Welcome to Oaxaca.
I had a bit of a restless night, but good anyhow. The fan kept waking me (plus, it made the room too cool), and I woke up after what seemed hours of somewhat interrupted sleep to find it was only about 1 am, just a couple of hours after going to bed. I slept better after that, but did wake several times (so, what’s new?), un til Rachel came to get me around 5 am to watch the eclipse of the moon.
Up to the roof we went, binoculars in hand, and lo and behold there was the moon, starting to be eclipsed, but difficult to photograph with a iphone and no tripod.
Interestingly, the eclipse could be seen by eye, with a change of color to a softly glowing orange-red, and by 5:15-5:30 it was pretty red-ish, and very clearly and well seen through binoculars. I tried to take a photo through the binoculars, but couldn’t manage it. Still, I did get one sort of decent shot of the Blood Moon, as a full eclipse of the moon is known.
The Moon is being eclipsed by the shadow of the Earth crossing between it and the Sun, but light is diffused through the Earth’s atmosphere, with blue light being scattered, giving this reddish hue to the Moon.
Then I went back to bed, thinking I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, but I did.
Rachel and I went for a walk around 9, and at 10:30 I walked to to the nearby language school of Alberto, Rachel’s good friend, dance partner, and Spanish teacher, for the first of four daily lessons. Yes, you heard me. I’m taking daily Spanish lessons (first time ever) for the rest of this week, about an hour-plus each day, largely to help me feel more comfortable with the language next week, when I’m on my own as I head toward Mexico City, with stops along the way. Yesterday’s lesson filled my head with infinitive verbs and conjugation, and I realize it’s not just about understanding the underlying structure of the language, but also, and very much so, memorization.
After returning from my lesson, determined to do some homework later (which I didn’t do, although Rachel did quiz me some), I hung around a bit, talking, and later in the afternoon took a walk to the central district as I wanted to see about catching the shuttle to relatively nearby Monte Albán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It is described as one of the most important archaeological sites in Mexico, about 6 miles from Oaxaca. Founded around 500 BCE, it was Inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by the Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs, and the capital of the Zapotec civilization for over a thousand years. I plan to take a visit on Saturday.
At any rate, I spent a couple of hours walking around, and feel pretty familiar with the central district from my visit here last year. Bustling and colorful.
Then heading back to Rachel, I saw this poster, and I felt lucky. Mexican wrestling. Rachel went a week or so ago and had great fun watching the wrestlers with their famous masks, but figured I’d missed out on it. But, here it is, and apparently it’s weekly. We plan/hope to go this Sunday. I hope so!
In the evening, Marisa, one of Rachel’s close friends here, came for dinner with her husband Don. We met last year, and I visited them at their Oaxaca apartment. Marisa is Argentinian, and she and Don (who’s American) live in Oregon, and are here each year for about two months, although are returning home tomorrow. March is about the latest for most folks like Marisa, Rachel, and others who spend 2-4 months here each year, as it starts to get too hot.
Marisa talked talked about the death of her sister last year, and I almost immediately thought about Bev. Marisa’s sister was very aware she was dying, and arranged a trip with her granddaughters to Europe, and was able to be with her family upon her death and say goodbye. I both wish that had been the case for Bev, that she had been able to say goodbye, but I also think that knowing about pending death would be difficult for Bev, and so she was perhaps spared that. Still, not being able to tell Bev I love her, and her not being able to say goodbye is a difficult memory and makes me very sad.
We were later joined by Sarah and Pete, Rachel’s downstairs neighbors, also visitors like Rachel, and lively discussion followed. Rachel went to bed early-ish, and I stayed up till maybe 11:30, as I want to sleep through the entire night if possible (it wasn’t, but I did okay). Good night.