Mi primer dia en Oaxaca.

At 11:20 friday morning my first plane took off for Los Angeles. 2 more flights and 21 hours later I arrived in  the city of Oaxaca, Mexico.

I am staying with a host family. The dad is an architect, the mom stays home to take care of the kids: Susana is 18 and starting school at the University soon, she is interested in Biology; Danella is 9 and she loves to watch Nickelodeon; Vero is 7 and she is full of life and charisma.

They live above a store and gave me a room with my own bathroom. I also have internet. (Talk about spoiled)

The house is very open and the weather reminds me of Southern Oregon during rainy season. It's beautiful.

My room looking out

Looking in

Bathroom on the left

Closet to the left of the bathroom

 After settling in I wondered around the city. Everyone seems very friendly, I even saw a few American families. I can not wait to meet my group and go out with them. The police drive around in souped up vehicles and tote AK-47s. I try to avoid eye contact whenever they drive by.  

A park in the middle of town

Everything is made of stone. Sometimes asphalt or concrete but mostly stones. To me, all the buildings look very similar. They are built as one long strip with varying colors and the only identifying factor is a sign out front. The only grass is that peeking out of the cracks. There are trees everywhere! They grow in the most unique shapes. There are also beautiful hills surrounding the area. I can't be homesick because it's like I'm home!

Dios y Santa Maria

 I passed by 3 churches on my outing today (at least). They were each magnificent. Sadly, I did not find the church building I had intended to.

The yellow sign is warning pedestrians of falling bricks

The city has a lot of character. Old and new are thrown in together (and everything is covered in a layer of dirt). I love walking by the noticeably older buildings and wondering what they once held.

My dinner from a cafe near my home

After wondering the city for a few hours I stopped for dinner. The food is so good! It was a jamon tortas (think ham sandwich) with lettuce, tomato, avocado, bean paste - we're talking quality food here. I have no idea what the side dishes were, they were good, but they made my gringo mouth burn, my nose started running and I wanted to cry.

People watching from the cafe

There are vendors all over the city (and their goods are very diverse). The group in the picture were selling papas fritas made on the spot. They must have been good because they had a line taking up half the block.

Tomorrow I am to go to the University to get a tour of the city and learn about what is expected of me while I am here.