ON THE ROAD AGAIN

       It was nice to share a Happy Hour with my friend Halina.  We met last year when Kay, another Oaxacan friend introduced us.  

Halina and I kept in touch but when we found ourselves in Europe this summer, it was impossible to share a Happy Hour with her in Poland and me in Iceland. She had a couple friends from Poland that had been visiting and were soon to be leaving, join us. We ended up on the roof top of Gozobi.  We had a drink, bite to eat and left with another Happy Hour suggested in February when Chris arrives.

     I retired early so I would be fresh for my day's excursion with a group from the library to Zaachila and Cuilpan Villages to explore an archaeological site and a convent built in 1525.
       Helen was doing the tour also and we arrived at 9 am only to discover it didn't leave until 10 am...a misprint in the Oaxacan Calendar.  I meandered around the park for a while, then at 10 am we boarded the bus and headed for Zaachila.

Our leader gave a brief speech about the site where two graves of Kings were uncovered.

SACRED MOUND

In Mexico, all artifacts go to the National Archives in Mexico City so we only saw photos of the treasures.  

EXCAVATED MOUND AND TWO GRAVESITES

Then we explored the small site and got to go into the tombs.  There are other sites nearby but are considered sacred so they don't allow excavation of those.
        A short ride and we arrived at the Convent in Cuilpan. Our leader gave us another brief talk before taking us on the tour.

 He actually has his office in the convent where at lot of the artifacts at all the digs in Oaxaca are brought.

Thousands of shards of pottery alone.  Each one has to be cataloged, measured , tested then filed...a 4-5 day process for one shard.  We saw cases and cases just in one room.  He said most of all the rooms that the monks lived in were storage for these artifacts.

           We returned to Oaxaca tired and exhausted.  I had some of my Lentil Soup and lots of coffee in order to stay awake to meet Richard at the bus station for our 11:45 pm all night Red Eye express Special to Hualtco.  Tom our neighbor knocked on the door and reported his dinner date cancelled and he had all these BBQ Beef Ribs and Salad he would like to share.  Helen set the table and I poured the wine.  He did make some tasty ribs and a great salad.  By the time we were done sharing it was 10 pm and time for me to head for the station. ...to be continued