Oaxaca New Year

I was feeling much better the next day, which was New Year's Eve, when we went to see El Tule, one of Latin America's largest trees. We took a short second-class bus ride to Santa Maria del Tule, where this tree lives. The town is built around the tree, and they charge just a few pesos to go inside the gate and get a closer look. You can't climb it, of course, much to the boys' disappointment. It really was amazing to see this monster tree. Pictures can't capture its magnitude or sagaciousness. Even the kids were temporarily in awe.










After a quick lunch (I was still too queasy to eat, but the rest had more Tlayudas), we headed back for New Year's Eve on the zocalo. As we expected, it was fun, festive, and crazy, with fireworks going off everywhere, long into the night.




I think this was the 6th New Year's Eve in a row that I kissed Ben at the stroke of midnight. That's a pretty good record, I'd say. My best yet, at least. I don't have a picture of that, though. You'll just have to imagine.

Back to Oaxaca City, Day...um...who knows anymore?

We're back in Oaxaca City, and it's good to be back. The city feels familiar now, almost homey, and because we are staying in a hotel right off the zocalo, we feel more comfortable letting the kids come and go as they please--and coming and going as we please, too.




We spent our last few days in Oaxaca doing last minute shopping, visiting some sites we hadn't seen yet, and trying new things we didn't try our first time here, like Tlayudas, the popular Oaxacan giant tortilla stuffed with vegetables, cheese, meat, or whatever you choose, cooked on an outdoor fire.








I was very excited about taking a cooking class at Casa de los Sabores, but unfortunately, I got very sick that day. I tried to do it, but I had to leave before the first hour was over, while everyone was still buying food at the market. So disappointing! The rest of our group had gone off to Mitla to see the ruins and the town there, and I spent the day lying in bed, groaning and watching American movies on the television dubbed into Spanish. Apparently they had their best meal ever, saw really cool ruins, and Angus met some fellow teen skate punks, including a friendly American kid = living in Mexico with missionary parents. After the bus ride home, they checked on me, got me some 7-up, and went to the zocalo for dinner. Here's what I missed: