This will be my last blog from Mexico.

We went to Monte Alban, a ruin site 40 minutes from the city of Oaxaca. It was my second favorite ruin behind Palenque. Three valleys converge around Oaxaca, and the vistas from the temples and castles at Monte Alban were gorgeous. It was pleasant just to get out of the city. Oaxacans really enjoy using their car horns. We returned about 2, and had a great cheap lunch at a vegetarian hamburger place. We spent the early evening checking out art museums and galleries. I am not a fan of contemporary Oaxacan art, but I do like the 20th century stuff. Rudolfo Morales is one of my favorites. Students marched around town, creating havoc on the bus system, as it was reported the next day.

Kathy talked to some of the protestors camping out on the Zocalo. Since teachers have gone back to work, administrators and office staff from Oaxaca state have taken over the campout. There is only one newspaper (Las Noticias) that is giving any coverage to the protests and dissapearances. Outsideof Oaxaca, few Mexicans have any idea of what happened.

We caught a first class 6 hour bus to Mexico City the next morning. It was satisfying to be on the final leg of our trip. The bus ride showed Finding Nemo, Today you Die (con Steven Seagal), and Hitchikers guide to Paradise. The first and last were dubbed, so I read Kavalier and Clay the whole way...great book, historically based.

Mexico City feels like New York to me. It is a mass of cars, department stores, markets, and street hustlers. Someone is always hawking their wares, but after about an hour their calls slip anonymously in to the rest of the city´s noise. Here is an abbreviated list of what they sell: bubbles, children´s music, socks, wrestling masks, hotdogs (3for $1!), umbrellas, gift bags, watches, and wind up mice. I love Mexico City in the same way that I love NewYork. As a gringo, you must be on guard against hustlers, but the bustle is invigorating.

We are staying at Hotel Zamorra for our last 3 nights ($24). We have a balcony that overlooks 5 de Mayo. Brown suited men and women have serenaded us with their crank powered radio contraptions (No se la palabra) that play scratchy nostalgic music. We are pretty much staying in the historic district. After getting our room, we wandered through markets, and as darkness fell, noted how the city feels like NY of the 1940s, or perhaps Gotham City itself. Th marketeers close their markets in a violent swoosh, dumping excess trash into the street, loading carts, and rushing off...to somewhere.

We rested a little bit, and walked to the Opera Bar. It was a fantastic place, that reminded me of Diplomat hangouts in DC. A huge oak bar seated mostly with sharply dressed, lighter skinned, seemingly more well educated Mexican males. They also drank like fish. Kathy and I had a few expensive beers ($3 each) , shared a cheese plate, and retired for the night.

We did the tourist thing on Friday. I saw some of my favorite art in the world. At the presidential palace, I saw Rivera´s masterpiece detailing Mexican history. It´s like the dome of the capital, but more controversial. The catholic priests are depicted as ghouls, Marx is there, and the ostentatiousness of the 1940s (similar to our 1920s) is portrayed with disgust. We saw the parliament room which was very European looking. We saw murals of Rivera, Siqueiros, and Tamayo at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The highlight was Rivera´s portrayal of Socialism and Capitalism. He orignally did the work for Rockefeller Center, but upon its completion, it was promptly destroyed. Although somewhat propagandish, I stared for 20 minutes at the mural, noticing new details. I felt smart, noticing Darwin in the bottom left corner next to a child holding an Ape´s hand (on the capitalist side of the mural).

We took the metro the museum of modern art, both of which I highly reccomend. The metro is 20 cents regardless of where you are going. A man tried selling us vitamins before our first transfer. We saw some Kahlo, Morales, and an exhibition on a guy named Tarizco (?) at the museum. We tried going to the Zona Rosa for lunch, which was a mistake. Lonely Planet promised trendy cafes, but we couldn´t find too much. Exhausted, we settled for a fish and sushi place, which turned out to be surprisingly wonderful. Tired, we decided we wanted to see a movie. We saw Superman, back in the Centro Historico. Neither of us were impressed, but the experience of watching Hollywood fluff in a darkened theater was a nice respite from our trip. It was jarring to walk back out into the the Mexican Gotham City.

We wanted to have a grand last night out, but rain prohibited this. We shared some Sangria, and ate and expensive meal at a trendy place with live music. We had planned to see some jazz, but we ended up sprinting through the rain back to our room. We are going to see Kahlo´s house today, check out the markets, and go to bed early. Kathy has to get up at 4:30 fo her flight tomorrow, and I am going to leave around 11:30. We´re getting authorized cabs to take us to the aeropuerto. I am excited to get home. I will miss the cheap meals, the spanish language, and the colorful buildings, but I am tired of being stared at.

See you all soon. John.

We took a camioneta instead of a bus because it had air conditioning and would be faster. Big mistake. The fat lady who ran the operation tricked Kathy and I into taking the back three seats, which she promplty loaded with four people. The first three hours were miserable. My butt cramped, I sweated an ugly odour, and I only kept my insanity by burying my head in my book.

Luckily, some people got off halfway and the last 2 hours were pretty comfortable. It was raining when we got to Oaxaca, and we had some difficulty finding Posada de Chapulin (grasshoper). Oaxaca is a little more expensive, but our place is worth it. Comfortable beds, towels, hot water, and friendly staff. We got dinner on the Zocalo at 9:30. I had chiles stuffed with pork and beef. The meat was sweat, and the guacomole on the side was delicious.

The next morning, we wandered through the 20 de Noviembre market. Wow! They had everything, from meat to vegetables, to plastic masks and mole sauces. Before I leave, I am going to buy some pantalones for $5. I don´t know what you call them, but they look kind of like they´re made from potato sacks. We had breakfast on the Zocalo, and after Kathy checked internet, we wandered up Benito Juarez avenue to the Santo Domingo church. It was the most gilted church we´ve seen, and it totally creeped me out. The sun shown as we exited, and we began to search out the modern art galleries that Oaxaca is famous for. We saw some great stuff. One artist was a mix between Salvador Dali, John Singer Sargent, and Diego Rivera.

We met up with Kathy´s former principle for a drink at a cafe. We visited another gallery, and split up for awhile planning to meet up for dinner. Kathy and I had a little snack, rested at El Chapulin, and I ate some grasshopers. They weren´t great but they weren´t horrible. Salty and crunchy, kind of like pumpkin seeds. We had dinner at a vegetarian place. The owner was from San Francisco, and it showed in his cuisine. We said goodbye to Kathy´s principal, and had a few drinks at a local bar. Mezcal and Corona. There were some gringas at the bar who made us cringe, but did provide some entertainment as they flirted shamelessly through poor espagnol with the Mexicanos. The highlight was them taking some sort of drink out of a dildo-like pouring device (you can use your imagination, but I made sure to take a picture).

Oaxaca has lately been the scene of some serious protesting. The teachers started out about 2 weeks ago demonstrating for better wages and proper materials for students. They camped out at the Zocalo and things were peaceful for awhile. Then, approximately 5 days ago, Ulises (the governor of Oaxaca I believe) sent in police. According to the protesters, six were killed, and 15 are missing. Now the Zocalo is filled with teachers from around the country showing solidarity and other political groups, including anarchists and communists. There are stencils all over the place depicting Ulises as a rat. In other political news, Obrador has called for another mass demonstration in Mexico City on the day Kathy and I leave. We´ll see what happens.

Kathy is sleeping in. I had breakfast by myself. We´re going to see some museums today, and some traditional dancing tomorrow. I think we will take a tour of Monte Alban tomorrow and head for Mexico City on Thursday.

John

We chartered a taxi for $20 to Puerto Angel. It was expensive, but doing so allowed us to enjoy the day on the beach rather than switching busses, etc. We took a room at the top of a nasty set of stairs, but the view was worth it. We quickly made our way to the beach.

It is picturesque here. Fisherman are everywhere, and I am reminded of Hemingway´s Old Man and the Sea when I look to the bay. Except for the fact that now, all of the fisherman have motors. All of it makes me miss my baby (Hi Joanna!). The few tourists that are here tend to be couples getting away from it all. Things are romantic here - it´s odd sharing it with Kathy.

It´s the low season, so we were swarmed by young men trying to get us to take a sit at their base of operations. We had 5 different people offering us gratis seats. We chose a young man named Angel and he was pretty nice. We read, swam, read, and swam some more. I am currently reading Cisneros´Caramelo. I didn´t like it at first because she seemed to be glorifying the backwardness of Mexico´s cities, but I have come to fall in love with some of her characters.

I had guacamole (wich took an hour to prepare) and a cerveza. My tan is looking pretty good. We showered up and had dinner at a little Italian restaurant. I had tuna pasta, and Kathy ordered the shrimp. The shrimp wasn´t filling enough, so we ordered a pizza. Throughout dinner, we noticed the locals, some dressed in their finest, walking towards the pier. Stuffed, we walked up the hill, following the locals. It was a graduation ceremony. Although my Spanish is limited, I´m pretty sure graduation speeches are the same on both sides of the border. In addition to reading and mathematics, according to the principal, the students learn responsibilidad and discipline. Few people actually listened to the principle, but his voice crescendoed. Two fairly good looking dogs meandered into the empty space in front of the principal and dignataries. As the principal´s hand motions became more excited, the male perro saddled up and began humping the poor bitch. That was the high point of the night. To cap things off, we read some more before going to sleep.

I had eggs with chorizo. Kathy had pineapple juice with spider. I mean, the spider was huge and we refused to pay for the juice. We took a tour for the day with Azul Profundo tour company. They took us out to sea and we went snorkeling at a few beaches. The snorkeling was very different than Akumal. The fish weren´t as colorful, but what was lacking in quality, was made up for in quantity. It was fun swimming among huge schools, watching them get whipped about by the currents as much as we were. I saw some swordfishes and got to touch a sea spider. Alas, we did not get to see the tortugas (turtles) that were promised to us. Kind of a bummer.

Exhausted upon our return, Kathy tood a siesta. I intermittently read and dozed in a hammock, taking breaks to check out the Alumino graduation ceremony going on at the pier below our balcony. I roused Kathy at 7:30, and we took a walk to Suzy´s, a restaurant listed in our guidebook. Again, it was as romantic as it gets with one´s sister. I had a huge plate of carne, quacamole, fried bananas, french fries, salad, and pollo (which I did not touch this time!). We walked back to our place, and read a little bit more before going to sleep.

Today, we are making our way towards Oaxaca. We´ll take a taxi to Pochutla for $5 and catch a 9 hour first class ADO bus to the city if everything goes as planned. Update in a few days.

John

We got to the beach at about 10am and promptly rented a bungalow for 20$ a night. Puerto Escondido is a surfer´s town. The waves are 7-11 feet where we are staying. Everyone is either a surfer or a surfer´s girlfriend, althought that´s not to say there aren´t any women surfers.

Kathy slept mouth open on the bus pretty much the whole way. I didn´t do as well, but I did finish Exodus and got through most of my book about Chiapas. After we got our room, we went and had an amazing breakfast for 3$ each. The coffee was decent. We went to the beach afterwards, a 2 minute walk from our bungalow. The undertow is incredibly strong so we didn´t swim, but we did get some nice sunburns.

The rest of the day was spent quietly reading in our bungalow. Kathy had camorones and I had a tuna sandwich for dinner. We read, drank some rum and cokes, munched on pizza, and discussed teaching on the patio for about an hour. We went to El Adoquin, a pedestrian street not far from our bungalow, to check out the nightlife. It was virtually nonexistent. We found out where all the surfers were, at the top story of a bar called Wipeout. I am 22 years old, and I felt old there.

We slept in the next morning. I traded Exodus and my book about Chiapas for Augusten Burrough´s Running with Scissors. We had another great breakfast. I had french toast, eggs, bacon, and coffee for $4. Afterwards, the sun beat down on us as we walked to Playa Manzanilla, which is a little inlet where you can actually swim. Kathy and I lolled on the beach, dipping in every 20 minutes due to the brutal sun. It was quiet, warm, and relaxing. I love my new book. I was unashamedly laughing out loud as I read.

We got caught in a storm and ended up under a metal roof with an American woman and her Mexican boyfriend. The conversation was typical, but with the storm, there was nothing else to do. I ventured out for an ATM once the rain quieted. I ate a fish afterwards. I mean, it was just an entire fish cooked to perfection with lemon and garlic. After a few cervezas, Kathy and I returned to our bungalow. We read in a little coffee bar, had dinner, and went to sleep early. We´re going to try to make it to Playa Angelito today, but as of yet, we don´t know how to get there.

John

San Cristobal de Las Casas is our favorite city we have seen so far. Chiapas is a beautiful state and the indigenous influence is visibly beautiful, despite the poverty. Kathy is on the Pepto Bismol diet now, so I let her sleep yesterday and got breakfast by myself. It was the first meal I was unable to finish. Bread, butter, fruit salad, and an omelette the size of a football. Again, the coffee was great.

I walked to the Zocalo, and read some more of Exodus before returning to wake up Kathy at 11. We walked up Victoria Guadalupe to another church that was on a hill overlooking San Cristobal. The view of the city was nice, but the view of houses on the hidden side of the hill was interesting as well. Tin roofed houses were packed together, but every inch of green was planted with corn.

We walked back down the hill and picked up some souvenirs at a Nuevo Zapata store. I bought a flask of Aguardiente (like posh) for 56 cents and drank it with Coke while Kathy and I wandered aimlessly. We must have discussed teaching for 2 hours on a park bench outside the Zocalo. We also reminisced about our beloved Mema Margaret, who passed away three nights ago. We talked about the good times with Mema and Curly, and did not shed a tear. The real cry will come I´m sure when we return and see our mother.

We had some coffee. I flipped through a Spanish GQ while Kathy read her book. Energized, we changed, and headed for La Revolucion, which is a hip bar on the main pedestrian thoroughfare. They had a happy hour special, and Kathy and I had three beers apiece. I broke down, and ordered a hamburguesa and fries. The bar was full of hippies, from Mexico and abroad. Kathy and I finished off the Aguardiente with Coke back in our room, and headed out for the nightlife we had heard so much about. The election is over (it´s tied or something) so lots of travellers were doing the same. We went to La Revolucion and enjoyed some folk music for awhile. Kathy drank less than me because she is sick.

We went to another place that was more like a club. A great reggae band played. Kathy sat, but I had a few Cuba Libres and enjoyed dancing by myself for approximately an hour. I must have looked like an ass, but I felt great! We got to bed around 12.

This morning we took a tour to see Sumidero Canyon. It was not a huge canyon, but we did see some interesting wildlife (monkeys, crocodiles, and pelicans). It was nice just to be on the water, helpful for my hangover. We stopped at another village on the way back, but it looked pretty much like Chamula. Kathy had a quesadilla that probabl y contained 2 pounds of cheese.

I was astonished at how many Mayans I saw carrying firewood alongside the highway. They came in and out of the woods where I assume their homes are. There are so many of them, but you don´t really see them unless you look. I bought a book today about indigenous peoples of Chiapas. I am fascinated, because we have nothing comparable in the States.

Back in San Cristobal, we purchased a few more souvenirs and gifts and had some coffee. Our bus for the beach leaves at 7:00. 13 hours! Looking forward to doing nothing on the beach for a few days.

John

We got up early today in order to switch hostels before our tour. We found a comprable place for eight bucks less so we made the move. We were in a tourist group of Americans, Mexicans, Italians, and Swedes for the day. We left at about 9:30 for the village of Chamula outside of San Cristobal.

Chiapas has about 4 million people, 1 million of whom are indigenous Mayans. Within this group, nine different languages are spoken. The town of Chamula probably had about 9 thousand people. Our guide was wonderful, but the historian in me is wary of accepting his explanation of things as truth. It is not good to rely on one source for cultural information. He lectured us as we walked pass family compounds on the religion of Chamulans. According to him, Chamulans have never really bought into catholicism. The cross was omnipresent in the town, but Chamulans attach traditional meanings to it. Even the church, although filled with catholic relics, is interpreted by the people in a traditional way. For example, he told us that the cross actually represents the Mayan story of the Ceiba tree...the Ceiba tree lifted the sky from the earth to create the world as we know it today. I am not going to go into the details, but it was fascinating.

No one has asked me to buy a hammock, but the little kids surrounded us in the plaza outside the church at Chamula. They asked for "uno peso" over and over and over again. A cute little boy in ragged clothes actually started to fake cry, and I could not help but laugh. Their poverty is not funny , but the fake crying was really comical to me. I guess I have a black heart.

The tour ended with a visit to a home in a neighboring village. We saw weaving, tortilla making, and drank a shot of posh (liquor made from sugar cane...kind of Jaegermeisterish). It was a good tour. Kathy and I napped from 3 till 5.

The elections ended today with voting. Long lines have formed around the city, and according to Mexicans we have talked to, it seems that turnout will be high. The indigenous people are heavily manipulated and herded. Parties will give out a ton of cement bricks - valuable capital in the little villages - weeks before the voting, and remind the villagers of the gift up until the election.

I am not too informed on Mexican politics, but I do know that the elections have ruined the night life in San Cristobal. No one is allowed to sell alcohol for 2 days leading up to the election (la ley de seca), so all the clubs and bars here are closed. Kathy and I have decided to leave for the beach on Tuesday so that we can experience the nightlife tomorrow. Here is what I ate today: bread for breakfast, trail mix, a black corn tortilla filled with queso and pumpkin seed in the house of the villager, one slice of pizza, and after the nap I had two dinners (tacos suaves and carne asada). Churros for desert.

We will take it easy tonight, tour the rest of San Cristobal tomorrow, maybe take an eco tour on Tuesday, and take a night bus for the beach on Tuesday.

John

Kathy and I left Merida on the night bus bound for Palenque. For those of you familiar with Mexican geography, we left Yucatan for Chiapas. Palenque was only slightly more mountainous. We took a hotel at Posada Bonampak at 5am. The charge was only $8. The place lacked hot water but it was so hot we did not really care. Also, it looked dirtier than it actually was.

We slept for a few hours and got up at 9 to go to the ruins of Palenque. We had eggs, bread, and fruit for a fair price and took a van collectivo to the ruins. They were absolutely beautiful. There were three tombs and we were allowed to enter one of them. There was a Palace where the nobles hung out and many of the reliefs were still in great shape. The height of the ruins expepedition was walking to the top of Los Templos de la Cruces. Unlike the ruins of Chichen Itza, there were few tourists and we were surrounded by a beautiful natural landscape. From the top of Los Templos, we were flanked by luscious jungles and a vista of the lowlands. It was truly awe inspiring. We just meditated for awhile and took in the energia of the place. The rest of the grounds were interesting and the surrounding waterfalls were picturesque. Even the museum was informative.

We toured the town of Palenque for the rest of the night. Lonely Planet kind of dissed it, but Kathy and I found it charming. There was a nice central square, and the people seemed content and full of life. We ate at a respectable looking hotel. I ordered what I thought was cheese enchiladas, but it came with chicken. Against my own intuition, I ate it. (BIG mistake...read on) We chilled at a coffee shop reading our books. The book I am reading, Exodus, has started to annoy me a little bit. The author reinforces many stereotype about Arabs; that they are an opportunistic, lazy, and back stabbing group of people. The coffee was great, and we had fun watching the people mill about at the main square. It rained a little bit and we purchased our tickets for San Cristobal de las Casas. My tummy began to rumble.

The night was awful. I had three violent sittings on the toilet, but the third was the worst. Let me just say it came out of both ends at the same time. I probably woke up half the hotel with my wretching. I did not sleep more than 30 minutes because the stomach pains kept coming. The half mile walk to the bus station in the morning was awful.

Not quite as awful as the 5 hour bus ride to San Cristobal. San Cristobal is charming because it is nestled in beautiful mountain ranges. But to get to it requires a bus ride that curves and curves and dips and dips. Ay aye aye. Luckily, there was some good hollywood fluff on to take my mind off of my stomach. We found a place quickly in San Cristobal and I slept until 8 this morning. Kathy explored by herself.

We have had a good day so far and are going to stay until at least monday. I got to see a coffee museum today! They had translations in English so I was able to learn so much about the world history but especially the Chiapan history of the lovely little bean. We bargained with merchants in the market for a few hours and I did most of my shopping for the trip. We saw a decent museum about the history and climbed a huge staircase to the top of a hill where a lovely little church sat. The view was picturesque. The town is very charming because of its age and indigenous influences. Tomorrow we are taking a tour to one of the villages and will see more museums and such on Monday before leaving for the Playa south of Oaxaca. I would write more but the bathroom is calling me.

John