Oaxaca Trip: Oct. 16-19th

 

I went on one of those trips organized by the school for International Students. I feel like my description posts are kind of lengthy so here are some bullet points of activities, then some quick thoughts. We travelled to Oaxaca, a state in Southern Mexico. Two places we visited are considered UN World Heritage Sites: The city center of Oaxaca (in the state of the same name) and Monte Alban.  [So Meg, you have GOT to go obviously].

It should also be noted that it rained during 99% of the weekend.

Day One, leaving at 12am and driving all night arriving Friday morning to:

Monte Alban

• Huge archeological side made by the pre-hispanic Indigenous group Zapotecas
• It’s said that around 40,000-50,000 people lived here
• Mone Alban, translated to Albino Mtn, isn’t what the Zapotecas called it. They called it Ukuqui which means Green Mountain.
• The Spanish, when they came to Mexico actually built all their churches over sacred Indigenous sites. In this case, they didnt see it when they arrived and was only discovered in the early 1900s.  Therefore, our guide told us it was considered a “virgin” site. They think 80% is still underground and hasn’t been excavated/preserved yet because “Mexico has a lot of culture, but it doesn’t have a lot of money”.

Next up: Carving Place

• A local collective that carves fantastical Oaxacan-Mexican folk art sculptures called Alebrije. Made from copal trees.
• Traditionally carved to be protection animals.
  

  Some of the smaller pieces

  These animals protect your energy because through your energy is how you are killed. There are 20 animals that exist

• Today oftentimes they will get commissions from people who want them for decoration. Commissions from foreigners, companies, restaurants, the government etc.

 

Dinner, hotel check in, exploring the downtown

• Everyone stayed at the hotel for the 1.5 hours before dinner but a friend and I escaped to do some exploring. One of the most interesting things I saw was this march/protest. It was a march for the 43 students who have gone missing in Guerrero (more info on that HERE). What was interesting was that at the front were the protesters…looking like regular protesters. In the back though, there were these dudes, faces covered and looking kind of scary. I asked a person on the street who they were and apparently they are the Guerreros, or warriors. The protectors. I’ve heard from locals that many small villages all over the states of Michoacan and Guerrero (currently two of the more dangerous states involving narcotics and gangs) have taken problems into their own hands, and have created their own “police force” that kick out narco-gangs from their community.  This is because the police and government are really corrupt and are useless in keeping people safe. I wondered if those warriors I saw in the protest were some of them, but I can’t know for sure. For a while we followed them, curious. However, we decided to leave when we looked down a side street and saw like 50 police officers watching/waiting in full combat riot gear.

• Afterwards, we found a wonderful coffee shop. Local coffee and chocolate! Oaxaca is known for these things.
  

  The chocolate comes from the owner’s father’s farm.

  They had their chocolate bars for sale with different flavors, and if you ordered a hot chocolate, they would just crush up the chocolate bar and mix it with steamed milk. Heaven. I had one both days we were there (Hazelnut chocolate one time, and a mix of dark chocolate and cardamon chocolate the other). There was also hot chocolate at the breakfast buffet so it was just a weekend of a lot of hot chocolate.

• Back at the hotel, we headed downtown again with the others for dinner. While waiting for dinner to come out I was bored so I went to an art shop across the street. The owner was hanging outside with his wife and kid, and they were really friendly. The art was beautiful, and mostly screen prints/block prints. As I was looking around, the owner was drinking mezcal with his family and offered me some. I took some of course, it was strong but really nice of him to just give me some mezcal in his shop. I love Mexico. If you’re wondering what mezcal is, it’s a very Mexican alcohol, similar to Tequila and pretty strong too. More on that, later in this post.

After dinner we got to explore the downtown area for a while. Here are some snapshots.

Day 2 omg this post is text heavy, need to cut back

Hierve De Agua

• Rock formations that look like a waterfall. I don’t have any photos so just google it okay? After going swimming in the freezing water there I got this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuktuk Adventure and lunch

• Lunch was an amazing buffet at a local restuarant. We had buffets for breakfast and dinner! It was ridiculous. This lunch place had five different types of MOLE to try. Mole is a famous sauce from this region of Mexico, and it’s made of like a thousand fresh and delicious ingredients. So complex and rich.
• Afterwards we did an activity to explore a small town outside of Oaxaca called Mitla. They had hired a bunch of Tuktuks, and we were given a list of things we had to do. We went around in the Tuktuks, and whoever finished all the tasks first won a free trip to another part of Mexico!!!!!! The catch? Well, there were a few. But one of them was that the entire time, we had to carry a fifth surprise team member: a live chicken. We named the poor thing Jorge and he pooped EVERYONE. I imagine he was pretty stressed out.
• Our team did not win but it was still really fun

This place we had lunch also made Mezcal. Mezcal is a strong liquor popular in Mexico. Like tequila, it is made from an agave plant. Its really strong and has a very smokey flavor. One of the places we had lunch also had a mezcal “factory” in the back so we got a quick tour. And to my delightful surprise, there was a donkey crushing up the intial plant! Its like step two. I have included a video.

That evening we explored downtown again, then headed out the next day. We stopped by another city on the way home but only spent about 2 hours there, so I am not going to go into detail about it.

Some of my thoughts while on the trip

1. It was really nice to be herded around on a tour, easy travelling. But also not being able to just take your time and do your own thing was at times frustrating.
2. I loved riding on the tour bus. Being able to look out the window as we went through towns and cities and villages, seeing the daily lives of people even if just for a second, was fascinating. I always tried to get a window seat
3. The mayhem of first arriving at our hotel, and everyone NEEDING the wifi password was SO strange. Is it that important to be so connected the whole time? Can’t we go a day or two w/o internet?
4. Another thing I noticed travelling with a large group of students: pictures. It was so important to some people to just take pictures pictures pictures. I’ve noticed this in general when travelling, sometimes people are more concerned about getting the shot, of proving you were there than actually enjoying being there.
5. The food was incredible. Half the bus DID get sick on the last day, but nonetheless I loved it. Mole, chocolate, so much good food. I got lucky and there were no poops for me.
6. Oaxaca is closer to Guerrero state where the students have gone missing.
   

   Ayotzinapa
   Your struggle is my struggle, your pain is my pain. They took them alive, we want them back alive.

   Seeing the solidarity in the town was really beautiful and empowering. It was scary too, to see the faces of the missing students on posters all over town. Scary in an important way.

7. I was initially reluctant to go on this trip, but was really glad I did! Things like the Tuktuk adventure we took are things I would never have been able to do on my own, and is a highlight I won’t forget.