Oaxaca was beautiful today, sunny and eventually warm. We had a walking tour of the city in the morning on our way to the anthropological museum.
Our morning tour was of the anthropological museum, housed in a former convent (for men, not women.) I have to say, I love these museums in former convents. They have lots of small rooms arranged around courtyards. The temperature is great and the air feels nice.
We saw more pre-Columbian works from Monte Alban, including artifacts from Tomb #7, which was somehow never raided by the Mexica, or anyone else for that matter. There was a lot to learn about burials and customs. A ruler was buried with food to last four years, because that was how long it takes to travel through the underworld to be reincarnated. The difficulty of the journey depends on how the life is lived. To show status, rulers were buried with the shrunken heads of those they had executed, and/or, in the case of Tomb #7, a skull that had been enhanced with turquoise. Since turquoise is not found in Oaxaca, the embellishment indicated access to trade and wealth.
While I’ve been very interested in the ancient history I learned about and saw, I am still not comfortable with some of the history of torture before execution and ritual cannibalism. I would typically be harshly judging the Spanish for being heartless conquerors, but in this case I can understand why they must have felt horror when witnessing an public execution, put on for their benefit, to impress.
Next door to the museum is a Dominican church with Mexican baroque decor: elaborate cedar carving with elaborate gold leaf.
After the church tour, we walked through the vast market and shopping areas to a chocolate mill.
Mole takes days to prepare, but at least in Oaxaca you can buy mole paste and use it for a short cut to make a sauce!
After chocolate, we were let loose for the afternoon to wander, sightsee, and shop. We found lunch at a counter in the market and were rather proud of being able to muddle through the ordering. Mark and I browsed the shops– there are so many! We saved time to return to the hotel to repack our bags to travel tomorrow.
We had one more big activity for the trip: A cooking class! As a group, and with an organized and appropriately commanding chef, we made many dishes: four salsas, chiles stuffed with picadillo, avocado soup, tamales, tortillas with squash blossoms, chicken mole, and even chocolate ice cream! It was a great way to spend a evening in this gastronomic and historical city. And a great activity to end a study tour with this group of learners of all ages.
This was our farewell meal, as our group disperses in the morning. It’s been wonderful. A real highlight for me has been having the four students along. Vassar past and Vassar present have a lot in common, and I am very proud that my alma mater makes an opportunity like this available to students. It is always a great pleasure to get to meet alums from other classes.
