Our family and friends kept asking, “Where is Oaxaca?”. They also had a problem with saying the name and spelling it. Our reply was always, “It’s pronounced just the way it’s spelled”, or, “It’s spelled just the way it’s pronounced.” Understandably, unless you speak Spanish, “Oaxaca” is absolutely confusing. As for the spelling you just memorize it - but as for pronouncing it, phonetically, it’s “wah-HOCK-kah”. See? Just the way it’s spelled. Compared to other names like “Ixtlahuaca” or “Tlacochahuaya” it’s dead easy.
A trip to Oaxaca has been on our bucket list for a long, long time. Tom was already familiar with the state and city of the same name through connections made at Lawrence University since the 1990’s. We have birding friends who have recommended it as a birding destination (that alone would have gotten us there). Then there was the lure of a culture rich with food, art, music and history.
When friends Frank and Paul in Las Cruces learned of our plan they recalled staying in an apartment at Villa Maria Apartments in Oaxaca some 25 years ago. Was Villa Maria still in business? A search on the Internet brought up a web site. They sent an email. Yes, Villa Maria was still a going concern. Maria, who remembered them from all those years ago was delighted to hear form them. Without a doubt, Frank and Paul are very memorable so it came as no surprise that Maria recalled them. Through their recommendation and assurances to Maria that we were “good people”, we were able to book an apartment for three months (January-March) of 2020.
This wouldn’t be our first international extended stay. We had volunteered in Ecuador at a bird lodge for two months. And we had rented a cabin in Costa Rica for six weeks prior to one of our Costa Rica bird tours. It was simply a matter of working out the logistics.
About the same time, friends Glenn and Diane Chambliss had learned of our plan for an extended stay and wondered if they might rent our townhouse for part of the time we were in Mexico. A house in the Sierra Vista area they were renting for the winter wasn’t going to be ready early enough (why anyone would be anxious to escape Wisconsin winter is beyond comprehension). Eventually we settled on a price, delighted to know our home would be in good hands and that Glenn and Diane would be able to avoid snow and cold sooner.
Our efforts to find a guide for a Oaxaca bird tour kept hitting an adobe brick wall. Either the guides we wanted were already booked, or, the prices were too high with tour companies we’ve used in the past. Things finally fell into place when we contracted with Field Guides, a professional tour company that had come highly recommended. We were easily able to fill the trip with friends we’ve traveled with before. The tour would begin at the end of our stay at Villa Maria. One big plus attracting friends to the tour was that it consisted of day trips run out of a hotel located in Oaxaca City (plus a three day extension to the coast tacked on at the end).
Our airfare cost was reduced considerably owing to vouchers we’d received form American Airlines as the result of a disastrous experience getting to Costa Rica in 2018. The rent for Villa Maria was gong to be offset by renting out our townhouse - and the cost of living in Oaxaca is far less than here in the states. Yes, this was going to happen.
While planning for the trip had begun early in 2019, the onset of January 2020 had us in full blown preparation mode. Even though we had rented the apartment for the entire month of January (Maria rents month to month with no option for a pro-rated month), our schedule wouldn’t have us arriving until mid-January. We had offered the apartment rent-free to Frank and Paul during that time but alas, they were too busy.
We used this time prepare our home for Glenn and Diane’s arrival, creating lists of “how this works” and if something happens “here is a list of contacts”. Rearranging the office and setting up the guest room (they had requested the twin beds be converted into a kingsized bed). Emptying the fridge, rearranging the cupboards, stocking up propane for the fire pit and grill, arranging garage contents so it would accommodate both our car (parked for the duration of our absence) and their car - it seemed an endless task.
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| Diane and Glenn |
But by mid-January all was in place. Glenn and Diane arrived a few days early so we had time to cover all the possible scenarios (much copious note taking and wine drinking). We even had time to introduce them to a few of our neighbors. On the day of our departure, they drove us to the Tucson airport.
What follows is the recounting of a Oaxaca journal. A bit of a departure from our regular blog structure as this will go week-by-week. The time flew past so fast while as took every day exploring every nook and cranny of the city and surrounding barrios - and still, we had only scratched the surface.
One additional twist with our Oaxaca blog reports: there were far too many photos to include in any one blog entry. To remedy this, a separate web site was created to host 100's of photos along with a video and music files. Visit Oaxaca 2020 Photos
And so it begins: Week One…..
1/15/2020
WEEK 1 - Day 1
Flight from Tucson - Oaxaca
Glenn and Diane’s ride to the airport went smoothly following a quick bite at a very busy but not very spotless McDonald’s in Benson.
Our flight from Tucson departed on time although as we sat in the same gate area where our last disastrous flight on American Airlines in March 2019 eventually departed, it was still too fresh in our minds. Angst abounded.
When the 2 hour flight lifted off on time we became a bit more confident that our connecting flight was going to be on time also. And it was. We prefer short layovers, this one was too brief. Deplaning, then racing to the next gate at another terminal, with our two carry-ons via the Dallas/Fort Worth airport’s Sky Tram, we barely had time for a potty break before boarding our flight to Oaxaca. Roughly a 27 minute window of time to make our connecting flight. But we made it.
The plane to Oaxaca was smaller - two seats across each side versus three seats across in our flight to DFW. The flight was relatively short flight - just over 2.5 hours. Unfortunately the flight into Oaxaca had us arriving after nightfall. And since we’d never been to Oaxaca before, arriving in the dark was a bit disconcerting with no visible landmarks to help orient us.
Passing through immigration took about 20 minutes. Given the short layover in DFW we had wondered if our check bag made the transfer but there it was, sitting on one of the two carousels in this small airport terminal.
We had filled out the cursory immigration forms before landing, but for whatever reason, American hadn’t given us a customs declaration form. After passing our luggage and backpacks through the one and only custom’s scanning device, we had to fill out a custom’s form on the spot to satisfy the customs agent.
As mentioned, the airport is small. There was a short row of kiosks with a cambio (money exchange), a couple of car rental agencies, and a taxi counter. Maria, our landlady, had told us that the fee for a taxi to Villa Maria would be $90 pesos per person. That was very helpful as the sign at the taxi kiosk offered different rates for Zona 1 and Zone 2, but with little other information about which Zona we needed to go. But, based on the price we sorted out to ask for two taxi receipts for Zona 1.
The taxi arrangement worked through a “collectivo” - a cooperative taxi system. Typically in many countries once outside the terminal one is besieged with offers for taxis. Not here. In fact if you didn’t know to stop at the taxi kiosk and simply forged ahead outside you would be out of luck getting a taxi.
With this system, you present your receipts to someone outside - a taxi concierge - who then assigns you to a taxi van shared with other travelers. One did have the option of paying quite a bit more for a personal taxi but we’re used to sharing taxis. We had printed Villa Maria’s address on a slip of paper which we showed the driver thereby bypassing any possible language miscommunications.
The ride to Villa Maria lasted about 20 minutes as we wound through several streets and intersections. Again, without visual landmarks, we were really turned around when we arrived. We also were pleased that we decided not to rent a car because we would have had no idea where we were going at night (or in the daytime for that matter!) let alone where to safely park.
Upon our arrival, the driver unloaded our bags onto the curb. As we stood there in the dark in front of Villa Maria trying to figure out where the door bell was to alert Mara of our arrival, an American name Bob, sitting on a nearby stoop enjoying a cigarette, asked if we needed help. It turned out that Bob was also one of Maria’s tenants and knew where the doorbell was located.
In our brief conversation with Bob while waiting for Maria to appear, Carol mentioned how she would “kill for a cold beer right about now”. Bob disappeared and a moment later reappeared with a large cold can of beer just about the time Maria appeared.
The reason we wound up at Villa Maria in the first place had first begun with a conversation with our friends Frank and Paul in Las Cruces during one of our overnight stays at their home. They had stayed a Villa Maria’s some 25 years earlier. Was she still in business? A search on Google and sure enough, Villa Maria was still in business. It was through their efforts that we now stood face to face with Maria herself.
A short woman, well into her 80’s, Maria is a retired attorney and judge. A delightfully friendly and efficient woman with a broad smile and speaking impeccable English, she shepherded us to our second story apartment, apartment “E”, situated above a narrow courtyard filled with wild assortment of vegetation. Though we were tired from our day of travel, we patiently waited while she took us on a brief tour of our apartment which would be home to us for the next 2.5 months.
Maria left us with a map of the area and few more instructions on where we would be able to shop for food. Too tired to unpack, we headed straight for our bedroom where we enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
1/16/2020
WEEK 1 - Day 2
Oaxaca City
Our first day in Oaxaca was spent mainly orienting ourselves to the apartment and our immediate surroundings.
Our apartment is one of fourteen. Situated in the historic city central it’s surrounded by several smaller barrios. Older construction of buildings is apparent; some with worn original stucco and exposed clay bricks. The streets are narrow. Our street, Arteaga, is a one-way street with narrow sidewalks. Access to our courtyard is through a large metal gate (we were given two keys - one for our apartment and one for the outer gate). One could easily pass by since there isn’t any signage on the exterior revealing it as Villa Maria. But we recognized it from having done a street view in Google Maps.
Inside, the courtyard boasts a large somewhat ecceltic collection of plants. A couple of large trees, many potted plants. A wrought iron circular stairway leads to the roof above our row of apartments where there are more potted plants and a view of the surrounding city. Across the courtyard are more apartments with another rooftop accessed by concrete steps.
Our first goal for the day was to plot a route to the zocala (central city plaza) and a nearby mercado (market) plus a route to the supermarket (super mercado) to stock our larder and pickup a few basic housekeeping supplies.
Our 3-bedroom spacious and airy apartment is furnished. A living room with a sitting area (sofa and chairs) plus a massive dining table and chairs. Thank goodness, no TV. We learned we could rent one - but why? The kitchen has a small table, fridge and gas stove with enough cooking and eating utensils to get by. Missing is a microwave, a coffee maker, and a toaster. Water out of the tap is not potable but a large jug of fresh water is available (replacements run $20 pesos). There is no hot water in the kitchen.
The bath has a sink, medicine cabinet and a tiled shower with plenty of hot water (no cold water in the sink). The master bedroom has a queen-sized bed with two end tables with lamps, a small writing table, and a generous closet. The guest bedroom has twin beds and a generous closet. There is a third bedroom but it is locked. We only needed two bedrooms (Carol's sister marge would join for the week preceding the bird tour). Opening the third would have only increased our rent.
All the floors are tile with a few small throw rugs. No air conditioning. But given the elevation and time of year, there is no need. Lots of windows and there’s always a nice breeze. Housekeeping includes daily emptying of waste baskets, a weekly change of bed linens and towels, plus a thorough cleaning.
Maria has three male caretakers. Manual, Edgar and El Tio (the eldest). All are hardworking and very trustworthy. It was Manuel who stopped by first thing in the morning to introduce himself and basically repeat the tour of the apartment that Maria had given us the previous evening. All in Spanish. Over the course of the day we met the two other caretakers. Very affable. Like Manuel, El Too speaks no English,. The younger Edgar speaks passable English. But our limited Spanish is more than enough to communicate. That and hand gestures, body language - and smiling a lot.
Today was also when we began meeting our neighbors. About half are Canadian and the other half from the United States. Most have been coming to Oaxaca and staying at Villa Maria for a number of years. All are friendly and willing to share their vast knowledge of tips on places to shop, eat, and ways to get to each. Maria’s map, while helpful, is a bit hard to read. Thankfully, the internet is pretty decent so we can access Google, email and maps, both on our laptops and iPhones. We have an unlimited plan with Verizon which includes a data and voice plan for Canada and Mexico. Coverage in the area was very good (we were rarely without access to our mapping programs on our phones).
While there are public taxis and a glut of public buses, walking seems to be the best for our needs. The exercise surely does us a lot of good. After getting turned around a few times we made our way to the zocala (ZOH-cah-lah). A typical zocala is a wide open plaza lined with trees and a few churches, a place for gatherings and events. This zocala was no exception and is very much a hub of social contact and street venders for the surrounding barrios.
The zocala is about a 10-15 minute walk away. And the mercado, just a few blocks off the zocala, turned out to be a great place to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.
Our first morning with no immediate food in the apartment yet (including all important coffee) we acted upon a tip given by one of our neighbors to stop for breakfast at a small all organic cafe, “La Rambla” on Calle de Rayon just around the corner from our apartment. It turned out to be a great tip. All organic food at a very reasonable price and of course, great coffee. Just be sure when you order 'Americano café', that you order a double.
After a quick return to our apartment and meeting a few more neighbors, we collected our grocery bags and started hoofing it to the super mercado, about a twenty minute walk away.
Unlike Costa Rica, all the streets have names clearly marked so it’s not too difficult to find one’s way. You just have to get used to learning the names. There are a few north-south streets that when crossed, we find that the east west streets change names. You start out on street X which can change to street Y some blocks later. A little disconcerting but in time we learned.
The super mercado was indeed super. Super large. And all in Spanish of course. Knowing we couldn’t get everything at once we still wound up with three heavy bags that necessitated a short taxi ride back to Maria’s. By the time we unpacked and sorted things, it was time for happy hour up on the roof. How nice it was to buy Appleton Rum which was fairly inexpensive when compared to prices in the states plus some local beer.
Happy hour when we were full-time RVing was most always a good time to meet people and this was no exception. Bob from the night before, a few single woman from Canada, Sally and Barb, Stewart and Karen from the states, Claire and Jim (avid birders), and Kathy and Dave from Canada. Another couple George and Patti were from the U.S. This could become a regular thing, we thought. This was also our first introduction to learning about mezcal - "Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, Zambian". "For everything bad, mezcal, and for everything good, as well". Several of the residents have their own mezcal sipping "copitas" (small cups). Clearly, we were going to have to get with the program!
Our first evening meal consisted of pasta with a cream sauce. Can’t say it was particularly delightful but after such a large breakfast, it was just fine. We’re not here to gain weight. While eating we listened to an audible book. We each still have some paperbacks we’re in the middle of consuming. There is also a lending library here in the complex.
We mulled over a few more thoughts and plans for what we needed to do the next day then off to bed.
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| Maria and Carol |
1/17/2020
WEEK 1 - Day 3
Oaxaca CITY
It should come as no surprise, oh faithful readers, they we are consummate bird watchers so while we were getting settled and sorted, we were wondering what our urban birding would bring. We’ve been in Mexico before but this was our first visit to the state of Oaxaca. All birds, life birds or not, would still be new Oaxaca birds, including the lowly House Sparrow.
Carol heard birds in the courtyard and while some were fairly common to us in Arizona, one new bird species was a Dusky Hummingbird, duly noted on our life list.
During our previous trip to the zocala, we had noticed - without the aide of our binoculars at the time - several birds flitting about in the large trees surrounding the plaza. Today we brought tour binoculars.
We also chanced upon a young man, Rodrigo, representing “Live Oaxaca”, a tour business covering the city and surrounding historic sites. Normally we tend to avoid these kinds of sales pitches but he turned out to be a most knowledgeable and personable young man. There were a few tours of interest to places we could not get to on our own (or through our bird tour in March). With Marge arriving the week before the tour, she, too, would probably be interested in going with us.
But birding would have to be put on the back burner for the time being. Our first priority today was to stock up on fresh vegetables and that would require a trip to the nearby mercado.
Americans who do not travel much are used to going to large box stores. More adventurous shoppers in the U.S. will frequent a farmer’s market when available. Most countries outside the U.S., specially countries south of the U.S. border rely heavily on open air markets which some Americans would no doubt turn their noses up at. But we view these open air mercados as one long day-to-day farmers markets. Nothing like getting fresh veggies and fruits that are not loaded with preservatives and at amazingly cheap prices.
Bananas, tomatoes, squash, garlic, carrots, grapes, and a host of locally grow specialties. One large bag filled with enough produce for a week and for so little money.
However, one does have to be mindful of thoroughly washing fresh produce and to that end a small vial of microdyn mixed with water was enough to cleanse the produce of any harmful bacteria.
To clarify, the bacteria on local produce would not affect the locals who’s digestive system have adapted. Not unlike someone who is not used to eating a lot of seafood who suddenly over indulges. Their digestive system rebels. If we were exposed to unwashed produce for an extended period our systems would also build up a tolerance. We won’t be here that long hence the added preventative measures. No one wants Montezuma’s revenge.
After dropping off our shopping we again headed back to La Rambra, this time for lunch. We could easily get into the habit of eating a light breakfast then a heavier meal around 2:00 and in the evening, a light meal if any meal at all. It's how the locals eat.
The rest of the afternoon was spent plotting out a few moves for the next day. We were given several tips on places we needed to visit. In particular, Claire and Jim from Canada area are avid birders. We got a few good leads to visit some jardins (gardens). From past trips to other locations in the Americas we’ve learned that visiting botanical gardens can produce some pretty good birding.
But before we knew it, it was time for happy hour. And even more tips on still more places to visit. We needed to start bringing a notebook. Our evening meal was a simple bowl of chicken noodle soup and some sliced bread.
1/18/2020
WEEK 1 - Day 4
Oaxaca City
With a lot of our immediate shopping needs out of the way, this was our first real opportunity to explore a few of the places we’d noted worth visiting.
Again, all these are places easily gotten to on foot. Negotiating the local streets is pretty easy as long as one has a sense of where one is going. It’s going to take a bit before we’re familiar with all the street names but having Maps on the phones helps a lot. Plus Maria’s paper map (but there must be a better map somewhere)..
Birding and sighting seeing but in no particular order. One large park in particular, Paseo Juaréz El Llano, at least according to eBird, looked like a good place to start.
The alcala eventually skirts the west side of the large Jardin Etnobotánico de Oaxaca (Oaxaca Botanical Garden). The gardens are restricted access and the only way to get in is to take a tour. Tours in English are available on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or $100 pesos/person A tour lasts two hours. It’s a good birding spot according to eBird but we are just as interested in the historical and botanical info as well. We stopped to see about tour times and costs but it was too early in the morning. We would return. We kept heading toward El Llano where we found a number of birds that added to our Oaxaca list.
It was easy to get distracted by all the street venders, specially the local artisans with jewelry, weavings and paintings. Visiting the churches was also a pleasurable experience looking at the architecture.
Before returning to the botanical garden we stopped for coffee and postel (pastry). However, when we got to the garden entrance, the line for tours was far too long. We’ll come back on a week day when, hopefully, it won’t be as crowded.
On our way back to the apartment we managed a quick stop at the Museo de Textil, a museum displaying textile artisans. Unfortunately a good deal of the exhibit was being changed out so we basically just got to see a small portion with exquisite embroideries.
Just down the street from our apartment was is a tacoria (a place to buy daily fresh made tacos) so we would have tacos to go along with our eggs, fresh cheese, tomatoes, and avocado. Then time for a bit of down time having walked over five miles!
Happy hour once again. Some of our neighbors brought snacks - a mango salsa was yummy with chips plus some mescal to sample. There really should be a Villa Maria Recipes book. Also our education about mezcal continued. Tequila and mezcal are made from agave plants. All tequilas are mezcal, but not all mezcal are tequila - it comes down to what kind of agave is used to make each.
Our evening meal again was light - basically leftovers of pasta but souped up with some of the produce. A little more audible book with tea and cookies, then off to bed. Tomorrow the Packers play the 49er’s. Wonder if there is a Packer bar in Oaxaca?
1/19/2020
Week 1 - Day 5
Oaxaca City
Awoke to discover no hay agua caliente en la ducha - no hot water in the shower. Looks like the pilot light is out on the water heater attached to the wall outside our kitchen window. And since the caretakers are off on Sunday, we’ll have to wait until Monday when I can watch how the water heater pilot gets re-lit. Figured the pilot light goes off on windy days?
A pair of white-winged doves are building a nest (or what passes for a nest…just a few sticks thrown together) just outside our door in a grapefruit tree. Should be two eggs when laid. Incubation lasts about 13 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents. We'll keep watch.
Sorted a walking route to another mercado - Mercado de la Merced, about 20 minutes on foot. The draw to this market is that on Sunday, many outdoor venders show up hawking their produce. Honestly? The produce inside was better. Picked up a few things we needed for meals with the idea of cooking with far less meat. Outside people were eating meals that to our eyes, didn’t look very appetizing. Appeared to be seafood of some kind but couldn’t ID it. Did see calamari - neither of us like it.
On the walk to the mercado we ran into a Claire and Jim. On our return walk, Stewart. It really is a small town. At happy hour the evening before, Barb, Kathy and Sally were talking about Sally’s latest purchase, un vesitdo - a dress. But Sally has the figure for some of the slender clothes being sold. In any event, it was determined that Sally has the “eye” for style and any of the women (and why not men?) considering clothes shopping, should take Sally along to approve or disapprove.
A bite of lunch then we were out the door once more heading over to the super mercado. Replenish leche y jugo (milk and juice). The jugo - mango made with milk - is like a smoothy. Black beans, soy sauce, and virgin olive oil. We don’t have a toaster but we learned to buy toasted bread when we rented the cabina in Costa Rica and so we did here. Not bad at all. Specially with peanut butter. (Note: add it to the next shopping list).
Apparently it’s a Sunday thing to shoot off large bottle rockets. At least we hope it’s just a Sunday thing. Otherwise the neighborhood is very quiet as we are snugged into a courtyard pretty much walled off from traffic and street noises.
Owing to an overcast afternoon with slightly cooler temps requiring another layer, happy hour will not take place. Instead we headed out to La Rambra to try the fish tacos we knew they served for lunch/dinner.
We’d been cautioned that locals eat their big meal mid-to late afternoon and that the collectivos of cafes in Mercado Orgánico El Pochote would be crowded. Fortunately there was one open table open when we arrived. The owners of La Rambra immediately recognized us. Once an extra chair was added we placed our taco orders: one for Mahi Mahi and one for shrimp. While we waited, we asked our server/owner, Selma, how she and Ardnol had met. It was when they were working at the upscale Restaurante Catedral. Selma was the pastry chef and Ardnol was the master chef. The restaurant was one of the top ten rated for moles in the city central.
Ardnol brought over a complementary taco of smoked marlin which was excellent. Our dishes of tacos arrived - three to a dish. Have to say the shrimp tacos were better than the Mahi Mahi. But not by much. We’ll also have to check out Restaurante Catedral but maybe when Marge is here. It’s a $$$$ rated establishment.
Back at the apartment it was about time for the Packer vs 49er’s game to start. We were unable to watch the game but given the outcome, that was just as well. In the morning we’d have to alert Manuel that our water heater pilot light needed to be re-lit.
1/20/2020
Week 1 - Day 6
Oaxaca City
Still glum over the previous night’s NFL Packer debacle, we waited to take our showers owing to not having any hot water. The electric ignitor on the gas water heater wasn’t functional and would require asking Manuel for assistance.
We managed breakfast and some e-mail correspondence before Manuel arrived for work at just after 8am. Explaining in Spanish and pointing, Manuel knew exactly what to do. But after he too discovered the ignitor wasn’t working. He left to bring tools to remove the front cover over the pilot light. The cover is held in place by four small hex head screws. Amazingly, Manuel didn’t have a hex head wrench and instead used needle-nosed pliers to eventually remove the screws. I made a note to visit a hardware store and buy him a proper wrench!
With the pilot light now re-lit, we waited a half hour or so for the water to heat sufficiently to shower. Our plan for the morning was visiting the Oaxaca Lending Library and the 11am free orientation to Oaxaca.
The library isn’t the city’s main library. This is far smaller and run by volunteers mainly serving as a resource for gringos. That said, local Mexicans also use the library as a meeting place to practice their English with visiting gringos.
The walk to the library took about 20 minutes. Arriving, we checked in at the counter for info about the library itself. Many books in both Spanish and English but one has to join the library in order to check out materials. The fees fo membership vary from monthly to annual. We learned that there are approximately 5,000 ex-pats living in Oaxaca and surrounding pueblos (towns) and that the library is a real hot spot for socializing.
The orientation began promptly at 11 with a dozen and a half attendees, mainly people like ourselves visiting for the first time. The speaker - an expat from the U.S. - spent a half hour covering all the resources the library offers, then he opened it up for questions. Medical services, money, tipping, public transportation, traffic rules…several topics were covered. All very helpful for our purposes.
The library offers daily programs from a whole host of speakers. This day in particular the program was about the local bird group. It began at 5 but was already booked solid. But we did learn that a group of local birders (seasonal gringos) informally meets every Sunday morning in the Juárez Llano park we’d visited earlier in the week. All levels of birders are welcome and birding destinations are pretty much in the immediate area.
Following the meeting we found our way over to “Cocina Economica Isabel”, a small cafe tucked away in a narrow alley which has a five star rating. It was one of the places Costa Rican friends Gloria and Paul Yeatman had recommended (as had a few of our neighbors).
The interior was lined with red bricks with an abundance of tropical plants. Service was quick and friendly. Our choice included soup, fried rice, crema de chayote and main course of chile relleno. Flan for desert with coffee and soda the bill came to $215 pesos. About $11 U.S. total.
Afterward we wandered back to our apartment to relax a bit, do a little reading, and before we knew it, it was happy hour. Happy hour discussion included the possibility of a group blind tasting of mescal. A very enthusiastic response ensued. Each couple brings a bottle to contribute to the event. And perhaps some snacks.
With a large lunch we settled on tea and a few slices of toasted bread with peanut butter and jelly. We prefer eating a larger meal earlier in the day, then something light in the evening. Far better for the digestive system and for losing weight which we seem to be doing albeit with no scale to judge precisely. But clothing started to feel less snug.
1/21/2020
Week 1 - Day 7
Oaxaca City
Our daily walkabout has become a regular routine we want to keep up. It gets us up and moving plus allows us a leisurely pace to discover more and more of Oaxaca’s offerings.
First up was checking out a shuttle service offered by the Hotel Rivera de Angel, about a 15 minute walk straight up Calle de Arteaga, our street....which turned into Calle Fransisco Javier Mina. See what we mean about streets changing names?
For the mere price of $60 pesos (about $1.30 U.S.) each, the shuttle, running every 30 minutes starting at 8:30am, takes us to Monte Albán, a large pre-Coloumbian archeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality. We hope to take advantage early on Thursday morning.
Next was to track down a few restaurants suggested by our friends Paul and Gloria Yeatman who spend half the year in Costa Rica and the other half in Oaxaca. We found all three ending up at a bakery/cafe, Boulenc.
Breakfast at Boulenc (all organic). Carol had Shakshuka: poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, onion, chipotle harissa and roasted serrano chili. It came with bread and lebanese cheese to which she added a fresh squeezed juice.
Me? I opted for Molletes: sourdough bread (ciabatta) spread with a layer of black beans and melted Mennonite cheese. A side of toppings consisting of pico de gallo, sour cream, and grilled salsa. Americano café to drink.
On our way out of the cafe we stopped in the bakery section to buy a loaf of ciabatta, still warm from the oven.
Poking around as we are wont to do, we found the Biblioteca Andrés Henestrosa (free entrance). Entering the broad courtyard with a cool retracting roof we found several reading rooms off to the left and right containing over 60,000 volumes, mainly focussed on the humanities in Mexico.
Upstairs is actually a separate institution, La Casa de la Ciudad, dedicated to projects around urbanism and architecture. Both upstairs and downstairs are known to have temporary art exhibitions. The predominant exhibition at the moment was a display centered around “Lucha Libre”, a Mexican form of free-style wrestling, a genre characterized by colorful masks, rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, as well as acrobatic “high-flying” maneuvers.
Oaxaca is known for its world class libraries which would make for a wonderful field trip for my former colleagues in the Seeley G. Mudd at Lawrence University.
Looking for something to do in Oaxaca? Just check out a flurry of posters pasted up in any number of locations. No excuse for being bored.
One of the MANY museos we wanted to visit included the Museo los Pintores Oaxacqueños. It hosts shows for emerging local artists. The building dates from 1695 and in 2004-5 under went a major renovation/restoration. The site also hosts concerts, lectures, workshops and more.
Entering the Colonial styled building we were struck by the large courtyard, above which was suspended a large cross with hundreds of small translucent human skulls (plastic or glass?).
Exhibitions connect the past to the present, subtly linking Miguel Cabrera’s 18th-century religious paintings, which incorporate dark skinned cherubs, to 20th-century portrayals of indigenous people in the works of Rodolfo Morales.
Other artists on display included Francisco Toledo, Gilberto Juárez, Rogelio Madero de Peña, Rubén Maya, Alfonso Albán, Rosendo Pinacho, to name a few.
On our way back to the apartment we picked up some bananas, a half of chicken and checked out another restaurant we’d heard of, Restaurante Catedral (where the owners of La Rambla had previously been employed). It was closed but the sign out front indicated that it is always closed on Tuesdays.
Another happy hour on the roof. Carol brought salsa she’d made which was well received. The weather pattern seems to be that there is little wind in the morning but as the afternoon progresses, the winds increase in tempo. At our elevation (around 5,000 feet), it gets cool in the afternoon and the winds simply accentuate the cooler air. Time to get a few more layers, however, we didn’t bring enough. Time to go shopping in the morning for some long-sleeved fleece.
Stir fry broccoli with walnuts and chicken. Meals are a bit of a challenge but Carol is getting the hang of it. Some tea, a few cookies, then off to bed.
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