A Nice Place to Spend A Week

More of the Magic of Oaxaca

Portrait of A Living Artist

Irene Aguilar is one of three sisters that lives in Ocotlan, Oaxaca, MX that is re noun for her clay sculptures and figures. We read about the family in the Rough Guide to Mexico
Her works have a great sense of humor, and she has been a sculptor her entire life. Her father passed down his skills and now many of the family members work in the ladies studios.
She laughs when I tell her that her caricatures of busty women seem as though they came right off a Mexican TV talk show.
I'd love to have all of her works, but trying to bring anything back by motorcycle on some of the worst roads in the world would be ruinous.

Kahlo's Kitchen...A Tribute to a Great Woman Artist

Freida Kahlo's Restaurant
You can get most anything you want. At Freida's Restaurant.
OK, it REALLY isn't Kahlo.


Freida is of course, dead. But an enterprising woman who does look like her and dresses like her has a restaurant in the Mercado Morelos. Located in Ocotlan, just south of Oaxaa, in the State of Oaxaca. The Mercado is a huge indoor market of fresh foods and veggies of all kinds. Yes, they even sell the crunchy crickets you may have heard about. The crickets are dessicated and are covered with dried chili powder. They taste just like chicken, er, chiles.
There are probably a hundred merchants in and about.

Freida's doesn't have the crickets, but she does make a great enchilada with chicken, and other local favorite dishes. I had pure papaya juice. Everything I have had here has been scumptious.
I do not miss the Food Court.

The Magic of Oaxaca

This area is Magical. Here is a little movie I put together of some of the pics....

Crappy Underexposed Video of the Disco Bus

According to the Mayan and Fundy Christians, the end of Times is upon us, brethren. The end of the year was an imminent event even more certain, so a cowboy we met in San Andres Tuxtlan showed us around town. This was one of the ways he thought may provide insight into the spirit of the younger folks who are celebrating the New Year.
Ah, hell, who can say no to a loud as shit, 50000 LED, pulsating and flashing, double-decker bus rolling disco with a commanding view of the Nativity scene in the main Plaza ( El Zocalo)?
Not Me. Not Don.
Yes, we tried to say no.

Egyptian Falls State of Veracruz, Mexico

We heard about a beatiful waterfall near San Andres Tuxtla, so we headed out to Egyptian Falls. The road was supposed to be good. It wasn't. It was full of holes, topes, and even some young bandits who lamely tried to stop traffic with a string and a dirty rag suspended across the road. Upon arrival at the site, the kids and poor folks accosted for parking help, selling trinkets, and trying to get a few pesos, us until we got mean.
The falls were beautiful, but entirely too popular. They are over 30 meters high and 40 meters wide. The resident shaman, or witch doctor who has a shack at the bottom of the falls wasn't in. His workshop had a padllock on it and I heard some folks talking about how dissappointed they were.
I guess I'll have to wait until later to find out just what is bugging me.

No Trader Joes, Publix, Harris Teeter, or Kroger Foods Here!

In Chuhuapa, there is no real grocery store, as per the in the US. Instead, there are several small convenience type mercados, which feature snacks, drinks, beer, and some tinned food items, soap, maybe a few vegtables. As for fresh veggies, there is a woman who always has a few crates of produce, all produced locally. The varieties changes day to day and you can count on tomatoes, jalapenos, and maybe limes and lemons. Sometimes you can get exotic fruits, avocadoes, lettuce, you just never know. It is really cheap food. Most cost just pennies.
Many families have a specialty format store or service in the front room of their houses. Some run tacorias, some sell sandwiches, some sew and do repairs to clothes, etc. There is one panadaria (bread store). The bread is hot at 2 p.m., and the almond cookies and other sweetbreads are wonderful. There are two internet cafes that do not sell coffee. The one I've been to requires you use the existing computers that they have connected on a network...a real pain. They rely on satellites, and usually poor up link and down link speeds..especially on weekends. Wi-fi here is non-existent, presumably because most here cannon afford their own computers.
The aspect of procuring supplies that I like the most is that of the door to door sales, but really it isn't door to door. You have to come outside immediately if you want whatever it is they are selling.
Today I bought a giant slice of cake that contained several layers of fruit, whipped cream and other ingredients. Delicious. $.80. There is the yogurt lady, and the several cars selling bread, fresh fish in tanks, and even motorcycles with boxes on the back selling tortillas.

What if you want a US style food mart? There is one store, called Chedraui, located on the edge of Jalapa, in a Mini-Mall complete with US style parking decks and banks, and the like. It is about 20 miles away and not convenient in terms of access, parking, or stress!

Here the Fish Truck Arrives!



And Don buys bread out of a trunk!