Hotel Marques Del Valle Oaxaca

... fried bananas, tortillas doused with a creamy mole negro (a traditional Oaxacan black sauce made with cocoa, chile, and other spices), guacamole, fried Oaxacan queso (a mozzerella-like locally-made cheese [Mmmm]) and refried black beans. I passed on the stuffed chiles, as well as the grasshoppers.<br><br>It turned out to be an incredible hassle to get to the damn tree. Though the necessary bus stop was quite clearly labeled on the map, in real life, it was not so much ...

... managed to buy a guitar and was pretty happy with the purchase. He headed back for a shower and then out to try somewhere else for tea. Again the food wasnt too crash hot. before heading back to the same bar for some drinks. The little latin tease from the night before was there, but its hard trying to pick up people with no spanish and your only pick up lines in spanish are: soy cachonda (im horny - in spanish). So the fact that I can even get some of these girls to kiss me ...

... waiting around, and the discussions we had each morning on the bus. When I arrived at the dump community on Wednesday, I took a crash course called "impoverished Mexican construction 121". I spent the morning building a home for a homeless family. We built it out of only four materials - wood, corrugated tin sheets, nails, and Corona bottle caps (salvaged from the dump). When ...

... of time. <br><br>While my comparison to Provence is all well and good I would challenge you to go to Provence at this time of year, January, and come away with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Well on second thought it might still be fuzzy but it certainly would be anything but warm.<br><br>The point is that there is nowhere in Europe and even North Africa where the temperatures would be as warm and pleasant as in Mexico at this time of the year.<br><br>So here in ...

... but without ice cream (helado). As we made our way back toward the Zocolo we were also keeping an eye out for a church built by the Jesuits in the late 1500's. We passed a likely suspect and decided to see if we could find out anything about it. The courtyard walls were obviously being rebuilt but we were able to find our way into a side chapel. We were stopped in our tracks by the most incredible singing and liturgy ...

... friendly! Our second stop was to a weaving compound where women have come together to support themselves though this line of work. We bought some things to show our support, mostly because it was much cheaper! From there we went to a market. Yes, a typical market that sells fruit and goods with a tiny bit of tourist items. Some locals thought it was a good idea to bring dollys through the tightest of areas, and we were stuck in a crowd of ...

... invited me to two parties), and have stayed in three different hotels. A lot of this footwork isn't very fun or exciting, but there's a beauty in how easily and quickly it has come together. The only problem is that the part of me that, for weeks, has been saying "I can't wait to be settled down in Oaxaca" is nowhere to be found. I probably should be aggravated with myself, but how was I supposed to know? I've encountered a lot of white ...

... I am not the spirit fan, I will skip this experience and move forward to Mitla. Mitla, another from the incountable monumental sites in Mexico, with a pyramid complex and unique mosaics. And last stop - the waterfalls, called petrified waterfalls, surrounded by mountains and small lakes with hot water.

Another day we explored east from the city to the market of Tlacolula, the weavers of Teotitlan and the ruins of Mitla. There are several other villages and sites of interest along side roads into the mountains, the Sierra Madre del Sur. Tlacolula has the the oldest market is mesoamerica. Each Sunday artisans and farmers and crafters from the surrounding area arrive, almost at ...

... one way, with about 16-18 curves per mile, that adds up to over 2500 curves each way! And then there's the topes! Luckily, going through the mountains, there weren't that many little villages, however, each of those villages had several topes. The grand total was 150, which averaged one per mile, each way! Add that to the 2500 curves, we were happy enough averaging about 30 mph, tops! When we got to Oaxaca, the traffic was totally ...