Day 4: Monte Alban Ruins

10.14.2012

Fiesta time the night before? The music and laughter was bumping so loudly next door that I was kept in a state of half sleep/awake until I remember my phone showing 3:30am.
Still, I manage to wake up at a decent time and we head out to the themed arcade markets of Oaxaca. First stop, FOOD, since Dad can't function well when he's hungry...and boy does he get hungry. I must say his metabolism is amazing for a 62 year-old.

The arcade is huge. The restaurants are set up like an open kitchen bar-counter, the popular places have their seats filled up with barely any elbow room for the eater. We are entertained by the liveliness here and I think Dad forgets his hunger for a moment trying to capture all this on film (SD card, he's not that old).
With much contemplation, we decide to eat at a counter that's not overly crowded, but what seems to have a reputable cook. We order coffee, and it comes in a soup-bowl with a huge roll of bread that's semi-sweet and super dry. The coffee has a bit of cardamom in it. The bread and coffee both disagree with my taste. BUT, when the dryness and sweet aftertaste is washed down with the coffee, somehow the combination makes much more sense and I can see myself getting addicted.
All the cooks/servers here are women. And they work hard. With limited gas stoves and a heck load of pots and pans, they take orders, pour coffee, sauté meat and eggs, cut up vegetables, and even give you your change. There's something very attractive about people that work hard and well. The simplicity and speed of movement they've attained shows years of experience, and I wonder to myself if I'll ever be able to play taiko like that.
I order the best mole chicken that I've had thus far in my life, and we leave the place content.

After a random vest purchase made by Dad at the artisans' market, we agree suddenly to head towards the local ruins, Monte Alban. We look for the office that the books explain is the departure point for shuttle buses bound for the ruins. As we reach the proximity, a street vendor selling fruit juice grabs our attention and points towards the ticket office located right next to her stand. Such a nice smile, this lady.
We purchase our bus ticket. A one hour wait, Dad wants another cup of coffee, so we ask the juice lady where we can find a cafe. She compliments my Spanish and points us down the street. The cafe is closed, so we decide to take a stroll around the block. No luck with coffee this time, and we head back to wait it out on the benches of the ticket office. I ask the juice lady where I can buy a coke and water, and she again kindly guides me to the cheap corner shop.
The bus to Monte Alban arrives on time (as is the case for all buses in Mexico), and as I bid my farewell to the juice lady, I realize that she's selling FRESH JUICE, and she never bothered to try and sell us any of it. Come to think of it, we should've gotten fresh juice instead of coke...how unselfish of her.

The Monte Alban ruins are situated on top of mountain, hence the name Monte(?), and although not on the same grand scale as Teotihuacan, the view of Oaxaca from such great height made everything spectacular.

"Amazing, but how inefficient was this location?" I thought to myself. It took us 30 minutes of a winding, uphill bus-ride to get to this place. How'd they haul all that stone to build the pyramids here? And food? Water? It must've been a huge strain on the common folk.
Thoughts of one of my favorite childhood movies flashed back in my mind, "Castle in the Sky, Laputa," by Miyazaki. I remember the heroine in the movie, still a young girl who was a descendant of the sky-people, making a statement to the villain, "humans can't live without their feet touching on earth. No matter how powerful and advanced our people became, they finally understood the need to be grounded and the importance of spreading roots in the soil. That's why they deserted this castle and came back down to earth." I'm sure there are many theories out there as to how the people of Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, and even Machu Piccu disappeared, but I felt like I understood why... Newfound respect for Miyazaki and what it is he teaches us through movies.
Although there may have been extravagant and glorious years for the civilizations that existed here, nothing lasts with an unbalanced strain on the land and people.
And now, we are left with grand tourist sights that are definitely something to awe at. But maybe more importantly, we must learn to work hard and enjoy our average and peaceful daily lives. There's beauty in it, just like the woman that cooked up our breakfast with such grace this morning.

Dinner time, we make good use of our terrace by purchasing street-vendor food to-go. Tacos, clayudas, and charcoal-grilled corn on the cob with mayo, powdered cheese, and chili-powder.
Beer.

Yum.