Monte Alban

Hola!
Yesterday was quite a day, after some what reluctantly waking up early Jimmy and I made our way down to the Zocalo (sp?) to buy tickets for our trip to Monte Alban, the pre-Columbian archaeological site about twenty minutes outside the city, although before we purchased our tickets we went on a wild goose chase to find a panneria, which we did but only after we had resigned ourselves to the fact that our breakfast would be a shared Cliff bar. Once breakfast was secured we braved the curvy bus ride up to he site, which was amazing. Because Wikipedia can do a better job of explaining the historical significance please enjoy this small excerpt, "Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán's importance stems also from its role as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for close to a thousand years." The hike from the where the bus dropped us off was a little steep but very worth it in the end, the views from the top were breathtaking. One one side of Monte Alban Oaxaca streached out for miles until it hit the mountains on the other side of the valley, on the other side of Monte Alban the valley is virtually untouched besides a few small clusters of homes. This picture to the right is the view from the Oaxaca side, also please note Jimmy's new "typical Oaxacan hat" he got right before we got on the bus from a very small woman to which he said (in Spanish) when asked if he wanted a hat, "my problem is my head is very large." Now while you may not find this very amusing on it's own, imagine someone walking up to you and saying the same thing in broken English, beyond funny. Anyway, after having this picture taken Jimmy then excitedly showed me the Death Ball arena we have all hard so much about. Honestly it was much narrower than I had imagined but I think that makes it all the more frightening. For those of you who don't know, Death ball was played once a year when all of the stele (which are in this case large stone columns used to tell time and the cycle of the sun's orbit) located around the temple align. According to Jim, it was kind of like Lacross but instead of a ball they used an animal, and the game was played to the death and then one of the players was sacrificed to the gods. While this sounds interesting, lets us all remember that Jim Bialick is my source of information on this aspect of Monte Alban, thus he may have been less than truthful with me as he was with the whole origins of the name of the Dodgers. Anyway, after Death Ball we climbed millions stares; at the top of one of the structures we found this particularly beautiful sight(Please note the picture to the right). While I missed it at first, Jimmy was keen enough to clue me and and steal my camera to document such a important sight for me. After about two and a half hours of exploring the sun began to wear on us, and we decided that it would be a good time to leave and try one of he famous Tuna flavored ice things I had heard so much about then head back to town to buy tickets for the opening day of Baseball that Pro Mexico is taking all of the students to tomorrow (and yes I did say Tuna, but no not the fish, apparently there is a berry here that is also called Tuna and makes a mean icy)! Then after some much needed rest and play time we went to dinner in town and made a little friend named Ana, who drew us a lovely picture for 15 Pesos (pictures will have to follow later because they are on Jim's camera and he is at work right now). Alright I think that is enough for now, I will include some more pictures at the end of this per my Mommy's request (and Mom in the picture in the Header I am standing in front of the largest Church in Oaxaca, I haven't been able to go in yet because they are setting up for Saints Week events but I will take lots of pictures when I do)! Adios!



This is Jimmy with the AMAZING corn sold by the street venders, it has a little bit of mayo, cheese, chili powder, salt, and lime. To die for. (He is blushing because I made him take the picture in front of too many people apparently and he didn't want to look like a tourist, I then reminded him that he is about twice the hight of most of the people and about 12 shades lighter, he can never not look like a tourist!)

Jimmy looking very majestic on top of one of he structures at Monte Alban.
Me with the man who sold me a small figurine at Monte Alban.
















Me in town at night with the corn and the lovely flowers Jimmy bought me when we were out to dinner for our one year anniversary!


This is our street in Xochimilco a small town three minutes from down town. Th e blue tent in the picture is the fruit stand we buy all of our produce from..... it is sooooooooooo good here, it doesn't look that pretty but it the best fruit and veggies I have ever had.