Oaxaca

Yes, this is Oaxaca, and it´s hot here, as well as full of very beautiful and artsy courtyards. We have seen great street markets and I´ll soon be off to buy a large brimmed hat so I don´t colapse on the ruins of Monte Alban which we are off to see in the morning.

The food has been wonderful so far in Mexico - and in Oaxaca, people say especially so. So it is with some hesitation that I admit to dragging Mike to a pizza place our first night in the city. What can I say...I was dehydrated and needed something a little ¨calmer¨on the stomach than usual. And I was craving a good slice of pizza, which is exactly what I got...it was great. Tonight is not my pick however :)

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So we have been in Oaxaca for some days now. It has been nice and we are taking our time a lot more than in Mexico City. Today is a special saints day so they are giving out free jamaica in front of the churches and in the zocalo--but I want to give you some updates first.

Yesterday we went to a huge market, Marcado Abastos and bought our hammocks for the jungle in Guatemala. You need hammocks to sleep so the bugs wont crawl on you as much. Anyway, these hammocks are beautiful and made with such detail. The market was a maze full of food and fruits, vegetables, shirts, dresses, textiles, baskets, batteries, shoes, anything you wanted. They even had cages of rabbits (with space, water and food) small song birds, puppies (sold for pets), roosters with little leashes on their feet so they wouldn´t fly away, huge turkeys laying down with their feet tied, all sorts of animals hanging around. They had the meat market section with raw meat hanging everywhere on large hooks, and the seafood section (rows and rows of booths) selling fresh shrimp, fish, dried fish, all sorts of seafood of which I can´t recall because I couldn´t really stand walking through that section the smell of fish was soo strong.



Then we caught a bus to Tule, where the worlds largest tree by volume is said to live. It is in front of a very cute and whimsical looking church and you have to pay $3 pesos to go inside the gates. I don´t know about this ¨by volume¨business. Outside of Puebla we went to Cholula to see the worlds largest pyramid ¨by volume¨and it was really ugly and so covered with weeds you couldn´t even see the pyramid. The Tule tree was nice though.




After the Tule tree, located in the small town of Tule. We went to eat in another small market and shared a leyuda. This picture is only half of one. It is large tortilla the size of a mdium pizza, with beans, cheese, avocado, tomato, salsa and carne asada (if you want it). It´s a really great item.

Mike also ordered a nieve which is simmilar to a snow cone. He ordered a leche quemado or burnt milk flavor. Man, it tasted just like burn milk on ice! Mike loved it - I thought it just tasted burnt.





Ohh, and the other night we went out to a very nice resteraunt that specializes in more alternative Oaxacan food (Mike´s choice-dont look at me). It was great though, we had a nopales salad, and then I had white fish on a bed of salsa de piña (pineapple) which was all on top of nopales (cactus leaves). -- Really nice.

Mike ordered a pollo gordito, which was a piece of chicken, stuffed with flor de calabaza, cheese, and jalapenos, covered in a green chili sauce. Awesome.







This is the courtyard of the hostel we are at, Luz de Luna. It has chairs all around to sit in. Hammocks to relax in and a zoo of animals to make you feel at home. There are, I think around 6 dogs, and two sister cats. They roam around the hostel and get fed well.


The one dog up here, Pancho, is old old and sometimes snaps when you feed him (because he can´t see well) and gets stuck on the roof. He also barks a lot when anyone new comes by. Blue is friendliest and best trained. He´s a black lab.



This is the Iglesia Santo Domingo. It is the main church near the zocalo in Oaxaca. I am headed here now to get some jamaica and meet Mike and a friend of his from Oaxaca,Olivia for lunch.


Tomorrow morning at 9 am we have arranged a van ride to Puerto Escondido (6 hrs) and then its just a quick drive from there to Mazunta. Yes, we changed our plans and we´re heading to the beach! Good idea :)
Hope everyone at home is well!