Casa Cid de Leon Oaxaca

... and responding to numerous advertisements, we settled on a modest but spacious apartment in San Jose La Noria (a middle class neighborhood in the south), which is conveniently located near a supermercado, lavanderias, a university, and is within a 20-30 minute walk to the Centro Historico. <br><br>We've already become members at a terrific lending library with a stellar selection of English books. I'm ...

... here in Oaxaca, went camping on a mountain in Mitla, explored Mexico City for a week, worked together doing construction with Manos de Vida, traveled to Puebla together and worked as counselors at a camp, and just spent a lot of time around the house hanging out and having solid conversations (and watching the office ...

... popularity, or what have you, we feel they have value, we feel they are worth something to us, and perhaps, we feel they are priceless. I could see it so clearly, and I could feel it in the pages of my life. This was the thing that had smelled so rotton all these years. I used to love like money. The church used love like money. With love, we withheld affirmation from the people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did."

... mountain backdrop . We were at 2160 metres altitude and the air clear and clean, we were up in the highlands and the weather cooler and even chilly at night. We wandered town and found delightful cobbled stone streets and loads of colourful buildings very pretty. As usual lots of churches popping up around almost every 3rd corner.We took a steep hike up a hil to a church which overlooked the town and got a grat view of this quaint town of 142,00 people.We found the post office ...

... a pre-Columbian site meaning that it was built by the Zapotecs before the arrival of the Europeans. More specifically it dates back to about 500 BC.<br><br>Built on a flattened mountaintop, its structures include the Great Plaza surrounded by elevated platforms, temples, palaces, the ball-court, altars and tombs. <br><br>At its peak, around AD 300 it was said to have a population of 40,000 that is hard to imagine given the ...

... us for! Wouldn't have had a problem contributing to the church renovation except we thought the president was doing that! Our dosh was obviosly swiftly pocketed! Last night we went to see some traditional dance called Guelaguetza. This morning we had a cookery class, learning to make some of the great dishes of Mexico and this area in particular. It was great to get the wee secrets ...

... carne asada, chorizo, white rice, a baked tortilla with salsa and cheese, and some salad. That was followed with pineapple and cantelope. Then we headed to a black pottery shop and watched a local man make a vase out of clay in less than 12 minutes. It was muey impressivo. For those that don't know or won't do the research, black pottery is a local thing where the clay dries in a dark grey color, but before it ...

... and were pretty powerful. We ventured to playa Carrizalillo by cab. A beautiful bay at the foot of some steps, but sadly no waves whatsoever. So i decided to call it a day on the surfing. That night we headed to our favourite restaurant in Puerto Escondido. Acuarius. They served steak and chip baguettes, which we were quite fond of. Our final destination Oaxaca, 1500 metres above sea level it has a cool refreshing climate. After a 12 hour bus journey we finally arrived and ...

... 2 guys my age, one older man and woman. They seem really interesting. Then there are 2 other guys from Illinois and North Carolina. Yes, all boys lucky me. Illinois has only been there a week and I can't remember about the other guy. Illinois had no Spanish really and is already talking after a week, it gives me hope, and he lives a 30 minute walk from the school too! So anyway I had one break for 15 min then back to work then another break for 20 minutes. Next I did ...

... t have wanted too long there as we wandered through market places that sold everything (even little live turtles and Dora the Explorer balloons) and ate a couple of times in the zocalo which reminded me of Croatia and Spain with the gardens, buildings, churches and families lazily wandering around. I had some Negro mole, Oaxacan speciality, which was heavy and dark - perhaps the mole should go on a diet......ohhhhhh.....so sad and not funny......but we are still ...