Friday, December 5, 2008

Oaxaca 3

Here is the patio of my new apt. It`s not the most flattering picture to start with, but i don`t have a lot of knowledge about blog technology and haven`t figured out yet how to put things in the exact order i want. Anyway, it is a view looking into the kitchen. Note the water jug to the right side of the door. This is a source of glee for me every time i use it! Access to plenty of drinking water has been one of the things i miss most about home. Here you can`t drink right out of the tap, you have to buy water or boil it. Since I`ve been staying in hostels, I`ve mostly been a slave to the bottled water industry lately.
And here is the kitchen. It has everything I need... except an oven. No baking for me in Oaxaca, but there is the stove and cooking utensils.

My bedroom. The bathroom is on the left side of the picture, where the door-that-you-can`t-really-tell-is-a-door is.


The dining table.
The sitting area.
Don`t be fooled! This apt. looks a lot bigger than it is when you split it up into little pictures. It`s actually quite small but plenty big for one person. It is clean and quiet and my own space, and I love it. The landlady`s name is Sra. Lulu and she is really nice and mom-like. She has a tiny black dog named Rocky that is obsessed with a certain black rubber ball and he has the run of the place.
My first attempt at making home made totopos (nachos). They turned out ok and I made some guacamole and beans and rice for dinner last night. Avocadoes here are 25 pesos for a kilo, which translates to $2.50 for 6 avocadoes! Needless to say, I`ve been gorging myself while i can...

Here are a couple shots of a guy making chocolate in a chocolate shop. They have the machines out in front for the tourists like me to see how it`s made. They put cacao beans, cinnamon, and sugar in this grinding machine and mix it all up. Oaxaca is famous for it`s chocolate and it is really, really good. It has a lot of cacao in it so it`s kind of coarse and a little bitter.

Here is a shot of all the students at my language school. We had just finished an activity of textile painting. The señora in the middle was our teacher for the activity.
Oaxaca is still beautiful. The weather is really dry and hot in the daytime, and cold in the mornings. It`s weird because inside any building it is really, really cold, but as soon as you step into the open air it`s warm, and hot in the sun.
Yesterday I saw a young guy (early 20`s) helping an old lady cross the street. He looked like a ruffian and yet he was helping this little old lady. Why doesn`t that ever happen in the US?
Language school is going well. I`m not learning much new grammar stuff, but the 4 hours of hearing Spanish spoken and having conversations about things other than what I want to eat and how much is a dorm bed is really helping. In the conversation part of the class, though, I keep searching for words and not only can I not find the Spanish word, but sometimes the English word escapes me too. I guess sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
Other than that, life here is pretty tranquilo. I am eating well and sleeping a lot.
I hope things at home are good for everyone too. Only a few more weeks until Joon and my family get here and I`m looking forward to it a lot. Until next time...








4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did my shirt make it all the way to Mexico just to be turned into a sweatshop garment? If that's not my shirt, I humbly apologize.

Pinky Royale said...

Is it just me or does your kitchen and sitting area look like they are dollhouse pictures trying to be passed off as real sized pictures? Do you live in a doll house, Jenny Tsang?

Unknown said...

your place is sooo cute, miss lleni! and congrats on the totopos, they look incredible!(i learned that word from you--i remember asking you how to say tortilla chips one night, in playa, i think). i miss you and wish i could come back!

Unknown said...

I wanted to comment about your fireworks experience but couldn't find where to do it. We were on the Zócalo one night when fireworks were used practically in the middle of a crowd. Nobody was hurt, but it made us real nervous. We visit Oaxaca a lot in the past but are doing it less lately because housing options offerred are expensive. You can follow our experience with Oaxaca at -- http://oaxacacity.wordpress.com/

or our Yahoo Grupo at --

http://www.OaxacaCity.net

Oh, and we are members of the Oaxaca lending libary you like.

Cities I've Visited