Sundry things

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!