A Tale of Two Cousins in Oaxaca de Juarez

I had a last few days in Zihua – sunsets, and managed to see Alex and Maude again the day before I left.  Andrea and I had delicious meal at a Thai/Mediterranean place we love, and there was a belly dancer for entertainment as well.

 

I somehow also got horrific muscle spasms in my back the day before leaving. I woke up in agony and could barely move.  This of course made me nervous about having to fly and lug all my stuff the next day!  I went into Zihua early to see about getting a massage from one of the places on the beach. I knew I didn’t need and an appointment and hoped they’d be open early.  They were open and already quite full! I was ushered on to the last table. I could barely get on it and/or flip over when the time came.  The massage did little aside from make me very greasy.   I slowly walked to a farmacia and bought some Soma (muscle relaxer that has worked for me with no side affects before).  I had a walk across town to meet up with Alex for a late breakfast/to say our goodbyes.  I took 2 muscle relaxers and was already starting to feel better by the end of breakfast.    Andrea returned from her morning whale watch tour and asked if I wanted to go up and surprise Maude and say goodbye.  We brought some dessert treats from the Italian dessert place near our old apartment.    When we got nearly to Maude’s house a pipa (water delivery truck) was blocking the road. We stopped just as Maude was stopped on the other side of the truck and she got out to yell at the driver.  She was on her way to pick up Delphie from school!  The driver wouldn’t budge as he was filling a customer’s tank.  Andrea offered to go pick up Delphie, and I went back to Maude’s with her so we got a bit of a visit.  It was hard leaving Zihua as it feels like home, but also it is NOT home and I was really missing MY home (Rita!) so, it was a strange mix of emotions.

The morning I left, Andrea didn’t have to be out super early, so we took Lychee for a walk together and said our goodbyes.  My trusty taxi driver, Eugenio, arrived right on time to take me to the airport.  When I was outside waiting, I could hear Lychee wailing pitifully. Heart-wrenching! I really got attached to that sweet pup.

The airport in Zihua is tiny and always uncrowded.  But also, there are no walkways to the planes, you always have to walk up stairs.  I realized lugging both my bags at once might not be great for my back. I asked the ticket taker guy if it would be OK if I left one bag at the bottom and went back for it? He said no, and proceeded to go with me, carrying my bag. He brought it up the stairs and put it in the overhead bin for me and disappeared quickly off the plane.   When I was getting settled in my seat, I realized my black sweatshirt that I’d been carrying, was not with me.  I quickly told the flight attendant, thinking maybe it fell on the aisle.  I waited anxiously (it was one of only 2 things with long sleeves that I had and I knew it was going to be cold (to me) in Oaxaca).  They did not seem to find it and were ready to close to doors. I was already trying to soothe myself with thoughts like “you can find something in a thrift shop…”  At the last minute, I saw a guy coming up the stairs holding my sweatshirt!! I must have dropped it somewhere between the bathroom and the gate! Not only did I get it back but it also still had my metal hair clip clamped onto it (which, honestly would’ve been the biggest loss).  I was feeling super grateful to Viva Aerobus (and happily answered their post trip survey to praise the crew).

It was a pretty easy trip to Oaxaca.  I changed planes in Mexico City, but not at the usual Benito Juarez airport-from-hell.  The newer airport in the north of the city is like a gigantic, shiny shopping mall that has planes outside. It was super uncrowded and very wide open -- not a bad place to kill a couple of hours.  My back was holding up OK, I was taking it very easy and being careful not to twist or lift wrong.   It was a super crowded flight, so I was able to gate check one bag and not have to lug them both up the stairs to the plane.

 

Oaxaca is a small airport as well, I quickly collected my rolling backpack and headed to the taxi counter.  It’s a bit weird there as there is no private taxi service at the airport. You tell them where you want to go and pay according to the zone. They put you in a big van and the driver drops everyone off at their destination.  I was one of the last drop-offs and it was a very long trip to go a fairly short distance.  And I had drank a lot of water.   Luckily, I was distracted by a cute, young German traveler next to me.  It was fun to talk to someone just starting out on their exploration of the world.  His English was near perfect, but unfortunately he did not speak any Spanish at all.

I got to my super bargain Airbnb and my host met me and carried one of my bags up.  It was about like you’d expect a bargain Airbnb in Mexico to be.  At first look I was somewhat disappointed, but it grew on me slightly.  It was basically a bachelor pad…but I had a decent sized room, right next to the bathroom. It also had a sliding door to a balcony with plants overhanging the street, that was very quiet and had a lot of pretty trees. I realized a while ago that visibility to non-human life outdoors is a critical feature for me.   Even if the most gorgeously well-appointed room has no windows, I have to cancel and move.  So, the room was a bit dingey, but when I got back in the late afternoons, the sun was shining in onto the bed and I could have a bit of a rest while looking out at birds and plants.  It was located on the outside edge of the ‘centro’ bubble – so walking distance, but not exactly close to anything.  The hot water situation was a constant struggle.  My first 2 showers were quite cold.  Armando finally showed me how to turn on the hot water heater pre-shower.  It sort of worked, sometimes there would be a couple minutes of hot water.  But mostly it lacked pressure entirely and sometimes was only a trickle coming out.  The kitchen sink was worse, barely a trickle ever came out of it.   Washing a load of dishes was not feeling like an option, so I was not inspired to cook anything elaborate. But there was plenty of cupboard and fridge space, so I was able to have simple breakfast foods collected from the nearby municipal mercado. Of course I had to have Oaxacan cheese and hot chocolate.

 

When I arrived, I basically dropped my stuff and immediately headed out to meet up with Beth and Mike.  So weird to run into a cousin I’ve known my entire life, out on the street in a vaguely unfamiliar city in Mexico. Beth and Mike got married when I was 17 and their wedding is still a vivid fun memory.  It was great to see them and we quickly found a lovely restaurant (Casa Mook) to have dinner.  I went straight for the mole negro.  It was maybe one of the best I’ve had. I even got a tepache (fermented pineapple drink – non alcoholic).

The next 5 days mostly consisted of deciding where to eat, wandering, looking, getting lost and found.  And eat we did!! Oaxaca City is of course a veritable feast for all senses, but mostly taste and sight.  We did a lot of walking.  One afternoon I remembered an amazing old library I went to 2 years ago. We spent quite a while trying to find it (even going to the old library in the cathedral compound, which was cute, but not what I remembered visiting. I finally had to dig through pictures to try and place it…I remembered a brewery nearby to it and found that in my photos. Then I looked up the brewery online…turns out the library, the oldest library in the Americas…is actually in PUEBLA (which I went to right after Oaxaca last time…oops…memory of Mexican cities is starting to all blur together for me!!) I think visuals are the best way to share the experiences in Oaxaca - just wandering around, every street has some random art gallery, museum, graffiti, posters from the various political and social art collectives, and interesting buildings.  And don't forget the food- it's also art.

 

One morning Beth and I went up to Monte Alban – the archeological site just outside of the city.  Unfortunately, Mike was still recovering from a cold and needed the morning to rest.  I had been to the site before, but was happy to revisit. I got to be a bit of a tour guide, and my permanent residency status allowed us to pay half the price of foreign tourists to get in.

 

Monte Albán is an ancient Zapotec city perched on a flattened mountaintop above the Oaxaca Valley in southern Mexico, one of the earliest and most important urban centers in Mesoamerica. Founded around 500 BCE, it grew into the Zapotec capital, a hilltop metropolis of plazas, pyramids, ball courts, temples, and carved stone monuments that dominated the surrounding valleys for more than a thousand years. At its height, Monte Albán controlled much of the region’s political and economic life and maintained long-distance connections with other major cities such as Teotihuacan.

 

Over time the city slowly declined, and by around 800–900 CE most of the great ceremonial core had been abandoned, later reused and reinterpreted by the Mixtec, who buried their elites in some of the earlier Zapotec tombs. Today, Monte Albán’s wide central plaza, towering pyramids, and enigmatic “Danzantes” (dancers) reliefs of contorted human figures offer an atmospheric window into the world of pre-Columbian Oaxaca and have earned the site recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage treasure.

The priciest meal we ate, lunch at a highly recommended Michelin rated restaurant (Los Danzantes) was a special experience that did not disappoint in any way. The service was excellent and not in the cloying ‘you’re a rich tourist and we’re kissing your ass’ sort of way, but in a very professional and friendly way (maybe just better actors? but I appreciated it and felt truly welcome). The creativity of the dishes and presentation was outstanding as well.  There was too much to choose from, so I got 2 appetizers instead of a main dish, as I wanted to try more.  5 different kinds of moles with fried plantain balls to test them. I also got something I forget what it was called but it was like a giant croquette with pork inside, in a bowl of a delicious red sauce.  I couldn’t resist the chocolate lava cake for dessert.  Mike got a dish that also had the mole sampler and Beth got an octopus dish.

 

Our time went by quickly and soon we were having our last night’s dinner (at a wonderful rooftop patio restaurant – Las Quinces Letras).   They were off the next morning in a rental car, armed with life-saving driving tips from me, to enjoy the gorgeous Oaxaca coast for a week.

I had a bit of a rest/slow morning/work catch up before the next cousin arrived!

Becky (my best friend since before we were born) and her friend Stacy (who she has known since she was 7, but somehow, I’ve never met) arrived in the afternoon.  Stacy just had 3 days to scout out the location for a future family trip, Becky was staying 2 weeks and my budget allowed me one more week.  I was ready to get out in the afternoon, so I went to a café that I noticed the day before that made their own chai.  I quit the daily chai latte routine last year, but I still enjoyed one as a treat now and then.  Becky and Stacy caught up with me there.  Yet another weird, but great, ‘cousin out of context’ meeting!

We did a bit of a walkabout and ended up having a late dinner (again at Casa Mook!).

We covered a lot of ground in a few days, some new, some re-runs for me.  I got to be a tour guide at times since I’d already scoped out a number of great places I wanted to share.

We also managed to catch one of the first of a number of Carnaval celebrations. This was a parade of the 14 most recognized pre-Hispanic ethnic groups in the area. Each  group had their own parade theme, and it was very entertaining!  We watched them all pass and then headed out to find some dinner.

The big carnaval parade was the next night, but unfortunately we missed it, with 3 people  coordinating and changing our plan, we ended up at a different dinner option (which was another culinary delight!) and it went too long.  We tried to walk down to where the parade was ending, in hopes of catching part, but we just came upon the huge ‘after party’ in Plaza de las Danzas.  We enjoyed looking over the crowd and then headed for one of the many ice cream restaurants nearby.  Without realizing it, Stacy and I both ordered the same combo (chocolate with rose petal ice cream).

I really enjoyed meeting Stacy and was sad she had to leave so soon! Becky and I were left to our own devices, to see what these two aging troublemakers could get into next.

We were both bummed about missing the Carnaval parade and decided to try to find a fat Tuesday celebration somewhere.  We discovered that the city itself didn’t have much anything planned, but the smaller surrounding towns were where it was at.  One town that was more than an hour away, seemed to have a interesting parade of ‘black devils’ who threw grease on people?  You were warned not to wear clothes you cared about.  Unfortunately, that is all I have… Luckily, a closer town, Villa de Zaachila, had a parade where the devils throw flour or white powder on you.  That sounded more reasonable on a number of levels.  We managed to get a taxi to bring us down there in the afternoon.  It was a very cute town. We ran through the mercado and the carnaval area.  We also discovered a small archeological site (2 tombs).  We walked up and checked that out and then convinced a moto-taxi to give us a little tour through the town (we just wanted to ride in one!).  We got properly doused with whatever it was (I think I had a few hits of talc powder?) by some mischievous devils.

Gallery of Carnavals:

We realized it might be harder to get a taxi back to the city, so we decided we had our fill of getting powder thrown on us and, headed back before dark and get some eats in Oaxaca.  Definitely not the troublemakers we used to be!! But we both enjoyed the outing and vibe of the smaller town.    We immediately found a taxi back and it was 1/3 the cost we spent to get there…so, not a bad deal!  We found yet another wonderful restaurant to fill our bellies (Ocote Cocina).

 

Somehow another week was ending.  I finally managed to book a massage on my last day.  A couple weeks late, but definitely appreciated.  I walked around 70 miles in 12 days. I was more than looking forward to my all day bus ride to Mexico City!! I booked the cushy bus with the full recline seats and all the amenities. I had plenty of snacks and one whole bag of just chocolate (not all for me!).

My bus ride ended up being shorter than advertised and to be honest, I was feeling a bit ripped-off for my 8.5 hours of rest. It went by so fast, I didn’t even get this blog written fully, let alone have a good nap.   I made to my friend Lili’s apartment without much trouble, to learn she and her boyfriend and kids are all struggling with a cold.  I’m making them soup and having a low-key day.  It will be nice to visit here but honestly, after walking over 70 miles in 12 days, I'm happy not to do a whole lot this weekend! I am very much looking forward to being back in Rita...my own bed, pillows, kitchen, and all my beloved things!