Here's our little man walking today.  He decided, upon getting back home from Dallas, that he was ready to get a move on! Notice his best friend, the ankylosaurus dinosaur, in his hand.  He's not too interested in other dinosaurs, but he's the ankylosaurus' biggest fan.

Marjorie rolls over!

Ciudad de Mexico

Rachel and I have begun our last leg of our Mexico trip, arriving in Mexico City this afternoon. We were greeted at the bus station by one of the drivers of my friend Manuel, who is an deputy finance minister of the Mexican Government,and taken to our hotel. Rachel was apprehensive about walking about in such a huge city, and glanced about as we walked watching for trouble. I, on the other hand, may be too relaxed about this place, taking pride in having lived in New York for a number of years. But this place is different (and a heck of a lot bigger, believe it or not!) So maybe our approaches will balance each other out well and we'll stay safe and have lots of fun. It's thrilling to be here.

We're staying right downtown in the historic district, and it appears that there are not too many businesses open at night around here. Dinner consisted of a Big Bite from 7-11 for me and granola bars for Rachel. We spent the evening in. I enjoyed being able to tune in Monday Night Football. We really miss our hotel in Puebla. It was amazing, and certainly has spoiled us. Pictures below are of my class in Oaxaca, us at dinner in Puebla and streets in Puebla.

Monte Alban

We went to Monte Alban yesterday, at the top of one of the neighboring mountains. (Oaxaca City is in the valley.) It was a prominent city in this region of Mexico for about 1000 years, roughly 400 BC - 600 AD, but don't quote me on that! It is believed to have been occuped by the Zapotec people, an indigenous tribe still in existence today. (The weavers we saw last Saturday are Zapotec.) Monte Alban is a fascinating place, and really beautiful. The various buildings served as temples, houses for the elite families, meeting places. There was a building devoted to scientific astronomical observations and an open-air sporting facility. All quite impressive. We are heading to Puebla for the weekend tomorrow and then to Mexico City from Monday to Thursday of next week. I almost forgot the last picture - that is me eating chapulines (grasshoppers!). Magdalena, the mother of the family we are living with, is in the background of the photo. She bought some chapulines for us to try. She said the small ones are the best, and she bought them from someone who cleans them very well, then roasts and flavors them with chile, garlic, lime juice, and salt. They are good - I couldn't really taste the grasshopper flavor (whatever that is!), and they are supposed to be a good source of protein. :)

Spuma fun

We are totally confused about how to do picture layout. Any help from other bloggers. Anyway, here are some pics from Saturday night's festivities. Sunday was Mexico's independence day, and they started partying the night before. Quite fun. Notice Rachel dancing with the locals. "Spuma", a kind of spray foam, was a big hit, and our group of 6 (all non-Mexicans) was a frequent target. We loved it. Our days here in Oaxaca end Friday and we're thinking of heading to Puebla next.

Saturday's Tour

Hey yall - a few pictures of the sites we saw yesterday. First the tree, quite impressive. We had trouble getting a good picture of it because it was super bright outside but very shady under the tree. Hopefully you can get an idea of it - for scale, notice the guy sitting on the bench in the first picture at the far right side of the photo. Our next stop was the rug weaving site. I took a picture of Bret sitting next to one of the figures out front. :) The demonstration was very interesting, particularly the wide range of colors that the weavers obtain from various plants and insects. The last 2 pictures are from Hierve el Agua. The water isn't actually boiling, as the name indicates; the water is cold. The minerals cause it to bubble up to the surface, so it looks like it is boiling. After years of running down the side of the mountain, it has created a waterfall effect in stone, colored by the minerals in the water. It is a gorgeous site in the mountains. The drive up was beautiful as well, with amazing views of the valley. The pictures don't do it justice!