Today’s assignments: A) define archeology and anthropology; and B) tell two stories (one true and one either true or false) about Monte Alban, an ancient city founded around 500 BC.. Driving to the top of a bare mountainside overlooking the densely populated valleys surrounding the city of Oaxaca, we park the car, close curtains and install sunscreens on the windshield. Fending off a few aggressive salespeople, we head out to explore the impressive cluster of alters, buildings, ballfields and astronomical observatories of this Unesco World Heritage site.

Will grabs the camera and assumes responsibility for photography, while Kim rattles on recounting a string of tales about all that might have happened here long ago. Lions being tamed to play soccer, clearly she has no problem imagining – true or false – the goings-on long ago in the stone temples and sustancial palaces of this massive complex.