Eating Grasshoppers in Oaxaca

  Oaxaca, Mexico
Sunday, August 26, 2007

So after a few days in San Miguel de Allende, we took the bus back to Mexico City and stayed overnight at the same guest house - Casa de Gonzales. On Friday morning we got up early and took a taxi to the TAPO bus station to head to Oaxaca City. We decided to go with a first class bus instead of the deluxe bus as the price was $20 US cheaper per person for first class. We were spoiled with the deluxe bus to and from San Miguel de Allende but the first class bus was just fine. It is as good or better than Greyhound and the trip went by fairly quickly. We watched a few movies in Spanish and before we knew it we arrived in Oaxaca. The journey was about 6.5 hours in total.

Much to our delight, Adrianīs mom Chela and brother Pepe were waiting for us at the bus station. We are so lucky that Adrian and Silvana arranged for us to stay with their family. They are so kind and made us feel so at home. That evening, Adrianīs brother Carlos took us to the Zocalo and showed us all the museums, galleries, restaurants and shops. We had a beer at a restaurant in the zocalo and had "cacahuates" (Spanish for peanuts) with salt and lime. They are delicious and make you want to drink `mas cervezaī. A brilliant marketing ploy!

Wedding characters

On Saturday, August 25th we had to go to the Instituto Cultural Oaxaca to do our placement exam and pay tuition. I made it into high beginner (level 1B) and Andy is in low advanced (level 3A)! I guess all his studying and hard work paid off. I always was a bit of a slacker, but no more! Now I have to sink or swim because we are in total immersion now. After an orientation at the school, we walked to the zocalo and saw a wedding taking place at Santo Domingo cathedral. There were men in gigantic bride and groom costumes which were pretty neat to see! Later on we went back to the Morenoīs house for lunch and then in the evening, we all went to a cafe where Pepeīs sister-in-law was singing. It was really nice and fun to meet Pepeīs wife Pilar and their son Santiago! He is a lot of fun.

Petrified waterfall

On Sunday we joined up with other students to do a day trip to a place called Hierve el Agua. It took about 2 hours of winding up a mountain to get there but it was worth it. There are pools of fresh mineral springs and huge petrified waterfalls. We went on a nature walk with the guide and then had a dip in the pools. They arenīt hot springs like we have in Canada - more like luke warm which was refreshing on a warm day.

Worm and lime

Later on that day we went to a restaurant and distillery of Mezcal which I think is like Tequilla. Andy ate the lime and worm with his but I stuck to the Crema de Mezcal which was Piņa Colada flavoured. We visited a market on the way home and sampled Chapolines (grasshoppers fried with garlic). Not bad actually!!

Sunday evening we relaxed and prepared for the big school week ahead of us!