The visit, a breakdown

Vicki has just departed in a taxi, high-tailin' it to the airport for the first of a few flights she must ride to make her way over the clouds and mountains to her home city of Portland. Here's sending her warm wishes for a safe and speedy journey. Bye, Vicki!

We had such a fantastic visit that I thought I'd lay out some of the many highlight moments from our adventures (which incidentally, allowed me to take a few days off from editing tape and project planning work, woohoo! And the writing of this blog is also serving the same purpose, ha!)

Vicki arrived in the early evening. Azucena and I zoomed to the airport to pick her up. We took a quick zip up the Cerro de Fortín to show Vicki a grand vista of the city--where she insisted on snapping a self-portrait, rather than let us take one of her. Her half-a-head is so cute!

She had a long day of travel behind her. So the remainder of the evening was devoted to getting her settled in and the gab gab gabbing of good friends who haven't seen each other in far too long. The next day was a leisurely one--with a stroll around town to orient the new tourist. We saw the usual, Santo Domingo, the Alcalá, Camino Real, the Zócalo filled with teachers on strike. Ok, so the last one isn't as common. Vicki had the distinct pleasure to see a bit of Oaxaca during a union strike. Awesome. Fortunately, the strike had just begun--so Vicki observed that it seemed like more of a party in the town plaza (vendors setting up food stands and artisans out with their crafts) than a demand for higher wages. I even bought a really nice wooden salad bowl on the cheap. Thanks criminally underpaid teachers!

The following day found the valiant Vicki heading off on her own into town. She was kind enough to allow me a bit of the morning to get some radio work done while she strolled and tested out a few museums. Though, we trekked into a nearby market for freshly spun smoothies before she set out. The girl needs to get fortified to brave the Spanish-speaking streets on her own! (Note to readers: Vicki is an experienced adventurer and traveler--but speaks not a lick of Spanish. So she was armed with a guide book, a smile and years of French. She survived!) Here's a quick pic from her solo trek of the Botanical Gardens from the vantage of Santo Domingo's museum.

When the sun passed the mid-point int he sky, we met up in town for a leisurely bite at Biznaga, where Vicki proclaimed, "This is the best tortilla I've ever eaten." Mission accomplished. We also journeyed to make reservations in town for a later trip up into the mountains, and a visit to an archaeological site.

Afternoons here are made for chilling, hanging about in a hammock and reading through the two gossip mags that were brought to you from the States. So that's precisely what we did. And even though Vicki and I continually talked about how we needed to go to bed at a reasonable hour to maximize the morning--we could never quite convince ourselves to stymie the conversation to do just that.

Thus, a somewhat weary Vic woke up the next morning to make her way to Monte Albán. No alarm is necessary, as Vicki noted, because the trucks the troll the streets, delivering gas, potable water and Popsicles start VERY early to make their rounds, and honk their horns. On her return from the mountain top of Zapotec pyramids and green hills, we made our way over to Colonia Reforma to Itanoní for a taste of local fare, thoughtfully made and fresh as anything going.

You've already seen the revelry of Vicki on her first taste on my earlier post. I'll add here that I got to try the other signature drink they have at Itanoní, the lemonade with parsley. At first go, it's a bit like drinking a salad. But with the compliment of a squash blossom quesadilla--it was divine! Afterwards, we strolled further north up to the Fuente de Siete Regiones, and then down Calzada Porfirio Diáz for a quick paleta at Popeye. Vicki got a sweet and fruity pinneapple paleta, while I chose my favorite, cajeta. A long winding walk home found us both a little overheated (the temps turned hot!) and a tired. So another night of enjoying the porch, my new porch hammock and stories ensued.

The next morning we rose late (at last!) and headed up to my neighborhood market for some fare. Here you can get a look at what I do generally every day in order to feed myself. This is my favorite friendly fruit and veggie vendor at the market. I'm asking how much for a medio kilo of plums...70 cents! Woah. Sold. Then we retired to my dining room nook to enjoy a bit of fresh baked goods and fruit.

By the time we both showered and cleaned up, the morning was already on its way out. I did a bit of work (a bit!). Vicki got in a bit of reading. Before we knew it, it was time to depart for the Corderos. We'd been invited for lunch. First, we headed over to Mercado de Hidalgo to pick up some flowers (Vicki's idea to present to our hosts). And we strolled past a bakery to purchase a tiny tres leches/cajeta cake. In usual Cordero-style, the whole family was around in good spirits. Rafael got to practice a bit of his French, something he hasn't studied in years--but always professes to be great at. We'll have to check in with Vicki to see what the verdict is. It was a real mesh of languages, though, because both Azucena and Rafael (the parents of the Cordero clan, and my former host family when I studied here in college--for those of you who are new readers) have been studying English for the last few months. So they stumbled through some greetings with Vicki, their new English test subject. Azucena pulled out all the stops--laying out a spread of very typical Oaxacan fare for Vicki to try: memelas with asciento, guacamole and chapulines (grasshoppers!), arrachera enchilado, mantequilla de puerco and her favorite, chorizo (Don't tell Mike, her boyfriend. He's been sworn to keep her from eating it). Here's a shot of Vicki bravely chomping into some chapulines. They have a saying here in Oaxaca, "Once you try chapulines, you can't help but return." Hooray, return visit! Vicki also got a sip of Rafael's famous Cuba Libres--he's really a master of mixing the drink; he also buys some top notch rum. Here's a quote from my friend, "I think this may be the best rum and coke I've ever had, ever."

This may be blurry--but that's a bowl of ground up
grasshoppers, and that's Vicki eating them on a tortilla.

Alejandro, Vicki and I then hopped into the family truck and headed to the Pochote. There was a free showing of the Darjeeling Limited at the art cinema. When it got out, we found ourselves with a bit of energy and thirst--so we headed up to Hotel Victoria (that's right, Vicki has her own hotel here--so why is she sleeping on my couch?) for a cocktail and a great view. The breeze accompanied us home, where we packed up. Next stop, the mountains of Sierra Juárez north of the city. The trip north is so great it gets its own post. To be continued...