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Posted from Oaxaca, Mexico at 9:21 PM local time¡Hasta Luego, Oaxaca!Despite discovering fun and interesting places wherever I travel, it's rare that I come across a place I feel I could easily call home. Oaxaca, in the month I've been here, has become one of those places. I write these words little more than an hour before catching an overnight bus for the neighboring state of Chiapas. It is a Sunday evening - and like almost every evening I've experienced here in Oaxaca - pleasant and cool. Sitting atop the rooftop terrace of what has been my home for 26 days, I have mixed feelings about departing. I'm looking forward to spending the next few weeks exploring, as I've generally been tethered to the two cities in which I've studied. Yet I'm also leaving a place I've truly enjoyed - and life being what it is, there's no guarantee I'll ever return. My appreciation for Oaxaca is a product of its pleasant setting, fascinating culture (including wonderful food and art), and friendly people, the Oaxacueños. I am a mountain person, someone who almost always finds distant peaks appealing; I am surrounded by them here. In fact, upon venturing into the nearby mountains of the Sierra Norte for the first time, a fellow Seattle student and I both commented that we easily could have been on the eastern slopes of the Cascades back home in Washington State (excluding a few variations in vegetation, of course). Though hot during the day, the temperature drops significantly at night. With the exception of a few busy streets, the air is clean. Oaxaca is full of lovely churches and colorful buildings. Like most Mexican cities, life centers around the zócalo. While I have heard a few veteran Oaxaca fans lament the local government's recent dispersal of the indigenous people who once congregated in the zócalo, it is still pleasant and full of life. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, the central square is always packed. Clowns produce smiles, bands entertain, and children run around beneath mammoth balloons outside the cathedral. Sitting at one of the pleasant restaurants around the square, one could watch the people for hours. I've probably said it elsewhere, but one of the notable traits of many cities in central and southern Mexico is the obvious sense of community. Visit Oaxaca's zócalo on any Sunday evening, and that sense of community cannot be missed. Despite having been told repeatedly by Mexicans and foreigners alike how pleasant Oaxaca would be, I was surprised on arrival to find the city teeming with tourists. Walking down the streets in the central district (many of them closed off to motor vehicles, something that contributes significantly to the city's pleasant and pedestrian-friendly feel), one hears French and English often. Lining the streets are tourist-oriented restaurants and art galleries, many of them upscale and posh. If forced to choose a single word to describe Oaxaca, I would likely settle on "color." In addition to many buildings being painted in brilliant hues, Oaxacan art is a celebration of color - and there is much of it. One cannot be in Mexico for long before learning that one of the country's most important centers of art and culture lies in Oaxaca. There are several extensive markets, many of them selling local crafts and textiles. I've been told that some of the country's finest crafts are made in Oaxaca State (Oaxaca is the capital of the Mexican state of the same name). The food here is excellent. I've sampled some of the moles and more famous dishes, but I've generally been perfectly content visiting no-name restaurants to down plates of tacos al pastor or the local specialty, tlayudas. While I've heard debates about the accuracy of describing them as such, many people refer to tlayudas as "Mexican pizzas." It's a reasonable comparison, though the "dough" is replaced by giant tortillas of various kinds. Often, they are topped by tomatoes, onions, lettuce, avocados, salsa, and cheese. I was pleasantly surprised by Oaxacan cheese, known as quesillo, which to my taste is milder than many cheeses and possesses an usual (stringy and stretchy!) texture. Did I mention the avocados, or aguacates as they're known in Spanish? They're everywhere, on everything - almost as common as limes. The local alcoholic specialty is known as mezcal, which like tequila is produced from the maguey plant. On my first Friday afternoon at the language school here, my teacher (Arturo, a male similar in age to me) decided the entire lesson would be about mezcal. I tested eight or nine varieties before buying a small bottle to lug home. (In reality, part two of the afternoon lesson was taught over micheladas and a pool table at a local pub - so it wasn't exclusively about mezcal.) Oh, I should also mention Oaxacan hot chocolate, which is generally mixed with a little cinnamon and sometimes almond. The flavor is distinct, the drink particularly common in the cool of the mountains where it is often slurped from large bowls. Whoops, almost forgot to mention it. One of the most popular local snacks is chapulines: fried grasshoppers! Generally marinated in lime, chili, onion and garlic, they're piled in mounds in and around the markets. Legend says that visitors who eat them are sure to return to Oaxaca. I sampled them for the first time today, downing about a dozen. (Perhaps I will be back.) Despite eating all sorts of unusual foods in other countries in recent years, it was my first time snacking on insects (at least intentionally). They weren't bad, though I have to say that it was a bit disconcerting at first attempting to dislodge grasshopper legs stuck between my teeth! I studied Spanish at the Becari Language School, and though my experience at the Spanish Institute of Puebla was likely a bit better, I was satisfied with the experience. The instructors were great and the environment pleasant. I simply found the structure of the Puebla program more appealing. (If you missed it, I described the experience in Puebla in some detail in my log entry for March 3.) Still, there are numerous schools to choose from in Oaxaca. While the drop-in-for-a-few-weeks mentality at Becari is perfect for some, there are plenty of other options. It's time for me to run. I'll have much more to share about Oaxaca, including photos, in a slideshow down the road. I was able to visit some of the more interesting sites in the area and spent last weekend on the road visiting Taxco and Cuernavaca. It's off to Chiapas and Semana Santa (celebrations during the week of Easter) now. If you're ever in Mexico, I'd highly recommend a stop in Oaxaca, particularly if you're into culture and community (versus the beach, though there are plenty of those on the Oaxaca Coast as well). It's a great place, perhaps my favorite in Mexico thus far. Hasta luego, Oaxaca. I hope to return someday.
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