Toiletries Tally

For future reference:

Toner - Ran out, should have brought 8 ounces for 2 months.
Deodorant - Will barely squeak by.
Toothpaste - Squeezing every last bit out of the tube.
Soap - Only needed two bars, not three.
Jojoba oil - Probably used 8 ounces.
Hair conditioner and no-poo - 12 ounces would have been sufficient, but I don't know if I wouldn't have brought the travel containers.
Hair gel - Will use 4 ounces. Brought way too many kinds of hair styling products.
Makeup - Barely ever wore it after the first two weeks.

Su Hijo?

Our family status has been questioned in Mexico much more than at home. We hear the question "Su hijo?" a lot. I guess it's because people here recognize E as Mexican, and me especially as "guera." At home, I think people are more likely to ascribe our race to E, not looking closely. I don't really know because we have almost never been asked to explain our relationship to him. In four years, I can think of only once. I'd say it happens twice a week here. Intellectually, I know all this, but it's still jarring when you're explaining you adopted your son to the clown making him a balloon animal for 5 pesos at the mercado.

Feet of Clay

From the beginning, there was no way to keep our feet clean. I think the streets are just filled with dirt, but our apartment floor - while appearing clean - is just a dust trap. I instituted measures early to avoid dirty feet - and keep it out of our beds, basically wearing shoes or socks all the time. However, the last few weeks, my feet are just ground-in dirty. Every little crease is grey.

Somewhere along the line, this reminded me of the foot-washing in the Bible. And of the belief in India that the soles of the feet are the lowliest parts of the body, because they touch the earth. How common dirty feet must be in unpaved societies. How cushioned we are - literally - from this experience in modern America.

You see a lot more feet here, because many people wear sandals or flip-flops. I've even seen indigenous vendors barefoot in the market. There's a lot of calluses and thickened nails. Which I guess explains the existence of stores like this one:

Enlarge the photos and you'll see they offer help with buried nails, nail fungus, callouses, and correct cutting of the nails for normal and diabetic feet!

El Fin

It's hard to believe that ten weeks ago our bus pulled in and we started this chapter of an adventure. And it's harder to believe that today the next chapter will begin.

Hasta Luego, Oaxaca!

Hacer El Trabajo

The other day, K and I took a few minutes while E was at school to visit the Textile Museum here in Oaxaca (http://www.museotextildeoaxaca.org.mx/). It is well worth a trip if you are ever in town, as it is a beautifully restored space filled with some very nice examples of textiles. Oh, and its free so you cant beat the price.

They are currently having a temporary exhibit about stiltwalkers in different cultures -- ranging from small villages in Mexico to Occupy Wall Street protesters -- and the costumes they wear. This is what we were greeted with as we walked into one of the rooms. It was gorgeous and wacky at the same time -- in fact, we expected Tim Gunn to come in from around the corner at any moment.

A Diversity of Faces

Sometimes, I'll catch someone who has the face of a Mayan statue. It's remarkable.

A number of times, I've had the experience of thinking someone looked downright Asian, until they turn full to me, and I can see they are Mexican. I mean, I know the anthropological history, but seriously, some of the children look just like my Korean-American hapa friends back home.

Anytime I see someone with tight curls, though, it's like I'm looking into the face of my child or his birthmother.

At this age, I don't think he sees the differences in his facial structures from the traditional Mexican appearance. He's so focused on the brown skin and black hair and black eyes (because this is the language that was taught to him at his preschool in the US. They didn't describe wide noses, soft cheek bones, or epicanthic folds.) But someday, I imagine he will notice or be made aware of how soft his features.

I feel comforted knowing that, while he does not have the typical Mexican face, when he looks around the city, he'll see faces like his own.

School Lunch

Actually, we only buy the desayuno for E, but I love these menus. So healthy and delicious. I wish I could eat with the preschool.

Protest, Parte Dos

Last week, I spent one morning at the Oaxaca State Prison with a volunteer chaplain. Getting there was a nail biter, because the busses blocked traffic on the biggest intersection in the city. I think it was in support of the University teachers strike.

Protest! Protest! Protest!

Oaxaca is a city with many protests and strikes. My collaborator explained to me that the University regularly shuts down on random days near the time of the contract negotiations with all seven unions.

Today, the taxi drivers are unhappy because the government doesn't crack down on illegal taxis. So, in order to make the government listen, they are protesting by stopping their cabs in the middle of every intersection in the downtown area. It is very surreal.

Ultima dia

It seemed fitting that I passed this on my final walk in to the University today.

Isn't It Rico?

This afternoon in the park near our apartment there was a big gathering of 20-30 people. I couldn't really tell what they were talking about, but a few of them had clipboards and several times one of them would stand on the ledge of the fountain to speak loudly to the assorted group. They were mostly men, but not exclusively, and there was a big age range. My guess would be it was some sort of union organizing or similar gathering.

Oh, and four of the men were in full clown costumes, makeup and all. One was even carrying what appeared to be a ventriloquist dummy. Also dressed as a clown.

Retro Cool

This bar down the block from us has long been intriguing to E. I don't think it's a new found appreciation of Duran Duran, but rather the colorful paintings of Lucha Libre masks and superhero logos hanging on the walls. And for several weeks he begged to go inside.

So one afternoon while K was at a lecture at the Oaxaca Lending Library, I took him in, hoping to hang out for a few minutes and maybe have a cerveza.

But we were thwarted. Four year olds may be allowed to ride on their parents laps on motorcycles with no helmets here in Oaxaca, but they are not allowed to step foot in a karaoke bar at 4 in the afternoon when nobody else is there but the bartender. Oh well, E will have to wait until another day to hear "We Got The Beat".

Flowers in Dry Season

There's a similar tree to this, with magenta pink flowers, in front of the church in Jalatlaco. This one with white flowers struck me as so unusual.

The Final Countdown

We're leaving tomorrow, E's school is having a party for him this afternoon. I'm stuffing the huge market bag with everything we can't take with us, and I'm taking it to the orphanage we visited (sorry we never blogged about it). All we have left in the kitchen is the few things on the shelf that we might need before tomorrow.

International Food, Part Deux

Here's what the pasta sauce I buy looks like:

Italian, right?

After posting about the source of my parmesan, I happened to notice this on the label:

Can you see the bottom line, in bold and all caps? It's from FRANCE.

So pasta from Mexico, sauce from France, and cheese from Uruguay - it's hard to call that an Italian dinner.

What We're Leaving Behind

A while back, I thought I might be losing weight here. My pants were starting to be spacious and hanging down, like when I lost weight while nursing. It makes sense. We are walking everywhere - often with a 50 lb. preschooler on my shoulders, plus I don't actually eat that much here. We have an occasional large, filling meal, but mostly it's a lot of fruit and tamales. I won't know if I've actually lost weight until who knows when. We have a scale at home, but it's unreliable. If I go to the doctor soon, I would get weighed. But I don't think I have a doctor's appointment in the near future. So whatever. I assume I'll gain it back quickly enough in the wintry Northeast.

However, I have also noticed the E seems to have gotten less pudgy and more muscley. His biceps are more defined, and his abs are pretty hard under the surface. It's easy to figure out why: he's walking everywhere, he has regular classes in physical education and gymnastics, he's in swimming class once a week, and he spends his free time doing cartwheels and backflips in bouncehouses and just about everywhere.

Come to think of it - his swim shorts are falling off his body too. Sometimes exposing a little too much of what's inside, he reports.

La verdad esta cerca

Speaking of a country where the dream of the 90's is alive...

El Qwerty

K has written before about the tendency here in Mexico to fix mechanical objects rather than dispose of them, and the way that at times it makes the country seems like it is still the 70's. So I was not surprised at all to walk by a typewriter store today. Granted they were mostly electric typewriters from the end of the 20th century and not funky antique typewriters, but still it was cool.

Dientes Dulces

One day, E came home with this award.

He apparently won a game for his "Habilidades de mouse" - abilities with a mouse - during clase de computacion. Yes, this is 21st century schooling here!

It also came with a huge bag of candy. After he got one lollipop, the rest went into the ever-growing bag of candy that I keep hidden under the sink.

I don't even think that's all of it. I think I threw some out or gave some away, and of course he's eaten some. It is just astonishing how much candy kids receive here. During calendas, at concerts, for holidays, and now at school.

Much of it wouldn't interest E - it's chilesalada or chamoyada. In addition, I'm pretty reticent about commercial Mexican candy, after seeing a news report a few years back about high levels of lead. I'm planning to keep a few pieces to pacify him during our travels home, and leave the rest to a local orphanage.

Phase Two

Items packed in appropriate bags. Instead of just piled in one place. There is surprisingly some space left in them. Not enough, I think, for all the stuff we have remaining.

Note the red market bag, which constitutes an additional carryon to hold all of our purchases here.

Anticipation

We discussed what we are looking forward to eating when we get back to America. D said asian food. E said pizza (which we have eaten occasionally here, but not as often as he likes I guess). I couldn't think of anything.

But just now, I remembered that I'll be reunited with my beloved nooch, and I can't wait to get back!

Patriotism

Every Monday morning, all of the students at E's preschool get in a big circle and do a ceremony with the Mexican flag. A group of four girls carry the flag around in the circle while the other kids stand and salute (Trivia fact: did you know that Mexicans salute with their hand on their chest rather than their forehead? I had no idea!) and sing the national anthem and recite what I can only assume is something akin to the Pledge of Allegiance. Mondays are the days that the kids all wear their dress uniforms, so they all look extra good doing this.

I have a feeling that if E's preschool in the US had the kids do this I would find it a bit creepy and filled with right-wing undertones, but here in Mexico I find it utterly adorable.

Origen (dos)

Last week, I gave a colloquium talk at the university here. I think it went well, but it was a little hard to tell how many of the blank stares in the audience came because of my math or because I needed to speak in English.

Afterwards, K and I went on a celebratory date lunch to Origen, a fancy-shmancy restaurant near the zocalo. It is definitely an example of modern alta cusine, with a meal that included both traditional ingredients and foams and a pricetag that could have bought roughly 75 tamales in the park near our house. (In fact, look for the restaurant on the upcoming season of Rick Bayless' tv show!)

But it was a great meal. We had a delicious carrot soup, Kay had a strange but tasty risotto (with grapes!), and I had a vey nice whitefish cooked in a chorizo broth with a black bean cake. There was also a ceviche amuse bouche, and Kay had a fancy cocktail. But I think the highlight of the meal was dessert. We split a plate of these heavenly chocolate-pasilla bunuelos served with a side of lemon verbena ice cream. And chopped tomatoes. Which was weird, but actually contributed to a phenomenal dessert. In fact, we dove right in and ate a bunch before we even thought to take a picture.

First Pass

Things we don't need for the next week. And that's the big suitcase.

Holy Water

We've seen a few of these at local churches. This is the most rustic. People filled water bottles from it - for what purpose I don't know.

At a Fiesta

I had no idea that foosball was so popular here. Or anywhere.

My New Purse

Which D says marks me as a tourist from a block away. Also unfortunately it bleeds when wet. Easily avoidable in Oaxaca, but when I get home - ??

It's a Man Thing

E was really excited to get his shoes "painted."

Origen

Date lunch. With grapes in my risotto and tomatoes in dessert. Most dishes topped with cilantro flowers.

Take That, Crocs

After D got his sandals, E wanted a pair. He remembered fondly the sandals made out of tires that he saw the day I got my sandals, at Mercado Abastos. Today we headed there again to do all of our final shopping in one fell swoop. While we didn't quite achieve that goal, we did find a number of gifts, food for the last days, and these beauties. Maybe not made out of airplane tires, but the name stuck. For the record, handmade for $4.

Pobrecita

One of the things I've realized here is that I have issues about being seen as the "poor mother." Sending him to school in pants with holes at the knees is a real trigger. Not sending in materials that the teacher requested is another.

I think this existed in the US - I always tried to keep his clothes new, showered him with too many toys - but I didn't really realize it. I was able to defend against it, but here I've had to really face it.

Tamales In The Park

Right around the corner from our apartment there is a woman who sells tamales every morning. And every Friday she sells dulce tamales, with raisins and pineapple. At least, the sign says she sells them every Friday. But most weeks after I drop E off at school she is already sold out. (Or did she ever have them?) So this morning, E and I left early to get some on the way to school and we succeeded, buying the last three. We ate two in the park, and brought the last one home for Kay. Mmmm.

Language Learner

One of the great pleasures of parenting is watching how your child learns and grows. It has been amazing to watch E's use and understanding of Spanish grow in our time here.

Every day, he seems to be absorbing more, using new words, asking what words mean in the English, or what the Spanish word is. At the same time, he is developing in so many other ways - learning the alphabet in Spanish, writing letters and words, wanting to learn to read. It is truly amazing. His school seems to be making all the difference.

I'm seeing how E learns language best when it is in context.

"Te amo" with a hug and a kiss.
"Ahorra" each time we rush across the street, avoiding oncoming cars.
"No gracias" to each vendor who walks up to us at an outdoor table.

Of course, there's a good bit of repetition in these situational cues, but I see how this mirrors how he learns new words in English. I sometimes call him "my little tape-recorder." He'll repeat a phrase he's heard us say - exactly - to see how we react. Do we affirm or correct him? When I notice him doing that now, I offer the definition of the unfamiliar word.


I've tried other techniques - offering the vocabulary, explaining the grammar, rehearsing responses - but it sticks fastest if it is contextual.

He seems to have turned a corner recently, and now he uses Spanish as often as English, and interchangeably. With kids who speak Spanish, he uses it easily (though not always correctly).

We hope he will be attending a bilingual immersion school in September, and I'm now thinking I should really try to keep up our Spanish in the interim. A new challenge!

Feria De Mezcal

One of the classes of older kids at E's school made big posters for each month listing the major events that occur to celebrate. I can't help but wonder if any school in the US would ever have a poster commemorating a Celebration of Bourbon or a Microbrewery Festival. Maybe in Portlandia...

Lil Swimmer

The one thing that E latched onto before our trip here were pictures of preschoolers at swimming class. It has since become clear that he thought he was going to swimming school, where that is all he would do all day. And it's even clearer that is his idea of heaven.

In fact, swimming is a part of the national standards for preschool, so many schools offer it. E goes to a class weekly for 45 minutes.

Several weeks ago, we visited a balneario, and it was apparent to D and I what a difference this weekly class was making. He could really swim without floaties for the first time.

Last week, D visited E's swimming school, and I went today. It was amazing.

That's E pushing the blue foam disk.

The school is dedicated to swimming, and it has a completely separate pool just for teaching children. They start with tiny babies and teach skills carefully and sequentially.

The pool is about 2 feet deep in the center, with edges that are only 3-6 inches under water, and a deeper part that is about 4 feet. The teacher-student ratio is supposed to be one to five, or but sometimes is one to three. They have tons of toys and equipment - noodles, rings, slides - to aid with learning.

E's teacher patiently tried to help him do a back float over and over again, all while putting up with him splashing water in her face.

I watched another teacher take a crying baby who didn't even want to shower and give her enough confidence and enjoyment that she climbed on a foam platform and slid into water over her head, smiling the whole time.

Is this kind of swimming school a Mexican or is it something they have in big cities in the US? Well, based on our experience, they should have them everywhere.

Un Mil Palabras

Eventually I will have time to write about our trip last weekend to go hiking in the Sierra Norte mountains. In 50-odd hours, we had enough crazy adventures to write many blog posts about. In the meantime, this photo will have to suffice.

Price Is Right

While not exact, I'm using a basic exchange rate of 10 pesos to the dollar. It makes for easy math.

It doesn't change my constant bafflement at prices. Most food seems relatively inexpensive. Some is just crazy cheap - a few bags of salt for 60 cents.

When things strike me as expensive (olive oil, parmesan cheese), I do the calculation and realize it's about what we would pay in the states.

Anything imported or with branding is a lot more. We see action figure toys for 500 pesos, that's $50US. Are they really selling a collectible action figure in a discount grocery store?

Packing Tip #2

I brought along E's pillow case (and a blankie), so he would have something from home. I don't think he needed either, since I've been using the pillow case.

I would definitely pack a pillow case for myself in the future. It's a little bit of comfort for very little space in the baggage.

Leche de Vaca

To me, all the dairy products here - cheese, milk, butter - taste like cows. This isn't a surprise, since this is a region known for its dairy. Quesillo de Etla, or Oaxacan cheese, is famous in Mexico and beyond.

When we visited the mercado in Etla, we even saw this sign:

"For hygiene and security to you the consumer, please don't bring dogs in the hour of milk sales." To me, that means there is an active dairy industry here.

I have to say, though, it scares me a bit to think of cattle roaming the most biologically diverse area on the planet, but I'll just cross my fingers that they are well-managed to avoid the cloud forests.

Tlacolula

One of the "problems" with being so busy here is that I feel we have fallen way behind on describing our adventures.  Alas.  

The weekend before last we went out to Tlacolula, a nearby town, for the big Sunday market.  From what we have read, this market draws tens of thousands of people from the surrounding communities each week, and what we saw seemed to agree with that assessment.  In addition to the normal market building filled with panaderias, vegetable vendors, butchers, and comedors, there was block after block after block of people with temporary stands set up.  And it even bled into the large (and beautfiul) churchyard where vendors were walking around and setting up their wares for sale.  And they were selling everything you can think of -- handmade clothes, cheap t-shirts, tamales, sandals (hooray!),  weavings, toys, fruit, knives, ice-cream, wood-carvings...it would probably be easier to list the things they didn't sell rather than the things they did sell.  

We even bought a handwoven hammock to replace the one that we bought in the Yucatan seven years ago that has outlived its time.  And we had a very nice conversation with the woman who sold it to us and wove it.



Even compared to the other market experiences we have had here in Oaxaca, and we have had many, the Tlacolula experience was quite interesting.  At one point, Kay suggested that comparing the market to a Super Walmart would be both the best comparison she could think of and the worst, and I think that hit the nail on its head.

PS - If you go to the market, it is well worth searching out Comedor Mary for lunch, which is one of the storefronts on the outside of the market on the side facing the church.  I am sure that other comedors are equally tasty, but I would happily vouch for Mary's mole, which was among the best we have had in Oaxaca, which made last weekend a very good weekend for mole.

Desayuno

Plantains sautéed in butter with shaved Oaxacan chocolate on pan de tlacolula (rolls made with butter and eggs).

Dos Semanas Mas

We leave Mexico two weeks from today, and we leave Oaxaca a few days before that. The time has definitely flown, and there is so much I still want to do here in town -- restaurants to eat at, museums to visit, culture to take in -- that I don't know if I could do it if I dedicated myself fully to being a tourist. At the same time, the reason for this trip has not been tourism but has been so that I could do research, and I also want to squeeze every last drop out of my collaborator here and make sure things are as productive as they possibly can be before we get back to the US and "real life".

Needless to say, this is causing me some stress.

Emotional Check-In

D and I are both depressed about leaving in less than three weeks. E has been homesick and is looking forward to being home.

Amor y Amistad

As I understand it, they don't celebrate Valentines Day here in Mexico. Instead, February 14th is celebrated as "Dia Del Amor Y Amistad" -- the day of love and friendship. As the name suggests, the focus is not just on romantic love but on more general types of affection (which makes it a far less weird holiday for preschools to be celebrating, but I digress). Here in Oaxaca, it is celebrated as a big party, with music and chocolate and revelry.

And balloons. Lots of balloons. Now, I'm pretty sure that on a normal day Oaxaca has the largest number of balloon vendors per capita anywhere on the planet. But yesterday things kicked it up a notch or three. Throughout town, you could not walk more than ten yards without passing someone with a huge set of balloons for sale -- hearts and stars and "Te Quieres" and "Mil Besos" and the like, in addition to the normal balloons featuring superheroes and Elmo and Dora. There were also people selling flowers and even the people who normally sell bubblegum and scarves where pitching it as a special gift for Dia Del Amor y Amistad.

We spent some time in the zocalo, and it was more crowded than I have seen it since New Years Eve, including one stage set up with senior citizens doing Guelaguetza dancing and another stage set up where it appeared that a series of Quincenera girls were doing elaborately choreographed dance routines with the same set of five male dancers -- who later put on masks and started dancing to Gangnam Style, because we haven't left American civilization THAT far behind. We quickly ducked into a museum in search of a bano and it was filled with a salsa band and many many people. We also saw a number of mariachi bands wandering the zocalo, but unfortunately did not get to hear any of them play.

All in all, it was a pretty wild party (and from what we heard from our apartment it went on far past our early bedtime), but what else would one expect from this fun city.

Meircoles de Ceniza

Despite the fact that Mexico is a very Catholic country, and the church is a strong part of many different aspects of the life and culture here in Oaxaca (not least of which are some of the many fiestas that we have already posted about as well as some that we might get around to posting about later), I thought it was interesting to note that I did not see a single person with ashes on their forehead today.

Alas

In my continuing series "Ways in Which Mexico Is Not The Paradise I Would Like To Imagine It To Be", I feel compelled to point out that last week while the Carribean World Series was taking place -- in Mexico, in fact! -- I did not see a single bar or restaurant carrying the games or advertising them. On the other hand, many bars, restaurants, and even stands at the mercado have been showing and advertising soccer games, including that dramatic Mexico-v-Netherlands showdown that ended in a 1-1 tie in overtime, proving once again that soccer may be the dullest game on the planet. And yet the people here eat it up.

In America, I have to put up with people pretending that soccer is interesting once every four years. I suspect it would be more if we lived here. Viva Beisbol!

Disturbing

And this is the new packaging!

Bad Parenting

This is my child playing with an empty tequila bottle in a dirty pile of rocks.

Besos de Nieve

One of the fun things about being in another place is always exploring the different ice cream flavors they have. Here in Oaxaca, one of the famous flavors of 'Nieve' (the local ice cream, which is often more like a sorbet) is Beso Oaxaqueno (literally meaning 'Oaxacan kiss') and includes apples, nuts, and carrots. A number of the places we have gone also serve Beso Zapoteca or Beso de Angel, although the internet is not as forthcoming about what is in those flavors.

Last night we went to the Plaza de Nieves - yes, there is a whole plaza dedicated to ice cream vendors - right outside the Basilica in town. And one place was serving 'Beso de Judas' flavor. I'm not sure I want to know what is in that one.

At Last!

I know you have all been waiting on pins and needles to find out if I would ever find a pair of huaraches in my size. Well, after several dozen times of me asking vendors at sandal stalls at different mercados "Tiene 11? Tiene gigante?" -- and almost always being met with laughter and shaking heads -- we finally had success at the Sunday Market in Tlacoloula today. Note that the soles are made out of tires. And no, I dont know what the white thing in the middle of the strap is.

Flowers Everywhere

I don't think it was the few drops of rain, but with the arrival of February, more and more trees are blooming. Not only are the purple, white, yellow and pink displays beautiful on their own, but the hummingbirds are having a feast.

I watch this one from where I work during the day, and it often has 10 to 15 hummingbirds at a time dipping into the flowers for nectar. It's quite a show.

International Food

Pasta is our non-Mexican go-to food here. You can find noodles and sauce easily, and its simple to make at home, filling, and uses up the last two liters of water you have to our into a pot to give the water man the old bottle.

It feels a little funny to cook Italian food in Mexico, but then I noticed the statement printed on the lower right side of the "Parmesan" cheese label and just laughed.

La Capilla

Eight Reasons You Should go to La Capilla if you ever happen to be near Zaachila Oaxaca

1) We have had many good meals on this trip. Many of them included mole. But we had yet to have one of those mole's that is so tasty and so smooth that you just want to eat it up by the spoonful. We had two of them at La Capilla: mole negro and coloradito. Mmmmm.

2) The goat barbacoa that Rick Bayless tweets about every Christmas isn't on the daily menu, but I cant imagine it is better than the lamb barbacoa that is.

3) Every restaurant should have hammocks that you can lie in and rest for an hour or so after you stuff yourself silly.

4) There are many cages filled with animals that you can look at. Turtles, and parrots, and peacocks, and monkeys. Yes, there is a giant monkey cage with two monkeys that are climbing and swinging and playing.

5) Many attentive waitstaff and a kitchen that opens up to some of the dining areas so that you can watch the women make tortillas and sauces and all kinds of other goodies.

6) We ordered a half pitcher of jamaica, and it was so big that it was still a third full after we had each had several glasses full.

7) Zaachila also has really cool ruins and a great looking market and is a town that just had a very nice vibe to it.

8) Just when you think things are all fitting together well, a mariachi band walks in to serenade you.

No Cambiar

One thing about Oaxaca is that you pretty much have to use cash everywhere. Our rent, our son's tuition, many places you buy food, and just in general it is hard to use credit cards. Yes, this makes me feel somewhat silly for going out of our way to get a new credit card with no foreign transaction fees, but thats no big deal. We just take a lot of money out of the ATM at a time.

Another thing about Oaxaca is that nobody has change. Ever. For one example, we took a cab a few weeks ago that cost 40 pesos. I had a 50 peso bill, and the driver could not make change for me, making me go from storefront to storefront until someone was willing to grudgingly break my 50 peso bill. Keep in mind that it is roughly 12 pesos to the dollar, so this would be like an American not being able to break a $5 bill for a $4 fare.

Another example is that today I had to pay my son's tuition bill. We owed $2030 pesos. I had four $500 peso bills and a $100 peso bill. And the school couldn't make change, despite the fact that lots of parents were needing to pay their tuition this week. As I watched the assistant principal go from classroom to classroom seeing if any of the teachers could break a $100 peso bill (which they couldn't do, for the record), I couldn't help but imagine the VP for Finance at my college going from classroom to classroom asking faculty if they had change for a ten dollar bill. It doesn't seem like that would happen.

I understand that there are cultural differences, and I shouldnt expect things to work here the way they work in the US. I really do. I just don't understand how everybody else manages to have the small bills they need to pay for things but not the small bills they need to make change for things. We are constantly trying to figure out ways to have small money, and while I normally like strategizing and game theory, this is one nut I have yet to crack.

Lunch

Roughly once a week, on a schedule that I can't figure out for the life of me, about a half dozen women set up food stands outside my office building. They cook regional antojitos like empanadas and mollotes on big comals. And they are very tasty. Today I got a shot of one of them roasting chiles to make a fresh salsa.

Amaryllis

Blossoming in February. Outdoors. Lots of trees flowering these days.

Music of the Night

I promised a more full report about our Candelaria evening, so I should probably write one before too long.  We had heard from various sources that there would be processions from the various churches with their baby Jesus dolls all dressed up to commemorate the event. So Saturday evening we strapped E into a backpack carrier and went to the zocalo in search of music.  We weren't sure what to expect, but we got a whole range of exciting activities.

First up, as we passed the Santo Domingo church, we passed a group which was clearly a small version of one of the processions we expected. There were maybe two dozen people, a half dozen Nino dolls dressed in their finest clothes, and a couple of acoustic guitars with singing as they walked by us.

Next up, as we passed the museum of contemporary art we heard music coming from inside that E was intrigued by, so we decided to go in and take advantage of a chance to look at some free art while listening to the live music.  Now, the music was billed as a combination of acid jazz and a Hip Hop DJ, and those of you who know me know that these might be two of my least favorite genres of music to begin with and so it wasnt a very promising combination.  But it was fun to listen to and a lively crowd, and we did indeed get to see some good art (including some very cool outdoor luminescent murals by George Mead Moore) and a good time was had as a diversion.

We continued on to the zocalo but before we got there we found a breakdancing group and again E wanted to stop to watch.  The dancers were pretty exciting, even if the choice of music on their MP3 player (House of Pain! A Hip Hop remix of 'Horse With No Name'!  Some 80's goodies!) left something to be desired.

Then we went on to the zocalo itself, where we ate our free tamales and wandered among some artisans and said hi to some friends.  After awhile we decided we werent going to get to see more processions after all, so we called it a night and headed up to our favorite bakery to get some bread and pan dulces for the coming days.  

But as we left the bakery we stumbled across a large and lively procession through the streets.  It was hard to tell how many of the people were with the original procession, how many were just hangers on, and how many were tourists like us who just thought it was all pretty cool.  It was similar in some ways to the procession we marched with during Esquipulas -- there was a band playing lots of brass instruments and drums, there was a pickup truck with an image of a saint, there were women dancing and the giant puppets and globos that Oaxacan celebrations always seem to have -- but it was both smaller and more festive.  It was clearly a religous calenda, but it was less formal and there was a lot more mescal being passed around.  We ended up dancing with them for many many blocks, and in fact decided to get a taxi home even before they reached their destination.  In the end, we think it had nothing to do with Candelaria and was probably one of the Saints celebrations of a cathedral in a neighborhood across town.

So yeah, modern music and art, teenagers performing in the street, and religious celebrations both quiet and loud...sounds like a typical night in this exciting and fun city!

And February Made It Shiver

One of our most vivid memories from our trip to Oaxaca ten years ago was how, no matter how nice the weather was in the morning, the skies would open up and we would get a torrential rainfall in mid-afternoon. Now, that was in June, the rainy season, and this trip we knew we were coming in the dry season. In particular, Kay would point out that the average rainfall in Oaxaca in the month of January is zero inches. But February starts the very inklings of the beginning of the wetter seasons, and averages something like a whopping two inches of rain all month.

Now, we have seen sprinkles of rain in the mid-afternoon each of the last two days which did not last long, much like those summer rain showers. I am curious to see how predictable these become in their timing, but I promise not to keep giving daily rain reports.

when it rains...

After more than six weeks in Oaxaca we finally saw our first raindrops today. It wasnt much, but there were actual clouds and actual water coming out of them.

Of course, it had to happen while we were swimming at a pool in San Agustin Etla that we had driven up to with friends. Sigh.

War of the Tamales

Today is Candelaria here in Mexico, and in Oaxaca that means tamales. In fact, my collaborator referred to the holiday as 'tamale day'. In fact, if you are the kind of person who reads page 18 of the international section of a newspaper, you may have read about tamales in Oaxaca today as there was a bit of an incident.

Now, I have only been able to read brief translated news stories and accounts by folks on Twitter, but from what I gather there is a regional politician named Hugo Jarquin who wanted to commemorate the day by giving away tamales and atole in the zocalo. And not just a few tamales, but 25,000 of them. And 5000 liters of atole. But in any event, he may or may not have had all the appropriate permits (I know, its the first I have heard of regulations and permits on our whole trip, too!) and the police tried to stop him and people got upset and tamales were thrown and then there was tear gas and riot police were brought in and it was a big event until it all settled down.

We were nowhere near the zocalo when all of that took place, but we did head down tonight to try to see some of the calenda processions that are also part of the holiday (more on that later). And when we got there nearly 5 hours after Jarquin's 'Megatamaliza' started there were in fact still tamales and atole. So we got some and ate them on the zocalo. And they were yummy.

Counterpoint

Oaxaca has many many wonderful things, but this might be the most boring piece of playground equipment ever.

Six Weeks

We have now been in Oaxaca for six weeks (and Mexico a bit longer than that) with four weeks to go. As is probably a cliche, the time has both flown by and feels like it has gone on forever. I am definitely not ready to leave, except in those moments when I am anxious to get back (news of a burst pipe at home doesnt really help matters in either direction, either) In any event, I thought this would be a good time to take stock of the things I miss and the things I don't. (In fairness, I thought last weekend would be a good time as it was the halfway point, but we were busy)

* I miss a social life. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to my wife and son about so very many things. But other than them and my collaborator (with whom I almost exclusively talk math) and a few casual conversations, I havent really talked to anyone else since my parents left. And there are times when that has been hard.

* I don't miss the weather. I could really get used to clear skies and highs around 80 every day. I really could.

* I don't miss cellphones and 3G internet. We had said we were going to get a cheapo cell phone to use while we were here, but the weeks passed and passed and it started to feel less and less neccesary. And yes, there are moments when I would like to be able to call Kay in the mercado or look up a restaurant's address on my iphone, but in general it has been very easy to go back to living in the 90's.

* I miss tv, but not nearly as much as I thought I might. I had planned to do Netflix streaming and the like while we were here, but instead I've been reading and listening to podcasts and doing actual math at night.

* I don't miss non-Mexican food. The other night Kay said to me that she might be starting to get a little sick of certain kinds of Mexican food. I don't share the sentiment. Although now that I'm typing this, I could use some chinese food.

* I miss good beer. Not that I drink that much of it at home, but after six weeks of Bohemia (a fine beer, don't get me wrong) I do wonder when the craft beer revolution will really hit in Mexico.

* I don't miss teaching or being department chair. I know, thats a real shocker.

Smells of Oaxaca

Elliott is very attuned to his sense of smell. He asks what odors are a lot (and there are a lot of them in Mexico), and he says aloud if something smells good or bad. He'll often say "I smell [insert person's name]" when he passes by their house or a place that has a fragrance he associates with them.

When we arrived in Hierve El Agua on Sunday, we stepped off the flatbed truck, walked a hundred feet on the dirt, and started down the path to the springs. Elliott cried out, "Mommy, what is that smell? It smells so good here. I like it!"

I knew the aroma - from my youth. It's probably been three decades since I smelled it. It was the unmistakable olfactory experience of the high Sierras - air so fresh that it carries the faintest whiff of pine resin from a single tree a hundred feet away and the rising warmth from the sun-baked earth.

"That's the smell of nature, my love. And I'm sorry you've never smelled it before."

[Insert onslaught of modern, hippy parental guilt here.]

Hierve El Agua Tres

And in this one you can see the cliffs and the pools from the next ridge over, as well as some of the mineral deposits running down the side of the cliffs that the place is famous for. And allegedly one of only two places like it in the world.

Hierve El Agua dos

In this one, you can see some of the spring-fed pools on the side of the cliffs, which were amazing to swim in for all five minutes that I could handle the cold cold waters.

Hierve El Agua

It was a pain to get to, between the bus ride to Mitla and the 40 minute ride on dusty bumpy winding mountainous roads in the back of a pickup truck, but once we got there it was truly an amazing sight like nothing I have ever seen. Here's one photo.

Agua

Each Wednesday and Saturday, the water guy comes by and swaps out an empty for a new 20-liter plastic bottle of quadruply-filtered water. They're the size that you use in an office water cooler. We go through exactly two of these a week, filling up smaller water bottles to carry with us, for drinking, cooking, and teethbrushing. This doesn't include showering, washing dishes or clothes, or any water used in cooking food that we buy preprepared. It's interesting to know that our little family of three consumes 40-liters of water a week, or a little more than 5 liters a day. It costs us 50 pesos, or around $5, a week.

Ready for School

It doesn't look like uniforms are going to come in time for us to feel like its worth spending the money for them. In the meantime, 3/4 of E's pants now have holes in the knees. At the Soriana last night, we picked up some clothes that resemble the uniforms. The other kids wear white or gray polos with navy blue pants. Confirming people's comments, he wears a size 6 here. E was excited about new clothes - a fashionisto through and through - so agreed to a photo shoot before school. Can you believe what a little man he is?