the hitchhikers guide to oaxaca city.

in honour of semana santa, school's out for two weeks. YES! i honestly think i may have been more excited then my kids when the bell rang on friday. it had been a rough month. without boring you with the details, it was a mixture of problems that included dumb boys (not my students!), my grandmother passing, beginning my masters, my workload at school and general staff unhappiness at work.

i could not wait to get out of dirty, polluted, crowded monterrey.

for our first week, ginny and i decided to explore the province of oaxaca. it seems fitting that oaxaca city has had a teacher's strike every year for the past TWENTY FIVE years. (this and other turmoil led to a seven month political conflict in 2006... all is safe now, with only graffiti left as evidence)

we flew into oaxaca city late saturday night and had four lovely days in the city. we each did our own thing, but meeting up for our culinary exploration of the city. the heart of oaxaca city is in its vibrant zocalo. surrounded by cafes and filled with buskers, shoe shiners, balloon sellers, candy vendors, men on benches and women selling local crafts, it encapsulated the bustling life of the city.

on our first day, we left the city to explore the little towns which were known for their sunday markets. transportation was a little (to put it nicely), random and unclear. the bus station was more of a street where buses drove by and people jumped on and off and the collective stand were cabs waiting to be PACKED full of people before heading off to their destination. to me, this was what made it so exciting! who knew where we were really going to end up!?? and with a first class seat on top of the gear-shift, who could ask for anything more?

our first stop was the market town of tlacolula. what struck me most were the market bolsas (bags) which everyone carried and filled with their vegetables for the week. i could picture my retired self bringing my colourful bolsas down to the market each weekend. the market was mostly food, clothing and textiles and was full of women in traditional dress. there were live turkeys being carried to their doom, grasshoppers you could buy for a snack, live boxing matches to bet on, and meat covered in flies. yum. appetizing. we picked up a collectivo going back to the city, but i wanted to stop in the weaving town of teotitlan del valle. SO, the collectivo dropped me off on the side of the highway and told me i would have 'no trouble' finding a ride into town. i am standing (ehem... stranded) at the side of the highway as i watched car after car pass by me. how does this work again? eventually a collectivo stopped when i waved and i squished in next to a 90-something mexican dude who told me that canadians were very tall. thanks. like i hadn't noticed that i was taller then half of the mexican population.

next, i tried to get a collectivo to el tulle, where there is a GIANT tree that claims to be the largest in the world (apparently it is not). this also appeared to be a challenge. i walked and walked and walked from the weaving town expecting to have a car stop for me... i began to wonder if i had made a wrong turn on the only road out of town! finally, a car felt bad and pulled over. all of the passengers got quite a laugh out of the gringa girl who thought she could walk to the highway. sigh. i got everywhere just fine that day... but if you ask me how it all works, i still have no idea!

the next three days were slightly less eventful as we decided to stay (more or less) within the vicinity of the city. i perused craft stores, read two full jodi picoult books in cafes, drooled over mole sauces, and even got my fill of history at the ruins of monte alban.

to a critical eye, oaxaca city is a place that appears to be falling apart. but there is so much to offer. including a lesson in sticking out your thumb (or waving your hands madly in the air... whichever looks cooler).