A Real Mexican Day

I'm sure some may wonder what exactly I do over here each day. Some may not--but I'm unclear as to why they would read this blog. But for those who do--I am going to lay out my schedule for today. It was a truly AUTHENTIC day in the city of Oaxaca for me. So I'm happy to not only share with each of you what I was personally doing, but also offer you an idea of what Mexican culture is about.

5:45 AM - Wake up to my alarm. The house is silent. Good. Rafael is not awake yet, and thus will not compel me to walk the dogs with him at this early and very dark hour. Fall back asleep.

8:00 AM - Wake up again. Walk downstairs and pop in my iPod to do an hour of supervised yoga.

9:00 AM - Against the chiding of my friend and the woman who washes the dishes at this house, I stand and eat my fruit and granola at the kitchen counter while I chat with the woman's little girl. Comida Corrida, they tell me.

9:45 AM - Check my email.

10:30 AM - Finally take a hot shower. The air is abnormally crisp today. The first thing on everyone's lips is the weather. I think, "That is SO Mexican. We never talk about the weather in America."

11:00 AM - Do some errands with my friend to two quintessentially Oaxacan stores, Sam's Club and Office Depot (Cutely called Office "DEE-pot"). I'm not sure how many people have visited Mexico before, or know of her bountiful cultural panorama, so I'll just explain what Sam's Club is: It's a huge grocery store, that also chooses to sell furniture and plasma television screens, but everything comes in bulk and for a great deal (una ganga!). You can buy like 20 plasma television screens for under $100,000. It's crazy! Office Depot is very similar, but with, you know, office supplies.

12:00 PM - After reeling from this cultural infusion, we drove over to a pastry shop to hunt down some unsweetened chocolate. I am determined to make brownies here--even though no one seems to like their chocolate without sugar.

12:20 PM - Visited the Natural Food/Product Fair in Parque Llano. Bumped into a friend there who had just returned from a trip to Cuba. She remarked, "I need to recognize that some of us in Mexico are fucked. But EVERYONE in Cuba is fucked."

1:30 PM - Finally returned home. Started to make the brownies. Discover that the chocolate the woman sold me that is bitter (amarga) and without sugar (sin azúcar), actually has sugar in it. Shit! Abort Project Brownie.

2:30 PM - Comida, folks. Time to eat for 2 hours.

Man, isn't this day exciting? Okay. I'm going to stop there. Yesterday was a day filled with work and struggle. Just trying to get a meeting with the director of the Commission for indigenous peoples or his cultural director took half the day. And they STILL didn't let me in to see either of them. "Just one more moment, just one more moment," turned into three hours. Finally I acquired an appointment for Friday at 10. Fortunately, the time allowed me to have a good long talk with my advisor about the town of Tlaxiaco and the support indigenous communities receive from the government there.

After that was more apartment hunting and details. I laid down a deposit for a place I will call "The Lil Yellow House" (Casita Amarilla). I should move in by the first of next month. Pictures to come.

Thus, today I abandoned myself to do very little as a gift for yesterday's miniature battles. Mission accomplished. And as you can see from the above schedule, even though I didn't work at all, I DID manage to do some very typical Mexican things. That's what we call experiential education, kids. If you don't believe me, then check out my pictures.

¡Buenas Noches!