Before and After

Day 18, Part A: Quite an amazing day with a lot of photos, so I'm going to do it in two parts. With Cristina back from Houson, she, I, and Jackie Hastings went to visit San Pablo Etla courtesy of Jim and Cathy Austin. Jim is a retired Harvard business school professor who worked on social development projects around the world. Cathy worked in public health. They bought a place in SP Etla, on a mountain slope just outside Oaxaca, in 1994, and have gradually transferred much of their life here. Jim is a lifelong runner who actually ran the 1968 Boston Marathon.

We spent the morning with Jim exploring a wonderful Eco Conservation project in the SP Etla hills called "La Mesita." Basically, a local group is using low-tech means to reclaim land that was previously over-farmed, which led to horrible erosion. The project includes striking sculptures, amazing buildings constructed by students of a RAW architecture group (Real Architecture Workshop), plant and seed conservation, a butterfly house, and more.

Cristina, Jackie, and a little Mexican girl who adopted us.

This building, the "Leaning Tower of La Mesita," was completely unique, captivating and disorienting. We climbed the inside staircase to the top, feeling sure it would tip over.

View from the uppermost outpost.