OAXACA

Wandering the streets of Oaxaca is an exciting time. The architecture, colorful with varying colors, is lightly covered by a weathered and worn layer that creates this soft vibrance setting a unique atmosphere to the town.You could walk the same street time over again and never notice you were on the same street. Nestled in a valley, the surrounding mountains almost act as a barrier, cutting you off from the rest of the world as if to assist your experience of Oaxaca city. The artistic sound of the town becomes very apparent as you stroll through the muraled streets of expressive graffiti, accompanied by the echoes of live music bouncing off the city's walls. Everyone here seems to have an artistic voice, whether from a visual expression, musical, culinary or even weaving.

We started our month in Oaxaca with Evan’s birthday. Charles and Hank treated him to a Mezcal tasting, a liquor none of us have tried. During our tasting experience, we were presented with cards that had a list of words to help us describe the flavors we were tasting. First smelling, then sipping and sloshing the nectar around our taste buds we scanned the card to help us verbalize this taste. “Smoke, Humidity, Floral, Fruity”...we weren’t tasting these. “Sweet, seeds, earthy, salt”... still not the descriptives we are looking for. “Alcohol, acetone”...getting closer. Ultimately we could not find the word on the card and wrote our own, “Sharpie”. We found that we don’t like Mezcal or rather our palette has not yet opened up to complex notes of the ancient drink of the region.

We attended Oaxaca International for our Spanish classes. A placement test is taken to determine which course you will be starting in. Evan and Hank left the test blank and joined preschool, Charles jumping ahead to first grade. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the school even though they assigned homework. The teachers were great and we ended up laughing the whole duration of class, Hank’s laughed echoing through the school. One of the teachers was a drummer for a metal band and at his invitation we saw him perform in a sea of black clothes and violently shaking heads.

Oaxaca is beginning to gain global recognition as a culinary destination. There is not much diversity of the cuisine in the city but that is just fine as the local dishes on their own are outstanding. Chapulines, a traditional snack of Oaxaca are sold at the street markets by the thousands. These fried grasshoppers are par boiled and then seasoned with garlic and lime. They can be enjoyed right there or more commonly stuffed in tyludas, large fried tortillas with various fillings. 20 de Noviembre is a popular food market in Oaxaca. Inside you will find an alleyway we nicknamed “meat street’. It is not hard to find, just look for the area that is cloaked in a thick smoke that carries hunger inducing smells of fatty meats being grilled next to a line of vendors selling raw meat. Select your cut from a range of meats, either seasoned in a spicy rub or a simpler seasoning approach for you meat purists out there. They then cook the meat on the spot for you using the grills next to their stand, the smoked wafted up be the chefs fanning the fire. This process is torture as you must wait in this room, mouth salivating, for your meals turn on the grill. For the late night snack, consome is the broth of drunken gods. This small cup of savory beef broth, lime, onions and cilantro is the quick meal to have between bar hopping to help you go the distance. You can find these from one of the many street vendors, cooking and selling food from their mobile bicycle food stands.

It felt as if a festival, holiday or party was held every day during our stay in Oaxaca. We say this as there are fireworks being lit constantly in the city. Every 30 minutes at all hours of the day and night you will hear a whistle followed by a loud bang. The fireworks were so often that we became accustomed to them, almost forgetting they were there. This was the same with the nightlife in Oaxaca. You could find somewhere to drink at any time of the day with some bars staying open 24 hours. We will leave the night time stories of debauchery out of the post for our families sake!

We spent Christmas and New years in Oaxaca, and finally on January 3rd it was time to say farewell. We boarded a bus to take us to Chiapas, the Mexico state that borders Guatemala. We loved our time in Oaxaca and recommend everyone to take the time to visit.