Blogs from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 23

Hola amigos...my plane finally arrived and i am now in mexico... mexico, like all the other countries so far, is proving to be wonderful...and quite a bit hotter than the south..hurrah! started off in mexico city...which really is quite big....when up a tower to look at the whole city so i am able to confirm that it is in fact massive...the day i arrived was the day of the dead here, which is a festival where they celebrate their dead relatives...and its pretty cool as they build lots of altar type things covered in flowers and food and skeletons, and then have a massive party involving the mariachis singers....which was all v. fun... i was only in mexico city for a couple of days..which i was quite gutted about as you could easily spend a few ... read more

I only had 2 days in Oaxaca which made the morning lost in locating my day bag left somewhere the night before and the hostels padlock that had gone awol. Having found the bag and bought a replacement padlock I spent the remainder of the day visiting the ruins of Monte Alban. Like, Teotihuacan, not that much is known about it but it's glory days were between AD 450 and AD 600. It sits 400m up a steep mountain and overlooks the valley that hems in Oaxaca City. Much smaller (pop of 30K at peak compared to Ts 250K pop), younger and less deadly than Teotihuacan , Monte Alban also attracts many fewer tourists. There are signs that tell you what the buildings might have looked like and their purpose, but you end up just appreciating ... read more

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within. ~ Lillian Smith It really should have come to me as no surprise that it is only now, a year plus into my journey, in a non-English speaking country, soon to arrive in Peru, lost camera, broken laptop, spring cleaning my own bag to minimise my possesions and no-one but me to rely on, that I feel like I am only begining to travel. After saying goodbye to the group from Gap and leaving Cancun as soon as I could (god awful tourist resort) I headed back to Oaxaca for a course in spanish and to witness the Day of the Dead festival, or, El dia de los ... read more

Okoli Oaxacy je porostle agave, zejmena pak mezcalovych druhem po mexicku zvanem "maguei". Z tohoto druhu agave se dela v Mexiku a po celem svete proslaveny agavovy spiritus - mezcal. Proces vyroby je jasny. Rostlina musi nejdrive 7-8 let rust a uzravat, pak ji useknou a postupne zpracuji. Na mezcal se pouziva srdce rostliny, ktere se nejdrive ocadi v podzemni peci, zasypane hlinou, pote se necha vykvasit v sudu a na zaver projde dukladnou destilaci. V okoli Oaxacy se to mezcaleriemi jen hemzi. My jsme navstivili mezcalerii Dov Guy, kde jsme si nechali o vyrobe mezcalu udelat prednasku od mistniho rodaka a zamestnance mezcalerie. Ovsem nehlede na dopoledni hodiny, rodak uz mel docela nazvykano zkvasenych lopuchu a neco malo i popito a tak byla velka sranda. Kdyz nepocitam jeho artikulaci, ktera cinila obtize v prekladu a ... read more

I am going to tell you the story about the time I tried to explain how maple syrup is extracted from a sugar maple tree, in Spanish. It took place many days ago; I think ten or twelve to be exact. It was the evening I gave my home stay mum and dad some gifts from the great white north. They were the typical assortment of smoked salmon, some ferry and double decker bus pens, a bear bell with the 2010 logo on it and a can of grade A maple syrup. Though the bear bell was the overall favourite, the memorable moment came when I, the consummate teacher, not only gave them the gift of maple syrup, but a little demonstration as well. It went something like this: “Primero, em, un arbo (miming of a ... read more