Just passing it on...

You can visit lots of places once or one place a lot of times. I guess I done a bit of both, but I have been coming to Oaxaca for many years now and have been blessed with getting to know local characters with long histories and great knowledge. They have told me stories and introduced me to others, who in turn, have shared with me.

After years of listening, learning and exploring the area, I am a good tour guide. Many locals have shared their hidden, special places with me and I try to pass them on. It may be a stall in the market with the best rebozos that years of looking has found or villages in the nearby mountains with tall pines and agave or maguey plants 12 to 15 feet across. Everyone has their favorites. Oaxaca is one of mine.

Sonya, my partner, arrived here last week from St. Thomas. Never having been in Mexico, other than a brief visit to Tijuana, she was struck by the green velvet look of the mountains as she flew in the late afternoon sun. With rain in the mountains and brilliant sun in the wide valley that is Oaxaca, hers was an arrival to envy, Monte Alban on one side of the plane and a full vivid rainbow on the other. She took it as an omen.

This is a magical place and we have begun doing all those things that you do when visitors come to your hometown, seeing all the sights that you don’t normally see. If you live in Boston, when do you take the tour of Fenway or in NYC, visit the Statue of Liberty? It is the same everywhere.

Oaxaca has a long list of “must sees” from the city itself, markets, to the villages and the people to archaeological sites and museums. And then there is eating and shopping, too.
Those of you, who have been here, know that those two activities have trapped many a visitor. “Whaddya mean, there was a museum? Monte Alban?”

Sonya is here for three weeks now and will be back for three months in December so we are taking things slowly and spending time at each venue. We are in no hurry.

Thus far, we have visited the villages of Teotitlan del Valle, San Martin Tilcajete and explored around San Agustin.

Wednesday is market day in Etla, which is only five kilometers away to the north and yesterday we came home loaded with fresh cheese, avocados (6 for $1.50,) mangos, more vegetables and fruit and enough cut flowers to fill the house.

A dozen long stem roses is about $5, I think. I don’t really know for sure. because we got so many gladiolas, lilies, roses, etc that I did not break down the final bill. Two armloads for about $15.