We arrived in Oaxaca, by bus from Puebla about dusk on Friday, April 30th. 'Caught a taxi to Casa San Felipe, where we were expected. The villa where we are staying is about 12 blocks from Casa San Felipe. The taxi "in 5 minutes" was about half an hour late. Several streets in the historic center of Oaxaca are torn up--being turned to cobblestone. It will be nice when completed, but in the meantime, it makes for traffic jams. And there's all the loud horns--that do absolutely no good. Next time it's our cabbie laying on the horn, I should tell him it'll cost him his tip if he does it again.
While lacking the grace of historic Casa San Felipe, the villa here is comfortable and spacious. The main floor has living room, dining room, complete kitchen and bath. Upstairs, besides the 2 bedrooms, there is another room with futon and a 3rd television, plus another bath. The 2 bedrooms have AC. Modern and bright. Friday night, after eating at a fine Italian restaurant across the street & unpacking as little as possible, we took showers and hit the sack.
Saturday morning, Mary and I set out in search of the organic market, that's open only on Fridays and Saturdays. Our villa, located on the corner of Margarita Maza & Diaz Quintas, is 4 blocks north of the botanical garden/Santo Domingo. Not far from the previous location of the organic market. But, when we found the old location, no market. We began asking passers by--did they know if the market has moved? Several said yes, and directed us northwards. I was beginning to lose hope when we found it, now located by Iglesia Xochimilco, a block north of the thoroughfare, Ninos Heroes de Chapultepec. Not quite as big as Mary remembered it from years past, but still a delightful gathering of people who support healthy eating. While not as close to our villa as the forner site, it's not bad--about 7 blocks. We went back and got Claudia and the 3 of us returned, for more food (& jewelry) purchases & delightful lunch and fruit drinks.
On the way there, I had a close call. Hugging the wall, to catch as much shade from the brutal sun as possible, my shoulder scraped a cement bay window abutment. It drew a little blood, but was only a small scrape. A few inches to the right I would have drove my shoulder in to the unrelenting cement structure. On the beach, we had several minor injuries. I mentioned Mary's bee or wasp sting. Mary and Claudia got bruised a bit getting in or out of launches. Deanna tumbled down the stairs and pinched her finger adjusting the back of a lounge chair. Claudia tripped in a hole in the sidewalk and went down face forward, bashing her cheek on the cement. After others had enjoyed relaxing in a hammock, I got in. A few minutes later the knot holding one end unraveled and I hit the sand, butt first. It sounded worse than it felt. On arriving home last night, we found that Claudia's itching eye was very bloodshot, apparently from a bug irritation. For all our mishaps, we feel fortunate that none have been serious.
Speaking of trying to hide from the sun, I have been telling people for years that Oaxaca, about a mile high, has a fresh, cool climate, unlike the hot coast. My previous 3 visits have all been in November. Late spring, for reasons I don't yet understand, is the hottest time of the year in southern Mexico. It was 95 degrees here this afternoon!! See my report below, for our trip today to the high Sierra Norte, expecting to escape the heat. Fortunately, it does cool down to about 60 at night, so the morning is cool, until that burning sun rises in the cloudless sky.
Sunday was a shopping day for the gals. I struggled with getting a blog update completed and trying to sort out my group emailing list. It seems that my laptop is now refusing to send bcc's & cc's. I'm also thinking that some other emails aren't reaching their destinations, as I haven't gotten expected replies. But, some email correspondence is getting through. I'll have to inform people on my travel group list when I get home, unless I can straighten out sending in our few remaining days.
Monday morning, Claudia decided to rest up. Mary and I grabbed 2 buses to the collectivo taxi stand to Iztlan de Juarez, up in the Sierra Norte mountains. I figured that would be a way to beat the heat and visit a pueblo magico, nearby Calpulalpam. The collectivo taxis cram 2 people in front, besides the driver, and 3 or 4 in the back seat. We had the "luxury" of only 1 person besides Mary and me in the back seat, but it was tight. My knees were more than ready to change positions, after the hour + ride. To our dismay, it was as hot in Ixtlan as down in Oaxaca. The weather report on line confirmed that both places reached 95 degrees on Monday. It is a dry heat, but still, the sun is amazingly intense. After inquiring at the ecotourism office about what they had to offer and finding them rather disorganized and vague, we caught another collectivo taxi to Calpulalpam, mercifully only about a 10-minute ride. There we found the church closed. We could here a band playing--off key. We agreed to not walk up the hill to take in the concert. Our trip to Sierra Norte was not a highlight of the trip.
We got back to our air conditioned villa in time for an afternoon siesta. Last November I punted on a birthday gift for Mary--I sent her a card, good for a meal at Hosteria de Alcalde, here in Oaxaca. We went there for Monday night dinner. Pretty setting, courtyard of a colonial mansion. I concur with Mary--it was the best meal of our trip. Pleasant young waiter. He brought us small pitchers of 4 different moles to sample, to help us decide on our main dishes. We walked down to the lively zocalo after dinner, took night pictures there & of Santo Domingo church on our walk back to the villa. See http://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/Oaxaca20101stDays#
Tuesday morning we caught a cab up to Monte Alban, the Zapotec mountaintop city, one of Mexico's most impressive pre-Colombian sites. The day was cooler than Sunday, with some cloud cover, so the heat was quite bearable. The crickets were almost deafening We climbed the highest pyramid. Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead. I'm glad it was in the last part of our self-guided tour. See http://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/MonteAlban#
Back in the hot city, the bus dropped us a few blocks from Tatu's, an inexpensive, pleasant luncheonette near the central market, a place recommended by my former co-worker, Julie. We had a great 4-course lunch with agua fresca (fruit punch) for less than $4 each. We made our first market visit brief, grabbing a taxi back to the villa for afternoon siesta.
So relieved to have the AC in the afternoons, we began thinking about how we'll manage in the heat of the day this coming weekend, when we have plans to stay 2 nights in the rug town, Teotitlan, which, as we recall from previous visits, has few trees. Mary and I went so far as to check out a few hotels near by. I again ran in to a protruding cement bay window, this time catching my ribs & leaving a nasty rash. Now, walking down the street, Mary and Claudia alert me about potential collisions. I was able to call Lori, a Floridian who lives most of the year at Las Granadas B&B in Teotitlan. She was reassuring. While no AC, they have fans and breezes. So, we're going to stick with our plans.
We ate in Tuesday night. Mary made delicious tostados, mostly from organic market buys.
Mary was fighting turista and Claudia decided to pass on going to Etla Wednesday morning After visiting over breakfast, I decided to skip the weekly Etla market myself. Late morning we walked back to the central market. Purchases included baskets, bags, bark drawings, chocolate & mole. 'Had delicious chocolate "snakes" (typos on menus are common, even in upscale places in Mexico) at the House of Chocolate. See mid-week Oaxaca pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/OaxacaMidWeek#
Thursday morning we caught a taxi to the weekly market at Zaachila, a half hour ride southwest of the city. 'Most aggressive cab driver we've had so far. 'Not what Mary and her unsettled tummy needed. But, once in the market, we were tranquilo--lots of photo opportunities and some good shopping--purses, blouses, etc. See http://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/ZaachilaMarket#
On return to the villa, I worked on Picasa albums and rental business via email and phone. Mary and Claudia ventured back out in the mid-day heat, walking to the women's coop. This evening we are packing. In the morning we check out of the villa, leave big bags at Casa San Felipe and head to Teotitlan del Valle for a couple of nights. We will have a final night at Casa San Felipe on Sunday, flying home Monday.
... Friday afternoon. Almost 6 pm but the sun hasn't set yet. I've been resting/napping the last 3 hours, with a fan blowing on me. Quite comfortable, here in the downstairs regular room (100 peSos/night--about $9). Mary and Claudia are sharing the 150 peso deluxe room upstairs, with its own bathroom. I have to walk across the courtyard to the bathroom.
And I will be needing the bathroom. During the night I suddenly had a major case of turista. The culprit was likely the meat in my vegetable soup at the Zaachila market yesterday. When I don't even want a bite of Mary's special eggs at breakfast, you know I'm not myself. I've started my Cipro (strong antibiotic) and decided it may help to take those pain pills, that are effective in constipating me than deadening pain. I know, TMI.
Our cab ride out to Teotitlan was pleasant. Gloria was our cabbie--one of 5 women taxi drivers in all of Oaxaca. We chatted about lots of things, including the US's apparent pleasure in waring around the world and why hasn't Obama been a peace president? I had printed a map before leaving home--I thought to the Granada B&B. But, it was to a rug place instead. Fortunately, Gloria stayed to see if we were at the right address and take us to the correct one.
Last, wrapping up dispatch to be added after we are home, sweet home.
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