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Published: August 19th 2010
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Balloons
In the Zocalo We are woken by loud bangs, which we'd heard intermittently last night and continue sporadically through the day. They seem to be fired like fireworks but just to let out a bang. Possibly related to the bicentennial celebrations happening across Mexico. As Alehandro had explained, in 1610 Cortez routed Emperor Moctezuma and exactly 200 years later the Priest Hidalgo started the revolution that gave Mexico its independence (from spanish rule).
I'm still no better than yesterday 😞, so we make do with a breakfast buffet at the in-house restaurant which is more expensive than the dinner at $160 each, although I don't partake. The boys had been keen to hop straight in the pool, but a bouncy castle in the room next to the restaurant distracts them. It's a bold move by the hotel as the highest part is so close to the ceiling that Joseph has to duck his head while standing there. He luckily finds two other like-minded rough-as-guts boys so they have a great time. Meanwhile I'm accosted by a ~7 year old urchin who, speaking a mixture of spanish and english, prattles off a tale of how he likes kangaroos, great white sharks, went on a
trip to Tokyo etc etc. I manage to extricate myself from the conversation and step back a bit, when suddenly he reappears on the other side of me and keeps talking! His brother pokes his head over the castle wall and asks if Australia is in Europe or part of America?
By the time the boys have had a decent play, we find the pool closed because they're having the trees pruned. So we decide to walk the fifteen minutes into the Zocalo, the central square. Unlike Guanajuato the outskirts are rough, while the central area has been spruced up with stamped concrete in stone pattern on the streets, and buildings restored. But because it is in a flat block layout, it's rather lacking character when compared to Guanajuato's winding, hilly, (torturous) streets.
We find a small market area before the Zocalo, where I leave Ky and the boys so I can get the Lomotil ($63) and Pepto bizmol ($32). Back at the market, there are fabulously carved, crafted and painted wood creatures, colourful dresses, men's shirts, paintings and more. Ky enquires about a beautifully coloured bead belt with flowers in the pattern, but decides against $300. I have a rest by the fountain, feeling extremely out of touch having been effectively about two days without food (acting kind of like a food dispersant). While there, I'm approached by some girls selling bookmarks, little pieces of wood with a shaped and coloured head. I get 6 for $50.
We walk further to the Zocalo, on the way and at the Zocalo a wide range of products hawked by people walking around or sitting on a few square feet of ground. It is lovely and shady under the large trees, with the beautiful Oaxaca Cathedral facing from the east. The boys request a wrist band each with their name on it, which the man makes up on the spot in five minutes. They're made of thread wrapped around a plastic strip and tied off with string. I don't see how he gets their names patterned into it. We have a quick look at an army cadet presentation where the cadets stand in (slightly untidy) formation and drums are rattled to a sick bugle, then we hop in a taxi to get back.
I'm exhausted again, so lie down and the boys' antics a deflated like the bouncy castle, leaving them with their leggo and cards. Joseph organises his assortd toys (I know, amazing isn't it!).
I'm not getting better, actually the diarrhea has stopped but the medicine has irritated my arm muscles, so eventually for everyone else's sake we catch a taxi ($50) to the Plaza del Valle, the main mall. A short walk around is uninspiring although if you had younger kids they'd love the crawl tunnels at the central eating place. The boys checkout retail toys at Sears, to find them as expected more expensive than Australia, and mostly the same things. Being incredibly noisy in the food hall, we cross the large main road in a parody of Frogger to get to Burger King. BK is ok. It has a three storey playground which Joseph is too tall to play in. He enjoys his Starship USS Kelvin toy that comes with his 'mega' happy meal, however. The packet has characters on it that we identify from left to right as Ky, Doug, Liam and Joseph (see pic). Yes, Joseph selects the fat toothy flying whale for himself. I gain blue blood 😊.
he taxi back is only $40, making me think we were overcharged on the way out. Nevermind. I take a panadol and have a snooze while the boys at last get their chance in the pool. Joseph adopts some friends and starts teaching a younger girl how to dive. He would probably be a better teacher if he could dive properly himself 😊. Eventually we settle down in the room and head to sleep to the ongoing sound of rocket-firecrackers.
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