Countryside leading to Oaxaca

 

Countryside leading to Oaxaca

 

cathedral

 

babe in the woods

 

in the Zocalo

Poinsetia and me 

our home in Oaxaca

 

Oaxaca First Impres

Oaxaca – First Impressions

Pleasure is sometimes a direct function of low expectations. From what I had read about Oaxaca, I didn’t expect the grandeur, the friendliness or the cleanliness that was encountered. You can be certain that this is still Mexico. The drivers are nuts here too and the noise from honking horns and diesel trucks and storefront boom boxes are just as prevalent in Oaxaca as in any other Mexican city. You take your life in your hands crossing any intersection and you best have the address of a chiropractor to correct the spinal twists occasioned by potholes in the sidewalks.

But, the surprises on the positive side far outweigh the negatives. Oaxaca dates back to the earliest days of the Spanish conquest. Cortez heard of the Oaxacan valley from native allies and quickly dispatched his troops to gain control of the area, roughly five hundred kilometres from Mexico City. In our bus ride from Mexico City to Oaxaca, my thoughts were focused on the difficulty of that journey through an arid plateau and finally through the roiled up landscape where the two branches of the Sierra Madre Mountains converge just north of Oaxaca. (image placeholder)Cortez was enthralled with this area and spent many years lobbying to have the area declared his personal fiefdom.

Before long, the Spaniards developed a new colonial city replete with splendid buildings, a palace for Cortez and the usual array of churches, convents and residences for church dignitaries. In spite of numerous destructive earthquakes, the city of Cortez still stands and has been designated a United Nations cultural treasure. And it really is quite a treasure. The city is laid out on a north-south grid with a central square called the zocalo. This is a traditional Spanish concept of three concentric squares. The inner square is a park with gardens, trees, shrubbery, park benches and a band shell. Roads or wide boulevards surround it as the second square. The outer square consists of the most important buildings of the community such as churches and government buildings. For the size of this city, roughly 300,000 people, the zocalo is enormous. By comparison, it swamps the zocalo in San Miguel de Allende. The park area seems to be ten times the size and the boulevards are massive. The city has extended the area of the zocalo in many directions and removed all vehicular traffic; making for wonderfully easy
walking.(image placeholder)
The above picture may resemble Vienna in the summer but it is really Oaxaca.
The park is a little arid and Spartan at this time of year but is does offer plenty of shade from huge trees and colour from poinsettias.

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So far, we have only managed to get a little acquainted with the city. The friendliness of the expatriate community in Oaxaca has made this a very simple task. This community is small in number but huge in enthusiasm. On our first night in Oaxaca, we went to the zocalo to grab some food. I overheard the name of an email friend and spent the next hour in conversation with some locals. The next morning, we met with a local activist who provided so much information; we’re not sure where to start our little adventure here. There is no doubt the English speaking community solicits and encourages community involvement. The focal point is the English language library that boasts of having a collection of 30000 books. In fact, we brought with us 10 of the latest best sellers and every one was available in hard cover on the library shelves. The library is also the clearinghouse for all activities of interest to the gringos. Language training, yoga classes, tours, concerts and housing can all be accessed at the library. We have already signed up for most and our social calendar is getting so full, I have had to resort to using a day timer. I certainly don’t anticipate too many moments of boredom. Today, we head to a band concert at noon, a jazz concert in the late afternoon and a piano recital in the evening. Tomorrow, we start Spanish lessons. In between we have to see the sights.

Housing is a bit of a concern since we only managed to get accommodation until January 31st and we are staying until April 4th. We are currently staying in a one bedroom, single-storey apartment close to the centre of the city. It is part of a sprawling home owned and operated by a sixty-year old widow. To get to our apartment we must go through the kitchen and laundry-room of the owner so it is somewhat like living in a rooming house. The place is spacious enough but leaves a bit to be desired in terms of amenities and general care. The bed sheets have lost so much thread count that they would be the envy of a harem girl. The water supply is a little erratic and the sewer system doesn’t allow for TP to be flushed. Another novel thing to enjoy.

The apartment is set well back from the road and has its own little courtyard surrounded by two apartments and several rooms that are rented in B&B fashion. We are nicely buffered from the street noise and that is an extra special bonus.(image placeholder)

That’s it for first impressions.