Comida Oaxaqueno

As you might imagine the food here is diverse and delicious.  Above is a photo of an appetizer of chapulines-grasshoppers, a specialty of this area, served with guacamole.  They were actually pretty tasty, fried with salt and chile so they were just crunchy and spicy and the flavor of the grasshoppers wasn't really apparent.  Don't think I'll get them again but had to at least try them.

Some of the best meals I've had have been breakfast.  My hostess Layla feeds me a three course meal every morning before I leave for school and I have to pack it in because I often don't eat again until about 4.  We begin with coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice, a mountain of papaya and sweet breads.  Then a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, followed by the main course which is always interesting.  I've had eggs or huevos in many ways, rancheros, in tomato sauce, and with frijoles negroes.  Queso in tomato sauce, a tortilla of potatoes with eggs, and a lasagne kind of dish with tortillas layered with vegetables, sauce and cheese. We have even had tamales with mole for breakfast and memelas, tortillas topped with refried beans, cheese and salsa.

In the evenings I've tried various tostadas, enchiladas, tacos, chiles rellenos and a tlayuda, which is a huge tostada, browned on the outside over a fire.  The soups are also amazing and my favorite so far was a cream of zucchini flowers served with bits of chewy queso and toasted pumpkin seeds.  I'm hungry for vegetables and salads and have had a few though you have to be careful eating raw veggies here, I only try them in better restaurants.

I've got two more weeks to sample some more variations on these themes and hope to try a little more seafood.  I'd like to eat more street food but it makes me too nervous I do not want to get sick.

Yesterday I went to Monte Alban, considered to be the most important archeological site in Oaxaca.  It was impressive and we had a good guide who gave us the history of the Zapotec civilization who lived in the Valley of Oaxaca for 13 centuries from around 500 BC to 800 AD.  Like the Maya and the Aztec they were advanced astrologists and teh buildings are aligned perfectly to the cardinal directions of N,S,E and W.  There is a sundial that marks the summer and winter solstices.  Many important artifacts were discovered in the tombs here, very few on display at the site, most are in Mexico City.

These are a few of the treasures that are housed here in Oaxaca at the Museum at the Church of Santo Domingo.  Mostly jewelry of jade, silver, and gold as well as bones carved with intricate Zapotec figures.  Cups and bowls of alabaster and quartz crystal are phenomenal.

That's all for today, I'm overwhelmed at times by all I'm seeing and can only share so much in each blog!

Oaxaca Old and New

Today is the Fiesta of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of all Mexico.  7 million people are visiting the big basilica in Mexico city today to honor her.  Yesterday was the day on which children honor the virgin by dressing in traditional clothing and visiting the church to bring offerings.  The whole thing is sort of like a bazaar or fair with vendors selling items\to give as offerings, images of the virgin, flowers and fruit.

Stands are set up all around the church where people bring there children to have their pictures taken.

Several had live burros where the children would be seated on their backs.  Many of the children were crying, scared, miserable.

The city is filled with traditional Mexican churches, shops and stalls selling crafts, weavings, clothes.  Street vendors are constantly passing and trying to sell wares as I sit in a restaurant having a drink, dinner or posting to my blog.  There is constant noise from bands, bars, cars, and fireworks.  Rarely is it quiet, only late at night and even then the fireworks are incessant.

At the same time the modern world is also very present here.  Graffiti covers ancient buildings and walls.  Modern art galleries sit beside stores selling traditional crafts.  I was particularly enamored by a series of murals on a wall across the street from a rooftop terrace bar where I stopped for a drink yesterday.

Last night I got drawn into a wild adventure when a friend and I who were drinking too much tequila in a bar were invited to join another couple to go to another club.  We followed down the street some blocks and arrived at a place that felt like Club 54.  Doormen held a chain across the front and I'm not sure what the passwod was but my friend said I was her mother and we had friends inside waiing for us and they let us pass!  Inside was a crazy scene with flashing lights and loud music, the floor was transparent with lights below.  Women hired by the club danced on top of the bar, sometimes as many as 5 gyrating away to the heavy beat of the popular music, everyone in the club was singing along. 

We were the only Hueras or whites in there, it was puro Mexicano. I guess thats how we rated a seat on the only couch in the place near the bar with some well dressed and obviously well off men who were drinking Johnny Walker by the bottle. That's the way in Mexico, groups order entire bottles of liquor for their table. I had to have a photo of these unique barstools barely visable through the heavy smoke.  Note the shoes of the bartop dancers scattered around the base of the stools.

The night ended for me at 3 AM with a taxi ride back to my house, I left mi amiga still dancing and drinking with a handsome new novio she had found at the bar...  as I fell into a drunken sleep I could still feel the beat of the music in my bones.  It's fiesta time and I'm off to discover my next adventure.

The Adventure Continues

Been having some computer troubles, so no photos today but hopefully I'll get that worked out soon.  The week has gone by quickly with 7 hours of Spanish class everyday including a fascinating lecture each afternoon of the history of the Christmas traditions in Mexico.  Today we learned about piñatas which originated in China where they were representations of animals containing seeds that were burnt at the new year and the ashes were gathered up by the onlookers to bring good luck.  Marco Polo discovered this custom and took the idea back to Italy where it picked up its religious connotations. 

When the evangelists came to Mexico they discovered a game of the Mayans in which they filled a pottery bowl with chocolate and wore a blindfold while trying to break the pot. This game was combined with the pignatta of Italy into what are now the traditional piñatas of Mexico.  They are made from a pottery bowl filled with candy (originally fruit) and covered with papier mache.  Seven protruding cones each representing one of the seven deadly sins are decorated in shiny paper to represent their desirability.  The stick used to break the piñata represents the power of Christ, the blindfold the blindness of faith and the treasure and treats inside the grace of God.

Those clever Christians were constantly inventing these combinations of pagan and Christian ritual to draw in the indigenous peoples to the church and they have succeeded.  Now people do piñatas in many forms for all sorts of occasions.  But still at Christmas they are the culmination of 9 nights of Posadas where groups of folks tour their towns in a representation of Mary and Joseph looking for an inn, the last night is Christmas eve, or Noche Buena and that is when the piñatas are broken.

When my computer is back on line I hope to post some more photos but for now suffice it to say, I´m having a big time, last night I sampled tequila served wth a chaser of tomato juice in a glass with ground chile on the rim.  Muy Saboroso!  Hasta Luego Amigos

Back to the city

I had a couple more great days in Puerto Escondido including another fiesta with more women dressed in incredible embroidered dresses.

I spent more days on the beach swimming and bought some super fresh mahi mahi that I cooked up for dinner one night and also made some awesome ceviche with the tiny limes that are a dime a dozen here.  This pile of tuna was also available for purchase at a small fish market set up under some tents on the Playa Principal.

On Saturday morning a friend of Rachels took us out on his launch and we got to swim out in the deep water. We saw whales, dolphins, and lots of turtles.  Miguel grabbed one up onto the boat for closer inspection, she was angry and hissed at us but so beautful, when he let her go, she swam fast into the deep and away.

Sunday morning we went snorkeling at Playa Carazalillo, a sweet little bay just north of Puerto. Rachel and her sweetie Javier posed for a photo.

I returned yesterday to the City of Oaxaca where its cooler but noisy!  Music and bottle rockets and barking dogs till all hours, and the fiestas here are only beginning!  The sun sets on my time in Puerto Escondido and a new chapter begins.

Fiesta numero uno

There was a fiesta last night here in Puerto Escondido.  Not sure what the occasion was, but there was a huge procession crossing the town, they would stop periodically and a group of women dressed in traditional clothes would dance in a big circle, bringing in bystanders to dance.  A mixture of tequila, lime and salt was being freely distributed to all those in the crowd.

A mariachi band traveled with the group, playing at each stop, the musicians dressed in shiny bright green shirts.  At the culmination two large animals made of paper mache and branches and adorned with a complicated fireworks array including Catherine wheels then danced holding the firey creatures above their heads. Bottle rockets fired high in the sky issued tremendous booms.

Some in the crowd carried palm branches adorned with ballons and colored ornaments

The dress of the women was beautifully woven and embroidered with flowers, each a different bright color.  Note the cup in the mouth of the dancer in green, tequila.

I've been enjoying tranquil days on the beach and tonight there is to be another fiesta!

Puerto Escondido

I woke at the crack this morning to head for Puerto Escondido on the coast.  As the sun was rising the full moon was setting over the mountains that rim the valley of Oaxaca.

I boarded this tiny plane filled to the brim with 14 passengers.  As we flew low over the Sierra Madre the views were phenomenal.  I was very glad to be in the little plane and not in a bus, that everyone says is a real stomach turning journey of 8 hours.

To the west the mountains were shrouded with clouds, to the east, bright sun shone over first farm fields and then forested mountains.  A mere 30 minutes later we were landing at the little airport and another hour later I was sitting in a restaurant on the beach, drinking coffee, eating breakfast and watching as the fisherman came and went in their small launches.  Their technique for beaching the boats involves laying a series of small branches in the sand, gunning the engine and flying stright up onto the beach, lifting the engine at the last moment.  Quite dramatic!

Now that I'm at the beach I really feel like I'm on vacation.  Tomorrow I'll be swimming and snorkeling in the azure Pacific.

MCC Goes South to Mexico

I'm writing today from the zocalo in Oaxaca, Mexico, the main square in the center of the old town.  Above is my view from the table where I've been sitting for two hours watching the world go by.  The whole place is filled with these brilliant red poinseties for the Navidad.  Every few minutes someone like the lady pictured comes to my table trying to sell me some Oaxacan wares, toys, weavings, bark painting or jewelry.  I just had my first Oaxacan comida of carne asada with mole, guacamole, queso, y frijoles negroes.  Delicioso!

I'll be here for the next month studying Spanish and Oaxacan culture.  Tomorrow I'll wing my way to Puerto Escondido for a few days of sun and fun on the Pacific coast with my amiga Rachel, then return here Sunday to begin my language school.  The air is fantastic, breezy, dry and the temperature is a pleasant 75-80 degrees.

I think I'm embarking on an excellent adventure and will be posting regularly about my escapades here in the historically rich deep south of Mexico.