¡Vamos a Puerto Escondido!

After several weeks of intensive Spanish courses at Solexico and classes with Jonathan and Oliver at SURCO, week seven of our journey here in Oaxaca arrived, which for most of us meant one very long-awaited thing: beach week.  Now don't get us wrong, we are certainly taking our studies here very seriously and are absolutely cherishing each wonderful experience as it comes, but an adventure to the world renowned surfing beaches of Puerto Escondido is a plus in anyone's book.  After some bittersweet goodbyes with our instructors at Solexico, the first group of four (Hannah, Carter, Lauren, & Kensey) boarded a van to venture through the mountains towards the southern coast of Oaxaca.  The rest of us then prepared ourselves for our 4am departure in a rented van the next day, and Carey really wasn't kidding about how windy the road was the ENTIRE 7 hours of the journey there.  After a restless ride that personally resulted in a very sore neck, we arrived at our funky hostel, Vivo Escondido, which coincidentally enough is owned and operated by a young guy from New Hampshire named Ross.  We quickly became acquainted with Ross's friends and coworkers as well as some of the other international guests at the hostel, including Jack the Aussie and 'Mongo' the eclectic, well-traveled artist and his dog, Tope (aka Richard Switzerland).  

  

 

Vivo Escondido & 'Mongo'- The most interesting man in Puerto
(Photos: Kensey Hanson & Shawn Dunwoody)

Once the 20 of us practically took over Vivo, we all eagerly donned our bathing suits and made the short 5 minute walk to the gorgeous swimming beach, Playa Carrizalillo, where we spent several sun-soaked afternoons together .  With sun and ocean aplenty, many of us worked on our lacking suntans while others took advantage of the opportunity to learn how to surf and paddleboard, ¡qué chido!  We also greatly enjoyed trying the wide array of cuisine offered by the restaurants located near Vivo Escondido, from authentic Italian pasta dishes to delicious falafels and everything in between.  As a gorgeous beach destination, Puerto exists as a very popular place for foreigners to retire to or buy a second home, which is perhaps why such a variety of food was available- we even found Cabot cheddar at the corner store (yes, we did buy it)!  Many of us also ventured away from the Rinconada neighborhood where Vivo is located to the more popular Playa Zicatela, which is renowned as one of the the top 10 surfing beaches in the entire world.  Although Zicatela is quite tourist-oriented, we enjoyed perusing the local artisan shops, visiting the small local market, and of course tasting some amazingly fresh seafood, including shrimp, fish tacos, and raw oysters straight out of the sea.  Zicatela is also quite popular for its beachside nightlife, and so to gather the 'authentic' Puerto Escondido experience many of us visited the scene for some salsa dancing and to practice our improved Spanish-speaking skills with both the locals and other young travelers hailing from France, Belgium, Australia, and Germany. 

Playa Carrizalillo (Photo: Lilly Xian)

On Wednesday, several of us took a nighttime boat ride in a lagoon about 30 minutes away from our hostel. Being out on the water was beautiful enough due to the overwhelming brilliance of the stars due to the lack of light pollution. The real reason we were there, however, was to see natural bioluminescent algae. After a while in the boat, the driver turned off the engine and said that we could put our hands in the water. It wasn’t until you touched the water that it began to literally glow. If you’ve seen Life of Pi, you know what I’m talking about. We all then jumped right into the water and our entire bodies began to glow which was incredible. It wasn’t until the next day that we all were informed that there was an alligator sighting during our swim…

 On Thursday, we soaked up our last rays of sun on the beach before embarking on another long journey back to Oaxaca around 3 pm. The ride home was actually really beautiful because we drove through the Sierra Norte at sunset. On Friday, the Food Systems program students met with one of the professors, Amy, to go over the plan for the next few weeks which made us all very excited because she has plenty of market visits, cooking demonstrations, and tastings planned! Everyone then joined us and we talked about our upcoming village stays. We had our final big research paper due for Oliver’s class on Sunday so most of us spent the weekend in cafes polishing those up so that we can go into village stays and then into our new course tracks on a good note.

Great times with even greater people (Photos: Julia Helms & Lauren Truncellito)

¡Salud! -Sarah Shaw & Margaret Liljedahl

Week 6- Celebrating Birthdays, the last week of school, and up and coming adventures!

Week 6- Celebrating Birthdays, the last week of school, and up and coming adventures!

    The week was off to a bit of a stressful start, but was jam-packed with fun an excitement. With our literature reviews over and beach week on the rise, the group was in high spirits this week. We’ve found ourselves feeling more at home than ever, making friends with locals and establishing our favorite food vendors. The students are definitely partial to where the best tortas and hamburguesas are.

We had a surprise birthday for Bianca, who turned 21 last Thursday!  Everyone did their part to decorate and glitz up the room we rented at Comala, a restaurant and bar. Lauren and Katie bought a killer mango cream cake and Analiz and Janice bought the decorations. During the party, we ate, danced, and blew confetti everywhere- definitely a night to remember! We all felt very thankful to share such a great night and experience with one another.

Donna and Bianca celebrate while wrapped in a train of balloons constructed by the party planning crew! Photo taken by Lauren

The last week of Spanish and SURCO classes had finally approached. It's crazy that the past six weeks have just flown by and that we're almost halfway through our time in Oaxaca! As usual, we had Spanish class from 9-1 on Monday and then that afternoon headed over to SURCO for a presentation about mining by our very own Jonathon Treat. Jonathon's presentation showed us a more personal side of the current mining issue. He spoke to us about communities in Guatemala and Mexico that have been completely torn apart by the intrusion of mining companies. Many of these communities had very few options but to let the companies take over and sadly the economic benefits did not outweigh their personal losses or the loss of unity within the community. His presentation ended on a positive note as he talked about a few communities in Mexico, such as in Capulapam, that have organized together to stop mining in their communities! The next day we reviewed for our upcoming Spanish final in class and then met with Jonathon to wrap up his class about our ISPs. Wednesday was our Spanish final and was promptly followed by a trip to get popsicles and churros! That afternoon was our final class with Oliver and we learned all about his cynical theories of how we can better the world.

The group on our last day of Spanish classes at Solexico, a bittersweet finale, but everyone is excited to move into their tracks!

Thursday morning we all headed to Arrozola to learn about a community of families that specializes in alebrijes! The families pass down the craft to younger generations, and children begin to learn how to paint alebrijes at an incredibly young age. An adorable little boy, around three, showed us his interest in the craft by using a plastic hammer to hit the stump that his grandfather had been carving on, the whole time beaming up at us. At an older age, the young boy will move on from a plastic hammer to learning about how to paint and carve the alebrijes. Like this boy, each member of the community has their own role in the process of crafting an alebrije and each family uses their own style to distinguish their products. It was really amazing to see the passion that the community members have for their craft and the incredible pieces of art that each family had created!

A woman working on painting an alebrije in Arrozola. Photo taken by Janice

The rest of the week flew by as we all counted down the days till beach week! On Friday we finished off our classes at Solexico, and spent the morning at the market with our Spanish professors.

As for us- we shared our very first Elote the other day, which is a classic Oaxaca favorite. It’s corn on the cob with cheese, lime, mayo, and Chile for only 10 pesos! We ate it as we walked home from SURCO through the Zocalo as we listened to salsa music and watched people pass by. Maggie thought it was a little too spicy for her taste, but I expect to eat many more during my time here!

Hasta Luego- Julia & Maggie 

!Que Chido es Oaxaca!

We've just completed our fifth week in Oaxaca and we're finally starting to feel like true Mexicanos (or at least that's what we'd like to believe). Most of the home sickness is gone and we're all coping with the fact that we only have 9 weeks left in Mexico!!! This week started off right with Monday being a much needed day off for Mexico's Constitution Day. Many people used this as a day of rest after our long weekend trip to Capulalpam. 

The rest of the week continued as it normally goes, Spanish from 9 to 1 and Oliver's class in the afternoon. This past Tuesday however, instead of going to our second part of Spanish class at 12 pm, we visited a different University here in Oaxaca: Multiuniversidad. Upon arriving we realized that we were going to participate in an intercambio, where we could meet with students our age and talk to them interchanging between Spanish and English so that we could both better our language skills. However, before that actually occurred we received a very thoughtful welcome from the students, in four different indigenous languages, as well as in English in Spanish. They then asked us a few questions about ourselves and where we come from. After that we had some yummy tostadas with salchica (sausage) and agua de jamaica (hibiscus water) or horchata (a type of rice milk/water). It was delicious! As soon as we were done, we were put into groups of 2-3 UVM students with 3-4 Mexican students to actually participate in the intercambio. It was a really great experience and it was finally nice to meet some people our own age. Many of us left with new friends.

Tostadas with Salchicha.

[Side note: we also had our very first taste of Mcdonald's in Mexico! Way better than the United States.] 

Link: Mare rapping for us in class.

On Wednesday we had a special guest in Oliver's class named Mare Advertencia Lirika. She is a Zapotec women who was born in Oaxaca state. Mare uses her rap as a tool to raise awareness and strengthen networks with social movements in Oaxaca and in other places. She also works to eradicate the inequality that exists against women in society. Mare is also currently still working on her solo rap project where she supports community based initiatives by offering dance, rap, and hip hop culture workshops. 

The presentation was a Q&A session where we asked her about topics that interested us such as the 2006 social movement in Oaxaca which began in May when the Oaxaca teachers' union went on strike to demand wage hikes. The demonstrations grew as the teachers were joined by other social organizations, which began to call for the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz, who was accused of corruption and repression. Mare explained to us the impact that this social uprising had on the current politics in Oaxaca and how it fostered a more open mindset in Oaxacans, allowing her work and music to be heard and accepted. After her presentation we were able to support her work by buying shirts, earrings, and other things. It was a powerful experience and a great opportunity to listen to a true Oaxacan's opinion and experiences.

A Shirt sold by Mare reads "Believe, Conquer, Obtain, Power: Women don't limit yourself to what they ask of you."

This past week had presented us with more beautiful experiences in Oaxaca that we're so lucky to be able to be a part of. From the intercambio to Mare and even our everyday Spanish classes, everything we do opens us up to this new culture and enriches our experiences here. Until next week!

Saludos,

Janice y Analiz

Feels good to be home

As the blog talked about last week, we're all just about settled into our Oaxacan lives by now. It's been nearly a month that we've been in the city at this point, so it's starting to really feel like home. Navigating around the city is second nature for most of us and everyone's Spanish has improved at least to the point of feeling comfortable asking for directions, ordering food, and that kind of thing. We've even started making friends with some people around the city, and through them finding some cool things to do. Of course everyone has been seeking out different sorts of activities; some people have taken up running in the city. One of us has been playing soccer with a local team. Others have been taking all kinds of classes, including yoga, dance, and cooking. There's even a night time guided bike tour/mobile party that a few of us have taken part in. The day- and night-life in the Zocalo is amazing, with live music and people enjoying themselves all the time. It's hard to see, but this a picture of people dancing one night last week, to the music of the police band which was playing the center. It's strange to think that the police have a band, but that's how central music is to the culture in Oaxaca.

School-wise, we're all still taking Spanish classes four hours a day, four days a week, although that will be drawing to a close next Friday, when our week long break starts. At first the four hours of Spanish a day felt like a lot, but at this point we're pretty used to it and not minding it so much. We've all been tuning our ears to the different accents, and being able to understand what the teachers are saying a little more easily makes it a lot less of a chore. We're still taking classes with Johnathan and Oliver and learning a lot from those, but the focus is shifting more and more towards our individual projects. We all turned in our final thesis questions for our projects last week, which range from topics like indigenous peoples, to local nutrition and food issues, to the kind of music and dance that exist in Oaxaca. We'll be turning in a literary review on our various topics this Friday, and then we'll really be diving in to the interviewing and researching process.

Last Thursday, instead of having our normal class with Oliver, we went to a migrant shelter in the city, called COMI (Centro de Orientacion del Migrante de Oaxaca, or Migrant Orientation Center of Oaxaca). The woman who founded the center spoke to us about why it was started, and many of the issues that migrants face in Oaxaca, and South America in general, which was definitely an eye-opening experience. Generally migrants are only doing their best to provide for their families and yet face so much discrimination, horrendous treatment, and roadblocks in their attempts to migrate to the US, that centers like COMI are essential in a region like Oaxaca. I forgot to take any pictures of the center itself, but you can try to think of these cute little bunnies that live there as a metaphor for the innocence and powerlessness of the migrants trying to make their way to the US for a better life.

-Capulalpam

On Friday we visited the mountain town of Capulalpam in south-western Oaxaca. Capulalpam is a part of Mexico's Programa de Pueblos Magicos (Magic Village Program). The aim of this program is to promote towns around the country that offer visitors a unique experience through their natural beauty, cultural riches, or historical relevance. The town was beautiful -- it belonged on a post card -- and even had its own bottled water that it produced at a small plant. The water was so crisp and clear, more delicious than anything we have experienced so far in Mexico. Though the town is picturesque, there is a history of gold mining in the community that through collective action has been eradicated by the community in a necessary action to protect the town from destruction. However, the struggle still remains with the pressure of foreign mining companies who are actively trying to claim the rights to the subsoil of the mountains which are filled with gold.

On Saturday we took a two hour one way hike through hand cleared roads to the last remaining fresh water spring on the mountain. We learned about the history of the town and how the damage of mining has destroyed 13 of the town's fresh water springs. If mining is able to proceed in the future it would mean the imminent death of a beautiful town of Oaxaca.

After our long hike we arrived back at our hotel in Capulalpam where we rested for a bit and ate a delicious comida of potato cakes in a tomato based broth that was a perfect finisher of a long day of hiking. Soon after we the majority of us took part in an experience like no other, a Temazcal and/or a tranquil massage. The Temazcal consisted of small groups entering covered dome where we would sit and relax while herbs were burned and water was poorer over smoldering rocks that introduced a thick steam that made the air thick while clearing our minds and relaxing our bodies. The sweat that was released from our bodies seemed to never end and afterwords I can only describe the feeling as purified.  

On Sunday on our way out of Capulalpam we visited a trout farm about fifteen minutes outside of the town. The sun was shining and the river adjacent to the small restaurant on site was cold, clear and full of trout. We had lunch and ate some of the most delicious fish we've ever had. After lunch some of us enjoyed swimming in the flowing river on location, the water was cold but was a sweet relief for the hot sun that had been baking us all weekend. 

At the trout farm there was also a small rock climbing wall with natural formations and a short zip-line that was constantly carrying individuals over the site.