Oaxaca, Mexico

Hola Amigos y Familia,

We made it! As usual Joe talked me into a midnight flight and for the first time I slept on the plane. Probably because I'm sick . . . Joe gave me his cold. Our flights were extremely close this time, or the planes were running late. In Mexico City we found our gate and noted the sign for Oaxaca with a message saying the flight was boarding. We rushed up to the counter only to be told "No problem, don't worry". Okay. When the sign changed to final call for our flight to Oaxaca, I tried again. Now I had a small contingent of 'worriers'. I felt better when a man going to Puerta Viarta got mad because his flight said "departed". She finally waved her hand at the signs and said "that doesn't mean anything". We boarded 10 minutes later with boarding passes in hand (after a bus ride to the plane). Seats 27B and 27C, no problem. It was a bit of a shock to get to the back of the plane, along with passengers for seats 20 through 29. The plane only had 19 rows! Okee-Dokee. The stewardess said, with a wave of her hand, "sit anywhere, no worries". Eso es Mexico.

Our taxi driver drove like a madman, but we were dropped off at Las Bugambilas Bed and Breakfast Inn. We were two hours too early so the receptionist let us put our bags in her own room. Joe and are still laughing over her bathroom. The toilet was inside the shower. Thankfully our room has a 'normal' bathroom, with a huge shower and hot water. The bed has a beautiful mural on the wall. A minor problem was being locked out onto our patio. It seems the screen door has a latch that can't be disabled. The first time a worker saw us and came to our rescue through our bedroom. The second time we pried the screen door open on the bottom and I squeezed through enough to pop the latch. Now the latch is sitting on the table in the room.

On our first walk we met two lovely young ladies selling book markers. We are now the proud parents of a 18 year old girl named Maria Isabelle. Her sister offered her to us when they discovered we couldn't have children :) Nice sister huh?  We had a little cluster of college students approach us to interview us for the English class. Their teacher stood by to ensure we didn't speak Spanish to them. They were adorable.

Oaxaca is the most beautiful, gracious city I've been to. It combines the elegance and antiquity of Florence, Italy with the vibrancy of Guanajuato. The zocolos (town squares) are everywhere and have enormous trees. Hundreds of people congregate there to visit or sell their wares. The stages of life are all represented; Teenage couples smooch on shady benches, young couples walk holding hands with babies and toddlers, older couples sit watching their teenage daughters walk hand in hand deep in conversation while their teenage boys attempt to get the girls attention, all of this is overseen by the grandparents.

Now I sit in The Black Coffee Gallery, an open air coffee shop. Across the street a woman in her eighties is sitting in the shade selling hand made purses. A three foot tall Cinderella just walked by. A man sits next to me talking to someone on his computer video cam.

The cathedrals are awesome to see. There are art galeries, restuarantes, museums, and clothing stores everywhere. Speaking of stores . . . I've never seen so many shoe stores!

I haven't found my niche with the food yet. Breakfast this morning was pretty good . . . variations on the tamale. Tomorrow we move to our family's home where we will remain for four weeks. School starts 8:00 sharp on Monday morning.

To be free, or not to be free?

I recently participated in an event through my publishing website at Smashwords.com. It was called National  Read an Ebook Week. I offered my book, Counterpart for free for the whole week. A lot of people downloaded it! This was a bit of an eye-opener for me . . . it made me realize it is more satisfying for me to have people read my book than to generate an income from it. Weird huh?

Whatever the reasons, I've made the decision to make my book free. Permanently? I'm not sure about that . . . but for the time being it's free. Just go to my page, and follow the directions and choose your format (PC, Kindle, Nook, Apple, etc).

Heidi

Memories and Photos

I still remember when we were circling Cancun Airport because it was raining so hard the pilot didn't want to land. He finally gave in and landed. When we left Cancun two weeks later, the pilot couldn't take off because the airplane toilets weren't working properly. After an hour of sitting on the plane the maintenance guy told him the toilets would probably work at about 16,000 ft , so we'd take off anyway and see if they worked! Thank goodness they did work.

I wanted to go to this restaurant I'd heard about on YouTube called La Cueva de Chonga. It took us two weeks, but we finally found it. The food was great and it had the most amazing kitchen. A pond ran through the center of the dining area with about ten turtles and fish cruising around. I'm so glad we found it.

I bought four of these amazing Mayan gourd lights. Each one has a special meaning . . . courage, wisdom, love, friendship, etc..  They came with a little light fixture wadded up inside the gourd. When we got home we realized the "light fixture" was an electric cord, a socket, and a plug. Joe had to wire them himself. So far they haven't caught fire!

I can still almost feel my two massages. They had a deal '2 massages for 50 bucks'. I asked if I could have 2 massages on different days because Joe didn't want one, and they agreed. Man that was great! Just laying on that table on the beach . . . the ocean breeze fluttering the white curtains and tickling my skin. Heavenly. Each massage was an hour of bliss. When I waddled back over to our beach chairs Joe laughed at me. I should have done it immediately after arriving.

A couple of nights before we left we went out to dinner with our Friend Janine, whom we'd met at Starbucks. After dinner we went to her really cool apartment on 5th Ave. It was right next to a bar that had a band every night. That night we sat up on her balcony overlooking the street and the band, and drank a bottle of Jayson Zinfandel. It was magical. She even had dark chocolate . . . yum. It got a little scary when I shut the sliding glass door to the balcony and locked us out. After several panic stricken moments she found a window that wasn't closed all the way and climbed through. Eso es Mexico!

I uploaded photos for this trip's blogs, so please take a moment to check them out. Until next vacation, Adios and Via con Dios.

Heidi and Joe

The Edgy Side of Playa Del Carmen

After having been here for two weeks you are beginning to see a layer not so obvious at first glance.

We wandered into the less touristy area at night trying to find a chicken BBQ restaurant. It was a little scary on the darker streets. We decided to come back the next day in broad daylight and have lunch instead. By-the-way, it was delicious. Whole chickens BBQ'd to perfection, and served with bowls of spicy stuff and fresh tortillas. Bottles of coke with straws was a novelty to me, but everyone did it. Maybe the bottle rims are dirty?

The storms come in so fast I can barely get my camera in time to catch the sun still shining as the black clouds stampede in.


We were at this fabulous fish taco stand the other day. It's on the beach access road. We laughed as six teenage boys ran off the beach, stuffing necklaces and bracelets in their pants, and dove behind the cars in front of us. The beach police cruised by slowly on their quad-runners. After they went by the boys popped out of hiding, dusted themselves off, and went back to work with no one the wiser as to where the jewelry had been stuffed. Note to self!

A popular tank top here is one that says "I love (heart) shoes, bags, and boys". This shirt is in practically every shirt store window. The other night an overweight, hairy man was squeezed into this tank top and had cut out big circles around his chest. Talk about low class! He was with a large loud group of men who mocked and made fun of everyone.

Captain Jack Sparrow came by my porch yesterday! I swear it was him . . . or maybe his look-a-like :)  He was amazingly good. He had the whole swaying movements and everything, you know the way Johnny Depp would lean back and raise his eyebrows when he talked. Very cool costume and everything. Joe thinks it was Johnny Depp incognito as himself..

This one made us both laugh for some reason . . . the other night we saw a giant cockroach trying to cross fifth avenue without getting stepped on. The funny part was he had a cigarette in his mouth. Those who noticed stepped around it to let it cross. It would have been a great Marlboro commercial.

A favorite beach bar is this funky bar at the north end of the beach called Cannibal Royal. It's three stories tall and has the design of a ship. Interesting people watching there. Absolutely beautiful view!

Everywhere we go people say "Hey Cowboy" or "Mister Texas" because Joe wears a cowboy hat all the time. It can really get annoying after awhile, as they try to use this one liner over and over again. The other night he left the hat behind and it was miraculous. No one bothered him or yelled out "Cowboy". It was great.

We have discovered this awesome side street that is an artisan market on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. They sell all kinds of funky stuff you can't find elsewhere. Joe bought me a gorgeous pair of conch shell earrings, and I got him an arrowhead necklace. Well, we're off to finish our time here with style . . . fish tacos, beer, and another massage on the beach. Thanks for traveling with me again!

Wine opened: Perry Creek Altitude 2401, '05' Zin . . . very, very nice. Strong heavy plum with a subtle smokiness. A special purchase from the winery owner's private stock. The last bottle is Modus Operandi, '08' Cab . . . still a little tight with a hint of citrus at first but settles down to a softer oak/cassis finish. And YES I do bring my own wine from home! Bikinis + sundresses + flipflops + mask/fins/snorkle + wine = less than 50 lbs.

Things That Make You Say "What The Heck!"

To this Californian, there are some things that just strike me as odd, out of place, or just surprise me.

For example in CA Tang is almost nonexistent . . . at least among adults. Here the grocery store has 5 feet of shelf space, top to bottom, dedicated to all of the various Tang flavors. I didn't even know it came in any other flavor than orange!  And then there is the popcorn. ACT II microwave popcorn comes in about 10 flavors (chipolte, lime, cheese, caramel, etc).

Sitting on swings at the bars is really a novelty. Not so sure how that works if you get drunk, but it's fun sober . . . especially at Senor Frogs. That place is a riot! It's expensive, but worth it for entertainment's sake.

We hear 'Hotel California' at least once a day, but the one that made us laugh and say "what the heck!" was when the Peruvian band was playing it with their native instruments. It was actually very pretty as an instrumental.

A huge apartment/condo complex, off 5th ave, has balconies like cages. The whole building is lit up with red lights . . . everywhere. Joe calls it the Devil Hotel. But that's not the weird part! Each balcony has it's own full size silver mannequin. The residents have free rein to dress up their own mannequin any way they want. It really almost defies description. The garb ranges from scuba suits to burlesque. Really weird in creepy way.

The other night we were at the Dirty Martini, with the gang from our hotel, when a big pick-up truck pulled up. It had an enormous tree root in the back that had to have had a crane to put it there. It was bigger than the truck! Roots stuck out at odd angles.

As soon as we realized it was a carving everyone spilled out of the bar onto the street to get a better look. It was absolutely phenomenal. Leopards, alligators, Mayan warriors, skulls, and Mayan symbols made a story. The artist explained it is for sale for 30,000.00. It took him 2 years to carve. (If you want to buy it, just comment below and I'll hook you up). It's purpose is to be in a large room with a huge piece of glass on it and "Viola!" it's a table.

I like friendship bracelets. My young friend, Isabelle, makes them for me all the time. When I saw the intricate friendship anklets/bracelets here I couldn't resist, so I bought one for a dollar. When the same girl came down the beach the other day I decided to buy more, so she stopped and gave me two big bundles to choose from. All of a sudden she grabs the bundles and dives halfway under my lounge chair. I turned to look at her curled up in the sand next to me, and she shakes her head and puts her finger to her lips, "Shhh". So I swivel around and see the beach police cruising down the beach looking for street vendors who had snuck onto the beach. Her two friends were laying flat behind a stack of cushions. After the police went by she popped back up and we finished our, what I now realize is an illegal, transaction. She smiled her thanks and sauntered off down the beach with her buddies.

Wine opened: Jayson Zinfandel . . . fabulous! Very rich and creamy with hints of chocolate and heavy berry. This was a gift from Telan, my PT intern and greatly enjoyed on the balcony of Hotel Freud with our new friend Janine. (For other wine notes backtrack to my blogs from this trip as I just added them this morning).

Heidi