weekend (Oaxaca)

Saturday--Free day, so we took the optional tour to Ocotlan and Coyotepec. In Coyotepec is the home of Doña Rosa, a woman who begin to make shiny, black pottery back in the 50s. Her grandson explained the process. The black pottery pieces were beautiful.
In Ocotlan, we visited the church and home of Rodolfo Morales, painter and philanthropist. He had some bright color interesting depiction of women. The exhibit also included the work of four sisters, Aguilar. Their pottery was alive with vibrant colors and sometimes, exaggerated, comical expressions of women. We walked to one of the sisters´homes, Josephine. She had some awesome work.
Sunday before leaving Oaxaca, we visited the Zapotec Mayan site of Monte Alban (white mountain). The Mayan history was explained for that site. The people planted crops by the sun and moon. The temple areas with "acoustics" was built for large gatherings and meetings. The buildings are aligned with the stars. The family dwellings were discovered to have areas underneath for family burials. We went down into such an area. The bodies would be buried there, maybe at different times. Little chambers of stone were built to hold urns or family offerings. The tour guide´s theory was that the Olmecs were connected to Mongolians ?. I will have to investigate more.