Saturday in Oaxaca

I had such a nice day today. Got up and headed for the big mercado. Half way there I realized I had left my camera on my bed. So I went back to the hostel and it was sitting there. My roommate was watching it and was going to turn it into the office if she left before I came back for it.

So I was back back at the hostel at the right time for crepes and fruit salad for breakfast. Started out again and ended up on the bus that took me right to the market. Thes streets are really confusing here, and if the sun isn´t out I can´t tell which direction is which.

The market had thousands of vendors. Double from weekdays. Maybe more. I got what I was looking for, which was little metal frames with mirrors or with places for pictures in the middle. Some painted with designs and some not. Very cheap. And I found some butterflies made the same way, that I really like. I actually got them for a gift, but I like them alot. I got 24 objects for 180 pesos (about 16.10US). And some nice little ceramic bowls that I like for holding beads. And some lovely fruit, including nectarines from California. I almost didn´t buy them, my anti- NAFTA thinking. But I did and they were really really good.

Took the bus home, without a hitch, and had lunch at the mercado across the street. Bread rolls, and butter and nectarines and peanuts. And a fresh squeezed orange juice. Took a nap and then took the bus to the pickup place for a tour to the Monte Alban archeological site. It´s about 20 minutes from Oaxaca, and it cost $3.25US round trip.

There were about 40 people on the bus. Half Mexican and other other half European, with two U.S. families for good measure. They sat together at had an extremely loud conversation explaining how they would fix the world. I lucked out and sat next to an blonde, blue eyed Italian woman. We talked half in English and half in Spanish. It was very nice.

The ruins were first built before 100 BC. It was up on a mountain top, and really strange and impressive. There were a series of big carved flat stones with drawings carved on them. I read the description in Spanish, French, and English before looking at the descriptions. The description said the carvings showed castrated men who were prisoners. But I overhead one of the guides saying now they think the carvings were illustrations for various medical abnormalities. Who knows?

The bathrooms had seats and toilet papers , were clean, and were free. Very nice experience. I think I will check out some other sites.

I walked back to the Zocala (main square) from the bus drop off about 5pm. It started pouring and I ducked into a restuarant was actually a pizza place. The pizza was really good. It was still pouring so I interneted at the place next to the restuarant. Got bored and decided to brave the downpour. Walked a block to the bus. Got on, paid the 3 pesos, and slipped on the wet floor and slide on my back all the way down the aisle. It was really strange. I couldn´t believe I was hurt at all. Shook up though. The driver stopped right at my stop. He said he remembered me getting off there yesterday.

I kept thinking I was hurt, but I wasn´t. Got home took a shower, and am interneting.

A little later. Everyone has left the center patio area, where in the computers are at the hostel, and I am alone interneting. It´s really strange, but I slipped and fell again. There was a heavy rainstorm going on and the patio´s tile floor was awash with water. As I stepped onto the patio, I thought "ooh, I bet these tiles are slippy", and with that thought hit the tiles with a crash. Not hurt, but scared. I couldn´t believe it happened twice in two hours, and I wasn´t hurt.