The end of the road (well part of it.)

I spent this past weekend in the beautiful city of Oaxaca. We visited a museum of that contained artifacts from the oldest civilization in Mexico, the Zapotecas. We also got to spend alot of time in the markets, where I bought alot of stuff, for excellent prices. I love bargaining with the vendors, and in the end they will pretty much sell you what you want for the price you want to pay. I ate in a restaurant that my family had recommended to me - there is a picture of my meal on the other website. I had chiles rellenos which were of course different than those that they serve at Dos Amigos and much more delicious. Our second day in Oacaxa we went to Monte Alban, the ruins of the Zapotec civilization. It was amazing to see how advanced this civilization was and how the structures they built have lasted for thousands of years. There were also beautiful views of the valleys beacuse all of the ancient civilization built there towns on top of mountains. On a side note when we got to Monte Alban one of my teachers who came along on the trip and is getting her PhD in something to do with ancient Mexican civilizations told us that we could walk around with here if we wanted and she would tell us the history of what we were looking at. The majority of the group decided to do this. Well as we were walking towards a shady spot so she could talk to us a group of Monte Alban "tour guides" came to our teacher and told her that we all needed to pay money to have a Monte Alban tour guide and that she wasn't aloud to be our guide. Basically what they were saying is they just wanted our money. Thankfully my teacher "got real" with them and told them that we were not going to pay anything and there is no rule or law saying that we needed to do so. It was kind of entertaining to watch her fighting with the people but at the same time it was eye opening to the corruption that exists in Mexico. When we left Monte Alban we went to a hosue where they make black pottery. The technique for black pottery originated in Oaxaca and you can buy the pieces for, yes you guessed it cheap. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the center of Oaxaca shopping, exploring, and eating exotic ice creams like mexcal and tequila flavored, mmmmm.
This week I am finishing up classes. I just have one test tomorrow and I am finished. Saturday is the orientation for the teaching program that I am doing. Most of my friends are leaving on Friday and it will be sad to see them all go, but we have had alot of fun together and I'm looking forward to meeting new people on Saturday. Missing NC, especially Boone and everyone back home, see you all soon!