Day 17: Monte Alban & Teotitlan Visit
We started the day bright and early at 7:30 AM. After celebrating the end of a successful project yesterday, we said the rest of our goodbyes this morning. The bus ride from Suchil to Oaxaca was unusually quiet. Although the silence could have been due to sleep deprivation and/or stomach discomfort, a small portion of it probably came from the desire to take everything in one last time (well, that was definitely the case for me).
After arriving in Oaxaca, “La Tierra de Magica, Cultura, y Color”, we spent the morning exploring the great Monte Alban—a famous Oaxacan archeological site. Throughout the tour of the site, we learned a lot about the state of Oaxaca and Monte Alban itself. Here are some fun facts that we learned (thanks to our tour guide, Ivan):
There are 16 different ethnicities in Oaxaca (out of 62 total in Mexico)
Oaxaca is the 5th largest state in Mexico (out of 32 total)
Monte Alban was used by the Zapotecs from about 500 BC to 880 AD as a ceremonial site
The Zapotecs spent about 200 years just leveling the mountain into its flat, plateau-like shape
There are more than 235 tombs scattered throughout Monte Alban, one of the most famous is Tomb 7
Tomb 7, discovered by archeologist Alfonso Caso, was filled with rare jewels from a variety of different cultures.
This suggested that there was early trade between Mesoamerican cultures, and also that Mixtecs reused the Zapotec tombs to bury their own rulers (after conquering the Zapotecs)
It’s interesting because many of these facts can be researched on the Internet. But there is something special about seeing the site in person. The acoustics, the architecture, and the scenery paint a story that can only really be told in person.
After spending the morning at Monte Alban, we then traveled to Teotitlan to explore the world of textiles and natural dye. During the visit, we got to walk through the different steps to weaving a fabric with natural products:
Cleaning and preparing wool
Using a spindle to convert the wool into thread
Dying the wool different colors using natural ingredients such as marigolds (yellows), indigo (blues), the cuchinillo bug (reds), moss (greens), etc.
Weave the wool threads to make products, such as rugs and bags
Not only did we go crazy trying to decide which homemade products to purchase and bring home, but we also finally got to understand how famous cuchinillo bug is used to produce natural dye. In fact, the cuchinillo bug can be used to create 46 different colors!
Lastly, we spent our lunch and early afternoon visiting the hacienda of Richard’s brother. It is a beautiful hacienda with amazing art pieces scattered everywhere, all of which were crafted by unique artisans in the Oaxaca region. The hacienda supports a variety of causes, the largest of which is called Oax-i-fornia (an organization that brings design students from the US to work with the local communities on producing and marketing their traditional art. Not only did we get to taste an amazing lunch, but we got to see beautiful art in this Anthropologie-esque space (Anthropologie the store).
As we drove to the hotel to end our day, we finally got to see a true Oaxacan rainstorm. We were fortunate enough to finish our project before the storm hit, and the rain poetically marked the end of one chapter and the start of another.
