Oaxaca Trip - DAY 4

Sorry I didn't get to post this yesterday. They turned off my electricity again because there was a miscommunication over who didn't pay their bill. No electricity = No internet. ¡Esta buen porque yo tengo electricidad ahora!

Day 4 – Thursday October 27

Start of Day: 6:30am

Agenda:

·      Zaachila Market – barter products for products

·      St. Thomas Jalieza – Backstrap looms

·      San Martin Ticajete – Alebrijes

·      Chocolate Factory

·      Benito Juarez Market

·      Dinner at Fonda Santo Domingo

This was a pretty fun day! We started off by going to the Zaachila market. It is one of four markets left in Mexico where you can exchange goods for goods… no cash needed. This was one of the only things, that in my mind, had a business feel to it. We told the kids that they should buy one product and trade with the vendors as many times as they could and see what they end up with. Now, I need to tell you what kind of market I was at. This market is not for tourist to find the best deals; this is a real authentic Mexican market. I knew we weren’t dealing with any kind of market I had been to when I say all the goats for sale on the way in.

I was warned that they do not really enjoy tourists and that I should play it cool because I already kind of stick out with my blonde hair. So I thought, okay, no big deal… WRONG!!

Special Oaxacan Dia de Muerto pan!! SO GOOD!

For those of you that know me, may know that I HATE birds. If it has wings and they flap I am freaked out!! We walked into the market right at the bird section. Now when I say birds, I mean GIANT turkey and chickens!! Most of them had their feet tied up but every one and a while they would flap their wings and scare the crap out of me and I would wince a little. Adrian kept giving me the look to play it cool and I tried… I REALLY DID!! Then there were the old ladies carrying around these birds for I’m assuming was going to be dinner later; every time the brushed passed you with the turkey legs in hand I let out a little scream because I thought the birds were going to bite me… I mean their heads were just dangling down there! Needless to say Adrian got me out of the bird section as quick as possible… I didn’t do so well there. So why not take me to the meat section. Now, I’ve seen the raw meat at other markets but for some reason it was like extreme raw meats at this market. I couldn’t help but gag a couple of times. Adrian said we just had to find the Dia de Muerto bread and we could go get ice cream… I felt so bad! I was trying to play it cool but apparently I didn’t do a good job at all! Before the homemade ice cream I did manage to by some Oaxaca chocolate. It is AWESOME! I’m trying to save some to bring home! I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures from here, but it wasn’t exactly a place to take them. The ones I do have, are from Adrian… I didn’t dare draw more attention to myself by trying to take out a camera!

They take such pride on how their products are presented

Just seeing if this chicken weighs enough by shaking it up and down

GIANT TURKEYS FOR SALE

Todos los pan

This lady was selling church incense and spices

Finally ICE CREAM! AND it's all homemade! I had three different flavors: coconut, melon, and strawberry. Also some tuna (cactus fruit on top)

So back to the kids… I had one group buy a goat for $500 pesos ($50). They then tried to trade it and all the locals told them they got screwed, so they ended up trading for some flowers at the end because we would not let them take the goat home. Another group bought some fruit and ended up trading it for 4 quesadillas. Another group bought some tomatoes, then traded them for some cheese, and then traded that for some ice cream. Let’s just say some groups did better than the others :) 

After this we all go back on the bus and headed towards our next stop. ALEBRIJES!! Here are a few

The word alebrijes means nightmare in Spanish. These started long ago and generations after generations have carried on the trade of making these. In fact this whole town makes alebrijes. So how they started… it used to be said when you had a nightmare with the scary figure in it, the only way to get rid of the image from your brain was to carve it out of wood. That way it would leave you and be trapped in the wood. Turns out these things are really neat! The detail of the painting is unbelievable. I don’t understand how anyone can have such a steady accurate hand. I bought a few Christmas present here!

These were all carved and just hanging out at the guys shop

Here he shows us how he widdles them

This tree was covered with them

Each of the kiddos got to paint their own alebrijes

One of my students working hard

Some of their finished products

Before we left here, I really had to go to the bathroom. No problem right... well I had to cross the crazy animal farm that this shop was in. When I say animals I mean more flippin turkeys and BIRDS!! It took me a while to work up the courage to cross through... 

Even the bambino turkeys freak me out!

There were cows in there!

Next stop was to the women who use the backstrap loom. This was fascinating. Here is how they make these bags/blankets/scarf’s/purses. This town used to be all women because most of the men here would flee to the states and say they would send money back, most of the time the money would stop coming and they were left to support their whole family, so they found a way to make products to sell in hopes of supporting their families. It was truly amazing some of the work that was there!

After this we went back to the hotel and had an authentic Oaxacan lunch. It was really good food! Most of the food was really good food on this trip! We then got ready for our last night in the Centro. We took the kids to a chocolate factory where they make mole and chocolate. I was told there would be chocolate milkshakes so I was pretty excided! Turns out their version of a chocolate milkshake is chocolate milk… there was no thickness to it whatsoever. Oaxaca chocolate has a very distinct taste to it, but boy is it GOOD!! I really hope I can save some to bring home! After that we crossed town and stopped in the market one last time. The kiddos were a little crazy so we couldn’t let them out of our sight and so I didn’t get a chance to buy any cheese, but that’s okay, I’ve found it at the grocery stores. We then went to Fonda Santa Domingo for a very nice dinner. Again, the food was excellent! The only thing that sucked was we had eaten lunch so late that I wasn’t really hungry for this great dinner! We then found a place in the square for a late night group photo. When we were taking their picture, they started chanting my name, so I ran in and took a couple pics with those special 11^th graders!!

We all wear those colored scarfs for security reasons ... just encase you were wondering about the fashion statement we had on all week!

Can you find me??

One of our guides was telling us this amazing story about the city and in perfect timing this firework went off. It was so funny because every time he would stop and say another one was coming he was right… It was unreal! 

The night ended after story time. When we got back to the hotel I had to collect notebooks again and I was up late grading. I thought it would be okay because I knew the next day was going to be filled with an awesome 10-hour bus ride!!

End of Day: 12:45am