Oaxaca
Arrived in Tlaxcala today...a small city on the outskirts of Mexico City...after 6 days in Oaxaca and surrounding areas.
I arrived at the Oaxaca Ollin hotel at 8pm on Saturday night June 17 and Mateo arrived on June 18 at the same time after riding through about 5 hours of rain. The days and nights here in Oaxaca have been a study in relaxation and acclimation.
Jon and Judith have been amazing...the hospitality and willingness to help with everything from advising on travel plans to correcting and supplementing my limited Spanish vocabulary and verb conjugation skills...I am proud to call them friends. Their two sons (Cesar and Ernesto) and nephew (Pablo) as well as the entire staff at the Ollin have also been most gracious and welcomed us as a part of the family. Due to the teacher´s strike and the upcoming elections the Ollin was at minimum occupancy...meaning Mateo and I were basically the only guests except for two teachers from Indiana (South Bend).
Each morning at Ollin started with strong coffee, fresh squeezed juice (mango or orange) and a fresh fruit plate followed by a traditional Oaxacan dish such as tamles con mole negro. The food was incredible everyday!
If I haven´t said it enough I´d like to use this space to just say thank you again to Jon and Judy and the whole crew at Ollin and if any of you are going (which I highly recommend) or know someone who is going to be in Oaxaca this place must be at the top of your list of accomodations.
The real beauty of staying somewhere for a week or more is that the essence of the place finally begins to permeate the spell of preconceived notions that we all carry with us when we arrive in a new place. It is a multilayered fog composed of self-preservation, comparative-itis or how-it-is-back-home syndrome and general confusion. As these ebb and the colors and character of a new place take hold of us it is, for me, the essence of travelling. The extra added luxury of having a support group like Jon and Judith...people with whom I was able to discuss the things I was doing and seeing on a regular basis...makes that transition that much easier. Most days were spent wandering the city with camera in hand. The teachers out in full force sitting and smoking or doing needlepoint or deep in discussion among the vendors of balloons and sweets and crafts and hot dogs rolled in bacon. Every day the backdrop of freshly painted graffiti and colored tarpaulins strung across streets and alleys adds and air of turmoil to the neatly laid out cobble street and the conqueror´s order...cathedral, zocalo (town square), church...
Teens making out for hours in front of the cathedral are a constant as I depart the Internet cafe and look for an open restaurant. Because of the strike the hours and places that are open are even more erratic than normal. The American students are obvious, as I am sure Mateo and I are with our traveler´s fashion and unkempt beard growth, and we make efforts to speak Spanish so as not to be recognized unless we want to. Obviously it doesn´t work as moments after agreeing that this is the best course of action two guys sitting on the wall at the cathedral look up and say "what´s up guys"...damn we don´t even pass for Italian or Aussie! We return greetings and the first guy Jay walks over and in a think Boston accent asks if I´ll be here in Oaxaca for a while and if so do I want to buy some pot... His friend comes over and in an equally thick New York accent introduces himself as "Matthew from New York City". No shit! Damn Yankees fans are everywhere. He is teaching English here in Oaxaca (Mateo and I have a good laugh about that one as we walk away...pot-less). Jay is just travelling from hostel to hostel selling the things that get dropped in his lap...
Despite this encounter the positive experience of the city and its artisans and the near perfect weather (Pinche Mosquitos!) make this an amazing town...
Tired and need to eat but more to come on Oaxaca...
Cheers.
I arrived at the Oaxaca Ollin hotel at 8pm on Saturday night June 17 and Mateo arrived on June 18 at the same time after riding through about 5 hours of rain. The days and nights here in Oaxaca have been a study in relaxation and acclimation.
Jon and Judith have been amazing...the hospitality and willingness to help with everything from advising on travel plans to correcting and supplementing my limited Spanish vocabulary and verb conjugation skills...I am proud to call them friends. Their two sons (Cesar and Ernesto) and nephew (Pablo) as well as the entire staff at the Ollin have also been most gracious and welcomed us as a part of the family. Due to the teacher´s strike and the upcoming elections the Ollin was at minimum occupancy...meaning Mateo and I were basically the only guests except for two teachers from Indiana (South Bend).
Each morning at Ollin started with strong coffee, fresh squeezed juice (mango or orange) and a fresh fruit plate followed by a traditional Oaxacan dish such as tamles con mole negro. The food was incredible everyday!
If I haven´t said it enough I´d like to use this space to just say thank you again to Jon and Judy and the whole crew at Ollin and if any of you are going (which I highly recommend) or know someone who is going to be in Oaxaca this place must be at the top of your list of accomodations.
The real beauty of staying somewhere for a week or more is that the essence of the place finally begins to permeate the spell of preconceived notions that we all carry with us when we arrive in a new place. It is a multilayered fog composed of self-preservation, comparative-itis or how-it-is-back-home syndrome and general confusion. As these ebb and the colors and character of a new place take hold of us it is, for me, the essence of travelling. The extra added luxury of having a support group like Jon and Judith...people with whom I was able to discuss the things I was doing and seeing on a regular basis...makes that transition that much easier. Most days were spent wandering the city with camera in hand. The teachers out in full force sitting and smoking or doing needlepoint or deep in discussion among the vendors of balloons and sweets and crafts and hot dogs rolled in bacon. Every day the backdrop of freshly painted graffiti and colored tarpaulins strung across streets and alleys adds and air of turmoil to the neatly laid out cobble street and the conqueror´s order...cathedral, zocalo (town square), church...
Teens making out for hours in front of the cathedral are a constant as I depart the Internet cafe and look for an open restaurant. Because of the strike the hours and places that are open are even more erratic than normal. The American students are obvious, as I am sure Mateo and I are with our traveler´s fashion and unkempt beard growth, and we make efforts to speak Spanish so as not to be recognized unless we want to. Obviously it doesn´t work as moments after agreeing that this is the best course of action two guys sitting on the wall at the cathedral look up and say "what´s up guys"...damn we don´t even pass for Italian or Aussie! We return greetings and the first guy Jay walks over and in a think Boston accent asks if I´ll be here in Oaxaca for a while and if so do I want to buy some pot... His friend comes over and in an equally thick New York accent introduces himself as "Matthew from New York City". No shit! Damn Yankees fans are everywhere. He is teaching English here in Oaxaca (Mateo and I have a good laugh about that one as we walk away...pot-less). Jay is just travelling from hostel to hostel selling the things that get dropped in his lap...
Despite this encounter the positive experience of the city and its artisans and the near perfect weather (Pinche Mosquitos!) make this an amazing town...
Tired and need to eat but more to come on Oaxaca...
Cheers.
posted by J. at 6:13 PM
1 Comments:
I need more....when is this becomming a book of some sort. you are a fabulous storyteller, Josh! there will be more adventures to come, right? -cousin lisa
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