Monte Alban and Headaches

Got up early so we could go toMonte Alban.  We had eggs, beans and tortillas for breakfast.  Abby make a huge pot of beans to go with the huge pot of arroz con pollo.  We hopped on the local bus to a hotel in the center of town, which is the launching point for buses going to Monte Alban.  It was a short 30-minute ride - along a similar route we took yesterday, when we just rode the bus around an entire loop to see how it worked.  

Monte Alban was once a thriving Zapotec city.  Follow the link above to get all the details about Monte Alban if you are interested.  When we arrived, we then purchased tickets and perused the museum before heading out to explore.  The museum had some great carved stones, bones and skulls, pottery, and other archeological remains of the site.  Kelsey and the kids loved the bones and skulls!  We then headed out to explore.  We had packed a picnic but were not allowed to bring food into the main area of ruins.  It took us a while to get oriented but once we ascended the first high spot, the entire site opened up and was awesome.  

The site is located on a high hill with 360 degree views of the valley, no doubt why it was selected in the first place.  The structures were amazing and the kids had fun walking up and down the steps.  They also discovered that there were this little yellow millipedes everywhere and found all sorts of other bugs.  We should note  that Max has become a trash collector.  We will be walking along the street and he will pick up all sorts of trash along the way.  He seems to be having fun but some of the stuff is pretty gross!  We were all pretty tired by the time we were at the last structure, so Kelsey, Max, and Abby headed back for our picnic lunch, while Scott and Kaya ascended the final steps - 43 to be exact, they counted carefully (and breathlessly) on the ascent and descent.  Had a nice picnic lunch and headed back home for a siesta.  Kids played (mostly quietly) while the rest of us napped.

After naps Abby  woke up with a terrible headache.  She is prone to these and often vomits and then feels better.  Well, she did vomit, but still did not feel better.  She does not have a fever (borrowed a thermometer from Delores (Lolita) the woman who lives below us - she has lived here for 17 years in this apartment! ).  She crashed early and hopefully will feel better in the morning.

While Abby took her extended siesta, Scott, Kelsey and the kids went into town to get fixings for pasta.  Kaya continues to be our food purchaser, confidently approaching vendors in the market asking how much things are and buying them.  Funny that she loves this but is somehow terrified of having fun with other 7-year old Oaxacan kids??  We came back and cooked up a pretty descent (though not nearly as good as Paula's apparently!) batch of pasta and sauce.  Kelsey hit the hay early and the kids got a story and then went down, though Kaya was having "bad thoughts" about those yellow millipedes! 

Weather forecast is for rain, rain, rain tomorrow.