Santa Ana Zegache

I am on a mission, but it is, as of yet, uncompleted. I went back to Santa Ana Zegache to try to get a decent shot of the church there with the sun shining on it's remarkable painted facade. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was just past sunset and it was raining, but the place put a hook in me and I had to go back. Santa Ana Zegache is to the south of the city of Oaxaca and it's recently completed restoration was, in part, sponsored by Rodolfo Morales, the famous painter who lived in nearby Ocotlan. Check out the before and after pictures and read a little bit about the place.

Well, I thought I had the timing right for the light, but was, of course, exactly back-asswards. I am not satisfied with these shots, but one can see how magical this place is.Every square inch brightly painted, Painting inside the main entry arch.The interior with a spectacular retablo and wonderful wall decoration.The central dome ceiling. Amazing.The church is very hard to shoot because there are no good sight lines. Trees obscure the front once one gets inside the courtyard and shooting from outside the arch has its challenges. Here's a way to get a good shot of the front, but these guys didn't offer.
They follow me everywhere...what's up with that?

So I will head back across the large flat valley again next Monday. And I mean large, flat and fertile valley. There were people working the fields and I saw crops ready to be harvested even though we are just coming out of the dry season. There were lots of fields of roses, good looking corn, lettuce, onions, cabbage. The soil looked so rich, it was wild. And there appeared to be plenty of water. It is a real breadbasket or vegetable basket. Being in such a huge flat valley felt strange, as the norm is being surrounded by or in the mountains. The road through the valley is very rough. I picked up a couple of campesinos who were headed in the village and had a decent conversation with them even though my Spanish is still weak.

I love being stupid now after being a genius my whole life. When they got out, they asked, "Cuanto? How much? " I said, "I will only be here 15 minutes." Then I realized what they were asking and laughed. "Nada y gracias."