T.G.I.Viernes

This morning, we had bean tamales for breakfast.

I love bean tamales.

We discussed the history of El Dia de Los Muertos, and the mezcla (mix) of christianity with indigenous customs. Conversations at breakfast in the casa of Renee y Paula are always super interesting.

Then, it was off to class. I got to the school and was feeling pretty energized. I'd slept a full 6 hours (which is virtually unheard of here, since there are always a million noises happening) and was feeling ready for the day.

And then my body changed its mind, and about an hour into class I was absolutely dying of fatigue. Or, in Spanish, Estoy muerta de cansansio.

Class also focused on Day of the Dead customs - and I'm growing ever more excited for it to actually arrive!! After class, I went home, ate Martita's miracle tostadas, and took a nap. At 4, I met with friends at the school and we walked to the Zocalo to meet more friends [I stopped and bought a shirt off a guy on the way. Well, I mean, I didn't buy it off him... I bought myself a shirt from him] and then we all walked into a neighborhood on the far side of the city where Cordelia got a cool hair cut.

In that same neighborhood is a huge market called El Mercado de Abastos.  It's like something out of a movie. It spreads in all directions forever and is full of basically everything you could possibly imagine. Machetes, children's toys, chicken, tacos, shirts, fruits, vegetables, cheese, pants, sunglasses.

I bought pants and sunglasses. I spent roughly 220 pesos on pants, a shirt, and sunglasses today. That is the USD equivalent of 17.00. If you are jealous right now, you definitely should be.

The interesting thing about El Mercado de Abastos is that it is notoriously dangerous - and you definitely feel that vibe in and around the market. There were many men walking around with full-face gang tattoos. It's not a place where you lose your friends, or pull out money if you don't need to. The neighborhood surrounding the market doesn't have a US equivalent. It's not a place where a girl can walk alone - day or night. There are dog packs that run wild in the streets, and random mounds of garbage. There are police on virtually every corner, and more and more turn up as it gets darker and darker.

Leaving the perceived safety bubble of my neighborhood definitely was an experience - and I think it's so important to have those experiences. It's important to poke holes in the bubble. It's important to see things from as many angles as possible.

After leaving the market, we went to eat at a taco places. Kind of. It's more than a taco place. But Billy called it a taco place, so I'm calling it one as well. I ate more tostadas. They were yummy and pretty. You know, beauty really counts when it comes to food.

Now I'm home, but I was planning to spend my Friday night out. Somehow, that didn't happen. And that's okay. Because I like having some downtime. Tomorrow brings me Monte Alban and El Arbol de Tule.

And tonight brings me texting, pretzels, and sleep.
Good night. 

Far Over

There's something important I need to mention, because it's something of a miracle.

I have been feeling really healthy in Oaxaca. My skin is clearer, my energy is higher, my appetite is normal and after I adjust to being awake....my stomach doesn't hurt. I don't have crazy nausea. I don't feel sick all day.

I feel really good. Even after I eat. Even after I eat street food.
This is the way I should always feel.

I've really been enjoying this trip - primarily for the fact that I'm getting to learn so much more about myself every single day. And I'm learning to appreciate me without restriction.

That sounds weird and cliche, and I even tried to write out exactly what about me I'm appreciating...but it sounded weird. The best way I can phrase it is this: through the various experiences I'm having, I am able to solidly say I know what is best for me in regards to different things (such as diet and routine), that patterns and schools of thoughts have been reinforced, that I'm allowed to be confident, and that there is as much to life as I've thought there was.

I'm allowed to sandwich myself on the median between traffic and enjoy it without feeling silly.
I'm allowed to like the music I like without feeling like I had to defend myself.
I'm allowed to appreciate the aesthetics of something that I might fundamentally disagree with.
I'm comfortable being human, and I am allowed to love the aspect of myself that really just loves people.

I feel like I'm not making sense.

Here's the thing, for a while I've been feeling like a square peg in a round hole. Here, right now, I'm a square peg in a square hole. And the people around me are whatever they want to be. Round, stars, triangles, octagons. And I'm allowed to be square, and I'm allowed to like what squares like, and believe what squares believe, and think the way squares think.

---- But that's enough of that. What about my day!?

Well, it included a lot of interesting conversation (books! politics! excursions!). It included plates full of good food (bananas! guava! enchiladas! sauteed veggies! tamales!). It included a combined-intercambio...and a 3 hours study session at Cafe Brujula (near the Zocalo) which I hope actually helps me.

Right now, it definitely doesn't feel that way. But sometimes you just need to sleep on what you've studied.

Today also included making a mask for Day of the Dead. At first, I thought I'd make a calavera, but I decided on a mosaic pattern instead...and I've got a snake on it as well (crawling across my face). It's super cool - and it's also fun to see everyone elses super cool masks! We had to mold our faces with this special stuff in order to make the masks, so they actually kind of look like us. Which makes everything that much creepier.

And, maybe - just maybe - today included me humming that song about the misty mountains to myself (from The Hobbit) every time I looked a the local misty mountain range here!

T.G.I.Today

I know I've talked about it a lot, but I'm obsessed with the way the clouds hang over the mountains. It's like no matter what they do, they're unable to separate from one another.

In the morning, I am always excited to say hello to the cloudy mountains. When I catch a glimpse of them as I'm walking to/from school, they make me incredibly happy.

Oaxaca has quickly become "home." It's weird, I think, how one can adapt to some places so quickly - and others not at all. I enjoy passing all the same people on the street every day. I feel like I know my neighborhood [and people in it]. I know where things are, and I can even give directions.

Success.

Today, there was a lot of waving at people that I know (or recognize). But that's just an aside. Let's have a run through of the day:

Breakfast was devoured with a vengeance. I was starving this morning.
Promptly after finishing breakfast, I went to school - where I decided I'd brush my teeth. (Usually, I do this at home. Today, I decided school was better....for no reason).
At 9 AM, class started. Marc and I were a "pareja" (pair) and we had a good time trying to come up with off-the-cuff examples of things Rapunzel from Tangled had never done.

Nunca habia sentido el viento.
Nunca habia jugado en la agua.
Nunca habia viste un mariposea.

Yeah. Like that.

Lunch came around at 1, but I don't get to eat until 1:30....so between 1:30 - 2:00 I scarfed down my 4 course meal. Yep. 4 courses. Soup, vegetables, the-most-delicious-mole-on-the-earth, fruit.

I'm not kidding. Martita is the best cook on earth. I'm never going to be able to eat mole anywhere else because she makes the very best mole on the planet. I made sure to tell her this. She appreciated the compliment.

At 2:00, I had my mask making class (for El Dia de Los Muertos). Today, we basically worked on our masks for 10 minutes, and chatted the rest of the time ---- while the masks dried. Mine is going to have a serpent on it!!!

After mask making was intercambio. My intercambio is called Dulce, and she's nice. Intercambio basically means she wants to learn English and I'm learning Spanish. We help each other with ideas, words, grammar, whatever. Sometimes, we just chat about random stuff.

Like machinery.

After intercambio, Francis and I met up with Billy and Thora (Dora)? at Cafe Brujula for some studying. I got a fruit smoothie (without milk, of course) which was perfect for a study snack! After a few hours of funny conversation and studying, Francis and I went to pick up our laundry from the laundry place (they do it for you, here). Then we went to our homes.

I spent a lot of time today just being appreciative - and enjoying the things I just seem to naturally enjoy. For example, when you cross the street here...sometimes you don't make it all the way across and you have to wait on a divider.

I love being stuck on the divider.

I appreciated the clouds on the mountains, the cuitones of a demonstration. I appreciated today what it means to be human. I think we're always so focused on being other things - a student, a parent, a spouse, a ....whatever.

No.

Before anything, I am human. And it's not often that I feel totally comfortable with being just that. But that is what I am. That is the beauty of being me - of us being us! That we feel and smell and hear and taste the world around us.

That's the way life is supposed to be.
You know.
Lived.

And remind me on of these days to actually try to put Alcala and the Zocalo into words. I feel like I should at least give it a go. 

Thanks, Oaxaca.

Every day I'm here is one more day that leaving doesn't feel like an option.

Sure, I wouldn't mind a night or two free of cuitones (fireworks) and campanias (bells). But I still encanta (love) hearing the tamale man, the 'gas de Oaxaca' man, the tortilla man.

Sure, I don't love that the water is scarce and not safe for drinking. But why should I care when the return is so much enjoyable culture, food, entertainment?

Every day, I'm reminded of how lucky I am.
Every day, I'm reminded of how beautiful I appear to be.
Every day, I'm learning something new.
Every day, I am surprised by something heartbreaking or heartwarming.
Every day, I remember fully what it means to be Nikki, and alive.

So - every day I'm here is one more day that leaving doesn't feel like an option.
But, of course that day will come.

And then, there will be no waking up for family breakfast at 8 AM. There will be no classes with Maestro Herman at the institute. There will be no culture classes, no political debates, no getting caught in the middle of fast paced traffic, no Zocalos, no random parade parties, no street vendors.

Today must have been a good day for me to be talking this way. :)

I went to school, had lunch, went back to school, and then studied at Cafe Brujula for 3 hours. Then, friends met up and we went to the coolest place - Nueva Babel - where I got a chocolate de agua!

It wasn't a particularly special day.
It was just a day that reminded me of the importance of community and connection, a day that reminded me where my passions lay.

It's amazing what you can learn about yourself when put into a situation completely unfamiliar - and it's nice to feel completely at peace with oneself.

Thanks, Oaxaca.

Monday, Monday.

What is there to say about Monday?

Well, it started off with suffering through class, but leaving early and seeing a doctor. But despite that small hurdle, the day was - of course - a success.

I really enjoyed class today because it challenged my thinking. We were actually learning concepts and ideas (specific to language) that I hadn't learned before. It stopped feeling like review, and turned into education.

At least for me. And, of course, every day - no matter what - I'm always learning new ways of saying things, or new vocabulary.

But it was exciting to practice using a new concept, and I also enjoyed the game we played where we had to describe a person in a picture (on an iPad) using the imperfect, and the person holding the picture had to guess who it was based on the description.

After leaving the school, I went home for a lay down and some lunch.

Lunch was a plate full of easy vegetables. Good for my sick little body. Dinner was definitely an antibiotic, and a cup of potato chips. Haha. Sometimes, you just need to eat the freakin' chips on the street, okay?

Anyway, after lunch was mask making class (for the day of the dead!) which was pretty exciting. We had to have our faces lathered in vaseline, and then these adhesives were molded around our faces....to form the beginning of our masks. It was especially entertaining hearing the boys cry in pain as they tried to remove the adhesive/masks from their beards.

The evening consisted of Francis and I looking for a laundromat (I can pick up my clothes on Wednesday), stopping in an intensely awesome shop with politically geared art/clothing (I bought a shirt & button), running into Jack (a guy from school), and eating potato chips in the Zocalo.

But, the highlight of the day was what I am going to call the "movie moment." I was crossing the street near the hospital when a man made eye contact with me. He said hola and I said hola and kept walking. I expected that to be the end of our interactions. A passing moment between strangers - like the gajillions of passing moments we have with people every day.

But then, about 3 minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Standing behind me is the man from the crosswalk. He wanted to know who I was.

Awesome. :)

Let's see what Tuesday brings!

Please Sir, I'd Like Some More.

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.

Benjamin Button

I'm going to go backwards. I'll start with what I did last, and work my way to morning. It's good to change things up I think.

I've just taken a shower.

Francis, Cordelia and I just walked home in the rain. It was a bit chilly, yes, but oddly refreshing. The rain here isn't harsh or aggressive. It's just rain. It's not slanty, like Japan. It's not a downpour, it's not misty and annoying. Just soft, regular rain.

Prior to that, we were in a cafe, but I was feeling quite ill (you know, achy bones and such). Instead of trying to push it and stay out for the night (especially with plans for a long day out tomorrow), getting to our casas seemed like a good plan.

We spent the evening sitting in the Zocalo, people watching. There was a traditional dance competition happening which was fascinating to watch. There are always people selling millions of balloons, scarves, bubbles, flowers, candy and more. Cordelia and I bought memelitas from this cute little family (street vending) and they were so amazingly tasty. And when I say "Cordelia and I bought" them, I mean I had mine paid for by a Mexican man who thought I was beautiful. He wanted to be my tour guide around Mexico.

It was only 10 pesos, but it was 10 pesos I didn't have to pay.

Francis ended up eating elote. So, the three of us with our food just hung out and took some time to recognize how fortunate we are in our own lives. It was a lovely moment. Which we totally deserved because we spent the earlier part of the afternoon at Cafe Brujula, studying our Spanish.

The street artist we met before in the Zocalo (the one from earlier posts) showed up there as well, and we had a little chat. But the majority of the rest of the time was spent practicing, teaching, and speaking Spanish. Francis came up with a clever way to remember when to use "estos, esos, aquellos" and we learned from his audio book that "go go" verbs (tengo) go "ga ga" (tenga) when put into the imperative.

But before all the fun we had practicing our Spanish at the cafe, Francis and I were at the organic market! It's quite small, but definitely awesome. I was able to get just over an 8 oz cup's worth of pomegranate seeds for 10 pesos. To put that into perspective, 20 pesos isn't even 2 dollars - it's closer to $1.50. So I paid about 78 cents.

I also bought an amazing scarf for 80 pesos and 2 little bracelets for 30 pesos. There were a million other things I wanted to buy, too, but decided to wait until next week. I did, however, inquire as to how one might get their hands on a poncho for a certain-about-to-be-born-baby-moses-maurer.

And it's a good thing I ate a hearty breakfast this morning, because I was in full-on Spanish mode at the market. I definitely wouldn't have been able to operate without Martita's miracle enchiladas. This morning, two other women joined me and my host mother for breakfast. They all talked about how the boys their daughters want to marry are usually not very motivated, unemployed, dropouts, etc. In Mexico, you don't get married without the permission of your parents. Paula (host mom) talked about how she'd rejected at least two guys for her daughter.

That's serious business.

Almost as serious as the fact that last night, I dreamt in Spanish. When I woke up this morning, I was definitely super excited about it.

And tonight, I'm super excited for tomorrow. We'll take a cab to Mitla, play there, and then - in the bed of a truck - be carted up to some water falls (Hierve El Agua). Hooray for adventures!!