Blogs from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 42

to tell you all that I messed up in putting your email address in. I'm pretty sure the other one didn't get sent out, so this is to tell you that you that if you want, go read my previous entry. The only new news that I have is that I moved in with my host family (even made my first call in spanish!) and tomorrow I start school. I also managed to find Erica yesterday and we went out to hear a band play. That's it, if you want some of my endearingly flipant and sarcastic self, you should read my previous entry. Love, Dina... read more

"All that glitters isn't gold." My days in Oaxaca, a city whose colonial architecture, art-filled parks, floral courtyards, lively plazas, colorful shopfronts, extraordinary cathedrals, historical artifacts, and purely delicious cuisine beckon you to explore its wonders, have proven one of the key truths in travel: it is the people where you travel that make or break the experience. For no matter how fascinatingly gorgeous or culturally rich a place is, it will never win first prize in your list of travel greats if you feel you have been swindled, attacked, or otherwise mistreated. My first impressions of the city, having arrived at 6 in the morning and being blessed with the rare opportunity to watch the city slowly rise from its quiet slumber, were quite memorable. This was obviously a city that valued its private morning ... read more

On the road to Oaxaca, we saw the smoke coming out of the active volcano Popocatépetl. Since it was almost Easter, we were able to witness a procession at Oaxaca. In addition, we briefly visited the city. That evening we went to a guelaguetza. This is a cultural event in which we saw the indigenous traditions. When they danced according to the traditional styles, we enjoyed the native food.... read more

Monte Alban are a set of pre-hispanic ruins a few miles from Oaxaca. Gary, Tim, Reena and I had decided to head out to them in the morning. Home of the Zapotecs, Monte Alban had grown into a thriving town of 10,000 people. The even had an observatory and squash court. I'm not sure how many of the ruins I saw dated from then, I guess most of them - they looked pretty old. The museum had only Spanish descriptions, none of us spoke much Spanish or had a dictionary with us... it was a shame as lots of it was lost on us. We managed to understand the of carvings of genital mutilation with out the spanish descriptions though, a nasty punishment. Back in Oaxaca we went to the market. The food looked great, huge ... read more