Flying into Oaxaca.
I was lucky to get out ahead of the snow this morning, when I left Amherst at around 2:30 in the morning, heading to Bradley airport in Connecticut for my 5:30 am flight to Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. There were dire warnings all over the place about delayed or cancelled flights, and American Airlines was even offering changes in schedule at no cost. Imagine that, American Airlines offering something for free. But… I was ahead of the snow, with no delays, and a smooth flight into Dallas, and from there Oaxaca.
Flying into Oaxaca, once we got below cloud cover we could see the rugged Sierra Madre mountain range, with villages dotted in the mountains. Beautiful. I’m sorry I couldn’t get a shot of those mountain villages from the air.
surrounding Sierra Madres
Phill, the guy Rachel has used to drive her when needed, picked me up at the airport, and we had a good and smooth ride into the city, getting to Rachel’s maybe 30 minutes later, in the Xochimilco (like with a “s,” instead of an “x”) district, just north of the city central. Nice guy, and he’s also a tour guide here, with good English (to make up for my almost complete lack of Spanish).
It was great, of course, to see Rachel, and to finally get here to visit her. Rachel rents this apartment year round, and is here for maybe four months each year over the winter, and sub-lets it the rest of the year. I think Rachel’s been coming to Oaxaca consistently for 15 years or more, and has rented this place for four years.
Oaxaca is a lovely place, and pretty down to earth. But, you not only can’t drink the water, but shouldn’t use it to brush your teeth either. Also, don’t flush the toilet paper as it risks clogging the system. But, hey, it goes with the territory.
Rachel’s apartment, with roof garden
Rachel had developed a very defined life here for herself, with sculpting most days, and sometimes teaching, the gym daily, dancing, taking Spanish lessons several times each week, and spending time with friends, some locals and others ex-pats who, like Rachel, live here part of the year and in some cases full time.
The roof patio/garden of Rachel’s apartment is a great feature and a real plus. That’s where I’m writing this at the moment. Not too hot (although it gets very hot here over the summer), and right now with a nice, just right, mild breeze.
Rachel rents her apartment year round from a local guy, who, along with his brothers, runs a weaving business, in the courtyard just below Rachel, and you can hear the clack-clack-clack of the looms throughout the day. They produce traditional textiles like tablecloths, bedspreads, and I’m not sure what else. Later in my visit I stopped in to see the looms in progress.
Rachel and I spent time walking around the city, walking a couple of miles or so. Rachel is in a more residential area, Barrio Xochimilco, the oldest district in the city, and a little north of the more central area, but it’s less that a mile or so toward the city proper, with its squares, parks, churches, and many stores, restaurants, bars, and art galleries. Lovely place, very much what I expected. It’s certainly become a more tourist-centric place in the last few years, but is still very much as it must have been 20 years ago, despite new businesses coming in.
We spent the evening on the rooftop as the skies darkened into dusk and then in to evening proper, talking about all sorts of things and watching the night sky, although with the light of the city the stars are largely drowned out.
