Not many people get to do this.

Anyway, as I promised in the last post, here are some pictures from my bus trip desde Puebla a Oaxaca. Hope you think they are as gorgeous as I do!

Cheers.

¡En Oaxaca!

2010-06-16T23:53:00.000-07:00

¡Hola a todos! I'm in Oaxaca right now, sitting on the porch of my friends/second parents, Teri and Allan.

My flight from Hermosillo to Puebla went well--it was actually kind of funny, as I've never been on a national carrier before and their security video was half instruction, half telenovela. But they give you snacks (beat that American carriers!) and it was a pleasant trip all around. Even though my solicitous row mate did ask the inevitable do I have a boyfriend in Mexico? question. But he was nice enough and helpful, and our flight was smooth and uneventful. Coolest thing--as we were flying into the airport at Puebla we passed right by this archaeological site on a hilltop.

Anyway the whole journey went smoothly. The only hiccup was having to buy a whole new bus ticket for the trip to Oaxaca, but that was more the fault of Ticketbus than anything else. Thus the bus I wanted to take was full and I had to take the next one, which wasn't leaving until 6pm! Dang! As it turns out though, there is an earlier bus that leaves at 5, but its 50 pesos more--ADO's luxary line, ADO GL. So I thought why not, paid for the ticket and was on my way.

The bus ride was like any bus ride--uneventful. And since it was a first-class bus we didn't get stopped by the military. Yeah! I stayed awake for most of it and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes as they rolled by. I saw some pretty sweet vistas and valleys, with a gorgeous backdrop of mountains and clouds. Amazing stuff.

Side thought: Funny how when most people think of Mexico, they think of tropical beach, the Cancun stereotype. Or Tijuana, dusty dirty polluted Mexican border craziness. For me, when I think of Mexico, I think of those dramatic views where you go through a mountain pass and suddenly the landscape spreads out in front of you and its this grand sweeping valley thats green and brown and white, sometimes red in parts where the erosion is bad. And you see milpas, churches, and sometimes isolated wattle-and-daub houses with donkeys and horses scattered about. And you see two children riding through the fields on horses, bareback and without bridles. And you see what's left of church as its walls crumble, abandoned and forgotten on some hill. And you see the trappings of modern life imposed on a landscape that just seems ancient. And its all so incredible, so vast and yet so pinched and rugged, and your mind stretches to take in it all.

That's Mexico to me.

Anyway, I'm here safe and sound and I have a bed for the night. Cheers!

p.s. I didnt have time to download them yet, but I promise to put up pictures tomorrow to show you all what I mean by frickin cool landscape!

Resurrection....again!

2010-06-14T09:21:00.005-07:00

Welcome back for not the first, certainly not the second...but yes! The THIRD coming of this blog. The Randomness of Atom is back, at least for the summer. But summer romances are some of the best, non?

In all honesty I hadn't thought much about the blog in a while. I wasn't even sure I would do it again, but a fleeting urge to do so did flit through my mind. However when I had received an email from Grandpa asking if I was going to be doing the blog again this summer I thought to myself, why not? Well more like I thought that yes, I should do the blog again. Because not only is it fun but also its a great way for people to keep up with my adventures.

Plus, this summer things are quite different. Last summer, though I had a good time overall, was much more difficult than my 2008 field season. Problems with getting into the field and onto the projects I had expected to join but was prevented from doing so, problems with the la migra ($100 down the drain my friends!), and of course heart-aches and breakups. Last summer was a test of how well I can deal with life giving me some fairly sour lemons, but I did make the finest limonada that I could.

This summer is going to be way more tranquilo. I'm not doing any archaeology--well I just did a week in Trincheras analyzing cremations--but instead will be focusing on my ethnography of pelota mixteca players and their community networks. Given that games are only played once a week--albeit in different communidades throughout the state--there will be a lot of downtime, which I plan to use for prepping for comps (er that is my PhD comprehensive exams), getting my reading lists together for that, writing articles, and just doing research en general.

And of course....relaxation! A visit to Mexico City, a visit maybe to Guatemala. Travel travel travel. And a return to myself. Yes. Its going to be a good summer. Now if only I can find a place to stay :)...

Winding down....not yet wrapping up

2009-07-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

8 days left of work to do in the Casa Mixteca. This week was supposed to be the mapping week, although we have had some interesting issues with the total station/transit unit. Tested it out today and thankfully it works, but there is all this legal stuff we have to go through, since it has to be signed out and brought back and one of has to sign on the dotted line and accept responsibility for it (that is Memo or I). Ack! Please not me. So we'll be using it tomorrow, and hopefully getting all of the topographic mapping done in two days (por favor dios!).

In other news, I just received word that I have been given a .25 FTE TAship (teaching assistantship for all you non-grads out there)--I will be working with Dave Killick for his Patterns in Prehistory class. This coupled with the .25 FTE RAship (R = research!) means that I can afford school! Sweet. The year will be busy though--working 20 hours a week plus 2 committees and mentoring and whatever other stupid stuff I sign myself up for. Hmm, good thing classes are only once a week so far.

Well, my stay here in Oaxaca is winding down. Though I miss my little family and my big group of friends in Tucson, I'm going to miss Oaxaca more. I don't want to leave. Too many friends here, too many good memories. Its been a difficult, fun, interesting, busy, and quite crazy summer--and while I didn't love every minute of it, I don't regret anything for a second.

Cheers

Maybe not blood or tears, but there sure is a ton of sweat!

2009-07-13T19:27:00.003-07:00

Whoops, another long silence. Heh sorry. But I've been thinking that the reason I haven't been posting as much as I did last year cause well, I have a lot more responsablities. Not only am I technically the person in charge of the rescue of a rescue project at the Casa Mixteca, but I also have my own project I'm trying to work on. This personal project is going fairly well--the ethnography is great. Yesterday I went to a partido de pelota mixteca and did 3 interviews!

Anyway, I thought I'd give a little peek into what I'm working on at the Casa Mixteca. Here is a portion of my field diary. This is an excerpt from the first week. Cheers!

24-6-09 Miercoles
Clime: hace sol y calor
Trabajadores: MS, PGRC, Felipe, Julio

1. Finished taking the photos of the E & S walls of CN/P3, as well as the entrance to CN. Took detail photos of estuco.

2. Julio continued with the desyerbe, clearing plants in the CN and the other places missed earlier with the weed wacker.

3. After discussing procedure with Memo, decided to dig pozos/postes in the corners of rooms 3W and CN of P3 to find the piso first, to know at what depth we need to take everything else down. Decided to start MS with Felipe in 3W/P3 while Memo starts with Julio in CN/P3.

4. Felipe  esquina SE de la extension este de 3W, MS  esquina SW of 3W/P3

5. Soil is wet, café in color, feels Sandy.

6. A few centimeters below the erosional fill, Felipe found what could be the floor or fallen estuco. Decided to open another cuadra next to his to see if we can find more or if its just fallen estuco. Opened up the cuadra immediately to the right of the one already opened.

7. Determined that it was estuco from the walls. Took 2 photos on personal camera to document and told Felipe to continue going down to the piso.

8. Piso found by Memo in the SE esquina of CN/P3 about 16 cm down.

9. Piso found by Felipe in the SE corner of the eastern extension of C3W/P3 at a depth of 15-20cm below the superifcie (13cm). Took pictures:
016 – SE corner C3W/P3
017 – same

10. MS found piso in SW corner, C3W/P3, about 18-20cm down.
018 – SW corner, C3W/PS
019 – same
020 – same

11. Directed Felipe to look for piso in the east extension 3W/P3, NE corner. Found floor.
023 – NE, EXT E, C3W/P3
024 – same

12. Took photos of piso found by Julio in esq. NE, CN/P3 at depth of 30cm.

13. Directed Felipe to dig in the NW corner of C2W.

14. Found piso in SW corner CN/P3  took photos.
025 – NW esq, C2W/P3

15. Depth of erosion in the wall from the foundations is 15-30cm.

16. In the NW corner of CN/P3 went down to 30cm but still have not found piso, may have to take it down another 10-20cm to find the floor.
027 – SW corner CN/P3
028 – same

Welcome to my Casa Mixteca

2009-06-30T17:01:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone...I moved to a new house and we finally have a decent internet connection in the house! Actually, it works great. I gotta get ready to go decir despedidas (say good-bye) to Lindsey, the physical anthropologist who worked this year for the same project as I did last year, but just wanted to give a quick update and let everyone know that I am doing very well.

We started excavations at the Casa Mixteca, a Mixtec house site that is near the "collective" site of Monte Alban (a 20 minute camioneta ride away) and is of course Post-classic and awesome. Right now there's just me, the person technically in charge of the project, a student from ENAH and a worker. We are working in the north room of patio 3, one of the larger rooms, and we hope to finish up tomorrow with that and move onto the next room. Its taking a bit longer, not only cause of the lack of personnel (or human labor) but because its a big room with a lot of erosional fill. Its a lot fun though, and I will post pictures shortly.

In the mean time, here is a great pic of me relaxing during the lunch hour.

Coxitlahuaca...not quite Shangri-la, but close enough for this archaeologist!

2009-06-17T12:54:00.009-07:00

What does one see everywhere when they go to Coixtlahuaca, aside from a carpet, literally of tecomates (ceramic sherds)covering the ground everywhere you walked?

Incredible vistas! This valley was amazing and breath-taking. Imagine a place that is very mountainous but the vistas stretch for miles, and the next mountain range you see could be kilometers away. The valley literally spreads out below you.

Here's Dr. Steve Kowalewski and Leonardo discussing something important or another about how we were going to proceed with the excavations that day. It was some crazy work we were doing--I've never excavated and backfilled in one day, and we did this three days in a row! Here we at the top of a large hill--look how beautiful everything looks from this high up.

Coixtlahuaca is for the most part a Postclassic site, and this era is especially famous for its polychrome pottery. I was dying to find one all week--unfortunately I kept picking up a bunch of bi-chromes with varying shades of red. Finally, on my last day up there, I found a fragment or tecomate of a polychrome pottery vessel. Sweet!

Here I am in the unit on Friday. Okay, so this picture is a bit posed--we had already done all the work, and photographed and did the plan drawing. But I couldn't resist getting a shot of myself as a working archaeologist!

Here is Rodrigo and Jorge, the team from UNAM (the big university in Mexico City) that was doing some of the electromagnetic testing of the site. It was there data that we were using to pick where we were going to excavate, to see how good the results of the electromagnetic testing is. We got mixed results--where we dug on Thursday and Friday the data worked very well.

And finally, a picture of the crew, from Monday. From L-R, its me (of course!), Leonardo, our two young helpers Xochitl and Blanca, and Dr. Steve Kowalewski. Marisol, the other archaeologist on the team, took the picture.

Though I was only up there for a week, I had a great time and met some wonderful people. Working with Steve was great--and he's invited me to come work with him next year from Jan-June--so want too! Just gotta figure out how to skip out on my classes :P. Plus, I had to lead my own units--I was put in charge! And that was exciting enough. Now I can say that I lead a crew, albeit briefly.

Can't wait to go back!

Politics, a dance of swords, and bits of life.

2009-06-17T12:13:00.002-07:00

Its official. I am working with the team at Monte Alban, doing some work on the Casa Mixteca. Originally excavated as a rescue project in 1999, we're now going back to it to see what was missing from the drawing plans, topographic information, and other misc. things of the site report produced then and fill in the gaps. Having reviewed through all the informes from 1998 to last year yesterday, I know that in 2008 they set the goal to take a new look at the site with the idea of doing some preservation work, since it seems to be in an area of high erosion and danger from the ever expanding mancha urbana (basically, urban stain).

So again, not exactly what I was hoping to do this summer, but the main thing to remember is that my own project comes first, and all this stuff was for experience and so I could get my FM-3. I'm not sure what exactly I did wrong--Ron (Dr. Spores) says its a jugdemental thing and not a logical thing and I should put it behind me, but I still can't help wonder if it was something I did in the past year, or in the three days between my meeting with the Dra. and when I first heard the rumor that I would be pulled to Monte Alban.

However it happened, it sounds like things aren't incredibly exciting nor peachy up in Tepos. Next year should be better...and hey, unlike some people I know (who shall remain nameless) I've haven't been blacklisted from Oaxacan archaeology! In fact, I have been invited to work in the very bosom of the political firestorm! Perhaps its a keep your enemies close thing, but everyone who works here tells me that this is a good thing, and a way to prove that I am a good, loyal worker...unlike some people I know. Cheers!

Been a while, head in strange space...

2009-06-11T12:35:00.004-07:00

Sorry for the long silence on posting. Most of the blame can be laid at the feet of simple exhaustion at the end of a long day of fieldwork and an impossibly slow internet connection during my week at Coixtlahuaca--which occupied my time from May 31-June 5. Digging there was fun, and I promise to post pictures soon of a wonderful and awe-inspiring landscapes and vistas, plus some great archaeology.

View of the valley from one of the sites we worked at.

The week in Coixtlahuaca was followed by my birthday, which was a mixture of sadness and happiness, but thankfully landed more on the latter side of the divide. I had a lovely dinner with Dr. Ron Spores and his brother and sister-in-law, then went out with friends where we danced till 2:30 in the morning! My hair was wet when I took it down before going to bed!

Sunday--the actual B-day--was rather quiet, though a friend of mine that I had met in Coixtlahuaca did come down to Oaxaca and we went out to a bar or two. At the second the bartender invited us to a free mezcal and beer, which was nice. He tried to send another one, but we said thanks but no thanks. Er. Then we went home, watched a movie and passed out. My friend left the next day to Mexico City.

And I left to go to Nochixtlan to help out a friend for the week. Unfortunately, while at the top of the Cero Jazmin, I received a phone call from Bertha, indicating that I had received an email from Dra. Nelly Robles, and that it would be best for me to come back to Oaxaca asap and get stuff straightened out and started up with her.

Well, its the second day. I'm awaiting "instructions" so I can know what the hell I'm doing. Sigh. And my mentor, Ron, is happy about it. I don't think he's going to charge in like a white knight, and I don't know if its going to do much as it seems I am being unfairly selected to be jerked around (which is right now too depressing to relate but I promise a post on this later), but its nice to know he cares. We'll see what happens.

Since I seem to be stuck at an impasse, I have decided to concentrate on what actually matters at the moment, which is my ball court project. On Sunday a friend and I are going up to meet with a Señor who seems to be heavily involved in arranging pelota mixteca or ball game matches, and there's supposed to be a tournament in this one village, which I am looking forward to. I also need to start hitting up some ball courts, though since I did limit myself to at least three, I don't think I should have too much trouble accomplishing that task.

Till next time, I promise that a post will follow this one very shortly.

The teachers did what?

2009-05-28T10:54:00.008-07:00

So May is protest month here in Oaxaca, with the teachers leading the charge and cries of "Vive APPO" ringing around--and spray painted on various buildings. Of course, to understand some of what's going on, one has to go back to the Troubles of 2006, but that's a long and complicated topic which I would rather not get into here. Suffice to say, as Teri did "Is change needed in Oaxaca? Yes. Will it come with the teachers union in charge? No." You can't expect change when those leading the call are practically mafiosos themselves.

Today Bertha and I made the big visit to the immigration office, since all my papers were in order (ay por fin). Everything was reviewed and approved and ready to go. The only problem? The teachers have taken over the banks all over the state. You see, the last thing I need is to take this form (Mexicans love forms) to the bank, make my payment, get it stamped, make copies, and then take these copies plus the original, back to the immigration office. Which would have been possible to day had the teachers not decided that TODAY, of all days (not even Friday, but that's when people get paid!) is the day they are going take over the banks. Damn. But we asked one of the professors when the takeover would be over, and they indicated that it would be over tomorrow. So I'll just take care of that tomorrow.

Sigh. But soon this visa process will be over, and I will be able to join the excavations! I also travel to Mitla today, so hopefully on the way through Tlacolula, I can find the one bank that's open (maybe) and get this stamped so I can just go to the office tomorrow and get my papers!

Anyway, the photos that follow are some of the graffiti that APPO and anarchists have been throwing up on the walls around the Centro Historico.

Sundry things

2009-05-23T16:14:00.003-07:00

Hey, only 3 days later. Not bad--slowly getting better at this, back into the swing of things. Well, Thursday was an interesting day. I met up with Bertha in front of the immigration office and we spoke with a woman, clearing up some of the confusion I had had about what the necessary documents are for changing my status from Tourist to FM-3 Student (basically means that I can be in Mexico as long as I please, can come and go as I please, and I just need to renew every year before it expires...sweet!). The woman indicated that I just had to get what was on the list, with the exception of a letter from a school here in Mexico saying that I've been accepted, since...well, since I'm not a student here in a school but as a student archaeologist learning on a field project.

So no more apostille! Thank god, though I still plan on getting one next year any way just to be safe.

After parting ways with Bertha, I took a colectivo to Mitla to see Richard. First stop was at a Modelo store, cause you can't go to Richard's empty-handed. Then, since I had not had lunch, it was a trip over to the Mercado and a bee-line to my favorite torta stand, where I chatted with the Señora behind the counter. Lo and behold to my delight she did in fact remember me, and we chatted pleasantly about how said it was that los gringos don't like el sabor picante, qué lastíma. As I walked out of the marketplace I had a pleasant run-in with Elena, nuestra concinadora from last year. We greeted each other with loud exclamations and platicamos mucho, and she even gave me two free bottles of Yakult, the sweetheart. I promised to make a visit with I came back to Mitla.

Finally, I went over to Richard's, where we shared some beers and he gave me advice on my ball court project. Then, when he indicated that he needed to back to bed (Richard is very sick), he lent me his hat and coat and this guerita trudged it back to Oaxaca, taking the bus which thankfully stopped in Tlacolula so I could pee and, an added bonus, buy some tamales. Sweet.

Friday I spent most of the day in Teposcolula with Bertha and Willy. I got a chance to see the exposición about the site nearby, Pueblo el Viejo or Yuncundaa in Mixtec, and I also spent some lovely time in the rose garden of the ex-convento, listening to the birds and the wind. Funny enough, while I was watching a video produced for the exposición, there was a temblor or small earthquake which shook the walls of the building. For a moment there I stood up in indecision, not sure if I should run outside or stay put. Thankfully it only lasted for about ten seconds--later on I found out that the epicenter had been in Puebla, the state to the northwest of us.

Olga, the coordinator for the site, found me at one point and we walked over to where Bertha was so we could do a tour of the site. Olga mentioned my wanting to work at the site, to which I very carefully responded that I did and what I could do for them. She indicated that to her it didn't matter much and that there was a lot of work to do, and for me to give her my email so that she could talk to Dra. Nelly and confirm to me a yes or a no. Cognizant of wanting to make a good impression, I was very polite and answered her questions, asking my own in turn.

Anyway, the site visit was nice. Afterwards we stopped for dinner at the Palapa, which was only okay. Waited around for a bit while Bertha talked to some people at the municipio, then it was back to Oaxaca. Wily and Bertha dropped me off at El Centro where I met up with Ricardo, Véronica, and her sister whose name I can't recall at the moment. A few (and I literally mean only two person) beers later, we called it a night and I cabbed it back to Cinco Señores, the colonial where I kinda live but don't (our address is technically in Fernando Sandoval Gómez).

As for today? Worked more on translation stuff for my FM-3 and learned to play bridge, which I still don't quite understand and which I figure will take a few more games (or a dozen) before I can even begin to sorta grasp the rules. I think there are also plans to go out tonight, but we'll see.

Looks like I will be doing some archaeology (god willing) fairly soon. Till later!

P.S.

2009-05-20T15:39:00.002-07:00

First year of graduate school completed, how did I do? Fairly well--second semester I maintained my 4.00 GPA, got a few scholarships and grants, and seem to be well on my way to getting through the program at a good pace. Looking forward to the next year.

Cheers

Solicito a INM...quiero quedarme aqui!

2009-05-20T15:12:00.004-07:00

Sorry for the long silence since the last post. Not too much exciting stuff going on, though I've been recently occupied with changing my immigration status from "turista" to non-immigrant student, basically an FM-3 that's a little easier to obtain than other immigration documents. Getting this thing is going to require jumping through a few hoops--a lot of redundant copying, tiny little passport photos, carta personal to say that yes, I do want to work and live and stay here in Mexico. Also puts me out about $300, but its well worth it. Not only do I have the coverage when I'm doing research or working on a field project, but I no longer have to deal with 6 month tourist visas that sometimes overlap, and it only takes $50 to get the sucker renewed each year.

Thankfully in this process I have Berta,la mujer extraordinaire, to help me out. She's going to help me with getting the formal letter from the Foundation's Yucundaa project and the letter proving that I have a place of residence here. So, the only big hoop to jump through is getting an apostille (Thanks Hague convention) for my master's degree to prove its legit. This is proving to be slightly difficult although not daunting--thankfully I have some people who are willing to take care of it, just not at the time I need them to do so. So I'm hunting my brother down, trying to get in touch with him to ask him the biggest favor in the world.

Travis, if you are out there....call me yah?

Vienes armada!

2009-05-15T16:54:00.004-07:00

Hola amigos. Second full day in Oaxaca. Wednesday just went into the blackhole of travel--basically I had been up since 4:40 in the morning, took a flight out of Tucson at 6:40 to Houston, where at 2:20 I left for Mexico City. Then, once I got there I immediately cabbed it to TAPO and purchased a bus ticket to Oaxaca. The bus left at 6pm and we got into the city around 12:30. Allan, my host, met me at the station and then we took a cab to there place where I promptly passed out. Ugh, 18 hours of travel not so much fun.

But what is fun is the tiangues in Ocotlan. Its been my mission for some time to pick up a two-colored reboso (shawl) and a machete with a bull-horn handle. After taking a second-class bus to Ocotlan, I set about shopping. Paid full price for the reboso, which I didn't mind because they're very nice and a lot of work. But for the machete and its holder I did bargain a bit. Got the machete "puro machete" for $200 pesos, the best deal I found there. It's about 55cm long, made of good steel that rings when you flick it, and the bull-horn handle is very nice. Also picked up a leather sheath for it, which cost me $70.

Then it was on another bus to the town of Sto. Tomas Jalieza, where my mission was to find a new purse to replace the one I had liberated from my mom a few years back. Found a nice black one with both a zipper and a flap for extra security. This put me out $140 pesos but again, well worth it considering the quality of the weaving and how much it would be comparatively in the States. After that I made my way back to the highway, where I waited for another ride back to Oaxaca City with some lovely ladies, one of whom made a joke that I "vienes armada" or I come armed (because of the machete, natch), at least that's what I caught. Pretty funny though.

Now I'm back at home, playing with my Mexican cellphone and texting friends here in Oaxaca. Tomorrow its beers at La Farola with Ricardo. Cheers!

Ha ha I'm back!

2009-05-13T11:32:00.003-07:00

Okay, so a long time in coming. But I've found out that I'm just not interested in blogging unless I'm abroad. Honestly, when I'm stateside, my life is pretty uninteresting. Well, its interesting to me of course--I mean, it is my life, and its a fairly fun one--but detailing the minutia of my days as a graduate student just doesn't seem like something people would be clamoring to read. Eh, I mean would you want to read a litany of items like this:

Today, sent some emails, went to class, read, talked to friends, went home, made dinner, studied more. Rinse, repeat.

I mean really? Seriously? Ugh, its whole reason why I don't Twitter. My thoughts are not always that interesting, not enough to deserve constant updating. Anyway, so why the post then if I am so anti-daily life blogging? Well, hurrah! I'm off to Mexico again--and not just for a vacation or brief stay but another 3 months! That's right--I'm at Houston airport right now, awaiting the second leg of my journey.

This trip should be interesting--very different in many ways from last year. But that will be another post, because they're starting the boarding process right now. I'll be sure to post tomorrow about what the situation is and how I ended up back in Mexico.

This just in...

2008-12-24T12:56:00.002-07:00

My last grade finally came in. Now that we have four out four classes reporting, what's my GPA for my first semester at UofA? A really, really awesome 4.00! Yep, that's right, I have a (so-far) perfect GPA, which hopefully should help me out not only with any future endeavors I find myself in but with this kick-ass fellowship I'm trying to get currently. I'm pretty excited about all this, cause I was admittedly a bit nervous and anxious that I was putting myself in a bad spot by going on a field dig only a week before finals and term papers were due. But it worked out in the end, and my efforts have been rewarded with four, wonderful A's. Neato!

Er...yeah, so its been a while...

2008-12-22T13:17:00.002-07:00

I've probably used that title before, but alas, it captures perfectly the situation. Hmm, so the last time I posted, it was a recipe that I had made up on the fly--a great (and cheap) Indian dish. And in that post I had made a promise to provide an update on what's been going on in my life. Of course, such a thing didn't happen. Call it a combination of being swamped by the demands of graduate school and an avoidance of posting, for whatever strange reasons. Laziness perhaps? Reluctance? Who knows, who cares? I think, however, that now that I am adjusted to my life in Tucson, now that I have friends and such, and also since this upcoming semester should be somewhat easier, I will have more time (and inclination) for posting.

So, what has been happening? Well...since those few posts that I made in September, things have actually been going swimmingly. I submitted an abstract to the SAAs, spoke with the newest bioarchaeologist hire at the ASM (Arizona State Museum) about some fieldwork opportunities, and made connections with the archaeology community at large. By the end of October, I felt pretty solid--no more homesickness (well, I still miss home but still...) and I was building a good group of friends. Halloween was a blast, and good things kept going from there.

In November, I went home briefly--it was like a dream. Four days, and then it was over, and I was back in town. But it was wonderful, and I managed to squeeze in time with a lot of people. The Friday I came back, I had a wonderful dinner with my friends Fumie and Natalia--a home-made sushi dinner that was so incredible I could never have anything close to that again. The next day, went out with other friends for sushi--yes, again, but that wasn't my plan--and then to Natalia's house, with Fumie, for a party. That was an awesome weekend.

Then, the following week on Friday I left for a 9-day (well, 11 if you count the days of travel) field season at the site of La Playa, near Trincerhas, Sonora, Mexico. It was an awesome site/trip...we excavated a good number of burials in short amount of time. It was a bit rough on the body though, cause I was up at 6:30, worked until 4:30, relaxed for a bit, drank, then worked on research/notes for my term papers which were due shortly after I returned. But it was all good, though I was worried that I might be messing myself up by not giving myself time to work on the papers.

In the end it all worked out. I returned home from my trip, turned in a paper, gave a presentation on Thursday and bam bam bam started working on my term papers. Somehow, despite taking breaks and goofing off here and there, I managed to get everything--and I mean everything!--done. I turned in a paper on 9/12, on 10/12, and then on Monday, 15/12, I turned in the last two. And suddenly I was done. My semester was over. What a relief! Though weird, because now I had all this free time (relatively speaking) and nothing to do with myself. Hmm....

So now, here I am in Portland, visiting with my dad, brother (who also flew in for the holidays) and the relatives I have here, my awesome cousins Jamiy and Nattie. Plus Grandpa came in too, which is cool. Relaxing, relaxing and relaxing, reading fiction books and just surfin' the net. Though I do have a few things to do, related to my Oaxaca trip last summer, a fellowship I am applying to, and wrestling with the Financial Aid office. And, to top it off, my friend Steven B. is supposedly coming to visit, which is great.

Anyway, to end this post, 3 of my 4 classes have posted grades, and so far I've received all A's, so hopefully my last class will post the same, and I'll have a 4.0 GPA. One hopes, but even if not, considering everything--4 classes, fieldwork right before finals, and relaxing a bunch but still being on top of everything--I'm still set to do very well. Cheers.

Super-easy Campbell's Tomato Soup Indian food

2008-10-28T11:35:00.003-07:00

Okay so yeah its been about a month since I last posted. Please forgive. It's been quite a month, super busy and all but with a lot of exciting stuff happening. Plus, not so much homesickness (though I do go home next week! and am so looking forward to that) and quite a number of new friends and important connections.

Anyway, so right now I am sitting at my desk in Lab 408A (did I mention before that I had a desk in Takesh and Dani's lab? If not, remind to do so in the update post, coming soon!) I just heated up my lunch, which is a quick dish I made last night. The background story is that I spent most of the day pondering what I was going to make--while I did have two dishes already planned out for the week to cook, I was missing some ingredients and didn't feel up to making them.

Figuring that since I had rice, cheese, and numerous cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup I could make some sort of dish with that, maybe even a baked thing with breadcrumbs on top. Not having any regular, long-grain rice I was going to use Jasmine rice, but wasn't sure how it would turn out after baking in an oven. Plus, the dish just didn't sound exciting. Then I thought, why not use Basamti? That should stand up well. And then, it hit me. I should just do an Indian style dish using curry powder and other such stuff that I have in my kitchen. And voila! A super easy Indian dish was born--adding lentils was a final stroke of genius.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients-- (makes a lot) 3 cans Campbell's Tomato Soup; 1 medium-to-large onion; several garlic cloves, according to taste; 3 green onions; 2 cups red lentils; turmeric powder, cumin powder, and Madras curry powder; salt; vegetable oil; Basmati rice

1. Chop onions and garlic finely
2. Slice green onion
3. Heat vegetable oil in pan using desired amount
4. Once oil is hot, add in onions and garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes
5. Add in green onion, 3-5 more minutes (when onion starts to get really clear)
6. Add turmeric, cumin and curry powder, according to taste
7. Add more vegetable oil if necessary (you want it to be a little oily)
8. Meanwhile, soak rice and lentils (rice takes longer to soak so you may want to do that sooner)
9. Cook rice and lentils when they are ready
10. To onion/spice mix, add the three cans of soup and equal parts water, according to directions
11. Let soup simmer and flavors meld together
12. Add salt and additional curry powder if desired (I put in a ton)
13. Once lentils are ready, add them and let cook for at least 7-10 mins
14. Serve over basmati rice w/ garlic pickle paste

This dish was super easy, and with the soak times it still only took about an hour to make. The nice thing too, is that you can play around with some of the ingredients. In fact, the next time I make this I will probably add okra, since I love it so much.

Welp, that's the super tasty dish I made last night. Updates on what's been happening to me in the past month to come soon (today I hope!)

Omigod! Bumrushed...

2008-09-22T09:04:00.002-07:00

Oh man. Crazy past week or so. I had a HUGE presentation in one of my classes where I was the apeleader for two undergrads...except both of them were older than me. And I was supposed to be the expert! Well, we did the presentation last Thursday after much prepping and I think it went smoothly--my goal was to have them participate as much as possible and not have the whole presentation solely be flapping my mouth while they sat subdued by my side. I made it clear that I expected them to do their parts and hold their own, which when it came down to it I think they did rather well. They also commented to me that they appreciated how I involved them but was also willing to spot them in case...so I guess that means I'm a good leader? Perhaps. But anyway now I have this paper due, in relation to the presentation, which is I need to turn in tomorrow but I am not freaking out quite yet cause I already have 3 pages written and it only needs to be 5-6...whew.

Though that didn't stop me from tossing and turning for a better part of the night. You see, in one of my classes I have to turn in these so-called short reaction papers that need to be at least 2-3 pages long, and while only 8 are due (out of 13 weeks) I would rather not use up all my get-out-of-jail passes right in the beginning of the semester. As I did not turn one in last week, I really wanted to get one done today. So I tossed and turned all night--since I only had half a page from the night before--and woke up early this morning to do it. I kept telling myself to calm down, not be anxious, that I can get it done but such things are of course easier said then done. So I woke up early this morning and banged out the paper in about an hour. Damn. Not bad.

But that doesn't mean its quite over. There are a couple of other things coming up and then this weekend is going to be a bit packed as I am hosting the Anthro grad students potluck. But things should calm down, at least for the next two weeks, but the bumrush starts all over again. Damn.

Er ya...long time but super busy

2008-09-10T09:31:00.002-07:00

Settling into the swing of things I guess. Lots of work of course, nothing I am not unfamiliar with though I definitely am out of practice. But I am getting much better at reading articles and becoming focused. Admittedly though, I've been a bit depressed and all--the pressures of grad school plus homesickness, missing family and friends--is not making for a very happy me at the moment, but I understand that it's an adjustment thing and that over time my mood will improve.

And it's not all bad. I'm slowly making friends, getting in good with professors and just submitted an abstract for the 74th annual meeting of the SAAs (Society for American Archaeology) to do a poster session based on my MA thesis. So hopefully some good comes of that but I've now registered for that meeting, so no matter what I'm going. It's a good networking type thing and could mean a lot of contacts for me. It's also always a good time, so I'm looking forward to it.

Well, I'm not exactly under dark clouds, even though it feels like it from time to time. And things are slowly getting better....its a good day.

Cutting ties and letting go

2008-08-31T15:03:00.005-07:00

So there it is. My ARIZONA driver's license. I went to the MVD (motor vehicles division, as opposed to the more official sounding department of motor vehicles in Illinois) last Wednesday to pick one up. Not out of any real desire to stay in compliance with Arizona law--which requires that you get a license 10 days after officially moving, but hey I would rather avoid issues with the cops since I do drive here quite frequently--but more to establish residence for tuition purposes (but I really do love Tucson! heh). It was quite an easy process, much easier than what one has to do in Illinois--no drops of blood required nor signing over the right to name your first-born child to the state. The whole thing took about ten minutes and then quite suddenly I had in my hands an Arizona driver's license.

My old Illinois license now has a hole punched in it, signifying so many things at once. They allow you to keep your old license as long as you let them punch that hole and as I wanted to hold onto it, for memory's sake, I agreed to the heavy symbolism and punch! there went my ties to Illinois, at least in officialdom. I also registered to vote here at the same time, again cutting ties. Sorry Rey Colon! I can no longer vote to keep you in office and that awful Vilma out...you will just have to hold onto the 35th ward without my help.

And so I move on, away from Chicago, away from Illinois, away from my flat but green Midwest. To say I miss it is an understatement, but in all truths I have no intention of going back--at least on any permanent basis (unless of course, something unforeseen happens in terms of employment, which is the only way I see myself returning...is the UC hiring?) Gazing at the mountains here is always a good succor for bouts of homesickness, which tend to become most extreme when I am standing in a grocery store and cannot for the life of me locate sambal olek nor a big bottle of sesame seed oil, something I could find in any two-bit grocery store in Chicago, or for a really good price at the local asian supply stores. Or dried chilies of various sorts....indian goods...non mass-market for gringo consumption thai stuff, etc. Tucson is not by any means "small-town" limited but it does lack in a great many things that were so readily available back home (and it will always be home goddammit, though Mitla is also home as well).

Tonight, though, we go for sushi. And here there maybe an advantage (hopefully). Chicago had great sushi, sure, and I am in the desert here, but the Sea of Cortez is only 4 hours away driving, while fresh seafood--or at least those species required for good sushi--were 6 hours flying time from Chicago. I am hoping to all the gods in heavens that that will translate into some awesome raw fish. We'll see, and I will of course report back later on what I am calling the "Great Sushi Experiment of 2008, or alternatively An Alleviation of Homesickness Through Raw Fish". Peace.

p.s. check out the expiration date. According to this great state, I do not have to get another license until I am the ripe old age of 65. Nice.

Adjusting and loving it!

2008-08-23T12:46:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I attended the graduate orientation for the Anthropology department. Takeshi, as well as Dr. Kuhn, had indicated back in January that they were shrinking the number of students they would be accepting in order to increase the funding for each student. So, when I walked into the room I expected that we would be a small cohort--I didn't realize however just how small we would be. All in all, there are 10 new anthropology students...three, including myself, are archaeology students. Funny enough, we're also all women as well--no new male archaeologists. Good thing I guess that I already have a male archaeologist in mind...heh. At least we aren't in any danger of committing cohort-cest, as they call it.

Well, the orientation itself was interesting and fairly informative. I made myself ask questions and get my voice out there. After the orientation we headed up to the student lounge for lunch, where I re-met my mentor (I had no idea at the time when I originally emailed her and introduced myself, but we had actually met before at Takeshi and Daniela's house). We talked for a bit, then one of the other mentors, a wonderful young woman from D.F., came over and we chatted with her. My mentor had to leave for a meeting and I continued to chat with Natalia, la difena, and another woman everyone referred to as "DDR", or Dana. It went very well and I must say that now I am pretty excited about school.

In fact, I am already trying to get myself involved. An older fellow archaeologist is on the committee for the student arm of the SAAs (Soceity for American Archaeology), so I told him that I am up for helping with all that. Not only is it something I could add to my C.V., but it sounds like it could be a lot of fun as well. Now that I am getting into the swing of things, I am feeling much better about being here and moving away from all my friends and family and everything I've ever known. And I think that will be even more true once classes start on Monday. Sweet.

So yeah, now I'm here.

2008-08-20T11:34:00.002-07:00

And entering adjustment period.....neeehhhooowwww. Right now I am sitting in the South Ballroom at UofA's Student Union building, taking advantage of the awesome wireless network as I wait for the next phase of the program to begin. What makes this even more awesome is that I am typing away on my brand new black Macbook, pure sex on my lab heh. I love it so much and can't stop kissing it. Silly I know but....

Anyway, still vacillating between excitement about starting this awesome new phase in my life and sadness at what I've left behind. Alex came out with me to hang out in general and help me adjust in particular. Unfortunately, he leaves today to fly back to Chicago and once he does...sigh. That's it. I am here for sure...which is a little hard to accept at the moment because all of my stuff is still in a warehouse somewhere in Chicago and I am currently living out of my suitcase, though I have acquired a desk, a kick-ass laptop and back-up drive, and soon I will actually have a real bed. Well, a futon actually, but it will be custom made and I've always enjoyed futons more than beds anyway. Hopefully, when my stuff finally arrives I will truly accept the fact that I am really here, and for the next 5 years...ack!

Well, will post another update soon. Classes start next week, and I am really looking forward to that. This Friday is also the Anthropology department's graduate orientation, so I will finally get to meet my peers and such. Looking forward to that as well. Cheers!

Saying good-byes, making hellos....

2008-08-16T07:47:00.002-07:00

Today is the big day. I have a one-way ticket flying me to Tucson, AZ. Starting a new life there, my new incarnation as UA PhD student. This past week has certainly been a see-saw of emotions, rapidly cycling between excitement, nervousness, sadness, depression, elation, etc. My SBFFFS (super best friend forever for shizzle) Drea came up from Cow-town southern Illinois on Thursday to get in some quality time. We spent a lovely evening together, drinking and playing cards and going over the good ol' times.

Went to bed rather late that night of course but I still managed to get up around 9am the next morning. I woke up on Friday ready for the day...excited to get my haircut, excited to have my party and see my peeps. Then the next thing I knew, I was standing on my deck, wearing my party dress and conversing with friends, the sun setting behind me. How did the day pass by so quickly? How could my last month and a half here go so fast? That's when it really hit home that I was leaving all of this--friends, family, the city I grew up in and adore--behind.

Now it's Saturday morning. My flight, thankfully, leaves later this evening, so I have time to relax and enjoy myself (yes!). A bunch of friends spent the night last night...it was actually quite hilarious to walk through the house this morning seeing people randomly scatter on the floor and couches. We're going to wake up with banana bread, bloody marys and whatever else my mom can cook up. Then its time to start the long good-byes.......

Okay, so now the panic sets in.....

2008-07-27T14:16:00.004-07:00

Just looked over the logistics of moving and the cost of everything (which I can technically afford but still...)is setting off a panic. Well, maybe that actually started earlier today, when I was at the Canal--formerly Maxwell--St. market and it just hit me hard how much I am going to miss this city. Miss Chicago, miss family friends and the streets I know well and the great big lake where you can't see the other side. Damn.

Alex is right now trying to sooth me by pointing out how much I have to look forward to when I move. That I am getting to do what I love to do finally and that I have Miriam and my grandpa and well, my whole future ahead of me. I take this in, nod and tell him "I know". And I do. But still...my heart is racing and I just feel overwhelmed.

Hmm. Breath. 1...2...3...and relax.

How strange to be back......

2008-07-23T08:02:00.002-07:00

Ha ha. When I graduated two years ago from MAPSS I pretty much though that that would be the end, that except for the occasional party and random happenstance that I would never set foot on campus or the Regenstein Library ever again. Well, life and work has proved my very wrong.

I'm actually at the Reg, as we not very affectionately called it, right now doing research for a project proposal I plan to submit to G. Feinman. It's kinda odd being here, but thank god its the summer quarter when there are very few students roaming the bookstacks. If this had been any other quarter, I probably would have taken one look at the multitude of 18 to 22 year old college snots and fled in horror at subjecting my crone-ish self to their presence.

But in another sense it feels great to be here. There is a certain feeling of belonging, that in truth I am indeed right at home surrounded by books and learning, doing research for articles and submersing myself in the pleasures of reading about my field and interests. Though, I still feel as I did back when I was actually a student here and not some strange visitor--that I just can't wait to get the hell out of this Brutalist prison and back into the sunshine.

Memories of a photograph

2008-07-09T09:18:00.014-07:00

A few Tuesdays ago, after cooking and eating a great summer-y meal, my mom and I sat down with a bottle of wine and set about doing something that desperately needed to be done--sort through 3 decades worth of memories captured in photographic form. Amid much laughter and "aw, do you remember....", we roughly categorized the pictures of our lives into "kids", "mom & dad", pictures I wanted and "other people". Stories flowed and tears ebbed--never tears of sorrow of course, but instead joy...the joy of life, of times shared, of hours passed in good humors surrounded by friends and loved ones, lifetimes of celebrations.

Many of my favorite pictures were those from childhood, of my brother and I happy and secure in ourselves and our lives, loved by caring parents. From the earliest years of long-forgotten infancy to the troubled but still good times of juvenile angst and rainbow-dyed hair, it was a pleasure certainly to watch, so to speak, as he and I grew up. How funny to think that we were once that small, helpless. How funny to remember the fuzziness of childhood, a kaleidoscope of impressions, sounds, colors. We even found the pictures they took when my brother was born, upstairs in the house we grew up in and which is, sadly, currently being sold. I love this house. I love it even more when I look at pictures of ourselves in and around our house...like the ones of me when we first moved in...on the porch with the sun shining brightly. Our house has, as we all have, undergone amazing transformations. I look at some photos and see this white trash lawn with a Ford on cement blocks and a happy little four-year old boy swinging on a rope from a tree. I look at others still and see the fruits of my parent's hard labor, a backyard turned into an urban oasis exploding in flowers and trees.

It was also quite thought-provoking and intriguing to gaze at photos of my parents in their own youth. I pored over every wedding photo, laughing at the little details such as my dad wearing sun-glasses as they cut the cake, or the old 80s hairstyles sported by my uncles and aunts. And you realize that gosh, you're parents who you've always viewed as the ancient, un-hip set were once young and carefree like you. That your mom at 25 is remarkably like yourself at 25--which is the current age space I occupy now. As we searched through the box we came across many photos of a trip to Mexico my parents took before they married, and I threw a bunch of those into my pile of photos I wanted to keep. For memory's sake, even though its not my own.
Even better--photos of my grandparents when they were younger as well. As children our grandparents come to us already wrinkled and aged, and its difficult for a child to imagine that these people were once children too--young adults with desires and dreams, parents raising the people who would grow up to create yourself in turn. The first photo that went into my pile was the one of my dad's parents on their wedding day. And its funny to think of how these human beings, their faces lined by time and wisdom, have shaped your life as well. My passion for archaeology, while I am sure would have probably been there anyway, still would not have been the same without my grandpa, and his own driving interest in the field.

And so on and so on...the faces of people that have impacted your life...made you laugh and brought forth tears. Those that remain and those that slipped away, captured briefly in a photo taken one summer/winter day.

And the people who love/d you most. Sons and mothers, fathers and daughters. Friends, lovers, cousins...anger and strife, joy and heartbreak, and above all laughter...much laughter shared in love.

Looking at 3 decades of memories captured in photographic form, I realized how good life was, and how good it has been. I have laughed more than I cried, I have loved hard and been loved well in return...I have known more joy and light than darkness, and I have the pictures to prove it.

Er ya...so back in the States

2008-07-09T09:08:00.002-07:00

Hah, so its been some time since I last posted. Right now I'm at my old apartment (ex-apartment?) getting started on the packing process, enjoying once again the rapid connectivity of high-speed internet. Last two weeks have been kinda crazy--the first I spent in Teposcolula, Teotihuacan and about 24 hours in D.F., the second has been spent trying to not only adjust to being in an English-speaking country again but also preparing for and being part of my friend Carolyn's wedding (this one sans elephant, unfortunately). Still trying to screw my head on right.

Anyway, obviously there will be many posts to come, catching up on the last of my adventure in Oaxaca as well as detailing the next chapter in my life which is, of course, moving away from Chicago and to Tucson for my doctorate program. And there will be pictures too! So stay tuned...

2008-06-19T18:25:00.010-07:00

Since my birthday weekend didn't turn out as I had hope, I decided to make this past weekend a special one and do some fun spectacular nerd things. Of course, what does an archaeologist do on their time off? They go to archaeological sites! And that's exactly what Steven and I did--we went to Dainzu and Yagul, taking a side trip to the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle in between.

After meeting up for an awesome breakfast in Oaxaca and picking up lunch supplies in a grocery store, we took a colectivo out to Dainzu, one of the three archaeological sites right next to the highway between Oaxaca and Mitla. Dainzu is a fairly interesting place--contrary to the way it looks while you¡re driving a 120 km in a colectivo, the walk there from the highway is not short at all. But the views are gorgeous. The picture above is from our walk there.

The site itself is a masterpiece of bad reconstruction and rather unhelpful archaeology. One is informed at the entrance to the site that Dainzu was chosen for its asthetic qualities (which is true, but doesn't tell you much else). Later on we came across another sign that cheerfully stated that the yellow ochre paint and the westerly orientation of the temple might have some connection to religion. Yippee! Aside from the stairs that ended at walls and mystery shafts, the site was still a lot of fun to see. Especially since you really get to go into places that are not allowed and often roped off at the other sites.

Dainzu, picked for settlement because of its asthetic qualities.

After about an hour or so we headed over to Teotitlan del Valle, famous for its woven wool rugs and one of the richer craft villages in the Valley. The village was quite a walk to, so we decided to wait for taxis. Except since none were coming, we hitched a ride in. The first two or three cars just drove right past us but then this blue truck stopped and kindly picked us up. Once inside I saw one of those large bobbins or whatever you call them of woolen thread and guess that the driver and his friend were weavers. Well, a couple of questions later we were driven to the guy's house, after dropping off the friend. Taking us inside he showed off his workshop:

...and even demonstrated for us how rugs are made. Then he brought out a whole bunch for me to look at. I didn't have a lot of money on me but he was willing to work with me on prices and sold me two rugs for very nice prices.

We left the house shortly after purchasing the rugs and walked around town for a bit before picking up some cervecitas and sitting down for a nice lunch.

After chowing down on some quickly made sandwiches of panela cheese, sausage imitating serrano ham and some chipotle chilis in a can, we picked up a cab to go back to the highway, continuing on our journey to the archaeological site of Yagul. A site with a long occupation and several different phases of building that are all sort of there and jumbled together, its also a place with gorgeous views and situated at the top of a hill. There's a really sweet looking ball court:

...and other just amazing buildings and other architectural elements such as fretwork:

But as it had been quite a long day of traveling around and staring at ruins we didn't linger too long and headed back to Mitla for beers with our good friend Richard (who was a graduate student with Flannery back in the 60s!). Another good, though short, weekend, and it totally made up for birthday. Sadly, only a few days remain, and I am quite sad about that. ¡Oaxaca por siempre!

Another awesome view of Yagul.

Catching up...last days

2008-06-15T18:36:00.002-07:00

Hey hey...sorry its been a while. Had a very interesting and fun weekend with a bit of strangeness mixed in. Too long to tell at the moment, not without a pitcher of beer and 5 friends at least, but suffice to say that there is a good chance I might be in Oaxaca for 6 months next year doing survey work. Awesome. Spent Saturday visiting sites along the highway between Oaxaca and Mitla...took a lot of pictures and had a good time, all of which will be posted to the blog soon--alas, would have posted them tonight but unfortunately the computer I'm on tonight does not have photoshop. Sigh.

Oh well. Things are wrapping up now...we are in the final stages of nuestras tareas en el laboratorio. Next Saturday is the exposition in Matatlán, and after that its basically packing up and shipping out. Its kinda funny actually because the field seems so long ago...almost can't believe that I spent almost 8 weeks hiking up and down a hill, spending 8 hours a day in the sun, excavating some here and there, burials...all that stuff. I miss it a lot, and can't wait to go back. In fact, I may have several opportunities coming up for next year, and my hope is to spend 6 months next year surveying in the north of Oaxaca, the Mixteca Alta, if everything pans out right.

Well, gotta run. Big post on my weekend coming soon!

My birthday and the craft village tour

2008-06-11T18:29:00.007-07:00

So, I had all these big plans for my birthday and it kinda turned out to be a bust. Well, it started out great...Friday night I had a wonderful dinner with my friend Steven and then we partied with other friends till the maldrugada--so I can say that the first 5 hours of my birthday were great. But as it turns out, the flu was lurking behind the corner and only need a late night and a vulnerable immune system to crash through the gates. On Saturday, I had a fever and couldn't keep food down, but I had wonderful people taking care of me.

On top of that, you can't keep a good girl down and I will be making up for my birthday like hell. That's what birthmonths are for! Anyway, as promised here are some pictures from when I took my roommates on a craft village tour of Oaxaca. We started out in Ocotlán, where we saw this lovely fountain:
Not sure what it is with fountains and young boys and their penises, but there you have it.

Once in Ocotlán, I took the girls to see God in the local church. As you can see below:
...he's just hanging out in some sun rays with the angels.

After checking in on God, we went and had lunch before going on to our first stop, Sto. Tomás, which is a craft village famous for its weaving.Here is an older woman is weaving on her loom. At this village we scored some belts and other cool things.

Unfortunately this is where the pics end. For our next stop we went to San Martín Tilcajete to pick up some alebrijes, these fantasical wooden creatures that are usually brightly colored and made of copal wood. In San Martín you visit people's workshops and talk to the artists themselves, and the pieces are very affordable and really cool. I didn't take any pictures there cause of the many signs that said not too.

At the last place we went to (first place we visited and of course went back to for some awesome stuff cause the artist was going to give us a discount), I was speaking to the artist and owner of the shop Francisco Fabian Ojeda--and we were talking about the ancient Zapotecs when he told me about this fermented cactus pear drink--tuna in Spanish--that used to be ritually prepared. Apparently there is one abuelita in town who still makes it, and he offered a copa to me and the roomies. After tasting that he asked if I wanted some mezcal he had, which turned out to be homemade and very strong. It was wonderful. So I had a few of those and some more of the fermented tuna drink, and of course since the mezcal was so strong I had to finish my roomies' copas.

Suffice to say that by the end of it, I was quite tipsy and therefore did not take any pictures at our next stop, San Bartolo Coyotepec, where we went for the barro negro, which is famous Oaxacan black pottery. I picked up some really cool pieces, including a small skull with flower designs in the cap. All in all it was a really fun day and later on in Oaxaca we sat in the zocálo and had a few beers.

Well, to end this post, here is a picture I took of myself with a flower in my hair that I picked in Sto. Tomás. Till next time!

Shagri-la

2008-06-05T19:07:00.009-07:00

Check out this awesome pictures of the mountains around Mitla. Meg and I were walking home from the ranch when we saw this.

So, I did something yesterday...

2008-06-03T18:40:00.003-07:00

...and it wasn't as expensive as I was afraid it would be. Meg and I changed our return tickets in order to come back later, on June 30th instead of the 25th. After working so hard, I feel that I do deserve a nice vacation, especially since I'm not getting any days off around my birthday--thank god that's on a Saturday, my one day off!

Planning a trip to the beach, a visit to Tepos...and something else so special that I am afraid to talk about it too much should it not go through. But if it does, you can bet I will have really cool pictures! As for other pictures I mean to post...well, I am only here at the internet cafe for an hour, but I promise that I will have a ton of cool photos up on Thursday.

Till later!

Another quick note...

2008-06-01T19:46:00.002-07:00

Kinda late tonight at the internet cafe. Trying to change my flight back to the States, to no avail. Will have to call United I guess. Great weekend, went on a craft village tour and I promise to write a longer post about that...with pics!

Also, my birthday is this Saturday. Plan is to go to Oaxaca on Friday, have a nice dinner with Steven, then go clubbing. On the big day, gonna eat breakfast at La Crepe, this awesome...well...crepe place that is just so delicious! Then, going for a hike in Cerro San Felipe, close to where I used to live in Oaxaca four years ago. Finally, nice quiet, simple dinner at Maria Bonita, the restaurant owned by my host parents from four years ago as well. Can't wait!

Updates and such....

2008-05-29T19:08:00.002-07:00

Hey ya'll, thought I'd give everyone a brief update. Finally got the immunization restriction lifted on my student account (thanks ma!) and was able to register for classes! Yes, so exciting...okay I admit it, I'm the nerd supreme and picking classes is quite the thrill for lil' ol' me. I'm registered for a archaeology theory course, which should be interesting as I took something similar my last quarter at UChicago so it will be fun to compare. I will also be taking a course taught by my advisor and the professor I most want to work with, T. Inomata, on Mesoamerican archaeology, focusing on Mexico north of the Maya region. Sweet.

The last class was kind of hard to choose as originally I was supposed to register for another requirement but at the last minute an email was sent out detailing a change of plans. Shoot. So I had to rush around and try to choose another course...and unfortunately there were none that really grabbed my attention. Finally settled on a course with the topic of Anazasi archaeology (the more general Southwest archaeology course is being taught by a professor I had been just warned against) and funny enough one of the two professors teaching that course is C. Adams, who is a good friend of my Grandpa's who he worked with during a field season at Crow Canyon. Sweet! Already got the connections...

In other news, we've moved into the lab and out of the field officially. Arg, would rather be hiking up the hill than spending nine hours in silence, but that's a story best told over several beers in sympathetic company. Also, my time down here is coming to a close, which I am really sad about. Not sure if I want to come back at all, in all truth. Oaxaca is too much like home, I love it here. Plus, I'm a Mexican for all those concerned anyway...and suddenly I have become fluent in Spanish. Oh well. That's why I'm going to try to extend my ticket!

Hiking to La Fortalezza with 12 cans of Tecate, some chicharron and good company

2008-05-28T19:22:00.016-07:00

This past Saturday, after painting the town quite red in Oaxaca, the roommates, my good friend and partner in crime Steven Brusse and I went to Mitla to visit a local site simply referred to as La Fortalezza. After checking in with a friend and going home to change into our fancy archaeology field clothes, the girls and I met back up with Steven in el centro and set off on our hike--purchasing beers and water along the way to compliment the food previously bought in the market by the good dutchman. When going on a serious hike several considerations need to be taken into account when choosing a beer--namely, what won't weigh me down severely and make what should be a pleasant though somewhat grueling hike into a short trip to hell. The answer--latas! (cans!). And in this case, the only solution was 2 six packs of Tecate...oh joy, but cold and better than nothing.

After loading up on beer and water we headed out, weaving our way through town with La Fortalezza always within sight and the occasional pause, guess and nod from Steven to let us know that we were going in the right direction. Passed two cute puppies along the way, one of which Meg and I tried unsuccessfully to kidnap for the lab but alas, it was fuzzy and fast. Sigh. Anyways, continued walking over fields and through cacti and other such things till we arrived at the base of the rather immense hill and it was pointed out that the white cross--er, not prehispanic obviously--was our goal. And la Fresa groaned, but I willed her with my mind to be a woman and take it, and she behaved for the rest of the trip up.

Again, it was pause, guess and nod from Steven as we made our way up, but as I wouldn't have know how to get up there it was all right with me, even if he did lose the trail apparently at some point...though I did joke that I would never let him navegate my ship...ya know, the one I never plan to own one day. It was about a half hour of hiking before we reached the white cross--still helluva lot easier than the torture up the hill where my site was--and our first point of interest. The cross had a ton of offerings in front:Candles, flowers, money, broken bottles of mezal and cacao beans, all very non-Catholic, which was cool. Anthropology in action, so to speak.

We continued on our way, passing through the first series of walls: and then the interior ones to reach what felt like the inner sanctum of the site. I immediately headed for shade and grabbed a cool spot while the others arranged themselves around the rock and under the shade. We downed water fairly quickly and then opened some beers--always in that order, mind you or you will end up in a bit a trouble fast as I learned to tragic but hilarious results when I graduated in 2005--and chowed down on fried pig skin, salsa and tamales. Tasty. Chilled for a bit then hiked around the site checking out the incredible vistas all around and some of the features, that which we could see under all the plant cover, all of it very sweet and cool. One could even see standing adobe walls.

Steven chilling with beer, an archaeologist's best friend.

Standing adobe walls...neato!

Incredible vista #1.
Incredible vista #2.

At one point we came upon another offering...Steven pointed out the cacao beans, flowers and velas (candles) and then I thought he said "pennies" and I was like oh cool, american pennies at an offering site. "Pennies?" I queried...but oh no. Clarification..."panties". Yep, panties. Two, in fact--one black and the other a bright neon orange. Great. Wonder what they were asking of the gods in that instance. Anyway, kept walking around and checking out the site before heading back to the shady spot and having one more beer. Around 5 or so decided it was time to head out, and this time the way down was a lot easier than going up...not simply in terms of the mechanics of up vs. down but in the simple fact that we finally had the right trail and it was a simple matter of hopping from one rock to another really and we were down before I knew it.

All in all a good 2 hours spent in pleasant company at an awesome site where there weren't any annoying tourists, poorly done reconstruction or annoying signage. Just two archaeologists, a Fresa, a biomedical illustrator and some beers and food. Good times. And to sign off, here is Steven acting the part of the explorer.

As promised....

2008-05-26T18:13:00.008-07:00

Pictures of me with some of the workers on my last day in the field. Excuse how sweaty and dirty I look...I was shoveling dirt for 4.5 hours!

Yo y Juana la Cubana

Yo y Usiel

Yo y Teofila

Yo y Joel

Yo y Memo

Also, pretty busy weekend this weekend, but quickly running out of time! This weekend went up to Oaxaca to met up with a good friend of mine, then me and the roomies went with a friend of mine, dutch archaeologist Steven Brusse, to La Fortalezza, a Post-Classic Zapotec site a half hour hike from Mitla. I will be posting pictures of that and the story on Wednesday.

Btw, I am also officially registered as a student at UA and have picked my classes! Woohoo, I am on my way!

Last day, unexpectedly....

2008-05-21T18:36:00.003-07:00

So, today was my last day in the field. Rumors had been going around that I may be moving into the lab soon, but didn't think it would happen quite this fast. I was expecting to work all next week...then understood that I would prolly be in the lab next week...then found out for certain today that nope, going into the lab tomorrow. Sigh. Had to say good-bye to everyone--will be posting some of those pictures later this week. It was hard though, a lot of them were sad to hear that I wasn't coming back.

Today was spent wrapping things up. Finished two units that were still left to do and took a few elevations. Then once that was done spent most of the day helping with backfilling. Lots of physical labor, though worth it and good--think I definitely gained the respect of a lot of the workers for the simple fact that I could shovel like the best of them, filling buckets and wheelbarrows with speed. We spent a lot of the day making fun of Usiel and cracking dirty jokes. It was a blast...shoveling dirt meant I got very dirty indeed, covered from head to toe in fact. Afterwards of course I took pictures with a bunch of people...all dirty and stuff, but that's archaeology for you.

One cool thing...I got a blister! And then it popped, probably when I was hauling some buckets of dirt for a bit. God I hope it turns into a caulus, then my archaeology friends can stop making fun of me for having such smooth baby hands.

Bail! Bail! Bail!

2008-05-19T19:31:00.003-07:00

On one of the few days I forgot my camera....the site was very interesting today. When we woke up this morning I noticed that there was a light drizzle. Linda informed us that there must be a tormenta somewhere, perhaps in Veracruz, otherwise it wouldn't be raining in the morning. La fresa, our new roommate, was given the chance to stay home since she was still sorta sick and there wouldn't have been much for her to do. I wasn't jealous of that at all, as I would so rather be in the field than stuck in the lab.

So we drove up to the site and it was still drizziling a bit, thank god I had my raincoat with me. We walked up in the rain and at one point entered the nebrina (fog) that was hanging heavily around the top. Once en la encima, gosh it was incredible! Everything was covered in the fog, and of course I forgot my camera! Still raining a bit. The site was practically a lake, which meant we had to bail water out, even if it was raining since you just cannot live it sitting there.

Minvera had the good idea that we should form a cadena (chain)and pass buckets along. Being the good sport that I am and wanting to get some physical labor in I put myself at the front and filled cubeta (bucket) after cubeta of water. I did this for over an hour and it felt incredible! I felt so strong and accomplished afterwards, hauling heavy buckets and passing them on. It rocked.

Eventually the rain cleared up and we were able to get to work. Since the season is winding down, most of the crew backfilled while I mapped, worked the transit and even got to excavate a little. Sweet. Tomorrow we will have to bail as well since its raining right now--the rainy season has officially started--and I will of course be at the front of the line, bailing.

Atzompa rocks!

2008-05-18T18:14:00.008-07:00

As I mentioned on Friday, this weekend we made a visit to the site of Atzompa, which is located fairly near Monte Alban--not quite spitting distance but close enough to see from one of the higher points at the site. We started out the day a bit early, meeting up with the site director of Monte Alban--and a ton of other sites as well throughout the valley--Nelly Robles and a crew of archaeologists that worked at the site at the botanical gardens en La Iglesia Santo Domingo. While everyone else climbed into trucks Nelly hopped in with us and we were off to the site.

It was quite a drive up there, taking a half hour. We stopped nearer to the bottom of the site to check out some house structures and a magote (unexcavated mound) that appeared to be a public building given that it was a single room alone with a very wide staircase or access point. After checking out some of the structures there we climbed back in the various trucks and drove further uphill, getting out again and hiking the rest of the way to the top of the site.

Excuse the language, but the site was fucking sweet! There were magotes everywhere, and there was a really nice elite complex with a small ballcourt attached. I asked Augustin, Nelly's assistant at Atzompa, questions about the ballcourt and he just smiled at me and said, wait till you see the big one. We climbed over a few magotes and I turned--and had my breath stolen by what was a fairly large ballcourt, really well built and just gorgeous! Moving on from the ballcourt, we went to one of the main plazas that was surrounded on all sides by very large magotes and at the end one could spot another elite complex...this one the apparent site of where the rulers of Atzompa actually lived, since it had almost 20 rooms, a large patio and a very unusual curved access point or entrance.
After checking out some of the vistas that one could see from one of the larger magotes--actually a lot of the surrounding valleys including the valley in which Mitla is located-- we climbed down to our trucks and were greeted with a cooler of ice cold water. Yes! Then we got into our respective vehicles and drove to Nelly's lab. Right when we got there I saw they had a whole set-up for making and cooking tlayudas, which was sweet since it meant we were going to get lunch, how nice! We checked out the lab and saw some really cool artifacts, then headed outside for hot tlayudas and cold beer. Sat and chatted and ate for a while--I actually managed to eat 1 3/4 tlayudas and down two beers--then got the contact info for some of the archaeologists, sweet networking!

We headed home around 3:30, Meg and I passed out in the backseat. Gary and Linda stopped in Tlacolula to pick up a few things and we woke up in time to purchase breakfast items at the Pitíco. On the way back to Mitla Meg and I were laughing about my sunburn, since it was brown in the center (from previous exposure) and red on the edges where my skin hadn't seen sun before. All in all it was quite a fun and excellent day and might in the future provide me not only with some research help for my project but also some good contacts for work here in Oaxaca. Sweet!

Nelly, Augustin, Gary y Linda.

View of the first elite complex.

The largest magotes with the other elite complex located right in the center of the photo.

Oh, and the photo of me at the top. There was this one pine tree with long needles and I said to Meg..."look its like hair" so I demonstrated and she took a picture. Silly, but fun.

Gosh what a week!

2008-05-16T18:20:00.003-07:00

Erg, its been long but very interesting. We had so much excitement at the beginning at the week with out super-secret find and after that it was...well, sorta anti-climatic but interesting anyway. Last night Meg and I went to the lab to do some work and drink beer, but had to stop halfway through because the rain had become so loud and it started hailing--again!--that we couldn't concentrate and had to shout at each other to even talk. Then we walked home, taking off our flip-flops since we didnt want to slip--I only remembered about all the dog shit later of course--and walking in a river of ice-cold water. Suddenly all the lights went out and we were in the dark, but we weren't far from the house and we were laughing the whole time.

Being at the site has been interesting. The workers have started to call me "jefa" and ask for my opinion on things. I guess they figure since I yell at them to do things that I am a boss of sorts now. And I do tell them what to do quite often, or they will ask me what they should do--which is pretty cool. They recently asked me if they should take out this rock that appeared to have fallen, but I didnt want them to do anything without consulting Gary first. And Joel was like, "pero tu eres una jefa" and I told them I didnt have enough experience but it was still pretty cool.

Went to the farm yesterday as well, where we saw the baby goats. A calf had been born that morning so it was still all wet and new. Pretty sweet. Then the mother turned around and we saw the afterbirth still hanging from her, and being silly Meg and I took pictures while our new roommate was grossed out. But its shit like that that you don't get to see everyday and as a city girl its still quite a new experience for me. I got one sweet pic of it that is so going on Facebook to gross out everyone else. Heh.

Tomorrow we go to Atzompa, which is a site near Monte Alban and I think was as sujeto of the larger city. I have never been there before so I am pretty excited. Plus, I know a few of the archaeologists that work there, having met them earlier at the director of Monte Alban's birthday party, so its a good opportunity to make connections and get my name out there. Afterward Meg and I are probably going to have lunch in Oaxaca then head back to Mitla to go check out some caves that she had visited previously. Pretty exciting day tomorrow if I do say so myself. Now we're off to drink beers at el magote, an unreconstructed temple/house/edificío of some sort. Laters.

How many hours can one spend in a dark dank place?

2008-05-14T18:58:00.005-07:00

Today we continued the last bit of work on the super-secret-cool thing that we opened on Sunday. We had some mapping to do of the interior walls and we had completed the south wall yesterday--which took forever!--and today we managed to finish up the north and west walls. Of course, doing that meant spending most of the day in a tiny cramped space, just under 2m long and 1m wide, with three people stuffed inside--Minerva, Teofila and myself.

I hadn't really thought about it, but when Teo mentioned that she had only left to eat lunch, hadn't even left to drink water or go to the bathroom, I myself realized that I too had only left a few times--to eat lunch and work the transit twice. And let me tell you, spending all day in that place was not a cakewalk at all--we wore masks all the time to not breath in the dust, so fresh air was a luxury, and it was hot in there with three bodies. It was actually very exhausting!

But at the same time, we enjoyed ourselves--giggling and laughing and cracking jokes and making fun of Usiel who was frightened of the fantasmas that might be inside. I haven't laughed that much at the site in a while. And once we were done we crawled out, sweaty, dusty and tired...and certainly ready to climb down the hill!

Teofila y Minerva.

Cena en el cerro

2008-05-12T18:29:00.004-07:00

Normally we spend Sundays in the lab and I hit my head against the wall after spending 8 hours tracing rocks into Adobe Illustrator and suddenly climbing that giant hill doesn't seem so bad. But this Sunday things changed up a bit--we went to the site instead as we had found what we had hoped to find all season long--has to be a secret though! What we found was incredibly exciting and extremely sensitive, so los jefes felt it was best to work on it as soon as possible and not leave it open to the possibility of being looted longer than necessary.

So we spent all Sunday at the site...had a photographer from National Geographic with us so the day would pass slowly then speed up when exciting things were happening. We didn't finish till quite late and by the end everyone was starving. Thankfully, the miracle worker known as la esposa de Pedro showed up with a almond drink called pozole (which funny enough is also a red broth corn soup that is absolutely delicious!) and chicken tamales. While she passed out the tamales, Teofila, la hija de Pedro and also one of our trabajadoras, passed out the pozole. I drank at least 3 cups and ate 2 tamales and was stuffed. It was a very nice way to end a quite interesting day.

No better way to spend four hours....

2008-05-10T18:51:00.002-07:00

Than lying on your stomach on hard white plaster, wearing black pants while leaning over a 3ft hole with sweat pouring down your face! On Friday we opened up this hole in the floor because it seemed suspicious--a patch in the plaster with large rocks coming out of it. I got there after the patch had been opened but to see that Alejandro, who had been was brushing around, had discovered a coco i.e. skull. How exciting, another burial!

I got called away to do some other things, but returned shortly and since there wasn't much for me to do at that particular moment I sat down and observed as Alejandro was excavating a ceramic that based on the shape of the rim could have been fairly large. I was simply observing, wanting to join in of course but not sure if I should or not when Gary came by and suggested I get in there and help. Awesome, of course!

So I laid down on the plaster, which was the only way to really work in the hole, and began helping him excavate. We worked for at least a half hour when lunch was called but I was so happy to finally excavate that I worked through lunch to expose more of the rim of the bowl--which was in fact quite large--for photo. Once it was ready for photo I quickly stuff my torta into my mouth and got back to work. Gary cleaned out the bowl for another photo and drawing while I did some transit work.

When I got back from the transit, it was time to take out the skull since it was so fragile and about to fall apart anyway, as we wanted that out before taking out the bowl. I don't know how it happened, but I guess maybe Alejandro didn't want to do it given the fragility of the skull and since he knew I had worked on many burials before I ended up with the task of taking out el coco. I worked around carefully, not wanting to go to fast and removing the top parts that were broken anyway. I actually had to carefully work out small stones that had been propping the skull up. Finally, I had removed enough dirt to get my hands underneath and carefully lift it out. Unfortunately, as I was moving it to a piece of aluminum to wrap it up, Alejandro put his hands around it to help me move it but the additional pressure I guess caused the rest of it to sorta, well...collapse. Darn.

Anyway, Alejandro and I then spent the next 2-3 hours lying on our stomachs digging out the burial. At one point, towards then end, it was just me in there, halfway in the hole using one hand to support myself as I dug around. It was a bit frustrating as the soil was incredibly soft, so it kept falling down, and the bone was very fragile and would break apart as I tried to brush it. Plus, I was in a hurry to get the bones out, as it was the end of the day and we needed to get it out then, and not later. So there were moments when I would forgo trowel and smaller tools to simply scoop the bones out. As I was excavating the burial and couldn't write the labels for the bones at the same time, some of the workers helped me out.

It was actually pretty hilarious. There I was, hafway in a hole, scooping out bones with my hands and a small pick tool, yelling out the name of the bones as I handed them off to the workers and occasionally spelling out the names. When I was taking out the vertebrae, I was simply lifting them out with my hands and passing them on, shouting "vertebra!" as I handed them off. This went on for quite some time. And just when I thought we were done Alejnadro had discovered another ceramic offering and of course more bone.

Finally, at around 5pm--nearly an hour and a half after we usually stop work--we had everything out and I quickly scrapped around in with my trowel to check to see if there was anything major, then cleaned up the dirt to be screened for small bone fragments. Once that was done, we covered the site up and climbed down the hill, not getting back to the lab until 6:30pm! It was worth it though, and I had quite the time excavating. Of course I had sore spots from leaning on hard plaster over a hole, but I got to excavate and that is all that matters.

Still not sure how I did it all...

2008-05-07T18:44:00.003-07:00

But sometimes lightening does strike, ya know? I recently received the quite excellent news that I have been awarded a fellowship from the Univesity of Arizona--I am one of three students admitted this year to get one! Can you believe it? For some reason, this university--and frankly the three others I got in to as well--believe that I am, in Takeshi Inomata's words, a top student. In my acceptence letter from UA they even said that I was highly-qualified, based on my application. Guess my MA thesis, a mishmash of Lefebrve and human sacrifice, was impressive after all.

Of course this means that there are high expectations on my shoulders. I have to prove that I am worthy of not only the fellowship but also the appellation of top student. However, having had my ass kicked but still making it out quite nicely at the University of Chicago has--hopefully--prepared me for anything that UA has to throw at me. I am so excited! Once I get the silly hold lifted of my account (stupid immunizations requirements) and can register for classes...sigh, it will all be getting very real for me. Ack! Can't wait!

La Boda de Memo y Sabina

2008-05-05T18:02:00.008-07:00

One of our workers has been gone the past week (and will not be there this week either due to the constant fiesta-ing) for his wedding which was just this Sunday. Weddings in Oaxaca are a pretty big deal. Like I mentioned before, they can go on for days and involve a lot of preperation and food. We arrived around 5pm or so and when we got there right away we were served these special breads with a cup of chocolate.

Once we started in on that plate we were given a little cup of mezcal and then the main dish--rice with turkey and a bowl of mole with tortillas. You can see all the plates in the photo below.

The most interesting thing about the wedding was watching all the traditional costumbres that were going on. The men and women sat apart from each other. Mole was served from a big vat:

And then once the bride and groom arrived, there was this long procession in which they had to shake so many people's hands and then sit down to eat. The whole time they ate they were being filmed. At one point they started filling up bowls of this stuff I think is called egaditos and is basically scrambled eggs with either real or organ meat, onions and chiles. It looked kinda gross:

But it was really cute to watch the bride and groom feed it to each other with tortillas, though in all the photos I took they didn't looked so enthused, but I guess that's because they had been eating all day, since sun-rise in fact. Though we didn't stay long and left before the dancing--which apparently everyone was like "Why are you leaving, aren't you going to stay for the dancing?"--it was a very interesting time and a peek into something a lot of tourists don't get to see.
Anyway, in the photo below you can see the women chopping up the turkey to be served with the mole. It was like seven women all chopping at once with big knives and turkey grease flying everywhere. Sweet.

What? Hail...in Méxoco?

2008-05-04T17:53:00.006-07:00

Yes indeed folks. We got hail last Wednesday, the day before May. What started out as a rainstorm, with some gota gordas (fat drops), quickly turned into a torrential downpour. Water was starting to come under Meghan's door and the wind was fairly feirce and blowing it in all directions. Suddenly I felt something hard hit me in the leg--ow!

I looked down and saw a little ball of ice. Then more. Quickly I realized that hail was coming down as well. And did it ever! It must have hailed for some 30 minutes. We had piles of it at our doors and building up in the corners of our courtyard--which by that time had turned into a lake. Meghan and I took as many pictures as could stand to take while getting pelted--we just couldn't believe what our eyes were seeing.

The next morning a lot of the hail had yet to melt. On the drive to Matátlan I saw unmelted piles of it everywhere, along with a dense fog. Funny enough, it had rained only lightly in Matátlan y sin granizo (and without hail). What a wild storm that was--apparently something that only happens every three years or so.

¡El Santito Ipod se fue al cielo!

2008-05-01T18:19:00.004-07:00

Alejandro, one of our trabajadores, said that yesterday and I thought it was just the funniest thing I had ever heard. Basically, it translates to "The little saint Ipod went to heaven". So yeah...my Ipod died yesterday. It had been experiencing difficulties for a while, since this past winter in fact. Typically it would freeze up and then we would have to restart it.

However, in the past week or so the harddrive crashed twice, and it wouldn't let me restart it. I had to let the battery die and then recharge it in order to get it to work again. So when it crashed again two days ago I didn't worry and simply let the battery die and then plugged it in. I let it charge overnight. When I woke up the next morning tenía ganas de escuchar a Modest Mouse (I really wanted to listen to Modest Mouse) so I unplugged it and hit the on button. Nothing. I hit it again. Still nothing. So I plugged it into the wall charger again to see what was up--and the symbol to indicate that the Ipod was charging didn't come on. In fact, nothing happened.

Sigh. So that's it. My Ipod is dead. So long, dear Ipod. You were a good friend these past 3 years. You and I have been through so much, and I will miss you dearly.

Oh yeah, and hello new 80gb BLACK Ipod. I can't wait to see you next week!

50 buckets of dirt and whaddya get?

2008-04-29T19:27:00.003-07:00

We've been moving into the southeastern units this week, which are large so there hasn't been as many maps or elevations do so far. Finding myself without much to do this morning I assisted one team with hauling the dirt away as they excavated. First I shoveled dirt into the buckets which Inez and Minerva hauled away and then I used a recogedor (dustpan() and brush to pick up more. At some point I alternated between the two, and I must have filled at least 50 buckets of dirt. All the while Manual sang songs to me of lost love and asked what certains words were in inglés.

It was quite the physical labor, and I sweated and got hot, but it was nice to do and kept me busy. Archaeology is fun that way, a real mix of physical labor, outdoors fun stuff, adventure and later intellectual games and analysis. It's why I enjoy it so much, apart of course from my fascination with the human past and ancient societies/ways of living.

And even though there isn't too much for me to do at the moment, the units we are uncovering are really fascinating architecturally speaking and just looking at them is validation enough for me...this is really, really what I want to do with my life! Nothing like removing dirt and seeing a whole complex underneath, with walls, patios and plaster everywhere. And this part of the complex is especially well-built and beautiful. Honestly, it doesn't get better than this.

Nothing like Tejate on a hot day!

2008-04-29T18:24:00.005-07:00

When we came down from the hill last Thursday there was an awesome treat waiting for us. Pedro, our night watchman, came down with us for a refresco, and so we imagined his esposa was there with some soda or water. Much to our surprise she had this whole rig set up to serve a traditional drink called tejate, similar to atole in that it is a maize drink but more watery, cold (yes!), and with flor de cacao (not the actual cacao flower), fermented cacao beans, and mamey pits--though of course each household has it's own variation.

And like atole, it is a bit of an acquired taste--and thankfully its something I have tried before--but its quite good and really awesome on a hot day when you've just descended down a hill all sweaty and stinky. I drank at least 2 bowls of the stuff. And the foam on top is not hard at all but very soft and is a result of the flor de cacao floating to the top. Anyway, the picture below is of some of the crew--those who were there by the time los jefes and I got down--drinking our tejate. Credit for the photo goes to Linda Nicholas.

From left to right: Rolando, la esposa de Pedro, Pedro, Juana, myself, Gary and Chevo.

My trip to Suchilquitango and San Jóse El Magote

2008-04-27T18:48:00.011-07:00

This Saturday I took a trip to visit two archaeological sites, Suchilquitango--a Classic-era site in the Etla Valley--and San Jóse el Magote--a Formative-era site that predates the big urban center of Monte Alban by at least a thousand years. It was quite an interesting journey as it was the first time I had ever traveled anywhere in México alone by myself. Strange I know, considering I had done it a couple of times in Perú.

Getting to Oaxaca was fairly easy. Finding my way to Suchilquitango was a whole different matter, as people kept giving me the wrong directions on where to find the correct colectivo. Finally, after receiving some helpful advice from a taxi driver that had caught my attention by calling me guapa--uh, thanks--I finally found the right place to pick up the colectivo--of course on the other side of the bus station. Sprinting over there, as I had already wasted a half hour, I responded to one driver's inquires of where I wanted to go with "Suchilquitango" and he said sure, hop on in. I got in and suddenly I was surrounded by 5 different drivers all competing for my business--one guy was shouting at me that he could take me to Cerro La Campana--the actual name of the site itself--for only 12 pesos. The driver of the colectivo I was in implored me not to listen to them, that they were bad guys, etc. I rolled my eyes and said "Hombres, voy a esperar a otros pasejeros y na'a más, gracías" (Men, I am going to wait for other passengers and nothing more, thank you").

Soon the other passengers hopped in and we were off, which was when I realized that I was not in a colectivo destined for Suchil, but somewhere else. Not to worry, the driver informed me, we would be passing by Suchil on the way. Okay. Well, we did pass by there and he dropped me off, offering to take me to Cerro La Campana for 10 pesos. I said thanks, but no thanks as I had plans to go to the museum first. I hopped in a mototaxi and went there, and my driver helpfully informed me that I would need to go into the municipal building first and ask them to open it for me. Haha, which I did and the head of the Civil Department in Suchil was kind enough to show me around the museum, answer my questions and then direct me the right way to the site.

After purchasing some water I got in another mototaxi and took it up to the site, which was pretty funny considering. There were times I was afraid I would have to get out and push--and where it would have been faster to walk!--but make it the mototaxi did and after arranging a time for the joven to come back and pick me up I went up to the site. It was actually pretty interesting--there was a quite impressive ball court--the actual purpose of my journey...
...as well as some really cool partially reconstructed pyramids and other mounds. The one in the photo below actual borders one end of the ball court.

Once done checking out the site, I chatted with the two site guards/guides, asking some questions about the ball court and the large tomb that was there, then walked back down to where I was supposed to met up with my joven mototaxi driver. I waited for a few minutes and, thinking that he prolly just forgot, began walking down the hill--which is in all truth a two-mile hike. I was all set for it anyway, even in the heat, when who pulls up the hill but my joven in his blue mototaxi. I greeted him "Bueñas tardes" and climbed in. We chatted on the way down and he asked if mototaxis were in El Norte yet and I had to smile and say no, not yet.

He drove me all the way back to the highway, and, after most likely overpaying him he helped me flag down a colectivo and arranged to have the driver drop me off in Soledad Etla at the spot where I could pick up the bus to go the my next stop, San Jóse el Magote. And pick up the bus I did, which I only rode for like 7 minutes before getting off again. Right away I noticed an architectural feature and after climbing up the stairs and taking a peek...well, it looked like a ball court, but I couldn't quite tell, it was so overgrown and full of trash. So, checking the guidebook, I walked to the local museum--which was closed of course--then hiked around a couple of blocks till I could locate the one pyramid or mound that had been reconstructed.

And you know what? Damn thing was huge and rather impressive, especially for being a Formative-era site. I mean, it was so large that it had a courtyard on top.
I went around the courtyard taking pictures, searching in vain for this dazantes sculpture that was supposed to be down a hole somewhere and noticed someone's donkey grazing...get this...on the mound itself.
So...ball court. I still needed to find the ball court, cause that was the whole point, ya know? I figured that despite it being the current town trash pit, that first feature I saw had to be it. So I circled back to the feature, close to the entrance to the town itself, and took another gander. Indeed, yes, it was in fact the ball court. Much smaller than the one at Suchil, it was nevertheless still rather cool as, standing in the middle of this weedy sunken court surrounded by mounds on all sides, I could picture ancient Zapotecs running up and down it playing the ball game, almost 2,000 years ago. It was quite cool and I am glad to have taken this trip. I know, I know, I am quite the archaeology nerd.

Anyway, after getting back to Oaxaca, I putzed aroud a bit--printed some pics as I had promised some people, bought jewelry, had a drink in the zócalo, then ate at my favorite, absolute favorite restaurant in Oaxaca--Maria Bonita. If you ever find yourself in the capital and want a delicious but affordable meal, definitely go there. It's on the corner of Álcala and Humboldt, directly north by a few blocks of the zócalo.

All in all, a quite excellent day visiting sites and traveling by myself.

The baby goats, as promised!

2008-04-27T18:31:00.003-07:00

Here they are, as promised! Aren't they the cutest things? If you look closely at the picture below, you can still see some pink/red stuff on them that may or may not be afterbirth. Unfortunately, we've since learned that one of the babies became seperted from its mother and is now lost. At least I have these photos...and I was able to print one for the family so they could have a memory as well.

Ah, Friday...por fin!

2008-04-25T19:12:00.002-07:00

Friday is here at last! Much as I enjoy working in the field, its nice to take a break. I'm sure my legs are pleased at least. Can't believe though that it's been four weeks already...as much as it sucks to wake up so early in the morning--remember, 5:30 am!--and hiking up the hill is no easy piece, the time does go by quickly. Sure doesn't feel like four weeks.

And so much has happened already--I've already got a wealth of stories. Hitching rides, picking up snakes, playing with wobbly baby goats...it's been fun. Tomorrow will be super-cool. I will be visiting some archaeological sites northwest of Oaxaca--what do archaeologists do on their time-off? they visit archaeology sites!--to check out the ball courts as part of a project I'm doing in exchange for Field Museum money. Should be fun. Then I'll be spending my time in Oaxaca for a bit, gonna grab dinner and maybe take in some gringo-watching in the zócalo before I grab a colectivo back to Mitla. Will definitely be taking pictures!

Oh yeah, I did promise some pictures of wobbly baby goats right? Well, forgot the pics at home--d'oh!--so I promise I will be posting them either Saturday or Sunday. Till later!

Of snakes and shrieking women

2008-04-25T18:20:00.003-07:00

So yesterday there was a lot of excitement in the field as not only did we find a cool stone with a drawing carved on it--which also tells quite an interesting story that unfortunately I can't quite share with the world, I know a tease but I am bound by ethics here--but one of the vatos from the comite had brought his gun with him and shot a snake.

Well, we didn't know it was a snake at first--all we heard was a couple of sharp pop-pops and then the shrill shrieking of the women. Word drifted up that a snake had been shot, and I ran over (well, slightly down-hill more like) to check it out, imagining that it was a rattlesnake or something based on the decible levels of the screams. When I got over there, well...needless to say I was quite disappointed by the size of the thing...really nothing more than your common variety venom-less snake, prolly similar to a gartersnake.

The guy hadn't taken a good shot, so there was just this big old flesh wound in the side of its neck about 5 centimeters down from the back of the head and the poor thing was twitching on the ground while this dog was trying to eat it. Usiel dared me to pick it up and since I've owned snakes before and this one wasn't long for this world, I grabbed it right behind the head--as you're supposed to when handling snakes--and gently picked it up, making sure to support the part with the wound.

"¿No tienes miedo?" (You're not afraid?) Teofila asked with very wide eyes. No, I explained, I've had two snakes before as pets. I began walking back up to the site and the women--sino Juana--fled from me like scared little quail, shrieking and shrieking. At one point I was 10ft away from them but they still stood there shrieking and looking at me with wide eyes. At one point I think they just all ran away. Pedro the nightwatchman insisted I put the snake, which by then was practically dead except for the tiniest twitch of life, into the fire we keep burning all day--hmm, humo del copal!--and for the briefest second the snake squiggled around before finally succumbing to its wound and the hot ash. Una creancía en Oaxaca (a belief in Oaxaca), if you burn a snake in a fire, others won't come and bother you.

Omigod baby goats!

2008-04-23T18:45:00.001-07:00

So I arrived a little late to the internet cafe, like 40 minutes or so. But it was so well worth it! My hands smell like baby goats! Okay, a little back story. I was just coming to after passing out after work--we all need a nap sometimes--when I saw Meghan approach my bed and check to see if I was awake. Once this had been ascertained to be so, she told me about these baby goats(!) she had seen earlier today--they had been born just that morning and when she saw them they still had blood and birth stuff on them. Sweet!

After dinner we walked down this road, past where the cement ended and it was ungraded and just dirt. Took about twenty minutes to get there, and then we heard it....tiny little bleats. It was dark by that point and we couldn't quite see where they were, but we walked into the yard and went up to the pen with the goats, cooing over the little ones. Then Meghan was like "There's one!" and we saw this wobbly little thing come bleating out from a shed and wobble over to the fence. I tried to take a picture and couldn't as I wasn't close enough.

Then I noticed a kid walking up to the pen and I said that we had been here earlier and could we see the little baby goats? He said sure and "pasale" which is basically come on through. I asked if they were born this morning and he said yes they were. Then the mother and father came out with more of the kids and we platicamos (chatted) as Meghan and I took pictures. At one point the little goat twins came out from the pen where they were to go suckle on their mama and we took pictures with them. Then the father brought out this cute little two-month old puppy and so of course we took pictures with it. Everything was just so cute...there really is nothing like a wobbly little not-even-a-day-old baby goat...er kid. They are just the sweetest, tiniest things around and I am so glad I got to see them.

In exchange for all of this baby animal love, I took a picture of their young daughters and offered to print copies of the photos I took of the girls and the goats for the families. The father offered us a ride in his mototaxi and at first we refused. But then as we were walking back he drove past us and asked us again if we wanted to ride. I said "¿Cuanto cuesta?" ("How much?") and he told us "Por nada" ("for nothing") so I looked at Meghan and we both shrugged our shoulders and hopped in. It was kinda funny cause anytime we went uphill or an incline the mototaxi struggled and meanwhile I'm giving English lessons which mostly consist of how to say "Ud. es guapa" ("You are beautiful") because he thought I was guapa. Er, thanks. At one point it actually got stuck and we had to get out and push it, much to the delight and derision of some jovenes (youths) on the corner. But whatevs, free rides and baby goats! What more could one ask for?

I'll post the pictures on Friday!

Living in Mitla Part 1--It's a farm out there!

2008-04-21T18:00:00.005-07:00

Having lived in Oaxaca before--and returned for vacation twice--I knew for the most part what I would be getting into when I signed up for this archaeological expedition. However, beforehand I did live in the capital, la Cuidad de Oaxaca, which on the whole is a completely different animal (haha!) from where I'm living now in Mitla. San Pablo Villa de Mitla is, of course, a much smaller town...like only about 7,000 (in 1990 at least) compared to Oaxaca's hefty 400,000.

Living here though, it seems to be fairly different from any small town I've ever driven through or hung out in in the Midwest. First...many of the people speak a local dialect of Zapotec, which is cool to listen to as you walk around the streets and visit the markets. Second...well, there are a lot of animals around. Chickens, goats, pigs, burros, turkeys, horses and cows. The roosters are by far the worst, cause unlike the stereotype in the cartoons, they crow at any damn hour they please, especially right around the hours of 1-4 in the morning when I would like to get some sleep, thank you. And the donkeys are just unpleasant to listen to--a donkey braying is the ugliest sound--but cute to look at.

The best of course are the goats (los chivos!). They are just so darn cute. People will drive them through the river bed or through the yard next to our lab and there is nothing like the sight of all these goats running through a hole in a bamboo cane fence. There is this cute little light brown one with black socks that we like, but hands down my favorite one is the black chivito. Meghan and I talk constantly about kidnapping it and keeping it as a pet. It's in the photo below, about to suck on mama's teat...or trying to, I don't think mama was having it at the time.

Anyway, its pretty cool to live in a half-rural/half-small town setting. A mix of both worlds so to speak. Though I will definitely have to wash my shoes before I get back--how does one answer that question on the decleration form "Have you visited a farm..."? Well no, I haven't been to a farm persay, but I sure have stepped through a lot of animal shit in my daily wanderings.

Finding peace and tranquility at Hierve el Agua

2008-04-20T18:08:00.011-07:00

When I first picked up blogging again in anticipation of my Mexican adventure, I mentioned that I was planning to take a trip to Hierve el Agua--which depressingly there isn't all the much information to find on the net. Well, this past Saturday--or yesterday, whatevs--I made that trip finally, and only after being in Oaxaca three times prior!

We started the morning early, leaving the house around 9am to catch a camioneta to the site. You climb into the back of what's basically a converted truck bed with benches and a tarp over it and take an ungraded road through the mountains to the site.

Once we got there, the driver asked when we planned on coming back and I said "A las dos y mediâ" (At 2:30) and he wanted us to pay for a return trip but uh, no thanks, as I wasn't really sure he would even be there (y como me di cuenta más tarde, ¡tuve razón!). Since the day wasn't quite that hot yet we thought it would be best to do the hour-long hike that takes you around the site and past the cascades that are basically minerals that have built up over the years. It was a pretty cool hike--Meghan joked that even on my day off I'm hiking--and though scary in some places, slippery in others it was well worth it.

One of the cascades.

Another cascade, the big one that collects all the minerals from the springs themselves.

One really cute thing--the whole time we hiked this dog followed behind us, always at least 1-2ft behind and never let us touch it or approach it. But for whatever reason, it decided to keep on eye on us and take the hike with us, over rocks and slippery parts and everything.

Finally, hot and sweaty, we made our way back to the pools. We changed into swimsuits and slipped into the cool water. In my case, this was literal, as I fell right on my ass when I put just one foot in, not realizing how slippery the bottom of the pool was. But I got back up and, dignity somewhat intact, I swam around, enjoying the view and the setting.

We hung out at the main pool at first, but then this swarm of kids came shouting over to where we were so we got out and went to the pool that was right up to the edge of the cliffs. It was so gorgeous.

After a while the kids left and we had the place practically to ourselves, so we just talked, sat in the water, sunned ourselves on the rocks like the lizards do that live all over the place and just enjoyed the utter silence and peace. Around 1:30 or so we dressed and headed up to the comedores (basically lunch places) and sat down for beers and food--of course, when the girl mentioned they had tlayudas I had to get one.

Once finished with the food, we walked over to the gate, hoping against hope--of course--that there would be a camioneta back to Mitla. There wasn't one, so we sat down for what we hoped wouldn't be a long wait. One actually did come by but it was local to the site and the driver wasn't returning to Mitla. The gate person mentioned that our driver had left at 2pm already with the Germans we had rode up with. I chatted with him for a while, explaining that I had told the guy 2:30 and how glad I was that I hadn't paid for a return trip.

I guess the guy was amused by the way I kept saying a few Mexican swear words cause he decided to help us out. He told us that sometimes the people that drive up in their own cars give rides to tourists, sometimes for free. A white pick-up truck pulled up and he said that he would ask them if they could take us back to Mitla. The couple, with a child in the front seat and three in the truck bed, agreed to give us a ride for $20 pesos for the both of us, which was waaayyy cheaper than the camioneta. So we said sure and hopped in, riding in a bouncy truck bed through the mountains down an ungraded road. There were certainly times when I thought the truck wouldn't make it, as it kept making these "omigod I'm trying!" noises as it went up. We made it though, safe and sound and now with a great story to tell friends.

Funny enough...while we were being bounced around like licuados (basically mexican milkshakes) the kids in the back with us fell asleep.

Updates and exciting news!

2008-04-18T19:24:00.003-07:00

Okay, so some of you know and most of you don't, but the past year I've spent stressed out undergoing the whole applying to grad school process--which is a bitch and a half but well worth it if I ever aspire to be more than a shovel bum for the rest of my life. Well, I somehow lucked into being offered admission at the four programs I was interested in--I know, I can't quite believe it myself!

Anyway, I made a decision recently and accepted the offer to go to the University of Arizona, for a myriad of reasons including a) its a good program; b) Takeshi Inomata; c) my Grandpa is only a half-hour away and my best friend lives in Tucson, goes to UA and is giving me an awesome place to live; and d) money! I am so excited about starting school again--and I still can't quite believe that I actually did it.

On top of that, I recently found out this week that I have been awarded the Field Museum Anthropology Alliance 2008 summer internship--and they're granting me the full amount I requested! Yes! This means that a lot of the necessary stuff I do down here--travel, food (gotta eat!), laundry and of course, precious precious internet--will be covered by the monies from the internship. Which also means, more money for personal stuff--hello trajes and rebosos galore and mezcal!--and for when I get home to Chicago broke with no job. Hurrah! Three cheers for moi.

A time-honored tradition...

2008-04-18T19:14:00.002-07:00

...of men peeing in the streets. Serious, fly down dick out in broad daylight, early morning, as the sun sets. Whenever. I have never seen so many men peeing in my life...and I lived with a guy for 5 years. Mexican men seem to have no compunction about letting it rip and drip in front of everyone.

The funniest incident occured when I was walking to Gary and Linda's to go to the field this one morning. This borracho (drunk) was leaning against the lamppost and slurred "¿Güero, adónde vas güero?" (Non-indio, where are you going?). See, at the time I was hunched over, wearing a sports-bra that squashed my boobs, workshirt and a bandana to cover my head--so in the dark concievably I could totally be taken for a joven. And honestly I didn't mind, because as he repeated his question I could hear the unmistakable sounds of him letting loose and peeing right against the lamppost. So I answered in my best guy-voice "A trabajar" (to work) and kept walking with my head down.

But seriously...hombres, lo mantienen en los pantelones, ¿por favor?

Atole--breakfast of champions

2008-04-18T18:07:00.005-07:00

Lately Chevo, one of our trabajadores--and the one who has assigned himself the duty of watching out for me as I climb down the hill "despacio despacio" (slowly slowly)--has been bringing atole to work. It's this great corn drink that--at least the way his esposa makes it--is like a thin, smooth gruel or thick liquid and perfect for the morning. He brings it up the hill in a liter and a half coke bottle, hot and ready for all of us to drink. I love it, especially after making that long climb. Throughout the day I'll pour myself some whenever I feel a little hungry, and it fills me right up. If you ever get a chance to try it--do!
The picture above is plain atole. You can also add flavor to it--yesterday we had it with panela, which is sorta like brown sugar. Another favorite of mine is with chocolate, shown in the picture below.

A series of dreams

2008-04-16T17:53:00.005-07:00

So last night I had a series of three, fairly weird and fairly intense dreams. They were all inter-woven and connected somehow, but the three main ones stand out clearly...the images still lingering in my mind somewhere.

A mouth full of teeth

Can't really remember how it began--can anyone ever really?--but Drea and I were walking in Logan Square and there must have been some sort of festival or something that had just happened because people were out and about but slowly dispersing. We were just talking and chatting when we saw these young teenagers throwing soda cans at some industrial construction equipment (?). Like a chorus we screamed "Assholes" and suddenly one of them flung a can at us. It hit Drea straight in the mouth and cut her lip.

I got angry and, spotting some police nearby--the boys for whatever reason didn't run away--we flagged the cops down and told them what had happened. They quickly caught the rascals--one of the jerks was rolling his eyes!--when suddenly I noticed or felt all these weirdly shaped hard roll-y things in my mouth. I guess a or the can had hit me as well and broken the teeth along one side of my mouth! I had to talk around my broken teeth bits and I could really feel the sensations physically.

Meanwhile, the cops, instead of taking the boys to jail, they brought all of us to a house full of neighborhood kids--I got the sense that they wanted us to talk it out. I then gave a speech in Spanish about how I grew up in the neighborhood, that I traveled to Oaxaca a lot and that I'm not the enemy, all the while speaking around the broken teeth bits in my mouth. At the end I was finally able to spit them out in to my hand, a bloody collection of bone resembling little pebbles.

Rosita's tail

I forget how this one began, but somehow it bleeds over from the first. Needless to say I was back in Chicago from Oaxaca and when I came home I noticed my cat Rosita's tail had been chopped clean off--perhaps a machetazo (machete wound)?--and there was a huge red flesh wound where his tail used to be. Which, for whatever reason, was like that of a Clouded Leopard's. He was holding his tail between his paws and licking it, and I was seriously afraid he would bleed out. My mom and I were going to take him to the vet but my brother was being stubborn about something and for whatever reason his obstinance was preventing us from going.

Finally, he relented and agreed to go with us to the vet and we bundled Rosita up in a white sheet and took hom to the emergency vet's office, which thankfully and weirdly was just the next block north of us. We brought Rosita in and they whisked him away. Then there was some stuff involving my local library and a television comedy show based there--I'm a little hazy on the details--and a Pac-man like game. A few days later, I was back in Chicago--again?-- and Verguei was taking me to my mom's house (again?). I kept asking him how Rosita was doing and he refused to tell me, saying I would see when I get there. I told him how mean it was to keep information like that from as I was so worried and why couldn't he just tell me. When we arrived at the house he said "There he is" and I saw Rosita, hearty and hale, still with the big Clouded Leopard tail!

The Airplane--hopefully not a portent of things to come....

In this one I was leaving to go back to Chicago (again?). I was at the airport with like 5 pieces of giant luggage and I checked them all in but two without a problem. I was then taking an elevator and I showed my ticket to someone before getting on/off? and they said "Have a safe flight Ms. Different Last Name" and I was like "What?" I checked my ticket and saw that someone else's name was on there. Somehow they had given me another person's flight itenerary!

I started running around panicking. I forget all that I did but at some point I had left an orange roller suitcase somewhere and when I went back to get it they were locking it up and about to take it away (unattended luggage will be destroyed...) but I said it was mine and explained my situation and they let me have it back. Somehow I located the baggage people loading the plane and told them about the mix-up--they said it was no problem and they corrected the name on the luggage. I checked the ticket again and saw that it said "6:00pm" for the flight to Chicago, and I knew mine was at 10:00am, and it had the wrong gate number and everything! Panicking anew, I tracked down someone to find out what my correct gate number was, checked my watch and saw I had but minutes until the flight left and misplaced that damn orange suitcase again.

I raced to my gate, flying through security and ran and ran till I got there--just as the plane began pulling away! I started to argue with the person at the gate, telling them that United had made a mistake and pleading with them to bring the plane back, all the while watching it taxing down the runway and began to take off. The plane had barely lifted into the air and I was still arguing with the person at the gate when suddenly the plane just exploded. In sllloooowww motion I watched a huge fireball head straight for us and the gate person and I turned and immediately dove for cover--I dived straight under these seats in the waiting area and felt/saw glass shards flying all round me.

Then my alarm went off at 5:30am.

Doce y polvo (12 and dust)

2008-04-14T18:02:00.006-07:00

Who knew an artic wind could blow all the way south to the southernmost state in Mexico? But blow it did...and blow and blow and blow--a straight noreaster that blew cold air and dust all over us, so much so that we couldn't even feel the heat of the sun, a sun that normally has us sweating buckets by 12pm. It was only by 2pm that it was warm enough that the sweater I wore was more for comfort than simply just my only protection against frigid air.

Thank god that I could borrow el suéter de la Juana Cubana (her nickname at the site). Without it I would have been that much more cold and miserable. In addition to the artic wind there was a ton of earth and grit kicked up everytime it blew--I think I spent most of my time hunched over protecting my face from the constant dust. The title, btw, is a joke I told while Minerva and I were attempting to map a unit. See, in mapping a unit you measure points from the hilos (strings) and then on the map which represents a unit divided into however many centimeters you plot out the feature. Well, the wind kept kicking up and my measuring tape would fly everywhere and at one point I had just measured 12 centimeters to the north and I turned to measure from the west when all of a sudden the wind blew a ton of dust in my face and I gave her the measurement as"doce y polvo" (12 and dust) which she just thought was hilarious.

Yet, even though I had half the dirt in the state of Oaxaca in my eyes and ears by the end of the day--so much so that I had little tiny spots all over my field of vision and the side of my right eyes was cloudy--I would still so rather be out here in the field, hot or cold, sweaty and dusty, than stuck in a office in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. Especially in the summertime, which always felt like a thousand wasted moments, a thousand little deaths. Why am I here, why am I in front of the computer...when it is warm outside and I should be outdoors, enjoying the freedom? Being bored at the office was draining and felt like I was wasting my time....being bored in the field meanwhile, is just a matter of waiting for the next exiciting thing to happen. Not that is this for everyone, and not that being in an office sucks for everyone as well. But...being shut-in is just so unnatural! I feel like I am making up definitely for all that time I spent in my youth in front of the TV watching Nikaloadian instead of being outdoors.

Anyway, both pictures in this post are of me covering up to protect against the dust, the second being when I remembered that I had facemasks in my bookbag and then could therefore move the bandana back to my cold cold head.

Bang! Boom! There goes the wedding.

2008-04-12T18:00:00.002-07:00

About 6 or 7 am this morning we heard a huge bang--of course on the one day we get to sleep in. I remember mumbling "are they mining?" before rolling over and attempting to go back to sleep before hunger just took over and demanded I get up (which I did only a little while later, rising at 7:30 to make myself chorizo and eggs, yum!) As Meg and I walked up Calle Cosijoeza we saw a huge tent in the street with flowers up everywhere. What was going on, she asked and I replied that it had to be a wedding or a birthday party...quienceñera something. As some people walked past I quickly spit out "Hay boda hoy" (Is there a wedding today?) and they replied yes.

When we got to Gary & Linda's it was confirmed that the landlord of their complex's niece's daughter was getting married today (or the dead woman, as they called her, la difunta--la hija de la difunta the daughter of the dead woman). Since then its been constant noise all day, random explosions throughout the day--just a half hour ago there was one so loud that Meg visibly jumped--and right about 2pm or so the band started playing. Apparently, this thing could go all night. Around ten or so the dance music will start and they will put up amplifiers so that everyone within a 2-mile radius can enjoy the party. At that point it will be open to everyone in the neighborhood--even the goats, donkeys and chickens that are always underfoot and loud at 4am--and I plan to stop by and see if they'll let a güera get her groove on.

México...and Sri Lanka?

2008-04-12T09:26:00.003-07:00

Here is something funny. I saw it in a small grocery store or "miscelenía" close to my house where I go for beer and pop after a long day in the field (course not everyday, would be too much money, but on occasion it's nice to sip some brew when one is recovering from being hot and sweaty all day).

I saw it and thought, how funny to see Sinhalese writing on a Coca-Cola bottle in México. The writing on the bottom, I believe, translates to "All the world at or to the table with Coca-Cola in México and Sri Lanka". Here's a close up:

Developing an ear for el español

2008-04-11T18:16:00.002-07:00

At the site I am only one of three norteamericanos working there, Gary and Linda making up the other two of course. The rest of the crew are locals from Mátatlan, with one guy from Mitla (Rolando, the one I have a tiny crush on but he has an esposa and of course as part of the crew that is so NO-NO, but he's a sweetheart and a great friend). So as you can imagine there is a lot of spanish speaking going on and for the most part my day is spent speaking spanish.

I can already tell that my spanish is getting better--though I still make mistakes its so much easier now for me to just speak it. My confidence level has gone way up! Of course, if I didn't speak spanish with the crew I could be in serious trouble, how else could I take points, measure for maps, and work with them (prior to this I was also so shy about speaking spanish and lacked the confidence to approach people and ask for things unless I truly needed too)? It's to the point now where I don't even hesitate about launching into a story or telling jokes--and it's great when you can make people laugh and say funny things in a language that's not your own.

The coolest thing? A lot of workers speak Zapoteco, at least two different dialectos as the Zapotec spoken in Mitla is different from that spoken in Mátatlan, even though they are only 15-20 minutes apart by car. So I get to hear a lot of it and its pretty cool, even though I have no idea what's being said. It's quite fun to have my day filled with not only spanish but Zapotec as well, with a smattering of English when I chat with Gary and Linda. I'm even picking up some Zapotec, though I've really only learned four words (maize, tortilla, mezcal and hecho por mano or made by hand).

I'm sure that by the time I return three months later I will be so fluent in spanish that I will have forgotten english!

Mis bebes antiguos

2008-04-09T19:30:00.003-07:00

Okay, so the title may be so not correct, but today we found something pretty interesting. Pedro was digging and found some old egg shells with descicatted lizards still in them. One of the eggs had twins. They were just going to toss them but I quickly intervened and put them in my shirt pocket, where I guarded them with care all day until I could get home, take proper photos and put them in a safe place. I'm gonna bring them home to Chicago and shellac them for perservation purposes. You can check them out below.

A day in the life

2008-04-09T17:55:00.004-07:00

So what, you may ask yourself on occasion (or not), is a typical day for me? Well, things are never all that typical in the field, especially in Mexico where Murphy's law rules the day. But there is a certain rhythm to the days that I can sorta break it down a bit.

The day starts early--the alarm on my ultra-cool Casio watch (with solar panels!) goes off at like 5:30 on the dot. I get myself out of bed, close the folding doors between my room and the artifact illustrator`s (Ms. Meghan) since she gets up later than I do and pop on the lights. I shuffle my way to the kitchen--cause I'm still all sleepy like and stuff--and make myself coffee. Coffee making is interesting because I have to boil the water in a carafe and then pour it over the grounds into a coffee pot. I leave the water to boil then shuffle over to the bathroom for morning ablutions.

Once I'm done with that the water is ready and I "make" coffee. Pour in some milk, spoon in some sugar and I'm back in my room, making the bed and getting dressed for the day. At some point I've also pulled my water bottle out of the freezer--as a block of ice its heavy to carry up the hill but I have cold water until the end of the day when it transforms into agua tibia--and my torta for the day. Sipping my coffee, I get dressed, pulling on work jeans and slathering myself in sunblock before putting on a sportsbra, a tanktop and long-sleeved work shirt--which I always roll up the sleeves as I have a tan to work on!

Once that's accomplished and the coffee has been hastily drunk its time to brush my teeth, pack my bag, lunch and any breakfast items I choose to take with me--typically a banana--then its out the door by 6:15 to walk up the street to Gary & Linda's place where I climb into their car with Rolando and off we go to Mátatlan. At some point we stop to pick up Carmela and Minvera--sometimes only one or the other--then its an awful bumpy ride to where we park the car. I get out and shake hands with and greet all the trabajadores, stretch my muscles and then its time for the big climb.

I've already hinted at what an intense climb it is, but its hard to really understand it until you've actually done it. Its intense. Very intense. And I do it every day, five days a week, for a half hour. Once you gotten up the first ridge there's a flat part where one can take a breather--this is also the site for a possible marketplace but that's unconfirmed at the moment--then the really really hard part comes, as the rest of the hill is fairly steep, the path is small, and you are walking over a lot of loose dirt and rocks. Today I made it my mission to count the trees or cacti that are present at every turn until I get to the top and it goes like this "Uno, dos, los tres, cuatro y nopal!" ("one, two, the three, four and nopal cactus!").

Once at the top, and after catching my breath, flapping my shirt to get cool air on my skin and sucking down some ice water, Minerva, Carmela and I set up the transit unit. If we need to take elevations right away or set centers then we usually do that unless some mapping or other stuff needs to happen. Then throughout the day I am either mapping units, setting up strings, observing the work, sticking my trowel in the dirt, taking elevations, setting centers, helping out where I can and asking Linda and Gary a ton of questions.

Around noon or so Gary calls "la hora" and we eat lunch. Its a half hour for lunch but I usually get less than that as I try to help them out as much as possible while the trabajadores eat--I do want to make a good impression here. Once lunch is done its back to all the aforementioned activities until about 3:30 or so when work stops for the day. I break down the transit unit and pitch in in whatever needs to be done so we can get going. Once everything is covered its back down the hill, which, while less work, is also scary cause now you have to go down the incline over loose rocks and dirt--but poco a poco (little by little) I'm gaining more confidence.

By the time we get down the hill we are sweaty, thirsty and tired. Rolando, Minerva, Carmela and I climb in to the back and we take off, dropping the two sisters off at the pick-up point and then driving the 15 minutes back to Mitla. There, we drop some things off at Gary & Linda's place and its over to the lab to check bags, chat with Meghan and I leave to go to the house and shower. I get about an hour break before dinner, which is cooked by the lovely Elena, and after an absolutely delicious meal the evening is mine. Where I either go to the internet cafe, study spanish, play computer games on my laptop, read, walk around mitla, etc.

Okay, that was quite a post, phew. But that's generally it. Saturday is my day off so that varies and Sundays are in the lab scanning that week's maps and tracing in the features. Good fun in all....again, I'm sunburnt, dirty, and sweaty but that beats sitting in a office for eight hours a day stuck inside!

The two men in the photo btw are Chavo on the left and Rolando on the right, what a cutie!

Si eres una torta...

2008-04-07T18:17:00.004-07:00

So, there I am slathering on more sunscreen when Linda all of a sudden exclaims "Uh-oh, he has someone's torta (sandwich)" and I turned around to see Oso Negro (Black Bear), one of the site dogs, with my torta in his mouth. He had taken it out of my bookbag! Right when I saw him I knew that I wasn't going to get it back--he's too fast and the distance was already great between us.

But I took after him anyway, cursing under my breath. I was soon joined by Pedro, one of the trabajadores and the nightwatchman as well. We went searching through the brush looking for Oso, all the while I'm saying "pinche perro" and "maldito" (basically bad words heh). We finally located Mr. Oso, who was oh-so-pleased with himself, but couldn't find the bag with my torta. However, everyone is so nice here that when lunchtime rolled around (la hora!) not one, not two, but three people gave me tortas--and of course, to be polite I had to eat all three.

The funny part came later though. Carmela, Minerva and I were busy mapping when we saw this young woman approach the site--she was from the local youth committee from the town of Mátatlan (the town closest to the site) and was coming by to check things out and see how the excavations were going. Before she got close though, she asked if there were any dogs. I replied yes there were but that they were not dangerous, then said under my breath "Si eres una torta, entonces son peligrosos" which translates to If you are a torta, then they are dangerous. The chicas and I didn't stop laughing about it for a half-hour, and ever once in a while Carmela would say under her breath "Si eres una torta..." and giggle.

And this only after three days!

2008-04-07T17:58:00.002-07:00

This was taken last week, so the red has toned down somewhat and I'm more brown than anything. But check out how dark I got after only three days in the sun. As I joke with the trabajadores when I show it to them "A menos ahora yo sé a donde poner mi anillo" (At least now I know where to put my ring).

A bird in the hand....

2008-04-06T18:05:00.004-07:00

So while walking around Oaxaca I had a neat little adventure. I was walking through the zócalo when I saw a mother and her children pointing at something in one of the four fountains there. I leaned over the edge and saw a bird in the fountain struggling to get out, but it's wings were to wet and it couldn't get the traction. The woman waved at me and asked if I could help the bird out--I guess she assumed I was tall enough to reach over and get it out.

After two or three tries--the little bird was totally freaking out--I finally pulled it out of the fountain. The amazing thing? It wouldn't leave my hand! It just kept hanging out. I held it for like ten minutes and kept petting it and cooing to it. I even walked around with it for a while trying to find a sunny place to put it out of the way of people. At first I just set it down on the ground but quickly saw that it wasn't up for moving. So, despite it's cute litte sqeauky protests I picked it back up and moved it to the garden, in the sun and out of the way of trampling feet.

The second amazing thing? After I set it down it let me pet it again for a bit. Then I gave it a little scoot to move it further into the garden where it could be safe.

You mean they flower?

2008-04-06T17:46:00.005-07:00

Okay, so admittedly everytime I've been to Oaxaca has been either during the dry season or at the end of the rainy season. So it was quite a surprise for me to see the trees outside La Iglesia de Santo Domingo in full, riotous bloom. I have never ever seen the trees like this, and they were so gorgeous! Here are what the flowers look like up close.

Something you don't see everyday....

2008-04-06T17:35:00.003-07:00

In a country that's 90% Catholic.

Spanish speakers out there correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the grafitti says "The King of God is a tit-sucker".

UPDATE: Got the correct translation. "The Kingdom of God is a bunch of bullshit". Mamada translates to fellatio.

Oaxaca! Oaxaca! Oaxaca!

2008-04-05T09:28:00.002-07:00

Hola, y bienvenidos a la Ciudad de Oaxaca, la joya de Mexico! (Okay, there should be some accents in there but the keyboard is set to japones and it refueses to switch to either ingles or espanol). I'm here in the capital of the state of Oaxaca, sitting in an internet cafe. Saturdays are my day off and since Gary and Linda had to come here today to fix a car problem Meg and I hitched a ride with them to see the capital and enjoy the sites.

Had breakfast in the zocalo this morning then Meg and I split up to go out on our own. I purchased some rebosos (shawls) from a Mixtec woman and managed to bargain her down to 90 pesos for two rebosos down from 110...score! I bought a negro (black) and a naranjo (orange) because I look good in both colors. I'm trying not to blow all my money today but I have yet to visit the Mercado de Benito Juarez which always has tons of cool stuff. Plus, I still have to go back to the zocalo for a michelada (beer with lime juice and 4 salsas, so try one if you have the chance) and some mezcal.

While walking up and down Avenida Alcala I walked by Iglesia Santo Domingo and the trees in front were in bloom. I have never seen that before, apparently it happens in April, and the blooms were so beautiful! Just this gigantic, gorgeous red flowers that look sort of like orchid blooms. I will post a picture of them once I get a chance.

Till later!

First week's (or almost) impressions

2008-04-03T19:11:00.006-07:00

So, its almost been a week now. I've done four days so far of hard work...well, most of the work is climbing that mountain we like to call a "hill". But anyhow, I come home everyday sunburnt and dirty and I couldn't be happier. Sure, sometimes its sllloooowwww going but it was that way even in Perú and I remember that with a lot of fondness. I'm not excavating as much as I had hoped, but then the Feinmans told me that back in December.

Much of what I'm doing involves that yellow maching in the picture with me. That's a total station or transit unit, basically what surveyors use, and we archaeologists use it to take elevations, locate center points for mapping, finding the northing and easting of units and artifacts, and a whole host of other things. It's so important to what we (tehe, I can say we now!) do. While I'm working the machine one of our Mexican trabajadores--I should say trabajadoras as its mostly the women that do this--hold whats called a prism rod. The person with the prism rod stands with it or places it on top of the object for taking an elevation and when I press the "read" button on the screen the unit shoots a laser beam at the prism rod which is reflected back at the machine and a "reading" is...um...taken.

Other than that, I help a lot with mapping the units--which involves setting up this strings or hilos and using measuring tape to measure the distance from the strings to certain objects in the units, such as rocks or walls or other artifacts/features and using those measurements to make a drawing of the unit for maps. Its confusing at first and takes a second but thats fun as well. I'm also a general assistant to the Feinmans, particularly Linda, and what's really awesome about that is I am learning a lot about the business and practice of archaeology--something I miss out on in Perú because it was all in Spanish and no one was particularly interested in actually teaching us.

So all in all I'm very happy to be here. All ready we have found some cool things, so I can't wait to see what we will uncover in the next 7 weeks. Oh and Mexico rocks!

You mean its up there?

2008-04-01T18:50:00.009-07:00

Okay, so we all know that intellectually knowing something and actually realizing it/seeing it/doing it are two very different things. I mean, I knew it was a hill-top site and that I needed to be in some sort of physical shape. Well, on my first day there we drove to the site and lo and behold there is the hill.

Doesnt look too bad at first of course. But then once we get past that first rise.

Oh my. You mean we have to keep going? Okay...well huff huff, puff puff I'm climbing the hill.

Wait...there's more? You mean that we have to keep climbing? Geez...what did I sign up for?

Well, for anyone that is curious...to the left of that odd bump on the top is basically where we are. The town of San Matatlan looks tiny from where we are, and my vertigo is much stronger now and I constantly feel like I'm going to fall over any minute. But its beautiful up there and going down is much easier--though pretty scary at the same time--than going up.

The first few days...

2008-03-31T18:39:00.005-07:00

Sincere apologies. I meant to blog yesterday but when we finished at the lab but when I went to the internet cafe it appeared that I was at the tender mercies of either a fiesta or siesta, whichever one was closing down shops and other places in general at 5:00pm on Sunday.

But I promised a general accounting of my last few days and so I will deliver. I'm just going to cover Saturday and Sunday briefly as my first day in the field, IMHO, deserves its own post. Anyway, so Saturday...well I woke up at 6:30am after getting only 4 hours of sleep. Friends didn't end up leaving til 2 in the morning but hey, it was a great party and I had an excellent time. It was good to see people before I left for three months so I wasn't about to regret that. I made it to the airport in time and after saying good-bye to Verguei I began my journey, still feeling some of the effects from the night before (so not relating those details ;) ).

Getting through customs in Mexico City was'nt too bad considering I was carrying fungicide in my checked luggage. The woman in Ciudauna didn't even ask me my purpose for being in the country and automatically granted me a 6-month visa--sweet! It did take a while however to locate my gate for the Oaxaca flight--which turned out to be not the gate the man at the Mexicana desk told me! After getting lunch in some random restaurant I was smart enough to look at the departure screens and locate the real gate for my flight. It was there that I met Meg, the artifact illustrator this field season. We didn't really talk much but I think its more her character than anything else, as over the past two days we've found a comfortable level of relating, though I do most of the talking.

The flight to Oaxaca didnt take long and we landed pretty shortly after taking off. In Oaxaca we had to give our declaration forms and have our baggage checked and even though I had clearly marked that I was carrying hazardous material with me nobody bothered to check or even to care. Which is great in the end-I didn't have to lie or use the letter the Field Museum gave me. Gary and Linda picked us up from the airport and then we drove to Mitla, where they showed us the two houses we could be living in--one was where the lab was located and the other was where the kitchen was located. We of course picked the house with the kitchen. After dinner Meg and I went to the internet cafe and thats where the last post was born.

Sunday we woke up early to be at the lab at 8:00am. Gary and Linda showed us around and went over a few procedures. As their car was making funny noises (something to do with the aire accondicionar) we went into the next town over Tlacolula to see a mechanic. Meg and I were let go to check out the Sunday market or tianguis (which I think is a Mixtec word) which was fairly large as we walked for a half hour before needing to turn around and still only covered a small distance. When we got back we had an hour lunch, then returned to the lab to do some work, which was fun as it mostly involves me tracing lines in Adobe illustrator.

Well, that's it for now...more to come of course but I still have a lot to do email-wise. I'll be posting about my first (and perhaps the second as well) day in the field. For a little taste...here's a photo of some flowers we can see from our courtyard. Also, a quick shout-out to Brooke, I will email you back tomorrow I'm just running out of time!

This is gonna be quick...

2008-03-29T20:27:00.002-07:00

Already been at the internet cafe for almost an hour. But just wanted to say that I am here in Mitla safe and that I am set to have a good time. Will post more complete thoughts tomorrow, but I am tired (only 5 hours of sleep and two flights) and I want to shower--wash that travel grime off--and unpack a bit. Detailed catch-up report for tomorrow.

Gearing up, almost ready to go.

2008-03-27T20:45:00.002-07:00

So in the original plan for the day I was going to blog a bit here and there, keep a tally on the myriad of feelings, thoughts and emotions I've been feeling throughout packing and preparing for the big trip. A sort of live-blog account of my various ramblings and scramblings around my apartment. Instead it's almost 11:00 and I'm in my mom's basement tapping away on my brother's computer, wiped out and a little tipsy on a a glass and a half of wine.

Oops. Oh well...my day was most likely not interesting enough to justify minute-by-minute updates but I must say that it has been quite a unique and exciting day--really, how often does one get to pack for a 3-month stint in another country? And not just sight-seeing and staying in hotels doing the tourist thing but getting hot, sweaty and dusty poking around a rocky, bug and thorny plant-infested hill? Not enough, imho.

It all really started last night when I was vacuuming the front rooms in preparation for the party tomorrow (Friday) when mom came in and informed my that brother was at that very moment sitting in the garage in the car I was counting on using tomorrow to schlep myself up to the far north side and schlep all my bags and gear back down. Suffice to say that this was a bit of a S.N.A.F.U. in the full military sense--mom and I spent the next few hours figuring out what to do. After setting up plans A and B, and settling on E, an angel came in on a cloud of champagne and clove cigarettes smoke and offered the use of her car. Thank you Jill! And mom as well, for pulling all the strings. --blows kisses-- And Al as well, for offering me the 7:30 slot when I needed it!

Anyways, after getting little sleep I woke up early this morning, made coffe, got myself and other paraphernalia together and headed over to Jill's. Her roommate Gavin gave me the keys off I went in what was affectionately referred to as "Blue Cloud"--a big ol' hunk of Grand Marquee love that apparently doesn't work in "inclement weather" i.e. a quarter of an inch of snow. Of course, it was my luck that it was supposed to snow today--and it did. Thanks Chicago!

Once at my apartment I set about locating my archaeology tools bestowed by my grandfather, himself an archaeologist. His gift included a Marshalltown trowel--the Cadillac of trowels--two measuring sticks, some bamboo pick tools which work great in sandy/soft soil and around delicate artifacts such as human remains, and a kick-ass 70s engineer compass. Unfortunately we had packed the box with all the supplies in a box unknown somewhere in the basement. Thankfully, Verguei remembered that we had packed it in a small box. Combining his powers of memory and my powers of deduction I was able to locate it on the first try, in a small box labled "stuff".

Once the precious archaeology gear had been located it was time to pack up everything else. Initially, I had envisioned taking my camping backpack, my bookbag and my yellow purse only. But once the camping backpack became stuffed with clothes and I still had a myriad of things scattered about my feet it quickly dawned on me that my original packing strategy had woefully underestimated the shear amount of stuff I had accumulated in preparation for a 3-month trip. On top of that, somethings had been left back at my mom's house. Darn. I made do by getting most everything together then threw everything that didn't quite have a place yet into a duffel bag. There. Problem solved--when I got back to my mom's of course.

In between packing I played my all-time favorite computer game Civilization 4 and watched awful TV, ate and napped and played with the cats. All the while looking out the window and fretting that the snow would stick to the ground and we'd have five inches and I wouldn't be able to get Jill's car out and then I'd have to take our car and then Verguei wouldn't have a way...blah blah blah. But, some god out there must be feeling charitable to me because though it snowed quite fiercely throughout the day the snow never stuck to the ground but melted instantly. Hurrah! I was a bit worried as the day worn on and cooled, but thankfully the concrete was so heated from continuous traffic--I suppose--that it was simply too warm.

Now my Thursday is over, and Friday is fast approaching. I have about 35 hours left till I fly to Mexico. It's hitting my slowly...I think when I pack my toothbrush away on Saturday morning it will all finally sink in--ya know, cause that's always the last thing one packs before a trip.

How excited am I? Well......

2008-03-26T08:32:00.003-07:00

Don't I look like the cat that ate the canary? Can't you tell how excited I am...my damn cheeks hurt! I can't stop though...my friend hates his job and I try to commiserate but how can I? This my last day of work. My last FREAKIN' day of work. I liked working here, don't get me wrong. But I'm also so excited about going to Mexico and graduate school that I just can't quite stop smiling. See? There is goes again. A smile. Hola a Mexico! Here I come.

Consider it....RELAUNCHED!

2008-03-26T07:39:00.002-07:00

The long-promised for banner is now happily sitting at the top of the blog. I managed to clean it up to statisfication last night and, after a little trial and some tribulation, I was able to get it up on blogger. Thank God Adobe Photoshop as a delightful little option known as "Save as for the Web", which allowed me to not only keep it in the size I want without any awful shrinkage but also corrected the colors for display on webpages. Verguei also came in and worked some HTML magic to get rid of this weird border blogger was throwing up around the banner.

So, with the banner up and a little bio on the right-hand side, my blog is officially RELAUNCHED!!! Some tweaking will occur surely in the next couple of months--changes to the bio, pictures, more links added. But that's just natural growth I guess. Anyway, welcome to the new and improved The Randomness of Atom.

Countdown in 5...4...3...2...

2008-03-25T06:45:00.003-07:00

5 days. Can you believe it? 5 days...and I will be in Mexico. As a co-worker/friend pointed out to me on Friday "I can remember like it was yesterday when you told me that you have 5 weeks left..." and I was like, holy cow. You're right. I can remember that clearly too and darn it, it does feel frighteningly like just yesterday.

Of course, my friends and I have remarked (and exclaimed) often over the past two or three years about how much faster time seems to be passing us by. I can recall sitting in my homeroom class as an eight-year old squirming in my seat as I counted down the minutes--and boy was there a lot of them--until I could be released for the day. A half hour took forever, an hour was time immeasurable. Now I can bearly keep up--time seems to be moving faster than I can account for it.

I can still see myself walking into my boss' office saying "You know how I had that meeting with the curator at the Field Museum on Wednesday..." and informing her that in three month's time I would be jetting off to go play in the dirt--scientifically of course. That was December 14th, by the way, a Friday. And now here it is Tuesday three months later, and Saturday is rapidly approaching. I've been preparing for this, yes, but being intellectually ready for something and confronting it head-on are poles apart a lot of times. I don't think we are ever fully prepared for the moments when they happen. Thank god I have all my shopping done though. Now all that's left is the packing and the good-byes and the celebration of this exciting new chapter in my life.

New and totally awesome banner coming soon!

2008-03-21T06:26:00.004-07:00

Exciting blog-related news. With a bottle of not-bad $10 Cote du Rhone (and a glass of water of course!) I worked on a banner for the site. Thankfully my mom did have a copy of Corel Draw 10 (not to make a shameless plug or anything, but its a good graphic design program I'm pretty comfortable with) on her computer so I was able to use that along with Photoshop. Using pictures swiped from the computer at my old apartment I created my own design, mainly because whatever blogger has up there is just...ugh. Boring. And the results I must say are pretty awesome, nothing prize-winning but something I think people will find cool or interesting.

I basically used pictures taken during my first field season in Peru (in 2004) and from our last trip to Mexico when we went to Teotihuacan in September of 2007. The banner is bookended with pictures featuring yours truly, one in Peru and the other carefully negotiating down the stairs of the Pyriamid of the Sun. Then there are two shots of Teotihuacan--one of the Pyriamid of the Sun and the other of this amazing puma mural. Finally, in the middle is this awesome picture I took of the elite burial we discovered that field season in Peru--you'll have to see the banner to check it out. The whole thing is bordered in heavy black lines with the name of the blog emblazoned across the pictures. I think I picked a pretty cool font that matches the spirit of the blog and the banner itself.

Boardered on top of the banner is a yellow bar and a white bar, outlined in black, while on the bottom there is a blue bar and a red bar, also outlined in black. While this color scheme would have been pleasent anyway, the colors were conciously chosen. As I consider myself an Mesoamericanist--of sorts--it makes sense. See, in Mesoamerican cosmology the colors black, red, blue, yellow and white are sacred--with the last two being intechangable. There are four world trees that support the universe at each corner--and each tree has a color associated with it. Additionally, each tree is associated with a same colored Tezcatlipoca or deity. The dieties are also referred to as the four Tlalocs or Tlalolque. The colors and the diety they are associated with varies, but usually the color black is associated with the true Tezcatlipoca, blue with the water diety Tlaloc, and yellow or white with Quetzalocoatl. In the Aztec pantheon, the last diety of the four was of course Huitzilopochtli, but this was a change from the original Nahua configuration (which I won't go into at the moment).

Suffice to say, the new banner rocks, and I can't wait to debut it...once I figure out how to get it on blogger, of course.

It's for the community garden, I swear!

2008-03-19T07:14:00.003-07:00

Received an email yesterday from one of the lead archaeologists yesterday, Linda. Apparently in the packing they forget this solution called Formulin, which is used to kill fungus (or hongos in Mexican Spanish). She asked if I could go by the Field Museum and pick it up. And I emailed back "Of course!", certainly pleased that I had been asked to do so. Of course, I am pretty much their only team member that is here in Chicago, but still...it means I am on an actual archaeological team. I'm finally achieving my dreams. Woohoo!

So what will we be using the Formulin for? Just in case we open a tomb and there is a fungul presence that will need taking care of. Finding a tomb is highly likely, given that the ancient Zapotecs, like many cultures around the world, often buried their dead within their households. It won't be quite like my dig at San Jose de Moro in Peru, as that was a cemetary site and one couldn't walk 3 feet without triping over a burial. But if we do unearth a tomb at El Palmillo, we should certainly find some interesting stuff, as the Zapotecs also often buried many of the deceased's material possesions with them.

Should I be asked by customs why I would be bringing fungus-killer into Mexico, I've been advised to say that I am bringing it to someone to help them in their garden. Fertile as my imagination is, I've come up with what I hope is a plausible story--I'm a student volunteering with a small local community in Oaxaca and I will be working with the kids on a community garden. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

One small note: the name Zapotec, though commonly used, is actually an exonym derived the Nahuatl word tzapotēcah (singular tzapotēcatl), meaning "inhabitants of the place of sapote". The actual name they give themselvs is Be'ena'a, which translate to "The People".

Ha-HAH! Validation suckers!

2008-03-17T13:42:00.002-07:00

Okay, so a not so serious blog post here.

My ex-boss, under whom I slaved for all of two months before moving into a much much better position elsewhere in the organization, was heading to the men's bathroom when he saw me in the hall and, to my amazement, called out my name. After catching up with me, he asked "Isn't your position changing or aren't you flapping your wings and flying away somewhere?" (Or at least, that's what I recall...I know there was something about flying and wings....)

So then I had the pleasure of informing him that I will be working in Mexico on an archaeological dig for the Field Museum(!). I also mentioned that I'll be back for the summer and then in August I leave again for graduate school. He congratulated me and kept mentioning how exciting it all sounds. I certainly felt validated at that moment, as I quickly recalled how I had felt sitting in his office nearly two years ago in the initial interview, and telling him how I planned to return to graduate school in that amount of time.

It was sort of like "Ha-HAH sir! See, I told you I was going to do it and I did! I've stuck to my plan and now I am going back to school in the time-frame originally proposed!" It also just made me proud of myself, that I actually did what I said I would, and I didn't fall into that trap that everyone assumes is inevitable (once you leave school, you won't go back yadda yadda....)

Bikini, Monokini...Tankini? Er....

2008-03-17T12:43:00.004-07:00

The days are counting down. 8 days left of work, 12 days left altogether. Still marshalling my forces together...er, still quite a lot of shopping to do. My mission currently is to locate and purchase a more modest swimsuit then the one I own at the moment, which--while cute and utterly sexy--is very not appropriate for small-town conservative Mexico. On a beach accustomed to tourists with a male companion at my side--completely different story. In that situation I would be fine (and it is a totally sexy bikini). But as a single girl whose swimsuit will most likely see the light of day at more local places--such as the previously mentioned Hierva el Agua--something a little less revealing will be called for.

At first I figured I would just shop for a one-piece at American Apparel, which was were I originally picked up my skankini...but modesty is, as Vergie pointed out, a word that AA couldn't find in the dictionary with a 10-person search committee. Additionally, one-pieces tend to irritate that senstive juncture where the thighs meet the pubic area because of the whole shoulder tug thing. And they make me feel like a grandma. Don't ask why.

So it looks like I will be following the advice of my BFF from high school, Drea, and shop for what they call a "Tankini". Tankinis (oh if only I could have been the fly on the wall at the meeting where they came up with that one!) is basically a tank-top one can swim in. Its nice because I will have that whole modesty thing going on but its still a two-piece. Sigh. Tar-jay, here I come! Hopefully they will have something that is a) a solid color, b) doesn't have a bunch of spangles or gadgets or hoo-has attached to it, and c) no padded cups. For Chrissake's, I know my girls are small but nothing is worse than wet padded cups--it's just that more obvious that one is a member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.

Wish me luck! I hate swimsuit shopping more than anything in the world....

Wait...you're going to Mexico?

2008-03-14T08:15:00.004-07:00

So the last post before reconstruction for the site began is from July 2006. The next post after that is, as can be observed, in March 2008. And suddenly, in the post below, I mention that I am going to Mexico. Oh, and the banner indicates something about that as well. So I guess a little backstory is in order.

In the past year 2007 I began working on applications for graduate schools, as when I finished the MAPSS program at the University of Chicago I made a promise to myself that I would only be on "break" for two years with the goal of getting back into school after that time period. Feeling somewhat of a lack when it came to my CV in terms of archaeology-related activites, I decided that I needed to remedy my situation and in turn make myself a more attractive candidate to the graduate schools. This meant reaching out to professors--which didn't work so well--and to local museums...er...museum, namely the Field Museum of Natural History.

After contacting the head guy--Jonathon Haas--about opportunities for graduate-level students, I emailed Dr. Gary Feinman at Haas' suggestion. In the email I only asked what opportunities, if any, he had for people like me. I wasn't really expecting much--perhaps hanging out in a lab of sorts catelouging materials. Imagine my surprise then, when he wrote back saying "We need people in the field" and would I be interested (uh...hell yes!) Suffice to say that I squiggled and screamed and jumped around in excitement when I read his email.

Well, after much discussion via email (he and his wife/co-archaeologist Linda were in China), we meet on December 12. There wasn't even a question of whether or not I would be going down there with them to the field--they had immediately launched into what I would be doing down there and what I could expect. The past three months then, have been spent preparing for this trip and applying to graduate schools.

So where will I be working? In the most awesome state in Mexico, Oaxaca! If you search the archives on this site, you can see posts from March 2006 when the ex and I were there last. I will be working on a Classic-era Zapotec hill-top site (try to say that 3 times fast)--specifically at the top of the hill where the elites lived. We're hoping for some exciting discoveries this season, some of which I may or may not be able to share here, depending upon the senstivity of what we're looking at.

I will be down there for 3 months, leaving the US on March 29 and returning June 25. This will be my second 3-month stint in Oaxaca, the first was through a study-abroad program back in 2004, when I was an idealistic young third-year in love. Sigh. Anyway, check back on this blog often for posts about the exciting time I'll be having down there.

Getting ready, letting go....

2008-03-14T07:30:00.005-07:00

The trip to Mexico is rapidly approaching. Yesterday went shopping with the mom to Target for a few items. Ended up spending some real dough, but I figure it is stuff I need and hey, I do get paid tomorrow. The sports bra--an essential when one is working hard in the heat--and the tote bag for my watercolor art supplies were what did me in. Oh well....such is life.

Looking forward to the trip more and more--picturing myself at Hierva del Agua, a beautiful spring site and petrified waterfall only a half hour or so from where I'll be staying in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca. The town is more famously known for the archaeological site of Mitla itself, which is a must-see if you ever find yourself in that part of Mexico.

I also look forward to losing myself in the work, and starting over. This past Monday my boyfriend and I parted ways...or to be more precise, he parted ways with me. I am still sorting myself out over this...but hurt, anger and sadness aside this IS for the best. Who knows what the future holds? All I can say though, is "Yeah Mexico!"

Hierva el Agua

This picture shamelessly taken off the net. When I actually go there I will be posting some very nice pictures.

Something borrowed, something blue....

2008-03-07T20:24:00.003-07:00

This is some exciting news on the Mayan front. The archaeologist I am working with in Oaxaca, Dr. Gary Feinman, and another researcher have figured out the secret behind the mysterious Mayan Blue. This special pigment has long puzzeled scientists due to its unique properties among plant-based paints. As Dr. Feinman explains:

"One of the things that’s always been distinctive about Maya Blue is how durable and steadfast a color it is, which is unusual compared to many natural pigments, which fade a lot through time,"

Mayan blue was used in many sacred rituals, decorating everything from ceramic pottery to human beings destined for sacrifice. Apparently, when they first dredged the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá in 1904, they found a 14-foot thick layer of blue residue at the bottom.

So far, so good!

2008-03-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, well after spending a few hours or so messing with the HTML code for the blog and basically getting nowhere, I turned to the boyfriend and asked for advice. At first, we considered messing around with Dreamweaver. But as it was taking a while to a) find and download it and b) figure out how to use it with our ubuntu system, I finally had to ask "Would it just be that less of a hassle to just use the blogger template and customize from there?" An exasperated "Yes" on his part was all I needed to go ahead and do just that.

So there we have it. This is what the site will be like for now. I do plan to replace the title and description with my own design, so as to personalize the site somewhat. As you can see, a very shortened blog roll has appeared. As was mentioned before, the blog roll will be limited to archaeology and Latin-America related sites.

Expect a few more changes to come...

Still working on it....

2008-03-05T07:35:00.003-07:00

Work is continuing on the site. New banner design will come in and the blogroll should also be changing dramatically as the site refocuses on content. Ideally, my vision for the blog is for it to be a diary of my life as an archaeologist, graduate student and traveler. Political stuff will be limited to big events, Latin American politics and anything archaeology-related. Frankly I'm a little sick of politics. This may change of course, but I think there are enough political commenters out there for one to exit the horde.

Yeah archaeology!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-02-25T21:56:00.002-07:00

Blog is currently under construction. Four years ago I participated in a field excavation in Peru. I documented my trip on this blog. This spring I will be working as a field and laboratory assistant with a Field Museum expedition at a Classic-era Zapotec site. Its a pretty cool hilltop site which will take a half-hour to hike up each day. My last expedition was 5 weeks--this will be 3 months. I expect to have a ton of fun. I leave March 29 and return June 25.

In the next few weeks this blog will be updated to be snazzy and cool. Here's to great things to come.

A Triumphant Return

2006-07-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Gosh its been a while since I posted, hasnt it? I took a break because in the last month a whole confluence of events occured, from starting a new (and stressful) job to moving to the north side to pounding out that goddamn thesis...boy, I was just too tired to even bother to type in the url for this site, let alone post a thought, god forbid.

So how are things going then? Well, my new job maybe stressful, but it sure is a lot more...hmm, fun isnt the right word, but it certainly is more interesting than the last downtown office job I had (although I do miss beer on Fridays!). There is just so much to do every day that I dont even have time to be bored, which is really nice. Though, honestly, nothing beats the ORCSA job (my last student job on campus) because I simply loved and got along with everyone there. Here the envrionment is just a lot more professional, none of that easy-going camaradie or the constant joking that went on at Ida Noyes. Plus my new boss is just this side of intimadating. But whatever, at least Im not banging my head against the wall out of sheer boredom.

Things have also been up since we relocated to the cooler side of town (sorry south-side, but you dont have ethopian restaurants, and there's only so many shrimp and chicken shacks one can stomach). I love being back on the northside, I love being back where everything is in reach--bars, restaurants, movie theaters, libraries, life etc. Of course, there's always that uncomfortable feeling of saying this cause you know and realize that the reason why this is this and that is that is because the south-side, in general, though not always, is poorer (but then, even in the higher-income level areas there is also nothing to do...has anyone ever been by 90th and Pulaski? Honestly its all white people out there, and its still fucking boring. My honest opinion, the south-side just sucks).

As for that dang thesis....well...I hacked it to pieces and then rewrote a ton of it. Hopefully that will make my Preceptor and my Reader like it more. Certainly its better organized and I do think that the argument is stronger, but we wont know, gentle readers, until....hmm, actually, I dont know when but I hope its soon. I renamed the thing also. The new title is "Killing the Lord of the Near and Far: Space and Sacrifice in the Tenochca Mexica World" or something like that. Again, hopefully its better than the last one.

Well, thats just a quick update. Now that I am more settled in and a little less stressed (though I still have a final due, but half of its written anyway)I will certainly be posting more.

Till next time!

MIA

2006-06-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

World cup time, folks. The world stops spinning; all eyes are on the cup.

Blogging will be slim or nil.

verg

Update: Argentina is on FAAIIIIYYEEEEERRR!!!

Day before my b-day...

2006-06-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Yep. Today is just one day from my birthday.

Tehe