On the trail with new friends and our guide/ the village of Cuajimoloyas/ Sipping chocolate
The streets of Oaxaca /Dave at the peluquería / at church for Dia de la Calendaria
Well, our time in Oaxaca is coming to an end. We leave tomorrow for Chiapas (San Cristobal de Las Casas, to be exact). Here´s what we´ve been up to in Oaxaca the last few weeks.
We have visited some of the villages in the surrounding area where you can see the local people doing their crafts, such as black pottery in San Bartolo Coyotepec and impressively detailed brightly-colored wooden "animalitos" in Santo Tomás. We also went to the town of Tule, which is known for its massive tree in a pretty church courtyard. We went to a show of the Guelaguetza (say that 10 times fast) which is a dance show of indigenous dances from all over the state of Oaxaca.
Tule (the tree is at left) /Pretty church in Tule / La Guelaguetza
Then Jason (David´s bro) came to meet us! We threw him right into the craziness of Mexico by taking him immediately after his arrival to a wild and colorful market in the nearby village of Ocotlán. We saw tiny women (especially when standing next to Jason) carrying live turkeys on their heads! We also went to the ruins of Monte Albán and Mitla, which were interesting and very different from each other.
Women with turkeys in Ocotlán / David & Jason at the Ocotlán market
at Monte Albán / Mitla
It´s been such a stressful time here that we took a vacation to the coast for a few days. We went to Mazunte, close to Puerto Escondido, which is known for its efforts in turtle conservation and hammocks to sleep in on the beach for $3 (US). First thing, getting on the bus at the 2nd class bus terminal, Jason´s wallet was stolen. David and I realized when we arrived that neither of us had brought an atm card, so that left us with the 2000 pesos total that we had between us. We lived very inexpensively, and it turned out to be a wonderful time. We were even able to go on a boat tour of the area and see marine turtles up-close (pet them!) and we saw lots of jumping rays and a whale! It was overall a beautiful and relaxing time--even though sleeping in hammocks turned out to be a bad idea--colder than we expected and quite uncomfortable! Well, we had nothing to do the next day anyways except lay around on the beach, so it was all fun and good.
It´s been such a stressful time here that we took a vacation to the coast for a few days. We went to Mazunte, close to Puerto Escondido, which is known for its efforts in turtle conservation and hammocks to sleep in on the beach for $3 (US). First thing, getting on the bus at the 2nd class bus terminal, Jason´s wallet was stolen. David and I realized when we arrived that neither of us had brought an atm card, so that left us with the 2000 pesos total that we had between us. We lived very inexpensively, and it turned out to be a wonderful time. We were even able to go on a boat tour of the area and see marine turtles up-close (pet them!) and we saw lots of jumping rays and a whale! It was overall a beautiful and relaxing time--even though sleeping in hammocks turned out to be a bad idea--colder than we expected and quite uncomfortable! Well, we had nothing to do the next day anyways except lay around on the beach, so it was all fun and good.
So now we are coming to our last days volunteering at the Centro. It has been a great learning experience for both me and David. David has taught several computer classes, and has built a
still-growing vocabulary to talk about computers in Spanish. I (Bria) have gotten to talk with the center´s social worker about her work there and sat in on some of her meetings with the families. I have also done some translation of letters into English for her. I have organized the library and done a lot of coloring with the kids. It´s been fun! We´re ready to start moving again and see Chiapas and the Yucatan!
Oaxaca zócalo (city center plaza)
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