Surfers Paradise

We moved today to Puerto Escondido famous for its undertow and dangerous (unless your are very experienced) surfers pipeline. We are off season for the best surfing so the place is pretty quiet and we have found a small hotel, The Casablanca, on a pedestrian street a block from the beach. It comes complete with a Humphrey Bogart likeness on the sign and a fan in our room. We are really liking it here so far. Will see what the nightlife brings. It seems like most places on this section of coast are hurting for tourists so rates are low and nothing is crowded. We are about 1/4 mile away from the surfers that are doing the beach cabana/hostel/hammock lifestyle so hopefully there will be some quiet after midnight. The beach is fabulous. About 3 miles of Kalaloch-like flat golden sand and greenish surf with warm water, a nice breeze, lots of beach chairs and umbrellas everywhere, and lots of cheap restaurant choices. We have a fridge in our room so time to get our own fruit again. We are ready to settle in for a few days and sink into the sand and some recreational reading. This could be dangerous. We really are 'beach people' and can feel another sand suck coming on.

Hot and Humid

Are we ever happy? Too cold, too wet, too hot. But at least now we can cool off in the water. The overnight bus ride was tiring and difficult. We don't do well sleeping upright and listening to other people snore. We got in very tired and cranky but had a beautiful room on a jungle hillside above the beach waiting for us. We spent the afternoon dozing in chairs in the shade on the beach and then that night there was loud live music again that started about 6 pm from a 100th birthday party for a local native grandmother. This time it was really good. A combination of cuban/middle east/african/mexican. It is traditional Oaxacan and I don't know how else to categorize it but it was tuba, clarinet, horns, conga drums, piano and more. We have tried to find out who the band was and get a CD but not having much luck. The next day we moved to another hotel still in Puerta Angel that is right on the beach. It is hot and humid here, probably in the 90's and we are staying close to the water. We are on a sheltered cove and it is perfect for swimming. Today we went a few miles north to explore Zipolite, a small beach community. It is where all the Euro-hippies and Trustafarians are having their south sea island fantasy. Lots of nude wading and sun bathing and we are really feeling old now. It is a beautiful stretch of beach but you cannot swim in it because the undertow is famous and folks drown here every year. So we will move on tomorrow to Puerto Escondido and then start to figure out how to get connected back to our airport. For now we are trying to not get sunburned again and are enjoying being back in shorts.

Time to Move On

The weather has turned again and today it is raining. After Morelia's downpours we are fickle tourists and no longer want to be soaked and cold. We have looked at the satellite photos and poor Mexico is having a terrible 'winter' most everywhere. The storms keep rocketing through the middle of the country from west to northeast and then swinging north to the Atlantic US coast. We have decided to head down to the Pacific Coast from here and stay south of the worst of it for a few more days. Tomorrow night we take a 9 hour overnight bus on the longer, but less winding, road to Pochutla and then to Puerto Angel. We are ready for some sun and warmth and rest. This place is alive with action and we are ready to slow back down a little. We will miss a lot of the art and beauty of this place but hope to come back someday for a longer stretch of time.

Wooden Art and Rugs

We spent a day touring a few small villages that specialize in different crafts. This one does the wooden animals that are painted with patterns and designs. Some of the work was museum quality and has been shown in the US. Entire families work in the production of these fantastic renditions of both real and imagined animals.

We also visited a small village that specializes in woven rugs/wall hangings. They are so beautiful that it would be a shame to walk on them.



They are made from all natural dyes in a very labor intensive process. They are hand made and take about a week or longer to make each one. They were beautiful and I would love to be able to learn the process, but it is not a very practical hobby to take up.

Still in Oaxaca

This is such a fascinating culture we cannot seem to be able to get ourselves excited about leaving yet. So we have decided to stay for 'a few more' days. Not sure what that will mean. Steve started a Spanish Language class this morning. It is causal and is by the day or week. I probably need it more than he does but instead I went to a small hands on class at The Teatro Culinario Comidor.




I spent the morning in a local market with the owner and and learned what chile's were what, and had him untangle some of the unfamiliar foods that we have been seeing. We purchased what we needed for a lunch and then went back to his restaurant and prepared a 5+ course meal (which we then ate...yum... we were good!)

Handmade Tortillas
2 kinds of Salsa
Guacamole & Quesa de la plancha (poblano chiles, onions and melted cheese)
Quesidillas with Oaxacan Cheese, espozote, and squash blossoms
Sopa de Guisa (corn and squash blossom soup)
Mole Coloradita (red mole) over chicken pieces
Oaxacan Chocolate Ice Cream

Can't wait to try this stuff out on all you volunteers.

Zapoteca Women

We have had several days touring some of the outlying villages and a few of the Market Days. These are 'real' markets and not the tourist craft ones. Local families are bringing in their produce and items that they make and selling/trading them for other items that they need.



We are towering like giants above these people. Most of the women are very tiny, well below 5' tall, and the men are usually well under 6'. Our size and our American clothes make us really stand out. They do not like having their pictures taken as many still believe that it can steal their souls so the few photos that I took was done from down low as I walked and without any focus or ability to know what I was capturing.



The women are dressed in traditional outfits with their long hair usually braided with satin ribbons and either hanging loose or then tied up. Rebozos or shawls are used for everything: carrying children and goods, wrapped around heads turban style ... you name it. Each village has its own dress and customs and if we knew enough we would be able to identify the village from the dress. It is sad and a sign of the times that many of the younger generation at the market are wearing US style clothes and the stalls selling American Eagle/Nike/US branded goods (mostly knock-offs)) are the most popular with teens. That and the places selling cell phones and tech gear. We saw very few younger people in traditional dress and we understand that even though there are 15 different and separate Zapotec languages being spoken at this market the language in the schools is only Spanish and just a few villages are trying to keep the local languages alive. We may be seeing the last of a generation that is still tied to the old ways.

Saturday Night ..... Live!

Every night there is something going on the the Zocol0 and with lent coming the town is getting very lively with everyone doing as much as they can before they have to give some things up. Music was happening in at least 3 venues within a few blocks of each other. Lots of pedestrian streets so it is easy to stroll between them. Up at the Santo Domingo Church Plaza there was lovely guitar and vocals by several groups. There was even fireworks occasionally in the background to add to the romance.

In the plaza by the Zocolo there was beautiful native folk dancing and a marimba band.




Later there was a procession from the church, around the Zocolo and back to the church. It consisted of a guy with whirling fireworks first, then a large handmade fabric globe that was honoring the 'night of the lights', a very noisy and joyous band, a few hundred people (with many bottles of Mezcal), large homemade effigy's and another crowd holding candles. Everyone was clapping and whooping it up as the came by and it was great fun. We got some video with our camera but can't seem to load it here. I think it is too big. Will work on that if I find some spare time.


Much later (and well past our bed time) a door that is normally closed across the street from our balcony became a bar and disco and the loud live music went on until 4:30 am. That wasn't as much fun and I guess we must be getting old.