Museums Galore!

We visited 3 museums today!  First, we saw the Museum of Contemporary Art, which depicts modern history and political struggles through art.  

Next, we went to the City Museum which displayed some history and development of Oaxaca.

The last museum we went to was the Prehistoric art museum which had sculptures dated back to hundreds of years B.C.  

Salsa Lesson at Solexico

After class, Solexico school provided free salsa lessons.  We learned some basic steps and turns.  Obviously, we had some difficulty with the turns...  

In the afternoon, we saw more festivities as Oaxaca prepared for the Guelaguetza celebration this weekend.

7th Largest Market in the World

On Monday, following Spanish class, we went to the Mercado de Abastos, the 7th largest market in the world.  We walked for hours and still only saw less than half of the whole market!  They sold mostly everyday items, such as clothes, soap, food and furniture.  Some more unusual times were bunnies, chickens and sugar cane to eat.   

After the market, we went to the Mercado de Benito Juarez to eat freshly grilled meats cooked in front of you (in the picture above).  Mmm

We've completed 10 interviews thus far with various locals.  They will be posted soon!   

Discovering La Mitla Ruins!

On Sunday, we went to Tule, the widest tree in the world.  At first, scientists thought Tule was formed by multiple trees, but after using tree ring dating, they realized that Tule was only one enormous tree!  The local indigenous people believed that the tree held spiritual powers, so they frequently prayed to Tule.  When the Spanish arrived, they built a church next to Tule to deter the indigenous community from praying to "pagan" gods.  

After Tule, we went to a local authentic taller de tapetes artesanales, where they made handmade rugs with natural materials.  

The owner showed us how they create the various dies out of fruit, flowers, stones and fungus.

The artists hand weave beautiful designs that take months to make just one single rug.  We bought colorful table cloths to cover our desks at Saucedo!  

Following the taller de tapetes, we went to the Mitla ruins.  Mitla was the last Zapoteca structure standing after the Spanish invasion.  It was constructed with rectangular stones that fit together to form walls.  Mitla was considered a holy place for the priests to live and worship.  

The priests were buried in tombs below the ruins, which we were able to explore.

Following Mitla, we went to an indigenous Zapoteca market where they sold everything, ranging form clothes and fruit to edible worms and grasshoppers!   

The final stop on our trip was a Mezcal factory where we watched the process of making their local drink from maguey plants.  The whole process is made without machinery or chemicals.  

Thank you Fund for Teachers for supporting us in learning about the Mexican culture!  

Mole and Chocolate, Oh my!

Here is their famous black mole, made with over 50 ingredients.  There are many different kinds of mole, but this is their most popular. 

Homemade chocolate is a delicious treat here in Oaxaca.  They add it to hot water or milk for a refreshing drink!  Mayordomo is famous for their chocolate.  

Our Adventure to the Oaxacan Cultural Museum!

First Week of Spanish Class

We began our Spanish classes this week at Solexico, with 2.5  hours of individual classes and 2.5  hours of conversation class. It's a unique opportunity to have individual tutoring so we can focus on specific areas of weakness.  After, we have our group conversation class with Pato and Alex, from Switzerland; and Theresa, from the states.  The class is upbeat and fast paced with our tutor, Javier, who always gets us to tell stories and laugh throughout class.  

Everyday after class we go home to eat with our family who makes us typical Mexican dishes such as mole and nopales (cactus).  Then, we walk around the city center, exploring and watching the various street festivities.  There is always something to see with religious parades, political marches, live bands, and dancing for recent graduates.

 

Oaxaca has a plethora of wonderful cafes, so after class we often sit and do our Spanish homework with some yummy Mexican coffee!  We started interviewing Oaxacenos, such as our family members, teachers and people that we met around the city center.  Most are very happy to tell us about their family traditions and thoughts on immigration.  We are having technical difficulties with uploading the videos to the blog or to youtube.  As soon as we fix the problem, we'll add the videos!