It's not THAT big of a...country (part two)
Oaxaca is the final leg of this six week adventure. I got here on Sunday and am spending the next two weeks in a home stay and studying spanish at the Becari Language school. On Sunday, When I arrived, I took a cab to my house for the next two weeks and met my "grandmother," Ehuan. We talked for a few minutes and then she showed me the house and my room. When I was settled, she offered to drive me around the city to get a sense of things. When my short tour was done, I had her drop me in the city's central plaza--the zocalo.
Having ridden a bus for seven hours earlier in the day, I was starving and in need of food. I began making my way around the square, looking for something that looked good when I noticed a couple sitting at a nearby table who looked very familiar. I made my way over to the table and very quickly realized it was the couple I had met in Acapulco's bus station and gone to La Quebrada with. I'd probably only been in the plaza for a few minutes and in Oaxaca for no more than and hour. They invited me over for a beer and we talked for a while.
To be fair, this didn't realize surprise me as much as running into Andrew in the middle of Mexico City. Most of the traveler's I've run into are seeing as much of the country as they can. Some are also making their way through parts of Central and South America, too. One group of two Aussies and a Briton I met in Acapulco had bought a car in Seattle and was driving all the way to Peru. As such, there are a number obvious places to visit, only a couple hostels in each destination, and a very limited number of routes to connect each city. At some point, it had to happen--though I still find running into them pretty funny. Today, I also ran into another guy that I met in the Acapulco bus station that day.
Oaxaca is very pleasant and quiet compared to Acapulco--a center of nightlife--and Mexico City--a center of commerce, among many other things. Oaxaca is very rich in culture. There are art galleries, cathedrals, museums, and live music everywhere. When it's not raining, the zocalo seems to be crowded at just about every time of the day. Oaxaca also has a number unique food items --ranging from chapulines (fried grasshoppers that I have no intention of trying) to a number of moles (rich sauces that accompany meats) and a number of other things I've yet to figure out or try. And yes, I'm cheating, but for some reason the Italian in Acapulco, Puerto Escondido, and Oaxaca has also been phenomenal--better than just about anything I've had in the States (ahhh...if only I knew what the real thing tasted like...Mom and Dad). Today, I also had some awesome tacos alambre today (meat, onions, green peppers, ham, cheese, and pineapple (which I added).
The one downer in my time here to far has been the weather--it's been a lot more rainy than I'd like, often starting in the afternoon and lasting well into the evening. We had a much better day today--ironic that I'm here, writing about it. While brief afternoon thunderstorms should be expected, I think the extended rain we were seeing had more to do with the remnants of tropical storms passing, more than anything else.
My spanish classes are from 9 AM to 1 PM. It's split into two sections, one that focuses on grammar and the other that focuses on conversation. There are only two other students in my class and while a lot of what we've covered is review (stuff I've nearly forgotten, that is), it's great to spend so much time each day on the language, have so much individual attention from the teachers, and then be surrounded by the language the rest of the day at home. You can't even get that at the 5Cs--again ironic, as I'm mostly funded by a Pomona grant.
My afternoons are open and I can do whatever I want--a nap yesterday, visited an great photography museum (Centro de Fotografia Manual Alvarez Bravo), which I'll try to talk more about in a later post. I'm not really in a rush to keep myself busy, as I have about two and a half weeks here (after the course, I'm sticking around to document the state's annual festival, Guelaguetza. No photos for now, though I'm thinking of visiting a notable archaeological site this weekend--Monte Alban--and bringing my camera. Adios por ahora.
Having ridden a bus for seven hours earlier in the day, I was starving and in need of food. I began making my way around the square, looking for something that looked good when I noticed a couple sitting at a nearby table who looked very familiar. I made my way over to the table and very quickly realized it was the couple I had met in Acapulco's bus station and gone to La Quebrada with. I'd probably only been in the plaza for a few minutes and in Oaxaca for no more than and hour. They invited me over for a beer and we talked for a while.
To be fair, this didn't realize surprise me as much as running into Andrew in the middle of Mexico City. Most of the traveler's I've run into are seeing as much of the country as they can. Some are also making their way through parts of Central and South America, too. One group of two Aussies and a Briton I met in Acapulco had bought a car in Seattle and was driving all the way to Peru. As such, there are a number obvious places to visit, only a couple hostels in each destination, and a very limited number of routes to connect each city. At some point, it had to happen--though I still find running into them pretty funny. Today, I also ran into another guy that I met in the Acapulco bus station that day.
Oaxaca is very pleasant and quiet compared to Acapulco--a center of nightlife--and Mexico City--a center of commerce, among many other things. Oaxaca is very rich in culture. There are art galleries, cathedrals, museums, and live music everywhere. When it's not raining, the zocalo seems to be crowded at just about every time of the day. Oaxaca also has a number unique food items --ranging from chapulines (fried grasshoppers that I have no intention of trying) to a number of moles (rich sauces that accompany meats) and a number of other things I've yet to figure out or try. And yes, I'm cheating, but for some reason the Italian in Acapulco, Puerto Escondido, and Oaxaca has also been phenomenal--better than just about anything I've had in the States (ahhh...if only I knew what the real thing tasted like...Mom and Dad). Today, I also had some awesome tacos alambre today (meat, onions, green peppers, ham, cheese, and pineapple (which I added).
The one downer in my time here to far has been the weather--it's been a lot more rainy than I'd like, often starting in the afternoon and lasting well into the evening. We had a much better day today--ironic that I'm here, writing about it. While brief afternoon thunderstorms should be expected, I think the extended rain we were seeing had more to do with the remnants of tropical storms passing, more than anything else.
My spanish classes are from 9 AM to 1 PM. It's split into two sections, one that focuses on grammar and the other that focuses on conversation. There are only two other students in my class and while a lot of what we've covered is review (stuff I've nearly forgotten, that is), it's great to spend so much time each day on the language, have so much individual attention from the teachers, and then be surrounded by the language the rest of the day at home. You can't even get that at the 5Cs--again ironic, as I'm mostly funded by a Pomona grant.
My afternoons are open and I can do whatever I want--a nap yesterday, visited an great photography museum (Centro de Fotografia Manual Alvarez Bravo), which I'll try to talk more about in a later post. I'm not really in a rush to keep myself busy, as I have about two and a half weeks here (after the course, I'm sticking around to document the state's annual festival, Guelaguetza. No photos for now, though I'm thinking of visiting a notable archaeological site this weekend--Monte Alban--and bringing my camera. Adios por ahora.
posted by Than Volk at
3:58 PM
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