You know at the end of the day, when you are laying in bed and you think, "Dang. Today was the best day of my life."....?
No. It wasn't. Today was the best day of my life. Or at least the most incredible day.
I woke up in a fever. My stomach hurt, my body hurt. But as I was laying in bed I thought, "Nikki. It'd be better to die trying to see Oaxaca than to waste your time here laying in bed." So I got up, took some meds, and went on my merry way.
Cordelia, Francis and I met up at the school. From there, we walked to the beisbol stadium where all the cabs pick you up for different places. We hopped in a cab to Tlacoloula and thus the adventure began!
Tlacoloula is home to a huge market full of all sorts of livestock, people, fruit, things, clothes, games, drinks, whatever you can imagine. We saw everything from bananas and lychee, to live chickens, to baskets of crickets, and more. We even got to watch a man making chocolate. I took a video.
We encountered a man who was very proud of his mezcal. He had painted the inside of his own store with the history of "the indigenous people." I put that in " " marks because there are different indigenous groups. Not just one. He was very excited to interact with us, and called Cordelia and I beautiful. He wanted pictures with us as well.
So, of course, we took pictures with the mezcal man.
After we tired ourselves out of this amazing, large, phenomenal, one-of-a-kind market full of colors and sounds, we decided to make way for a cab to Mitla (en route to Hierve el Agua). But first, I had to use the bathroom. I left my bag with my friends so I wouldn't have to carry it through the large crowd, only to discover that it costs 3 pesos to use the bathroom at a bus station...so I looked around helplessly until a man made eye contact with me.
He paid the 3 pesos. I'll be forever grateful. Otherwise, I'd have just wet my pants.
Our cab to Mitla was packed with 3 other people. So, 6 + the drive makes 7. How do all these people fit in cabs? I don't know. But it works. The further we got out of the city, the more obvious it became that we were in Mexico. Or, that we weren't in our home countries. That we were somewhere alive and green and different.
After we got out of the cab in Mitla, we climbed into the bed of a truck to Hierve el Agua. Winding up the side of a mountain in the back of a truck was tossy, turny, bumpy, hilarious, an experience of a lifetime, and oh-my-goodness the views were extraordinary. Never mind that occasionally we looked as though we might fall off the cliff....and never mind that I full on slid from one end of the truck to the other...
It was absolutely mind blowing.
But nowhere near as mind blowing as Hierve el Agua itself. What a phenomenal, living, breathing place. We enjoyed ourselves by swimming in the water, doing yoga on the mountain, and laying in the sun. I am not lying when I say that this is one of the most - in fact, is the most - beautiful place I've ever been in my life thus far.
I appreciate it when life throws gifts like that my way.
We only had two hours there before it was time to trek back down the mountain (this time, we sat in the cab of the truck)....but not before I bought some tortillas to snack on. We enjoyed conversation with a super friendly Argentinian couple (in Spanish, of course) and appreciated the novelty of sharing our road with several herds of cattle, dogs, goats...
We also shared a cab (totaling 6 people) with the Argentinian couple back to Oaxaca (city). They are musicians, and have a performance Wednesday night! Maybe we'll go to it.
We passed the rest of the night at Cordelia's (host family) home. Her host mother's home is a huge mansion with a giant yard. It's old and beautiful and amazing. It has an avocado tree in the back. It has a princess bedroom with a completely round bed. It has marble everything. It was a lovely evening to pass the evening - and, of course, the company was just as wonderful.
And now I lay here, with a strange stitch in my side...and I am considering how fortunate I am to have experienced everything I did today. It's amazing to think that these opportunities and experiences are mine.
That I definitely did yoga on top of a mountain in Mexico, and then laid in the sun.
That I definitely had a full conversation in another language with people I just met.
That I definitely experienced one of the biggest, varying marketplaces ever. That I rode up the side of a mountain in the bed of a truck. That I hung out in an old, amazing home for the evening.
I really wish everyone could have had my day today. I really do.
No. It wasn't. Today was the best day of my life. Or at least the most incredible day.
I woke up in a fever. My stomach hurt, my body hurt. But as I was laying in bed I thought, "Nikki. It'd be better to die trying to see Oaxaca than to waste your time here laying in bed." So I got up, took some meds, and went on my merry way.
Cordelia, Francis and I met up at the school. From there, we walked to the beisbol stadium where all the cabs pick you up for different places. We hopped in a cab to Tlacoloula and thus the adventure began!
Tlacoloula is home to a huge market full of all sorts of livestock, people, fruit, things, clothes, games, drinks, whatever you can imagine. We saw everything from bananas and lychee, to live chickens, to baskets of crickets, and more. We even got to watch a man making chocolate. I took a video.
We encountered a man who was very proud of his mezcal. He had painted the inside of his own store with the history of "the indigenous people." I put that in " " marks because there are different indigenous groups. Not just one. He was very excited to interact with us, and called Cordelia and I beautiful. He wanted pictures with us as well.
So, of course, we took pictures with the mezcal man.
After we tired ourselves out of this amazing, large, phenomenal, one-of-a-kind market full of colors and sounds, we decided to make way for a cab to Mitla (en route to Hierve el Agua). But first, I had to use the bathroom. I left my bag with my friends so I wouldn't have to carry it through the large crowd, only to discover that it costs 3 pesos to use the bathroom at a bus station...so I looked around helplessly until a man made eye contact with me.
He paid the 3 pesos. I'll be forever grateful. Otherwise, I'd have just wet my pants.
Our cab to Mitla was packed with 3 other people. So, 6 + the drive makes 7. How do all these people fit in cabs? I don't know. But it works. The further we got out of the city, the more obvious it became that we were in Mexico. Or, that we weren't in our home countries. That we were somewhere alive and green and different.
After we got out of the cab in Mitla, we climbed into the bed of a truck to Hierve el Agua. Winding up the side of a mountain in the back of a truck was tossy, turny, bumpy, hilarious, an experience of a lifetime, and oh-my-goodness the views were extraordinary. Never mind that occasionally we looked as though we might fall off the cliff....and never mind that I full on slid from one end of the truck to the other...
It was absolutely mind blowing.
But nowhere near as mind blowing as Hierve el Agua itself. What a phenomenal, living, breathing place. We enjoyed ourselves by swimming in the water, doing yoga on the mountain, and laying in the sun. I am not lying when I say that this is one of the most - in fact, is the most - beautiful place I've ever been in my life thus far.
I appreciate it when life throws gifts like that my way.
We only had two hours there before it was time to trek back down the mountain (this time, we sat in the cab of the truck)....but not before I bought some tortillas to snack on. We enjoyed conversation with a super friendly Argentinian couple (in Spanish, of course) and appreciated the novelty of sharing our road with several herds of cattle, dogs, goats...
We also shared a cab (totaling 6 people) with the Argentinian couple back to Oaxaca (city). They are musicians, and have a performance Wednesday night! Maybe we'll go to it.
We passed the rest of the night at Cordelia's (host family) home. Her host mother's home is a huge mansion with a giant yard. It's old and beautiful and amazing. It has an avocado tree in the back. It has a princess bedroom with a completely round bed. It has marble everything. It was a lovely evening to pass the evening - and, of course, the company was just as wonderful.
And now I lay here, with a strange stitch in my side...and I am considering how fortunate I am to have experienced everything I did today. It's amazing to think that these opportunities and experiences are mine.
That I definitely did yoga on top of a mountain in Mexico, and then laid in the sun.
That I definitely had a full conversation in another language with people I just met.
That I definitely experienced one of the biggest, varying marketplaces ever. That I rode up the side of a mountain in the bed of a truck. That I hung out in an old, amazing home for the evening.
I really wish everyone could have had my day today. I really do.
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