Been a while, head in strange space...

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.