Day 13

Today we went to Monte Alban which are Zapotec ruins dating from about 500BC. They are located on top of a mountain at elevation of 6,000 feet and the setting itself is amazing. There are dramatic views into valleys in every direction, and since we were so high up the sky seemed very close. The clouds, today anyway, seemed very foreboding, and seeing them over the ancient ruins of enormous stone temples made it possible to imagine the often violent society that once lived there, performing sacrifices and the like to their gods. The architecture was very heavy and angular, and matched the expanse and weight of the sky. It was a great place to spend a few hours, explore the old temple and building sites, wander through the grassy courtyards and admire yet more plants and unusual insects. Today’s highlights were bright yellow millipedes.

After we made it back down from the mountain and in to Oaxaca it started to rain. The usual plentiful cabs were scarce today and we were getting pretty wet by the time we found one that was available. The rain got heavier and heavier as we rode toward our host families’ home, and by the time we were in a few blocks of their home the water was about 10 inches deep in the road. We asked the driver if all the water was just from the rain and he said yes and that this happens when they have heavy rain. We had noticed the lack of storm drains before, but couldn’t believe how much water there was. When he pulled up in front of the house the water was a foot deep or so, and gushing through the streets like a river. We couldn’t believe it. The boys parked themselves by the front door and watched the water climb higher and higher up the tires of parked cars. They saw people wade through the streets, knee-deep in water and after a while they came running and told us, “there’s a donkey in the street!” Sure enough, there was a man walking knee-deep in water in the middle of the street looking like a just stepped out of an ad for coffee beans. He was pulling a donkey that was loaded down with blankets and leafy green vegetables. Our host, Azalea, came to the front door and sailed a paper boat down the street and the boys had Jim make more boats to sail.