I think most of the pueblos in the eastern part of the valley where we reside reflect the mainly agrarian lifestyle lived by the majority of the population here. There aren't a whole lot of niceties. As you travel west towards Oaxaca de Juarez that changes. Beth and I visited a few areas towards Oaxaca this month and were surprised at the difference a few miles can make. 

Teotitlan is a pueblo about fifteen minutes away from our home. Some historians believe it was the first settlement of the Zapotecas. Teotitlan is famous for its wool rugs. Natural dyes made from insects and plants are used to add color. Many of the rugs have Zapotec designs, but I have  seen more and more modern designs. I have been told that there are many American expats in Teotitlan. The sign below shows the importance of the tourist trade in this town.

We visited a museum that displayed archeological pieces from the Zapotec era. When the Spanish came to Mexico, they often built their churches on top of Zapotec temples which were therefore destroyed.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Zapotecs wove with cotton. The Spanish brought sheep which provided the wool which now dominates this market.

This picture shows some of the ancient designs of the Zapotec temple ruins.

I have included photos of these little motorized taxis before. They are made in India and cost about five thousand dollars. Some towns like Tlacolula are overrun by these vehicles. There are about 500 in Tlacolula alone. Normal fare is ten pesos. Many of the drivers are young adults that have had little or no training of the rules of the road. You definitely have to keep an eye out for them.

Again, Zapotec ruins at the base of the Catholic church.

This empty market booms in the mornings and especially on Fridays.

This is a typical small store. They carry a little bit of everything.

I do not remember every visiting a pueblo that did not have a Catholic church or a capilla. Some pueblos often also have other denominations, but the Catholic church dominates. A friend was over the other day expressing his concern about all the new Christian sects coming to Mexico. They literally tear villages  and families apart as Catholicism is their culture, as well as their religion.

I had never seen one of these vehicles before, but it sure looks practical.

Many women bring their corn  to be ground for tortillas every morning . They soak the corn kernels in lime water over night to soften them. If you go to a village early in the morning, there is often a line of women waiting to have their corn ground into masa. like mix to make tortillas. These machines also grind coffee and cocoa beans.

This sign shows how locals cater to Americans.

I cannot imagine how this owner has managed to keep an old Colorado plated car without having it confiscated. He probably does not drive it outside the pueblo.

By Teotitlan standards, this store is pretty basic. Many store owners have large, extravagant stores.

Leaving Teotitlan and heading towards Oaxaca, there is a restaurant/swimming pool/park. We have passed it many times on our way into Oaxaca de Juarez but its walls prevented our view. Looking for a new place to eat, we decided to give it a try. We were immediately amazed. We were later told by workers that the owner took fourteen years to create this park-like setting. This must certainly have been a labor of love for him.

These avocados were larger than softball size and some weighed about 1 kilo.

This emu was very curious. He examined me for at least five minutes and often bumped into me.

Luckily we ate under a tarp since it began to rain before we were finished.

This is the entrance to Rancho Alegre.

A little further up the road is Tlacochahuaya (Tlah-co-cha-why-a). It's about half way from our home to Oaxaca.

We sure have not seen many parks like this on our end of the valley.

This uncompleted market is the nicest we have seen here in the valley of Oaxaca.

Something we have noticed here in the valley is that many people live behind walls. We are not sure if this is a security or privacy issue, but we  found it odd coming from a country where homes are open to view.

I would suppose this wooden support is hundreds of years old.

For several years we have driven by a sign along the highway advertising La Quinta. We were a little surprised that a small town like Tlacochahuaya would have an international chain hotel. Well, we were wrong. This Quinta is a salon for events. The manager informed us that rent for the building for one day was $2,000 US. That is just to rent the building and grounds. Everything else is extra. We sure do not know any people who could afford this, so we assume clients must come from the city of Oaxaca. Tlacochahuaya is the most progressive village we have visited. We could immediately sense the difference. Of course, we had to know why. After asking several people, the consensus was that Tlacochahuaya has a long history of its residents working in the US so money has been sent back for years. There is also a river that flows year round. That means crops can be planted without fear of the lack of rainfall. The consistent ability to successfully raise crops makes Tlacochahuaya unique.

These stone carvings were incredible. This bear shows an incredible amount of detail.

The mixture of rich and poor buildings and homes existing side by side is interesting.  This home is not far from La Quinta. I have mentioned before the wide gap between the rich and poor here. There are schools with extremely rich students mixed with others who barely have enough to eat. I have also mentioned before how my perception of poor has changed since living here. I thought I had seen poverty in the US, but my definition has changed immensely.

It is rare to see a wooden home here.

I got a kick out of this little guy guarding his home.

Around the house

Our hen Goldie no sooner separated herself from her first brood of chicks when she hatched another brood. The first brood she kept inside a fence. We only caught glimpses of the chicks because of the tall grass. This time she's parading them around the yard during the day. I was going to give the chicks to a friend, but we are enjoying watching them so much I'm going to wait. They are a blast to watch and our dogs are leaving them alone.

This farm is along our walking route. The owner has acres and acres of alfalfa. 

These anthills sometime have a ten foot diameter.

We are glad to see the Federal government cracking down on one of the corrupt teacher's unions. Hopefully their days of wreaking civil havoc is over.

Now that we have our property in our names we are going to travel to Brownsville to acquire our immigration visa. We also plan to nationalize our pickup. It's always a little spooky traveling through the northern states where the cartel violence is so prevalent.

We continue to enjoy Facebook as it is our primary lifeline to friends and family. We especially delight in posts by nieces and nephews. It is wonderful to see them making their way in the world and we celebrate their successes.

We are looking forward to sharing our trip to the US next month.