Thursday the 27th I had to wake up early because Lindsey from SURCO was picking up Yamila and I to take us to Equinoterapia. It was our orientation so Lindsey showed us how to navigate and use public transportation to get back and forth (we took a bus there and a collectivo back- about 6 pesos each way, about 50 cents). We arrived at Equinoterapia and met the owner Carolina. She seems very nice but I was a little thrown off by how fast she speaks. However she told me not to hesitate to ask her to slow down at any point and I definitely plan to do so. She told us a lot about the place and then we quickly looked at the horses (they're huge!) because we had to be back at SURCO.
On the way back we took a collectivo (basically a taxi which is not private) because they go a little faster then a bus. We were a little late when we got back to SURCO but once we got there we headed off on our driving tour with Oliver from SURCO.
We went all around the entire city and saw how much larger it was than we had thought. We made several different stops and saw many different types of living in Oaxaca. On the way we passed housing complexes which are home to different types of union workers. We also passed by several settlements where people had made their homes out of the cheapest material possible and basically have nothing. However they are supported by the government and receive resources in exchange for political votes. It was a very interesting concept which seems very corrupt. The group made a stop at a park where we were able to see the entire city (an amazing view!).
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| Gorgeous views |
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| The cutest group you ever will see |
After our tour we headed by to SURCO and had a delicious comida, with the most amazing banana postre ever! We were then done for the day so we decided to go explore. We headed back to the markets in hope to find something good and we sure did. A bunch of us girls all wanted backpacks and we all found the perfect ones!
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| Backpack sisters<3 |
Next up we wanted to try some Mexican/Oaxacan traditions. First we stopped and tried some of Mexico's famous Mezcal (alcohol from the maguey plant native to Mexico), we of course had to try some from the bottle which had the worm in the bottom (it is suppose to be like that). Next we wanted some chocolate so we head to MayorDomo. We were given free samples of chocolate and a delicious chocolate drink which we could not resist so we all had to get some.
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| The group at MayorDomo |
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Lastly we headed on our search for the chapulines (grasshoppers!) to eat. It may sound crazy but we felt it had to be done in order to accustom ourselves to Oaxaca. Surprisingly they looked nastier than they tasted. We were all brave enough to try them (some more than others who ate handfuls!!). They had a little bit of a garlic seasoning on them but mostly were extremely sour. The little bits of the Mayordomo chocolate drink washed them down very well.
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| Before... |
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| And after!! Clearly not the best thing I've tasted. |
That day was when it really started to hit me that I was here in Oaxaca for over a month. We had done so much in just one day and it was all so exciting. The group was beginning to bond and we could start to see how much fun we were going to have. This day gave me an overall glimpse of Oaxaca and I knew there would only be better things to come!
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Lindsay R.
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