luchadors

   Last Sunday we went to a Lucha Libre match in El Centro, Oaxaca, Mexico.   They had a luchador ring set up outside and a bus had just pulled up with the luchadors. (Luchadors are Mexican wrestlers)

 The most important thing is their masks because it identifies them as not so human.  They all wear brightly colored masks and their masks are all different.  If they lose their mask then it makes them have a lot of shame.  Los technicos are the good guys and los rudos are the bad guys.  They got thrown out of the ring and one time a rudo sat in a persons lap in the audience.  They slapped each other on the chest and threw each other around the ring.  They jump, leap, do acrobatics and slug each other. 

We had to leave early because of a tormenta ("Tormenta" means thunderstorm in Spanish).  During the tormenta the tin walls surrounding the ring blew down because of all of the wind.

It was amazing to see a lucha libre match as well as a crazy party of cheering people.

Here is a link to some more PHOTOs taken by my mom.

The first adventure in our new home.

We have now moved into Oaxaca, Mexico.   The drive was 7 days.  When we got to the house we were all exhausted.  So far, we have been here two weeks.  Despite some sickness we have had a lot of fun.  I started school at Instituto de Coubertin.  It is pretty hard because they only speak Spanish. 

This is my blog post for today...
Today is my mom's birthday so we went Monte Alban.  Monte Alban is Zapotec ruins near Oaxaca. Our guide was Señor Coyote.  He has been working at Monte Alban as a guide for 46 years. 

Monte Alban has temples, arenas (even a tennis court), tombs and stone writings. 

These are some things he told me:

The elevation is 7000 ft.
People lived there from 1000 BC to 800 AD.
It's original name is "white mountain"
Alfonso Caso discovered Monte Alban in 1930
Unlike the Aztecs and Mayans there was no human sacrifice.
Whoever WON the tennis game (which was played with a ball made of hair) was killed.
It was like a University for it's teaching of astronomy and anatomy.

We learned a lot but we also had a lot of fun.


The photos show 1. Señor Coyote explaining stone writings.  2.  The tennis courts.