First time back at the Zocalo

I finally got down to the Zocalo! It still looks beautiful, and if you didn't already know about it, you could hardly tell that it had changed. More on that in another post. For those of you that aren't familiar with the term, the Zocalo is the citie's central square. Here there are lots of trees and flowers. The landscaping has kind of half walls around it to sit on. In the middle there is a gazebo where you can catch the marimba group. There are lots of nice restaurants all around the square.

While I'm here I plan on going down there often to sit down with either a book or my laptop (some restaurants even have wireless internet), and order a pitcher of "limonada con gas" (lemonade made with carbonated water). The carbonation makes it really good. I'm surprised that I haven't found it anywhere else but Oaxaca.


Going down there we passed the big Benito Juarez market and lots of little stalls along the street. The city really does seem like a quaint colonial town downtown. Some other day I'll go down specifically to get some pictures to post. Anyway, down on the Zocalo we got some drinks from Michoacana, an ice cream place. I got horchata. At first glance it appears to be milk, but in reality it is some kind of rice water. It's kind of sweet, and it has a very distictive flavor. In the best horchata, they put in lots of pieces of melon and walnuts. Delicious!! :)

First pic: Pizza delivery motorcycle. I still think pizza being delivered in cars is wierd... :)
Second pic: The street just off one corner of the Zocalo at dusk.
Third pic: Two musicians playing Andean music on one side of the Zocalo.

Party from Sunday

Well, since I didn't have much going on today, I can write about the Mother's Day party at the church in Zaachila yesterday. Apparently last week all the men in the church made the women leave really quickly after church so they could plan the party. :)

One of my favorite foods from Mexico is tamales, and that's what we had, and we had them in abundance. We had tamales de mole, which are tamales with chicken and a chocolate based sauce that isn't sweet (the mole). They also had tamales de rajas, which are tamales with cheese and strips of chile peppers. They also had sweet tamales, which tasted like there was some pineapple in there. I ate four of them and was feeling pretty full, but apparently, in some parts of the state, almost everyone will eat as many as eight or more!

We also had Jamaica to wash it down with. No, I'm not a lunatic that thinks you can drink a country; it's just hibiscus juice, silly! (What's so unusual about that?!!) I'm not sure if it's a really special type of hibiscus, but it's basically just dried hibiscus flowers boiled in water. Typically it's drunk cold, though.

Along with all that we had something that, unlike tamales, you can't get in Mexico. Nieves. Literally snow (which, of course, is easy to find in MN); really is like home-made ice cream. They had ordered walnut. It was delicious-a nice vanilla flavor with plenty of big chuncks of walnuts, and the slightly rough consistency that makes nieves so good.

First pic- Train tracks behind the house where I'm staying.
Second pic- Nuez (walnut) nieves!!!
Third pic- Our local butcher shop that also has some veggetables. It's just across the street on the right side of the first pic.

Mexican traffic and my new best friend

Well, since I'm all worn out from a fun day, I won't post everything yet. Today, I found out that I have a new best friend in the Agee's cat. This morning at quarter to seven it was meowing at my door wanting in. I kicked it out after a while, but it came back in the window. Oh, well. It's cute. Except that I'm getting cat hair all over everything.

For church today, I went out to Zaachila. Along the way I heard all about the changes that have come to Oaxaca, and many of the interesting incidents since I left. Concerning the traffic in Oaxaca, this seems rather accurate:

"Speed limit? What's that? .... Driver's license? Why bother with that stuff? .... Insurance? ... Ha! You don't really think I'm going to get in a crash do you?! ... Red lights mean you need to stop and stay stopped until the light turns green? Why...?" Why, God, did you not let me stay and learn to drive in Oaxaca??? It's so much more fun.

Anyway, it's always interesting to see the expressions on peoples' faces when they see me. They look at me; then take a second look; then stare as a look of slow recognition comes over their face. Finally, "Timothy???" I find it so amusing how I just show up in their church after two years of being gone. And hardly anyone knows I'm going to be their. They're excited to see me, though. I currently have standing invitations to stay with a family out there for the weekend, go up to the Sierra (mountains) for a weekend, and/or help teach English classes somewhere.

Sometime tomorrow I'll have more on the Mother's Day party.

First pic: The outside of the Zaachilia church
Second pic: The inside of the church in Zaachila
Third pic: My new best friend

Go Guerreros!!!

One of my favorite things about Oaxaca is the driving. In all honesty it really is. Sometime I'm going to get a four or five minute video from a taxi very literally weaving in and out of traffic. Or maybe a huge bus passing another huge bus with a whole four inches of room. What?!! What a waste of three and a half inches!! :) I wish I could take drivers ed here. American driving is just so boring, so proper, so.. so... so sane!!! Oh, well.

Anyway, the reason I'm talking about driving is because we took a bus to and a taxi from a Oaxaca Guerreros (warriors) baseball game. It was so fun!! I remember many good times in that park. Just six bucks for general admission, which is pretty much anywhere. Take me out to the ball game; take me out to the park; buy me some tacos and tlayudas (huge, hard tortillas with lots of stuff on them). It's really fun, and a lot different from the US. You get to sit really, really close to the field for just six bucks. You have people walking aroiund selling tacos and spicy peanuts and all manner of little snacks, and stuff from the Italian Coffee Company, and lots of other things.

And then there are the sounds. Oh, my; if you've never been to a Mexican ball game, you 'ain't heard nothin'. You have at least three people with rather large drums, beating them practically the whole game. Then you have you're people with horn type things, and twirly wooden things that are really lowd. ......By the way, don't you love car alarm sirens? Well, if so, then have I got a ball game for you!!! I have no idea who thought of installing some kind of siren thingy in the stadium byt that gets almost as annoying as drums after a while. Oh, did I forget to mention the fire crackers? Anyone have any knowledge of US law? I kind of doubt they allow ball games to get this exciting. I think I must have jumped every single time a firecracker (very loud ones) went off, which was every time the Guerreros did something cool or every time people were getting bored. Boy is it fun!! They stick them in the fence out in the cheap outfield seats (just a buck!!) and then make sure no one is sitting withing two or three rows.

Anyway, that's the more exciting part of my life so far. As for me helping out at school, I am officially "Mr. Carlson", since I am (kind of) a member of the staff. I've been tudoring a girl in Math, going to PE with the high schoolers, and helping out with other things that come up. Not to mention reading a tone :) Can't complain, though. The library at school has some good books.

First pic: A guy selling all kinds of nuts at the ball game. Not to be confused with the nuts that read my blog :)
Second pic: A panorama of the ball park; it's kind of hard to see so if you want the high resolution image just ask.
Third pic: The guys running (walking) back to school after PE. They have to use the area shown in previous pics which is about three quarters of a mile from school, because they don't rent the gym at the seminary where the school is.

Mission Folks

Wow, it was just my second afternoon here, but I was already over to Cindy Hoover's house to have dinner with the mission folks. Adam Moore was there with his fiance, Dulce, and Jo Ellen, along with the Perez family, a couple from Turlock, and some lady who I don't know.

It was great, bringing back fun memories of cooking with Cindy. I helped cooked the meal consisting of (allow me to gloat, please; I don't think any of you had this sort of meal) all gourmet things; we had roast beef, au gratin potatoes with goat cheese, glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, chopped mushrooms cooked with port or something, and then Hagen Dasz vanilla ice cream with strawberries on top. Remember now that I am suffering for the Lord, working here in Oaxaca, clear out in the middle of nowhere. :) :) :)

It was Christmas dinner; yep, I was thinking the same thing you probably are. I thought that the person who told me was just mistaken or something so I didn't mention it and I still don't quite understand why (possibly it was a Christmas present that was delayed?). Anyway, we even had a couple of carols and a couple of presents for Cindy. It was just like old times here (except then we never had Christmas twice a year :)

First pic: Oaxaca Christian School, where I used to go. We only rent the half underground part which goes up to about where the steps to the gym end.
Second pic: A view from the main road we used to drive on to get to school.
Third pic: Christmas dinner with me next to last on the right.


By the way, if there is anyone from Minnehaha reading this, just wanted to let you know that I already miss all of you. Hope you don't forget about me over the summer here in Oaxaca.

Here and tired

It's finally here. I'm actually in Oaxaca, although it feels kind of surreal. In the morning I'm in school with all my friends and in the evening I'm in Oaxaca, Mexico. Now that I've gotten here it feels like it's going to be a much longer time than it seemed before I left, and I think I'm going to miss my friends from school a lot more than I thought I would.

Anyway, the flight went pretty well. Even considering that the lone flight attendant had trouble opening the door in Oaxaca... and even though she was mad and was yelling at us to sit down even though the fasten seat belts sign was off.... and even though the lights were going from on to off to only emergency lights to on to emergency lights (you get the idea; it was a good thing the plane was on the ground)... and even though the cabin pressure wasn't equalized when the cabin door opened :) . All that was okay for two reasons. 1. I didn't have to go through the Mexico City airport. 2. They actually served a meal on the plane!!! Either turkey or ham sandwiches, with carrots and drinks and snickers bars!!! I guess it was an international flight, but it was still shorter than my flight to Houston.

I'll have more later, with more pics (first two from the Houston-Oaxaca flight; last one the playing field for gym class here. the scars on my knees attest to the fact that American football was not meant to be played on dirt and rocks :(