Oaxaca Trip - DAY 2

This was a first stop of the day... I thought it was beautiful, but I had no idea what we were about to see!

Day 2 – Tuesday October 25

Time of Start: 6:30am

Agenda:

·      Monte Alban (Zapotecs civilization/ruins)

·      Mitla (Mixtec civilization/ruins)

·      Market of Mitla

·      Round Table Business

At the start of this day, I got up and was very excited after getting some sleep… in a bed!! I think there is a drastic difference in what I looked like on the first day and this day! 

Me and the VP Geo

Me and my Head of Department, Mo

We ate breakfast and boarded the bus. We took a long drive up a mountain to get to our first spot. Since everything was in Spanish, and I was so tired the day before I did not have much desire to try to ‘listen/translate’ where we were going. So, we finally got to our destination and we all go out, walked up a little hill and let the kids go off to their thing, while us teachers went to go get a much needed coffee in the cafeteria. When we were up there we saw hummingbirds in this beautiful tree with white flowers. I tried to capture some of them.

Super hard to see them, but I promise they were there!

After our coffee, Adrian, asked if I was ready for my English lead tour. We walked up another small hill and when we turned the corner it finally dawned on me where we were at… the Zapotec ruins!! IT WAS BREATHTAKING!!

The court where they played the Ball Game

Sorry I forgot to turn this, but you can try to read about how they played the Ball Game in the court

I totally climed all those stairs! The stairs shocked me because they are really tall stairs; it was a stretch for my longer legs. These people where not tall by any means, I wonder how they got up there?

Made it to the top!

They are working on reconstructing this one

So, when you eat the cactus leaves it's called naples. When you eat the fruit that grows on top (that red part) it's called tuna

So incredible!!

I am so amazed that for hundreds and hundreds of years people kept building these temples. There was never and blueprints, and nobody every questioned why it was being done a certain way… they just worked. Life expectancy was about 35 so they would work and work and work and never get close to seeing the finished products. OH DID I MENTION that the Zapeotecs also thought that before building on this sacred ground they should LEVEL OFF the top of the MOUNTIAN!!!

This is a model that shows how mountainess it is around and then that flat part.. that what they leveled off to build Monte Alban

It was truly amazing at Monte Alban. I also learned that there is still so much to be discovered but they need to wait for more money from the government. When they first found these they all looked like overgrown hills… 

They they work to restore their original layout. Anything that has been reconstructed has small rocks in the cement like this, that way you can tell that they have reconstructed it to it’s original form.

After Monte Alban we got back on the bus… before we left Adrain came to get me to have me try some ice cream he had discovered. I WILL BE DREAMING ABOUT THIS ICE CREAM FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!! It was so good!! It sounds gross but it’s not, I promise! It was apples, coconut, and carrots. SO GOOD!!

Our next stop was Mitla, another ruins site. When they found these ruins they had already started building the town, so they are literally right in the middle of this town. It’s kind of crazy. There were these unique designs in their architecture and what’s amazing is that they cut each stone specially to make these designs. There is no cement holding them in place, they were just that specific with them. These ruins and designs have stood the test of many earthquakes and they still do not shift or fall out or anything!

We also went into one of the tombs … it was damp and humid down there. The important people were kept close because there always needed to be a balance of life and death in their culture.

Kiddos taking churns going into the tomb

After exploring the ruins we did a little shopping in the market. I may have bought a few birthday/Christmas presents here. We also found a guy that was hand making table clothes on his loom. It was pretty neat to watch, I defiantly bought something from him fro one of my sisters because I knew it was handmade! That was the best part of this trip, was we visited all these places were we watched the people make their products. I was so intrigued about this because they are not there to be rich. These products could be sold for so much more then they ask for, but it’s just what they do and they just need to survive. Most of the trades that people do, they do them because it’s what their family has done for generations! Very fascinating!!

This is the taxi. I really wanted to 'go around town' in one, but Adrain explained to me that around town was down the street. Dad, I thought you'd like these! Maybe it would be a good retirement gig!

After that we headed back to the hotel. That night we had some round table learning with my subject of business. I had no idea that it was happening, but since I’m so awesome I made it work! It was a long day and we went until 11pm, but it was truly amazing to see the things I was blessed to see!

End of Day: 11:00pm