Getting our feet wet

It´s only our first day in Oaxaca, and I´m already dreading the end of our stay. In the twenty four hours since we arrived, I´ve gone from remarking at every palm tree to joining Oaxacans in an internet cafe catching snippets of soap operas in Spanish. We spent the morning touring colonial Oaxaca and sampling some of the offerings from vendors in the market. Peoplewatching there and in the Zócolo (a park/town square hybrid) could make for hours of entertainment on its own. While we did plenty of that, our focus was el Catedral de Oaxaca. The market was followed by a chocolate making demonstration and lunch near the square.

Our next destination was Casa Hogar: Hijos de la Luna, an foster home for orphans and children whose parents cannot properly care for them. The children were shy at first, but they quickly forgot their hesitation and invited us into their play. Even as we arrived, I was nervous about being able to connect with the children, but they were all friendly and I fell into playing with them and my fellow travelers. I tried photographing some of the children at play, but I ended up abandoning my camera to devote my attention to the children. Though most of them have dark events in their pasts, none of that history came through when we were with them. They were just like children in the United States, full of energy and enjoying every minute of our company. Our time with them was far too short, but fortunately we´ll be returning on Monday to spend more time with them.

Our final destination for the evening was a restaurant near an open air performance space in Oaxaca. On our way to dinner, we saw groups of school children participating in dances and carrying instruments. Our meal was pozole, a traditional Mexican dinner of hominy in broth (blanco, rojo or verde) with chicken and pork. On our way back to the hotel following dinner, the students from earlier had dispersed, replaced by couples and teenagers enjoying the evening. We had nieves, a Mexican ice cream, from a stand located under a canopy of tarps set up to protect the shops.

Although I took a lot of photos today, I unfortunately wasn´t able to upload them for this post. I´m hoping that tomorrow I will have more success and be able to show you more of our adventures.

Until next time, adiós y buenas noches!