Nuestros tiempos en Mitla

los alumnos van a entran subterraneamente en una toma de los muertos!

¡Hola mis famillia, mis amiogs! ?Como estan ustedes?

It has been a week since my last transmission and much has occurred in the world.  So many have died in Christchurch, so much destruction.  I found it funny how John Key expressed almost exactly my own sentiments – I can understand this happening in other countries but I can’t understand it happening in my own.  How arrogant and solipsistic and how human.

Speaking of solipsism, here we are in Oaxaca eeking out our lives in royal fashion;  yesterday we eeked our way to Mitlan where the Spanish conquistadors disassembled the ancient Mixteca citadel (built c. 100 b.c.) and used the rocks to construct the church San Pablo. They only pulled down some of the cidadel – much of it remains and descendants of both the Spanish and Mixtecas roam about enlightening semi-proficient Spanish speaking visitors of the various interesting architectural features.  All in all, we had a very pleasant morning spent wandering about these ruins, equalled only by the Tamarind and Guabana Sorbet I enjoyed afterward in the shade of a large gum tree while the sounds of parishioners chanting the Our Father in Spanish wofted lazily through the large church doors “Padre Nuestro, sanctificado sea tu nombre…”

Afterwards we wandered our way into a Fabrica Mezcal (a Mezcal Factory) where we were schooled in the ways of distilling very powerful alcohol from the cactus they call Agate.  Many of the students weren’t that keen on their Mezcal so it was left to some of the teachers to finish off the remainder.  They have a saying here “Para todos mal, Mezcal, para todos bien, tambien” – roughly translated means –for everying bad Mezcal, for everything good, the same.  Afterwards we went and had a nice lunch ate too much then went to the market at Tlacaloula - a rather elongated affair where the locals congregated to sell fruit and veg, meats, sombreros, pirated DVDs, clothes and a myriad of other miscellaneous accoutrements.  It was the first time I have ever seen someone impeccably dressed eating a fresh green salad on a butchers block next to a freshly butchered pig not far from the altar to Santa Maria de Gaudalupe where incense burned beside recently placed flowers.

Our students are really going great guns here.  Aside from their intensive Spanish lessons it is intended that they will complete their normal course of study as if they were in NZ.  This past week we have been preparing some writings for their Blogs. I have been impressed by the maturity of some of the work and it is great to read about the same experience through different eyes. Until next time. Mis queridos, voy a envio esta mensaje con muchos amores para ustedes. Jaime.