Omigosh, so much fun!

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!

Boil the water...

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.

¡En Oaxaca!

¡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!

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 :)...

Welcome to my Casa Mixteca

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!

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.

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...

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?

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

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!

Vienes armada!

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!

Catching up...last days

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

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

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

Atzompa rocks!

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.

No better way to spend four hours....

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.

La Boda de Memo y Sabina

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?

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.

Nothing like Tejate on a hot day!

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.