Giving this a shot...

Well, I was finally able to upload the photos to Picasa, but it took so long that I ran out of time to actually write a post.

So now, about a week later, we're in Puerto Escondido. We spent a handful of days at San Augustinillo and now we´ve found a nice little place here at the south end of Zicatela beach. However, I am posting this from a crappy internet cafe computer, so I won´t make any promises at this point about the length and/or quality of the post. This keyboard is terribly annyoing to type on, but I´ll do my best.

Back in Oaxaca, Liz and I took a quick daytrip up into the mountains to visit a park. I believe it´s actually in a separate town called San Felipe, but don´t quote me on that.

It was colorful, but cloudy, up there.





The clouds were bad news because I heard there were some decent basketball courts up there.



Still, I played through the rain and dominated. Still got it.



Actually the hoops were terrible and I was the only one there. The rims were about 7 feet tall and lacking nets, of course. I´m standing flat footed in that picture.

It did end up raining quite a bit, so it wasn´t long before we were on our way back down the hill to our apartment. This is our deceptively shitty-looking front door.



Another day trip, this time up to Hierve el Agua. That means "boiling water," roughly, but the water that naturally "boils" out of the ground here isn´t warm at all.



It forms several air-temperature pools near the edge of a cliff with spectacular views.



The minerals in the water create this kind of melted wax look as it cascades over the edge.



We actually planned on spending the night in a cabana up here, but were told that they were all full. Then, about thirty seconds before we were going to leave, after we had already boarded the truck, we were told differently. It was too late... we refuse to commit to a room unless we´ve seen it, and if we left the truck at that point we would have lost our ride. So we went back home.



A few more pics.











I think this is actually a blue agave cactus. I posted a pic of one before that I now believe was a different variety. This is (probably) the real deal.



No idea what variety this one is, unless "big ass" is a variety of cactus.



Yet another day trip, to the rug-weaving village of Teotitlan. Here the proprietors of a mom and pop outfit show us how the red dye for their rugs is actually made out of a type of fungus that grows on cactii.



Ok, here´s the story behind this shot. This guy is basically a mascot for the pharmacy a few doors down from our apartment. He gets paid to dance out on the street corner all day long. To promote the pharmacy. Obviously. Walgreens, are you paying attention?



Probably the fanciest restaurant in Oaxaca, Los Danzantes.



We went overbudget to check this place out one night. Great atmosphere, highly professional service, but the food was just OK. I mean, I had a steak for $17 that was about half the size and almost, but not quite as good as the ones we got for $9 in Argentina. Meanwhile, Liz had a lasagna that was advertised to come with spinach, but instead came with peas. She became violently ill the next day. Make of that what you will.



Happier times, before the peas arrived.



Our friend Jenny finally showed up and jumped straightaway into Mexican culture.



Another day trip up to hike in the San Felipe area. Foiled by rain, unfortunately. Everyone we spoke to advised us against taking the actual trail once we got there. So we just walked around a bit, took a few pictures, and headed back to town.



Few shots around town.



Liz and Jenny ran into some kind of bizarre parade with giant statues one evening.



Mayan ruins up at Monte Alban.





They had a monument to some guy who was important to the excavation of the park, or something. The important thing here is that he looked exactly like Kim Jong Il.



Mutant love.



All right, I can´t stand being in this internet cafe another minute, so that´s all for this update. I may post one more time in Mexico City. And then, when we get back home, I´ll add one last batch of photos, a video and some final thoughts. Until then!

Google broke the internet

Well, I was all set to upload 34 new photos before we leave Oaxaca (and my laptop) behind. But Google Picasa isn't cooperating.

Unless I can figure out what's wrong in the next 3 hours you'll just have to wait, because we're boarding a bus for the coast at 11pm.

If you don't see any new posts tonight, we will update again around August 1.

Hasta luego,

Dan

Mezcalritaville

Thought we'd check in again from Oaxaca before we head to the beaches and, ultimately, back home.

If the content has been a little thin, I apologize. Truthfully I needed some time to unwind from all the traveling we'd done, so I haven't really been up for doing much here in Oaxaca. I've mostly been sitting around working on my book, playing a little bit of poker again, looking forward to coming back to Portland.

However, we've been more active in the past week or so. Oaxaca is growing on me more and more as we find new favorite places to eat and hang out.

Backing up a few weeks, here's a picture of the teachers' protest that marched down our street. When we arrived in Oaxaca, the zocalo (town center) was overtaken with striking teachers. Here's the short version of the story: The teachers have been striking every year for a long time. A few years ago (2006), the government cracked down and there was a huge riot and massacre.

Since then, little has changed. The same people are still in power in Oaxaca, and the teachers still strike every year. The march was the culmination of weeks of camping out in the zocalo, and was scheduled on the same day as the riots a few years back. Nobody knows if the government will crack down again, but for this year anyway, the march was allowed to continue in peace.

It's not as dangerous as it sounds, especially for tourists. Now the teachers are out of the zocalo and everything is back to normal. Anyway, here are some of the protesters as seen from our balcony.



One day we took a collectivo up to Tlacolula de Matamoros to do a little shopping in the market. This poor kid is going to be goat-phobic for the rest of his life.



Almost bought this.



Did buy this.



As I mentioned, Oaxaca does feel completely safe. But you do see an awful lot of dudes with giant machine guns. The picture is terrible, I know, but I didn't want to get caught taking a picture of a guy with an M-16 who probably didn't want his photo taken.



On the way back from Tlacolula we stopped in El Tule to visit the largest tree in Latin America.



It's big.



And we tried some of the nieve, which is a bit like a snow cone. A little sweet for our palates, though.



This is Marta, one of the two cats that live here. She has been acting a lot like Ash -- trying to get into our bed at night, and sleeping on our clothes in the daytime.



Dinner at the pozoleria near our apartment. I'll let wikipedia explain what pozole is:

Pozole is a traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew from Mexico. It is made from hominy, with pork (or other meat), chile, garbanzo beans and other seasonings and garnish, such as cabbage, lettuce, oregano, radish, cilantro, avocado, lime juice, etc. There are a number of variations on pozole, including blanco (white or clear), verde (green), rojo (red), de frijol (with beans), and elopozole (sweet corn, squash, and meat).

You can also see some tacos de carnitas (rolled) in the background. Altogether this meal was around $11.



Garcia Vigil, the main tourist drag, pictured on a quiet night.



A few shots from a concert and dance in the zocalo.



After the first band played (classical music), we went to get some lunch. They were showing the next band on TV live as we ate.



The biggest ants I've ever seen. Apparently these guys only come out once or twice a year, but we've been lucky enough see them twice already. They're pretty slow-moving and apparently not a threat to bite. In fact, when they do come out, people collect them by hand to eat later. Yum.



Not everything is cheap here, but limes sure are. 20 will run you about $1. Cheap limes + "Controy" (fake Mexican Cointreau) + tequila = great margaritas.



In El Chaltan, Argentina, Liz met up with Marlene (left) from Denmark. Turns out she was coming to Mexico too, and she and Liz have stayed in touch. We met up for margaritas and dinner at La Olla.



It really is a pretty town despite the graffiti, noise and pollution.









It's not uncommon to stumble upon a random dance practice out in public.



Liz knows a cool Vespa when she sees one.



She's also been volunteering a bit of time at a center for kids here. This little dude is really working hard on his watercolor.





Balloons are big here.



This is a tlayuda from the Farmer's Market.

Again, I'll let wikipedia do the honors.

Tlayudas, sometimes spelled Clayuda (IPA /kla'ʝuð̞a/), is a part of Mexican Cuisine, consisting of a big crunchy tortilla covered with a spread of refried beans, asiento (unrefined pork lard), lettuce, meat (usually shredded chicken, beef tenderloin and/or pork), Oaxaca cheese or other cheese, and salsa. They are a popular antojito, or snack food, in Oaxaca, particularly around Oaxaca City.

Here's where we get flowers every week.



Liz with her Spanish teacher.



A few shots from a nearby museum. I didn't go. I just find it hard to get enthused about another museum or waterfall or cultural event at this point. But apparently it was quite scenic.





One thing I am enthused about: mezcal. I wrote a little about it in the previous post, but basically it's a variant of tequila that they produce in the Oaxaca region. I've tried probably eight or nine different varieties and haven't been disappointed yet. Like tequila, it's made from blue agave cactus (maguey en espanol).

Not sure if these are blue agave cactii or not, but they sure look like it.



And here's the best mezcal I've tried so far. It only costs $5.85 for a liter, but I think it tastes better than Patron or Don Julio.



And it has a worm!



That's all I've got for now. We're heading to Hierve el Agua tomorrow, and our friend Jenny arrives on Saturday. So the next update should be even more action-packed. Until then...