Oaxaca City

22-24 de enero

I know this post is really late, but I finally have down time where I can feel productive so here we go.

Oaxaca City, Oaxaca is a beautiful city in the mountains of central Mexico.  

My friends and I stayed in a beautiful Airbnb where we each got our own room. They voted me into the master suite because I’d orchestrated all the travel and housing plans (MomFriend^TM). It was absolutely wonderful.

 

This is a picture of the view from our airbnb. Syd was lucky and got the room with the view, so she got to wake up to this every morning and go to sleep to the full moon every night.

Biggest downside was the mosquitos, but they were tame in Oaxaca compared to what I'd have to live through in Puebla in a week and a half.

Oaxaca is famous for its cheese, which I have pretty much formed an addiction too. My go-to snack is a quesadilla with some salsa and some Oaxaca cheese, because it’s melty and stringy like mozzarella but it tastes better.

Our first day there we got breakfast in a cute little restaurant near the city center. I had a delicious omelet de champiñones y espinaca and cafe de olla (at right), which means coffee of the pot because it’s brewed with a whole bunch of sweet spices in a giant clay pot, giving it a very unique flavor. I generally hate black coffee, but cafe de olla is sweet enough that I didn’t want to add anything.

Overall, the food in Oaxaca was amazing. For dinner our last night there Syd and I split a sample platter of different cheeses and sausages that featured quesadillas, guacamole and totopos, i.e. tortilla chips.

All through dinner we made friends with pigeons, some adorable dogs, and at the very end a father son duo brought up a marimba (its like a giant wooden xylophone) and played some adorable music. 

We also tried mezcal, which is a super strong alcohol that's made from the same plant as Tequila (i.e. agave) but it's fermented differently.

The city center was absolutely adorable. It was still very colonial, which I have some moral issues with but man is the architecture stunning. 

These pictures are of my two favorite places I found in Oaxaca. One is of a small courtyard near an open-air market with beautiful trees and crooked streets (above). The other is a tiny hidden alley/courtyard we found where all the businesses were therapists, spiritual healers and a tiny cooking school. I fell instantly in love and didn't want to leave (left).

We also made a trip out to Monte Alban, the ruins about a 30 min drive from Oaxaca City.

It's an old Zapotec city that's only partially excavated, so some of the pyramids aren't fully exposed (see the main pyramid to the left). There was so much exploring to do that we Hailey and I didn't get a chance to see the whole thing because we spent too much time exploring the first half and taking a ton of pictures. Travel Tip: don't spend 1/2 your time at a site in the first 1/4, because you end up rushing through the last half and missing some cool things. Oh well, Oaxaca is definitely on my list of places I need to see again. 

look at my cute friends

The trip was absolutely amazing. Best purchases were an absurd amount of Oaxacan chocolate, which makes the greatest hot chocolate I have ever eaten in my entire life, and a blanket. I have a problem where I buy a blanket in every country I go to because I am obsessed with them. I don't really consider it a major problem, because they keep me warm and can also double as beautiful wll hangings once I actually get my own place. This one is brightly colored and has a simple striped/geometric pattern on it. I love it a lot.

Bonus Photos:

Giant spider we found at Monte Alban. It was a little over an inch long and about an inch wide, including legs. You could see it from about 10 feet away, putzing its way through the dead, yellow grass. It was so beautiful, but I probably would die of fright if it had suddenly appeared on my body. No one else wanted to get anywhere near it, but I was down on my knees trying to get pictures.

Beautiful Tree with the background of an old church and an amazing system of roots that was breathtaking. Also this lighting was amazing and everything about this tree and this moment made me exceedingly happy. 

In front of the church doors there was a painter who was working on capturing the beauty of this area, and just past him, up the street, was an open air market with a whole bunch of blouses, jewelry and generally tourist-y souvenirs. It was super cool to wander around and look at everything though and the light filtering through the leaves around us was absolutely stunning.

I was pretty sunburned by the end of the day though.

Fun Fact: I'm actually getting tan?!?!?!

Keep in mind that I have always been as white as a piece of paper, so when I say "tan" what I actually mean is that my skin doesn't reflect sun and blind the people near me anymore. 

I'm still the whitest person in the LASP program.

It's Been a "Nope" Sort of Day

10 de febrero

Warning: this post is basically just going to be a big complaining dump about my day.

It's not that well written.

Sorry.

When I put on my "Nope" shirt today I was protesting a Spanish test that I had one night to study for. I was protesting having to wake up early and was expressing my general distaste for the day ahead.

Little did I know that it would quickly turn into the summary of my day.

My phone was stolen in a 30 second window on the (wrong) bus to school today.
I, stupidly, left it in an easily accessible pocket while I paid my fare and as soon as I found a spot and reached for it, it was gone. Props to the thief tho, I hope he gets some good money for it, it was a (relatively) new, nice phone.

I'm trying to be an optimist about this but it's not really working.

I feel kind of empty.

One of the issues with having an anxiety disorder and depression is literally anything can tip you over the scale. When my anxiety gets to high (like before an exam, like today) my depression is generally not too far behind. Motivation has been hard recently, and with this mourning process sort of thing literally all I want to do is curl up in my bed and never leave.

I want to call my parents and just talk.

I want to hide under the blankets and cry.

And it's not just because my phone was stolen, that's just the last straw in the snowball effect that is my life with mental illness (apologies for the blend of idioms). 

I keep being hard on myself about the phone thing and I know I should let it go but also I made a really stupid mistake and now I'm paying for it.

Basically I feel like a mess right now and I hate it.

But, shout out to my friends who comforted me today. It helped <3

A Stroke of Bad Luck

1 de febrero

Today I spent about 4 hours in the hospital.

I want to preface this article by saying that I am now OKAY. I really don't want everyone to panic over this, my day was scary and I never want to have to go through this again, but I am okay and I am getting some prescriptions filled in case it ever happens again.

Okay, so here's what happened.

Starting about 11 am today, my eyes started acting weird. You know how if you stare at a light your eyes get a white image stuck in them for a bit? Yeah, that happened. But it didn't go away.

About 10 minutes after that, my right arm went numb. But not like numb like it fell asleep, I just lost all sensation up to about my elbow. At first I thought it was a pinched nerve 'cause I get those a lot, but when I kept it resting at my side and moving my fingers and nothing changed, I started to know something was wrong.

About 5 minutes after that, I stopped being able to talk. My tongue stopped working and I couldn't form words unless I talked very, very slowly and enunciated very, very clearly.

It was probably the scariest moment of my life.

As soon as the first syllable slipt, I focused on saying that I had to go to the hospital. Now.

I heard one of my classmates voice my fear: "She's having a stroke."

Power was off at the university, so my professor, roommate and I had to hail a cab to get to the hospital, and the driver had to ask to get through a construction barrier in order to drive us there, but I made it in about 20 minutes.

By the time I was checked in and was in my very uncomfortable hospital bed, my symptoms were over and I felt fine. 

I got a CT scan for the first time, and it was so short. The worst part was not twitching while it happened. But now I have some cool pics of my brain!

Which, by the way is totally healthy. So I didn't have a stroke, thank god.

The neurologist said that the most common cause of stroke-like symptoms in youth is a severe migraine. He said that the blood vessels in my brain constricted so much that it cut off blood flow to the nerves in my arm and to my speech center. 

Mom suspects it could have also been triggered by anxiety, because those symptoms can overlap.

I got stuck in the hospital mostly due to wait time, but on the bright side I was served a lovely bland hospital lunch that consisted of chicken broth, agua de jamaica, this potato thing with cream and spinach (it was amazing tbh) and some sort of jello. I think it was orange? I didn't eat much of that.

I got home around 4:30 and took a nap. Syd and I are about to go to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions for when I get a bad headache and one for if I ever suffer a pseudo-stroke again (praying that the latter turns into a waste of money).

Other than the headache, I feel totally fine. The worst thing now is if I ever stumble over a word (which has been happening a lot lately because I'm getting stuck between languages) my anxiety immediately starts screaming that I've lost the ability to speak again. Getting over that will take some meditation and calm breathing, but I feel confident that I'm going to be okay.

I've been getting messages of love from friends and family, and I feel comfortable in my support net here. 

I just hope that I never have to use it again.

Fuertes, Murales y Comida

16 de enero

January 16, my friends and I went to los Fuertes de Loreto y Guadalupe, two forts that were essential in the battle of Cinco de Mayo in the revolution against french occupation. They were constructed in the 18th century, and are absolutely beautiful.

Entrance to Fort Loreto

The fort featured a museum with lots of war relics such as flags, uniforms, guns, binoculars and the like. It was super cool to see so many artifacts that were in relatively good condition and to learn a bit about Mexico's history as we wandered through. We went with a couple friends who are also on exchange in Puebla, but hail from one of the northern states. They were able to give us a bit more background information about the wars and such.

Panorama of the fort ft. Sydney

Beautiful mural representing the revolution

The mural above is one of my favorites I've seen. The colors are vivid, and its done in the style of traditional Mexican muralists. 

Food of the Week:

Lentil soup with tocino (bacon) and platanos fritos (fried bananas, which just so happen to be one of my favorite foods ever).

It might not look like much, but this is probably one of the best foods I've eaten so far here in Puebla. I didn't think I even liked lentil soup, but I ate two bowls of this stuff and would have eaten more if I didn't want to save room for the main course. 

It's been a really amazing few weeks food wise. I'm eating healthier foods in large portions, so my snacking habit has all but disappeared. I've been having a hard time battling my salted, fatty food cravings. When I get desperate, I satisfy it with these freshly made potato chips with lime juice and salt that are deliciously deadly. 

Overall though, I've felt a lot healthier since I've been here. My host mother appears mildly offended that I've actually been loosing weight. I need to explain that it's not because I'm not eating enough, but that I'm actually eating well.

Brujas, Cloaks and Classes

19 de enero

Today I learned that some of the churches here in Puebla don't keep holy water in their entry because the local brujas [witches] kept putting potions in it.

I guess it's the optomist in me, but I keep imagining kind little old ladies sauntering up to the holy water and dumping in a potion to encourage compassion and forgiveness because she thinks the world needs more.

In other news, yesterday I bought a chal [shawl] that kind of looks like a cloak. I wore it to class today and at least three friends told me that I look like I belong in Hogwarts. I feel so epic swooshing around in it and it makes me very happy. 

I'm also probably going to sign up for a painting class, even if it is a little nerve wracking and not necessarily in my traditional branch of skills. I originally wanted to do ceramics, but a whole bunch of my classmates are taking it and I don't want to be tempted to gravitate towards only them. I want to make new friends, dammit!

Right now I'm resting my becloaked self in an attempt to recharge my introverted energies. I think this is some of my only free time in a while, and I've felt like I've been running on empty for the last couple of days. It's hard to get alone time when one of the major rules is "Don't go anywhere alone, ever!"

Semana Primera

3 a 15 de enero

La semana primera en Puebla estaba muy divertido, y me encanta la ciudad y mi familia.

The first week in Puebla was very fun and I love the city and my family.

My family is very loving and kind towards me, mi mamá is an amazing cook. (left: chicken with onions, spinach and nutmeg. right: chilaquiles)

        

Our host sister has two little ones: a five year old boy and an 18 month old girl. Both are very sweet. I keep making faces at the little girl hoping for a smile and a laugh, (finally on Wednesday I achieved the former). The little boy always wants to play, but he's really only here right in the middle of prime nap and homework time.

One of the first days we were here, he wanted to hang out with us in our room, but Syd and I said we needed to rest and change. Knowing he'd be persistent, we closed and locked the door. This is where it gets good: he kept trying to turn the handle, we kept responding "¡no puebes entrar!" (you can't come in!). There was a moment of quiet, and we thought he finally understood. Nope. The little monster punched the door open. While I was in the middle of changing.

Well, now he knows that if the door is closed, he can't come in. Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

Our house is super cute too. There's no central heating, which was really only a problem the last few days when it felt like Seattle had followed us south. It was cold, rainy and windy, and I deeply regretted only packing one sweater. Our shower is a pipe that sprouts out of the wall, and we try to collect the water in a bucket to reuse it to water plants and stuff. It's actually a pretty nice use of recycling, even if it did take a little getting used too.

This is our room on our first day. It's pretty much the same, except syd's clothes are actually here now and the table has turned into a depository/makeup table. Out the window is a view of a super cute backyard where geckos like to climb on the walls (I definitely have tried to catch some a couple of times). Over the back wall is a river, and sometimes if the wind is just right you can catch a lovely wiff of I don't know what. The walk to school crosses it, and if you look down there's a bunch of white foam and it's recommended that you try to avoid breathing because it smells pretty terrible. There's lot's of pretty trees around it though, so at least it looks pretty.

We went out to some bars last Friday, and the first one had the most amazing piña coladas and a live band that performed classic rock. It was amazing. We bar hopped around a bit after that, but the night sort of fell after that. 

Saturday we went to a discotec and danced the night away. I lost track of time and before I knew it, it was 3am and Syd was like "okay, it's time to go home." It just felt so good to dance, and I felt so present in my body it was amazing. I got a few guys' numbers, and have been talking with one pretty consistently since then. We keep explaining different colloquial phrases and laughing at each other's confusion. He speaks almost solely Spanish, which is really amazing for my practice, but he can communicate well enough in English that if I say "wait, I really have no idea what you're saying"  he can help me out.

Two pretty negative things happened in the last week though.

On Friday, on their way to meet us at the Zocalo, two of my classmates were on a bus and got robbed at gunpoint. One of them lost everything they had, and the other somehow managed to only give up his money. Beyond being scared and freaked out, no one on the bus was hurt. I want to emphasize that point, no. one. was. hurt.

It's served as a good lesson to us though: don't bus at night, remember to only carry the absolute essentials, and make sure you have people knowing where you are, where you're going, and who you are helping to keep track of you. Also, if we're in public we need to speak only spanish, because our american english sticks out like a sore thumb. 

I still feel very safe here, I'm just even more alert than I was before.

The other negative thing was a loss in my family. As some of you know (because I excitedly texted you in all caps) my family had a Yorkie puppy named Pinchi. He was the most energetic, playful ball of a pup ever. 

Wednesday night, he slipped out the front door and ran into the street where he was hit by a car. Unfortunately, he didn't make it, and it was really hard to understand the rapid-fire spanish about what happened, but I did catch that his death was almost instant, so at least he didn't suffer. It threw the whole family off for the last few days, as it should. It's been hard trying to walk the thin line between wanting to support them, and not trying to over-help.

I've been mourning him too. Yorkies have always been one of my favorite dogs, and I love animals in general, so I was pretty attached to him from the get go. 

On the bright side, the family's laughter and smiles are starting to come back, my spanish is improving constantly (even if there's still the moments of "wait, how the HECK DO YOU SAY THIS" followed by frantically searching the divine website wordreference.com) and I'm starting to feel myself settling in.

There's still a part of me that feels like I'm on vacation, and so there's another part of me that's waiting in nervous anticipating for the other shoe too drop.

Photo of a side street near the Zocalo, el centro del Puebla

P.S. I have now been lost 3 times in Puebla.

1. Syd and I took the bus home without knowing that they dropped us off on another street and ended up outside of Puebla. We were on the bus for about an hour and a half, and just sort of rode around until we saw something familiar.
2. First time walking to la Ibero (our university), we made a slightly wrong term cause google maps mislead us and we ended up walking for over an hour instead of the promised 40 minutes. Now that we know what we're doing, though, the walk is actually nice and I'm going to try to take it as many mornings as possible.
3. Today, me and 8 other of my classmates (just under half the class) took the wrong bus to school. Before we got on, we asked if it went to la ibero, and the driver said yes. After about 20 minutes he told us that we were at our stop, we hopped off, only to find we were over 30 minutes walking distance from the Ibero. Then we tried to take a shortcut and that backfired. We all lived, but it was an adventure.

Cacaxtla & la ciudad de México

26 de diciembre a 2 de Enero

I spent my second week in Mexico staying with an amazing family in the neighborhood where Diegro Rivera and Frida Kahlo lived. The mother, Yvonne, graduated high school with my mom and was kind enough to host me for the week. I had such an amazing time.

The two older boys, 14 and 8, were very sweet, and we went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters together (viewing #3). We discussed nerd culture, language, the city, everything. Unfortunately, it was most;y in English so my Spanish really didn't improve much that week. 

There were also two younger children, a 5 1/2 year old boy and a 2 year old girl (both spoke better Spanish than me). 

My second day there they took me to see Cacaxtla, one of the largest archaeological sites in México. It's believed to be a city built by the Olmecas-Xicallanca people (I will abbreviate to Olmecs).

It was absolutely amazing. The site is outside the ring of mountains surrounding la Ciudad de México, but the volcano in this picture (which constantly experiences minor eruptions that mostly consist of puffs of smoke/vapor/ash) is visible from both the city and Cacaxtla.

I was absolutely blown away by the pristine colors, and the visibility. You can see the pollution that's everywhere here and sinks down between buildings to settle close to the ground. It was so warm though. I don't think I've been cold since I got here. #blessed

The view here is from atop the largest uncovered pyramid at the site, the pyramid you can see is a minor temple that's still in pretty good shape. If you look carefully, just across the visible path from that pyramid is a triangular-ish shaped hill with some small trees on it. Specialists suspect that it's another pyramid, but they haven't received enough money to finish excavating the whole site yet.

The view all around the main central pyramid is littered with these small suspected-pyramids (you can see 3 more in the picture above), leading scientists to believe that Cacaxtla is one of the biggest sites they've found.

This is a panorama of the large pyramid as you approach from the path. All of the different step-like layers were built during a different "era." At the end of each era, a child was selected as a sacrifice, and then their body was entombed in the walls being built for the next era. The child was selected based off of number of birthmarks or patches of differently colored hair. If you had two or more, you were a prime candidate for ringing in the new era. 

The priests who did the sacrificing lived at the top, and were the only men who didn't have to fight in the wars with other tribes.

All of the paint here is original. Nothing has been restored. Nothing. I still can't get over that. This mural is almost 100% in tact, and depicts the Olmecs conquering the Maya, which represented the earth "conquering" the rain, i.e. absorbing it. It's a mural of the necessary sacrifice of celestial water to the earth for the sake of live. The Maya are the ones in feathers (sky--> rain --> water) and the Olmecs are in the leopard skin (leopard --> land animal --> earth). 

Fun fact, the first archaeologist  was a dude who analyzed this mirror thought it was just depicting the olmecs beating the mayans in a bloody battle. It was a female archaeologist who came back and said "wait, hold up, that doesn't make sense, try this instead." Of course.

We also went to el Museo Dolores Olmedo, who was really close friends with Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo. She had a personal collection of their artwork that, when she died, she donated to the city to be kept as a museum to honor their work.

As you entered the museum you were greeted by these giant agave plants. These guys were massive, to the point where you can really tell that they're straight out of the prehistoric era. Agave is everywhere, and they're right at the tale end of what I can only assume is their pollination  (do they even pollinate? I have no idea how these massive plants reproduce) season, because some of them have these giant stalks that tower over even some of the trees.

See? What even are these things. I love them. They're fascinating.

Also, just for reference, that hedge next to it? Yeah, that came up to my hip. 

The museum was also absolutely swarming with peacocks. I mean, they were everywhere. 

Look at this beautiful sleepy peacock.

They also keep a pack of a breed of dogs unique to Mexico, se llaman Xoloitzcuintle (zoh-loh-eets-kweent-lee). try saying that 5 times fast. They're simultaneously the ugliest and the cutest dogs I've ever seen. They're hairless, except some of them have a little tuft of white/grey hair on the top of their head. 

This is one laying down next to a statue in their enclosure.

I want 20 of them. They're endangered, so I'll call it a reserve and I will help to keep this hideously adorable breed of pups in existence #lifegoals