Venturing outside the city

• Roamingjodi's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Oaxaca

Trip Start Jan 07, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Ongoing Next
Entry

  Oaxaca, Mexico
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Hey yáll....

Another fabulous week in Oaxaca.  I finally ventured outside of the city this week and it was quite exciting.  On Tuesday I took a round-trip van via a tour company to Monte Alban, a Zapotec ruin that dates back to about 500 B.C.  It was quite spectacular.  This was my first experience around a site this old and it was very invigorating.  This places had a really special energy for me considering it is likely that there were some sort of human sacrifices at this site, maybe a lot, no one can be sure.   It sits atop a mountain that shoots up out of the middle of the Central Valley with panoramic view of the entire area from every side.  Itīs breathtakingly beautiful.  The odd thing for me was once I stepped into the main plaza of the ruin, I could not believe how dead silent it was.  Nothing.  There werenīt many people there, which helps, but until I turned my head and my ears caught some wind, I heard nothing.....nothing at all

Etla - Truck full of garlic

.  Not many place to do that any more.  I am truly amazed by what folks accomplished during this time frame with tools fashioned by hand.  Man, I get cranky at the Home Depot if I canīt find the right blades for my reciprocating saw.  Holy crap!  It blows my mind.  Angles are straight, stairs are even, they have sundials, and they are still for the most part, in great shape -- thousands of years later.  Our disposable society has lots to learn from these folks.  I definitely want to go back and spend some more time there just reading and relaxing, not poking in every corner possible.

The next day, Wednesday, was market day in Etla, a small village about 1/2 hour outside of Oaxaca City.  This was going to be my day to figure out the locals buses, or as they call them here --collectivo taxis.  They are basically school buses painted green and white.  Some have tinted windows, some have totally blacked out windows, some are pimped out, some play music, some donīt -- itīs been a big scary mystery to me since arriving in Mexico and it was time to jump in and figure it all out.  The bus door is always open and a young man usually hangs from the outside screaming the stops of the bus.  All the windows have different destinations painted on  them, none of which ever look familiar to me.

I started out at the Tourist office asking how to go about getting to Etla via a collectivo

Monte Alban and blooming agave

.  The woman there said to just walk down to the Abastos and stand along the street where all the buses pass and ask "ŋEtla, Mercado? " until someone basically says yes.  Sounds easy enough to me.  Not the case.  Oh my gawd there were a ton of buses, and asking is always easy, but understanding the answer is not.  The buses surround the Abastos head in all sorts of different directions out of the city.  I used some deductive reasoning and knew we were basically heading in the same direction as Monte Alban and stood on the side of the street I thought would take me back that way.   I asked...got nothing more than NO.  When I was about to throw the towel, in a young man hanging from bus told me to go to the other side of the street -- or thatīs what I thought he said.  I grabbed his arm, smiled and thanked him and crossed the street.  Still nothing.  Tons of buses passing like crazy, none for Etla.  I was tired and frustrated and thought it was time to go home and read.  Too much work for me.  Suddenly, the same young man that told me to go to the other side of the street appeared out of no where, grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the other side of the street yelling "Etla, Mercado" and pointing at a moving bus.  I nearly got killed in the melee and yelled to the bus driver to stop. "?Etlaŋ"  "Si, Seņnora."  He stopped and let me on.  I was thrilled to finally be on the bus but more excited that this young kid had gone out of his way to help me.  Sometimes small gestures go further than we think they do for other people.  A good reminder for me to be gracious and helpful as I continue my travels.

The ride to Etla took about 1/2 hour.  It was dusty, like most of the area is during the dry season, and I was thankful I had water with me.  I bet it is beautiful here when things are lush and green during the rainy season.  Iīll not likely be here to see that

Monte Alban Central Plaza

.  The market was a much smaller version of the one I go to in the city, but the building it was in was really neat.  Lots of tile and great light, and some entirely different foods than Iīve never seen before.  I wasnīt so brave inside for food tasting this time, but next time I will be.  Outside, there were more vendors selling ever thing from cactus to dvds.  I passed this one food vendor outside that was serving up some large oval shaped open face taco sort of things that looked great, but I passed.  I kept roaming and then decided now is the time to jump in on the food vendor thing, so I went back.  I had no idea what he was selling so I just pointed to one and said in Spanish "one for me please."  While I was enjoying mine a young man came and sat down next to me and had one too.  Then he ordered one of these fist sized tortilla "thingies" that they were frying.  The guy grabbed one, cut one open and it looked like the inside had some sort of ground meat and spices in it.  He dressed it with some veggies, salsas and such, put the top back on and handed it to the kid.  Again I said, "one for me please."  It was yummy.  They call those gorditos.  The other thing I had I canīt remember the name of, but was told later on it was a very traditional Mexican dish. 

Iīve been fortunate thus far that I have not gotten sick, or have as they call it here-- the "turistas"-- from food

Monte Alban temple carvings

.  Iīm careful not to eat at just any place.  I look for cleanliness and lots of locals.  Thatīs a sure sign of good food.  If the locals wonīt eat it, itīs likely you wonīt want to either.  Handling money is a big issue for me to.  Some vendors use plastic bags over their hands when they take money from you and make change.  Also, always a good sign if they are handling food and money.  My big adventure this week is into the 20 de Noviembre market and their meat section.  I have to buy some pork and also want to go to this area where they grill meat to order, then you take it to a woman at the end of the room and negotiate the "fixins" to go with it.  Weīll see how my language skills play out there for me.  Should be interesting. 

Tomorrow is my first day of school.  Iīm looking forward not to the work, but the skills that will come with it.  Iīll post again after a week of studying.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

View from Monte Alban towards city

Slideshow Print this entry Share Oaxaca hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry