Chalcatongo weekend

K: So her Uncle and Aunt Tere invited us out to Chalcatongo for the weekend and since its so nice out there we decided to go. Really we had nothing else planned so it was something to do. We stayed the night at their place so we could get an early start around like 11 am, heh that is early when you have breakfast and everyone showers. The ride out is so much fun I’ve probably already told you about how twisty and windy the road are out here, it’s the only way they could build it with all the extremely steep and deep gullies. The ride from Tlaxiaco to Oaxaca is much better, it’s mostly flat but there are some twisty parts. There is only one place I’ve seen signs that say sharp corner ahead since I’ve got here, so you know its really sharp and a very long drop if you miss it. The drive out there is about 4 hours if you don’t get stuck behind a parade when your going through one of the towns, like we did on our way back. We could not see much besides all the people walking to the towns center to beat the band that was in front of us. Besides that there is not much to tell about the drive out or back, I’m starting to learn the landmarks along the way, which virgin’s shrine is how far from Chalcatongo, that the 3 people that died on the road with the big cement shire and cross is just like 30 min’s out of town. Things like that are very interesting to see the life that sits on such a hard land where they have carved out a living in dirt only a few inches deep before it hits bed rock. There are lot of places along the road where it is only 3-6 inches before it becomes uplifted rock, you know the angled lined rock. We got there in the afternoon on friday since both Karen and Uncle G were off on friday and her Aunt is retired. We bought some junk food for the way up and I learned a very good lesson- mexicans do not like chocolate, the two bars I got were powder which means they were sitting for a while. I guess I’m sticking to chips and getting adjusted to sour and spicy candy o well hehe. We got there pretty much in time for dinner, they have dinner early since the sun sets around 7-8 all year long and rises around 6-7. There is only a hour or so change the entire year so when it gets dark it gets dark here. We slept over at her aunt Naty’s we have always slept, its calmer over there, I am still adjusting to hopping beds every few days. That saturday they planed to go to a waterfall near the town ( http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=16.845522,-97.58132&z=15&t=h&hl=en or search for “Cascada Yosondua” in goggle earth) and have lunch there. That Saturday morning her uncle Necho and G along with one of Necho’s sons went on a little tour of the lands her family owns. It was fun driving along the dirt roads to a panoramic view of Chalcatongo, we went past a few of the areas her family owns and even her grandpa’s old factory that he made very good organic Aguardiente (the local drink). Its kind of sad its not made the way he made it any more, it takes too much time but his way made a better drink, much better.

M: We went to see the the old factory, which really made me very sad and depressed because there were holes in the ceiling, empty bottles, old cods, and no maintenance, whatsoever. I recently found out that piece of land has been inherited to my father, I wonder if he will do something with it? The weekend at Chalca was a lot of fun, both days (cascade day & factory tour day) we played volleyball with Misa, Tonito, Julio, Karen, Ken and I. It was a blast! On our way back, we stayed at Tia Tere’s again to avoid taking a taxi home late at night. Today, we are celebrating Amilkar’s 27th birthday! Oh what fun.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to La Casa de La Cultura and schedule an appointment to begin our “working” life here.