Diary of 3 Weeks in Mexico

Thursday
June 21 6:20pm

I love the way the earth looks from the sky. I really think I could fly for days and days at about 10,000 feet and be completely content and entertained watching the world below me. Once you fly into and above the clouds though, most of the entertainment slips away as now looking out your window: everything is white, puffy and the same for as far as your eyes can see. We´re at about 30,000 feet now and there are some breaks in the clouds allowing every now and again a little glimpse of the world below. We took off from Oaxaca on time tonight about a half hour ago- so we´re already almost halfway through the flight as we plan to arrive in Guadalajara again at just about seven.

We had a very pleasant last day in Oaxaca. After coming home yesterday, we spent the night inside our cozy little bed and breakfast, taking full advantage of all its amenities. We watched ¨Raising Arizona¨- potentially the most rediculous movie I´ve ever seen and don´t recommend it- in the Casa´s library, napped, read, showered, and then went to a late cena in the dining room with the other guests. We were joined for the first time tonight by the Casa`s owners- Jane and Thornton- a well travelled, energetic and enthusiastic pair of about 65, and a new guest, Jenny- a very wealthy woman in her early 30´s who translates private films and is currently contracted to work on a project for the History Channel. Together with another couple from Oregon, taking Spanish lessons here and planning to stay until mid-July, we had quite a lively conversation. Being that we´re all coming from different points in our lives and there for different reasons, we each brought unique perspectives to share and talked of family, travelling, immigration, healthcare and just most everything. The conversation lasted almost two hours- until the mosquitoes started biting so badly we couldn´t stand it anymore.

Casa Colonial offered a great place for us to stay, much different from any place we´ve stayed so far and really enriched our time and experience in Oaxaca.

This morning we once again headed out of the city- making a little trip to a market in the pueblo called Zaachila. We took a collectivo- meaning, you walk to a place where a bunch of taxis are parked waiting for passengers. They´re each marked with a destination and you find the bunch of taxis going to where you´re headed, and pile in with strangers until the taxi is full. Wveryone pays the same minimal amount (today a 25 minute taxi ride cost us each less than a dollar) and I believe its the smartest organized transportation Ive seen in any city, let alone in Mexico. It´s easy, convenient, and affordable for all parties- plus it cuts down on things like gas consumption and pollution because it´s like carpooling.

Anyway, on any given day of the week, one of the local villages holds an open market, and Zaachila´s, hosted every Thursday - is one of the biggest, so we decided to check it out this morning. It was a whole different experience than I expected.

People everywhere, shouting spanish, bartering- we just walked through watching the chaos. The market features goods of all sorts- some people sell fruits and vegetables, others baked goods and breads; nuts, berries and other items to dye wool; movies and cds; kitchen equipment, clothing, you name it and it´s there. And the people would come say, selling bushels of corn and then trade their corn for yarn or something. It was good stuff. The market filled the main plaza and spilled into the surrounding side streets.

Just down one of these side streets, past the city center and around the corner, is the weekly animal market which was even more amazing to me. At first it made me really sad to see people dragging goats and pigs and chickens into the market, because I know the people barterring to take them home, weren´t going to let them live long. But then the process became more interesting to me, and though my heart remained heavy for those cows and roosters, I became intensly interested in the way the real market-goers looked at these animals; the women picking up live chickens by their feet, poking their sides and then putting the ones they liked- squaking and wings flapping into tote bags they carried on their shoulders. Groups of men gathered around the big-ticket oxen watching the way the oxen responded to being yoked and the calls from their owners and then bidding on the work animals... like some sort of animal auction.

When I couldn´t stand to see the baby piglets and bunnies any longer, I made Kristen leave, but all day Ive been kind of wishing I had purchased all the bunnies or something and let them free on a hillside- and my grandparents were all farmers. I just dont have the heart for it.

We walked behind the church of Zaachila and up a hill to some unexcavated ruins- part of these ruins easily visible and explorable, but the village ran out of money to continue excavation and is hoping some wealthy archeologists take up the job that will then draw more tourists to their village.

We took the same kind of taxi back to Oaxaca and talked of our plans for the rest of the vacation- Kristen and I had discussed for awhile the option of splitting up this weekend, her staying in Guadalajara and me going onto one more city solo. She then warmed up to the idea of going for maybe one night and now is in for the whole thing... one more weekend away. For awhile we were just so unsure about it, so many ideas up in the air and getting frustrated with each other, but somehow it just all worked out and we leave for Guanajuato tomorrow morning. We looked into buses and hotels this afternoon before one last lunch with our friends at Casa Colonial. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to that place... truthfully though, the best part of the city was that casa.. though the surrounding communities also really make up for it.

We´re beginning our dissent back into Guadalajara now and Im beginning again to be able to peak through the clouds to the expanse of land below.