Masked Children

These kids were re-enacting something in the town square one day last week. I always walk through the square on my way home and usually something is going on. That day there were a lot of kids in various kinds of costumes.
I had my hands full of heavy sacks of groceries so I only stopped long enough to get these 2 pictures. I kinda wish I'd gone back for more photos. There were kids dressed in what looked like pirate costumes, too. But I think they might have been Benito Juarez.
The people here sure know how to make good use of their public spaces. They never do anything this cool at home and here it's commonplace.
I wish Tuxtepec would spiff up their big band and play concerts in the bandstand :) Maybe that's asking a little too much though.

Mercedes in Regalia

Not one of my students, but a student whom I got to know while working here. Her name is Mercedes and she is a little strange. Quirky, really. I like her a lot.
She had this picture as her FaceBook profile pic for a little bit. She is in traditional dress here, for a dance that the school sponsored. I'll try to post pictures from the performance sometime.
Mercedes has a friend named Melina and both of them decided that they loved me and always stopped by my office and talked to me and followed me around. The worst moment came when they asked me if they could call my "mommy." I was HORRIFIED!!!
They were sweet but, really, I need my space.
And I'm not anybody's mommy.
I didn't want to hurt their feelings, though, so I was kinda stuck for awhile. Finally after basically ignoring them a lot when they would come by, they maybe got the message and stopped trying to hang out in my office. I felt like a heel, but dude. I need my space.
That's why I live half a world away from my husband.
:)

Nag el Hamdulab

Rock carvings!
These were first identified and photographed in the 30s or so by an Egyptian Egyptologist, Labib Habachi. The photos were stored in the Chicago House at Luxor. Maria Catto has been working at this site in Aswan and reconstructed the images because, since Habachi photographed them, some IDIOTS have scratched at them and almost destroyed them. Probably in a fit of religious piety, thinking they were an affront to god.
These scenes were carved into the rock a little over 5,000 years ago. They date to around 3500 BCE, to the time between the Scorpion King and Narmer, and they show a mixture of royal festival iconography that bridges the differences in the early examples of these scenes. The earliest focused on boats while slightly later ones focused on the king and beasts. This one has both. The king with a dog and retainers carrying flags and boats.
So some lame-ass religious zealot almost erased a fascinating and potentially important part of history, out of misguided religious duty. This is one reason why I don't like religion.

Monkeys

I saw a few articles this morning about this monkey (a crested black macaque) and some of it's buddies grabbing a dude's camera and taking pictures of themselves. The pictures are darlin' and I wanted to save this one because it's so damn cute!

4th of July 2010

Last 4th of July I was at Giza climbing around on the pyramids and goofing off with Lindsey. How freaking cool, huh?
This 4th of July I was at work. At UNPA. In the sweltering jungle of Oaxaca near Vera Cruz.
We didn't get the holiday.
We did go out for a couple of beers afterward at the Happy Place. I'll post pictures if I can remember.

Rock Stars

So, I don't have any actual photos of ME with Ruben, the lead singer of Cafe Tacuba. But I did meet him several times and hang out with him. I have been to his house many times and we even participated in a group therapy session together one afternoon (family constellations - interesting but with an evil, patriarchal perspective). I didn't know he was so bloody famous when I met him and he was actually more interested in my work in Egypt and what I knew about the revolution that I was in his work. Then I found out how bloody famous he is. Incredible.
Still, I never got up the nerve after finding out how famous he was to ask him for a photo of us. So I can't prove that he's one of my homies. However, I did manage to steal this picture of Ruben with his wife and kids picnicking with some of my friends. Is this proof enough of the exalted circles in which I roll?

The Castle at night

I love living in the castle. It really makes me want to get on with my life and build my own castle at the farm. Even though it's hot and buggy here, sometimes the beauty is just almost crushing.