Diary of 3 Weeks in Mexico

Tuesday 1:15pm
June 19th

Kristen and I have run into our first disagreement. We have one week left in Mexico from today and we´re not sure how to spend the remainder of our trip. There hasn´t been any fighting of course, or even hostility; we both just have entirely different ideas of what we´d like to finish our time here with, and since we´ve each posed our prospective itineraries yesterday afternoon, there´s just been a bit more silence between us- as we both think about how we may be able to make a comprimise- or at least I hope that´s what she´s thinking.

As I mentioned earlier, Oaxaca is a province/state in political unrest. We have now seen this with our own eyes as currently protesters are camping (peacefully) in the main square. As we walked through yesterday we were delighted to find such life in the Zocolo- there were so many people! But upon further examination we came across some large banners and signs, and we learned that all these people weren´t very happy people. The signs spoke of revolution and reform, but protested nothing specific. Nor could we notice any commonalities among the group members. We´ve also seen a lot of freshly painted graffiti threatening the assasination of the current governor and declaring that Oaxaca would be better off run by a dictator.

Add all this to the fact that with the exeption of a small corner on the city´s northern end, this city is very run down and overpopulated in the centro area; therefore I have no need to stay any longer then the scheduled Thursday.

We have seen some amazing places since our arrival- most just outside of the city. After talking to the hotel´s manager, we arranged an itinerary to keep us busy and give us a taste of a little bit of everything.

Yesterday morning we took a shuttle bus to Mont Albon, which is absolutely and rightfully so, the main tourist draw of the area and different than anything we have yet seen- in fact different than anything I´ve ever seen in my life. About 20 minutes from downtown, sitting high upon a mountain top and overlooking the Oaxaca valley from all sides, sit the partially excavated and restored remains of a magnificent Zapotec city. These remains date back to as old as 500BC and were built without the use of metals, wheels, or mules (or any other beast of burden I guess). The ruins are absolutely breathtaking- massive stone steps leading up to distinguished pyramids and palaces, and down into ball fields and ampitheatres. The monumental architecture and intricacy of the detais of the excavation are overwhelming. When you stand upon the highest of the pyramids at this site- you´d think you´d feel as if you´ve just conquered the world and now you´re looking down upon your victory, but instead it just makes you feel like a tiny speck in an enormous universe. These Zapotecs were way beyond their time and as a result, this incredible place flourished as the religious, political and urban center of the Zapotec nation for over 1200 years. Then for some reason- still unknown to even the greatest of archeologists- everyone vanished from Mont Albon, just up and left without explanation. The whole mountain was desolate for almost as long as it was prosperous, until its discovery in modern times.

We followed up this mind-blowing experience with a long walk through all parts of the southern half of town. Oaxaca is the chocolate capital of Mexico and per capita eats more chocalate yearly than any other region of the world. It also produces its fair share however... and it´s perfected a pretty good chocolate recipe, and Im not a chocolate girl. All along Calle Mina are tiny chocolate making shops where visitors can watch chocolates being mixed and made and sample all sorts of chocolate concoctions...so of course, we took our time around here, getting a good taste of a whole bunch of different recipes. We also hopped in and out of some markets and visited the Zocolo as Ive said before.

We ate dinner here at Casa Colonial - Mom would be proud, I tasted and gave a hearty try to everything, but in the end they made me some cheese quesadillas... my new diet staple. They served sweet onion soup, black bean soaked and baked bread and guavas picante. I tried, I really did. We're waiting for the lunch bell now, and I promise, I'll try again.

This morning we dashed off again after a quick breakfast here to the much more delightful northern part of the centro... where the streets are closed to traffic, pleasant vendors fill the plazas, and small brightly painted shops, hostels and cafes line most of the streets. As of now we have visited Oaxaca's: Cathedral, Basilica, and temple with Monestary turned museum. Kristen thinks each of these churches are gaudy overkill and were an unecessary waste of money. I could sit in any one of them all day marveling at the gorgeously exposed high-beams, baroque architecture, painted ceilings and extravagantly gold alters... and of course the faithful worshippers.

The city's monestary, has quite an interesting past and is built conjoined with the most ornate Catholic temple Ive ever seen (by the way, I have no idea why it's called a temple, it just is). The whole complex takes up about four city blocks and this is where we spent our morning. The old dominican monestary was at one point taken over by the Spanish army, and later served as a base for the mexican army, who lived amongst the monks... all before recently being restored in glorious fashion and now used for the Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca. We spent over two hours walking through here and listening to a do-it-yourself guided, english tour. While at times the voice on the other end of the earphone was a little long-winded, he offered so much information, we left feeling like Oaxacan experts. The 14-room museum flows through the periods from the earliest findings at Mont Albon, through indigenous revolutions with the arrival of the Spaniards, Christian conquests, and to the birth of modern times and the blending of the indigenous, Spanish and modern Mexican cultures. Not only were the exhibits astounding, the building is a sight for itself, with high red-bricked ceilings and long hallways opening with vast windows overlooking huge gardens. It was a fantastic place to visit.

We hopped in and out of a few artisan shops, winding our way down to MARO- a women's cooperative first established to allow a place for women to make and sell their own goods and now a staple of the city offering quality jewelry, clothing, decorative items and even alcohol at good prices.

This afternoon we're planning to head out of the city once again... and there's the lunch bell.