Hola Amigos y Familias en los Estados Unidos!
We've passed the one month mark! Time is flying here and it's been another amazing week in Mexico. The weather has been beautiful- sunny and warm. To start off the week, there was an earthquake on Monday. It was 5.3 on the richter scale, but it took place in Puerto Angel 6 hours from Oaxaca City, so we could barely feel the ground shake. We've been continuing our classes at Solexico- Spanish in the morning and Community and Culture in the afternoon. A number of us have started intercambios, where a Oaxacan and a Solexico student meet to practice english and spanish with each other. Most evenings have been spent at various cafes and bars, eating nachos at Comala and getting bagels with avocados and tomatoes at Brujala. Wednesday night we went to Cafe Social, where students and teachers from Solexico get together to practice Spanish and get to know each other on a beautiful rooftop overlooking Santo Domingo Church. Thursday a musical anthropologist named Sergio gave a lecture on the history of traditional Oaxacan music. We came away with a better appreciation for all the bands we hear on the streets, and the names of many popular artists here.
After Spanish class on Friday, Christian picked us up in the Millenium Falcon bus to head to Santa Ana del Valle, a small pueblo 40 minutes outside the city. We were given a formal welcome by the president of the town, and then traditional weavers gave a demonstration of how their rugs are made. It was amazing to see how the women are involved in the entire process; from shaving the sheep to dying the wool to stringing the loom. The town only has one candle-maker, and we visited her house Friday evening. Her candles are famous
throughout the area for their wax floral adornments and longevity- the candles are able to burn continuously for 2 days. After staying with our local home stay families, we went to the town healer where we were all given a spiritual cleansing using fire and traditional plants. That left us with time for a last meal in Santa Ana and the purchasing of even more rugs from the local artisans before going back to Oaxaca City. Almost everyone came home with a rug- Russ bought a great one with a frog design, and Annie purchased coasters for her eventual dinner parties.
Sunday morning 4 of the more ambitious members of the of the group went on a mountain biking adventure in San Pablo Etla with guides we had met during the tequio there. It turned out to be an 18 mile bike ride through farms, beautiful hillsides and a river to arrive at some of the ruins at Monte Alban that are still being excavated. On the way there, there were a few spills- Caroline and Erica tipped over on their bikes in a field full of cow dung, and for the last .15miles of the biking extravaganza Natalie and Erica picked Caroline and Kristina up in a pick-up truck because the grade was so steep. They were all exhausted and smelly, but happy to have went.
The other 16 members of the group slept in Sunday morning and spent the day wandering through markets and reading in the parks scattered around Oaxaca City. That eve
ning we all met up for a Valentine's Day party at Mary Lou's house. Elena's parents were here visiting this week, and we were happy they joined us for the party. Sarah and Ellie made salads from all the fresh fruit and vegetables they had bought that morning in the mark
ets, and ordered 8 pizzas for the group. For dessert we went through 2 chocolate cakes to celebrate the upcoming birthdays of Paige and Shiren (both Feb 16th) and Claire (Feb 22nd). Russ and Claire sang a Valentine's Day song they wrote together called "Sweethearts",
the girls living on Matamoros made it for round two after their host dad's 50th birthday party, and we all decided that even with mole and jalepenos, no Mexican pizza lives up to American Flatbread. Next time we'll stick to quesadillas and pico de gallo. The fiesta was a great way to all come together and wrap up an eventful week in Oaxaca.Some quick side notes:
Russ is now enjoying his THIRD guitar of the trip.
Amber finally did her laundry for the first time since arriving.
We learned that Annie, Taylor and Allie have a hidden talent- singing Dr. Evil's version of "Just the Two of Us' from Austin Powers.
Alexandria spent countless hours playing chess in the Zocolo.
Cafe Brujala has begun giving us coffee cards- we have attained "regulars" status.
Con mucho amor,
Caroline and Sarah
