Day One

After our continental breakfast of coffee (yay!), yogurt, granola, and fruit, Maddy, Emma and I set off to explore the city. We wandered our way past coffee shops and artisan galleries to the Templo Santo Domingo, a cathedral near our hostel which appears to be entirely made of gold. After lighting candles, we walked to the Zócalo, the central plaza. For someone like me who loves people watching, the Zócalo is heaven. It’s frequented by everyone from indigenous older women selling bread from baskets balanced on their head to elderly American tourists to small children running around in their school uniforms. Traditionally, the Zócalo is where protests against the government are held, and sure enough there was a group of activists waving signs while their leader gave an amplified speech. From the Zócalo we wandered south, through the shopping district. At one market, we ended up in row after row of raw meat—entire animals hanging up for purchase. It was a bit hard for me to stomach, but it’s all part of the cultural experience—right? I bought a sun hat from a man who wouldn’t believe that I was American—he thought I was Italian. This was fine by me. The part I love most about Oaxaca: every other store is a chocolatería, selling chocolate mole. They all have free samples, and so you never actually need to buy chocolate mole, you can just go from store to store sampling! I decided to head off on my own for the afternoon, and ended up at a bakery. I got a muffin, a loaf of honey bread, and a churro for 8.5 pesos, or about 65 cents. Now I’m off to our official welcome dinner and the start of orientation!

I'M HERE!

Emma having coffee on the roof of our hostel

Our hostel in Oaxaca

The second floor of the hostel

After a long day of traveling, I am in Oaxaca! I met up with fellow Unitarian Universalist and vegetarian Maddy Phillips, who is from Seattle, in Houston for the last leg of our flight. Once on the ground in Mexico, we successfully talked the customs agents into granting us the 180 day visas (el máximo), and got a taxi to our hostel. I am already in love with Oaxaca. Even through the darkness, the bright colors of the colonial buildings looked like a scene from a movie (or a postcard). Our hostel—Don Mario—is run by the sweetest woman, who explained in very slow Spanish that we must not flush toilet paper down the toilet and that breakfast will be at 9. I understood everything she said perfectly, and was a bit annoyed with her slow pace, so apparently my Spanish is much better than I thought! All of the rooms look out over the courtyard, and I would guess that it is about 65 degrees outside (hasta la vista, Wisconsin winter!) Maddy and I met then Emma Landau, from Cornell, who got here on Friday. Emma, already sick and sunburned, was eager to go to bed, but we all have plans to explore the city tomorrow before our program begins tomorrow night! We’re staying at the hostel for the next week of orientation, and it seems like the perfect place to settle in and get acquainted with la idea de vivir bien.