License sidebar

Dorothy and I have been keeping track of the different license plates we've seen on this trip.  It's been a fun diversion.  At this point we've seen 45 US states and the District of Columbia.  Missing states are  North Dakota, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.  We hoping to pick them up on our trip back east in March although N. Dakota and Wyoming could be tricky.  We also have 18 Mexican states and 6 Canadian provinces.  Two of the most exciting plates were...

and

We know how to have fun!

Dark side

Of course traveling to some exotic locale doesn't mean escaping from life's harsh realities.  Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico with about 78% of its population living below the poverty line.  We often see poor families on the street, asking for money.  The deep-rooted corruption in Mexico is probably at work in Oaxaca but as privileged tourists we are buffered from a direct impact - so far.

Violence is real.  The two main local papers try to outdo each other with graphic photos of people injured or killed in accidents or assassinations.  Very shocking to see public displays of such carnage. It seems that the option to be violent is somehow more likely here - the potential for violence seems closer to the surface (Since writing this Dorothy has noted that my perspective is limited to a basically white surburban reality and someone from the inner city in the US might have a very different take on this.)

Two days ago we were in the zocalo (town plaza) where a left-wing group was having a conference under a huge tent.  Walking around the perimeter of this tent were men with "palos" (sticks) and machetes.  One of the machete wielders gave me a hard glance that make it clear this was no game.

The following day's newspaper said that  the group had "retained" six federal police officers who were photographing the event.  There were pictures of the uniformed policemen being "escorted" to a location several blocks away from the event where they were released.  The event's organizers were quoted as saying this was a deliberate attempt by the government to provoke a violent response.

Here's a picture I took last year of a group of men carrying "palos" confronting a motocyclist who was attempting to go down a street they were blockading.


I've been sick with a cold for the past few days and this is probably coloring the tone of this post. It's just that in retrospect all I've written about this trip so far seems so predictable and, frankly, boring.  To me any way.  I feel compelled to try to strip away some of the "niceness" and try to write about things that feel more real, compelling and challenging.  We'll see.

Feeling a bit bettter today and Dorothy and I are on our way out the door to experience another day in this complex, beautiful city.  Adelante!

Settling in

We are now about to enter the fourth week of our escapade.  We have just completed our first week in Oaxaca at the Las Mariposas hotel and plan to be here another three weeks. This is our fourth year in Oaxaca and it's magic and charm feel as strong as ever.  Our days are filled with

Long walks through the always interesting city streets, markets and parks....

Our iphones keep track of our walking mileage and we're averaging between four and five miles a day.  Crossing the street can be tricky but otherwise its interesting, fun and healthy.  We haven't been to any of Oaxaca's top notch museums yet this year but we plan to soon. 

During our morning walk we usually stop at a cafe for some snacks and some of Oaxaca's wonderful coffee. 

Other activities include...

Art classes for Dorothy two days a week.

Spanish lessons.  I'm starting private Spanish lessons on Thursday.

Swimming.  I found a pool a few blocks away from the hotel.

Lectures.  Our hotel is right next to the Oaxaca Lending Library which sponsors almost daily events geared toward English speaking visitors.  Last night we went to a presentation about efforts to save the Mixtec language in the village of Totontepec, 

Wild parties.  Last Saturday night there was a birthday party for Teresa, the owner of our hotel, Las Mariposas.  I was asked to play guitar and it worked out great.  Here's some pics.  

Dancing to La Bamba

I trust all of this is not to over stimulating for you and hope all is well wherever you are. 

Oaxaca

Caught an early morning Interjet flight from Hermosillo to Oaxaca via Mexico City.  It seemed like there was almost twice as much leg room on these planes.  Free top shelf booze was also notable.  A big step up from US flights.  Planes had video cameras attached to bottom of plane to show live take off and landing. Exciting.

90 degrees when we "touched down" in Oaxaca (not quite the right expression for our very hard landing.)  Our return to Las Mariposas hotel was warm and comfortable.  It is our fourth year staying at this wonderful place and the hugs, smiles and 'bienvenidos' from guests and staff made us feel immediately at home.

Late afternoon dinner of fish with mezcal and Margaritas topped off a full and satisfying day.

I'm now writing this on Wednesday, February 3, while sitting in the patio outside our room.  In the middle of the patio there is a tall, stone wall that has water continually dripping down its side.  It's covered with mosses, ferns and other plants and attracts all sorts of birds and other animals.

 I sit here each morning drinking coffee and casually trying to identify the birds. Birds seen include Nashville, Virginia and Yellow-rumped warblers as well as many difficult to identify hummingbirds.  Very peaceful place.

Not so peaceful was the very large political march that was going on in the street outside the hotel while I was luxuriating with the birds.  Several thousand people filed by chanting and carrying flags. The most common flag was the red, hammer and sickle flag of the Communist Party.  I saw a similar march downtown yesterday.  No one I talked to seemed to know what the march was about.
Radical left wing politics appears to be alive, if not well, in southern Mexico.  This is a picture of the tail end of the march.

Another sign of political vitality is the quality of the writing and cartoons in the local and national newspapers.  The in-depth information and analysis seems significantly more sophisticated than in the US.  Here's a cartoon that ran in yesterday's "Reforma."

Here  a video of some Oaxaca street scenes that I put together with photos from last year's trip. The video's main focus is the street art one finds all over the city.The music in this video is Gracias A La Vida written by Violeta Parra and sung by Mercedes Sosa.  

 I'm not sure how often I'm going to be writing during the coming weeks.  I find myself entering "vacation mode" - becoming very relaxed and rather indifferent about accomplishing anything.  I think that's a good thing. 

Thanks for reading.

Tucson to Hermosillo

Easy, smooth trip in a Tufesa bus from Tucson to Hermosillo.  At the border, driver was very helpful pointing us in right direction to get our "permiso"  (tourist visa) from Mexican immigration. ($22/389 pesos each).  City of Nogales, Mexico viewed from the bus was very uninviting.  Bus had comfortable seats and the bathrooms.  Drop down airplane type TVs blaring "Money Ball" with dubbed Spanish competing with driver's iphone Norteno music made the five hour trip sonically challenging.  Earplugs would have been great. (This picure was taken while on I-19 south of Tucson where the road still had shoulders.)

Road (Route 15) south from Nogales is four lane freeway type road.  Main difference with US appeared to be long stretches where there were very steep drop offs instead of shoulders.  So steep that any car  (or bus) going off the road would definitely tip over. This situation would get especially exciting when our bus was passing tractor trailers.

Taxi to hotel and then to a  almost full carne asada restaurant with ten piece mariachi band no one seemed to be listening to and older man drunk came to table and was putting his arm on me, very uncomfortable.  When we left man followed us to the parking lot where he continued to talk and stand too close as we waited for cab.  He ended up giving taxi driver 100 pesos to pay for our ride.  I told taxi driver about our experience with this man and he said, "Mexico."

Hotel was located directly next to the on ramp of Rte. 15, the main north/south highway. Very noisy as tractor trailers climbed the ramp throughout the night.

Despite the drunk guy and the noise on the bus and in the hotel room it felt wonderful to be back in Mexico.

Tucson

Today is Saturday January 30th, 2016.  Tomorrow were catching a morning bus to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico where will stay overniht at the Hotel San Sebastian and fly to Oaxaca via Mexico City on Monday, February 1.

It's been wonderful spending time with our daughter Katie.  She is a ball of energy.  She has a full time job as a researcher for the University of Arizona as well as being a very active singer/songwriter and a professional life coach.  She is deeply involved in the Tucson music scene and recently released her fourth solo CD called "The Aviary." Here's a link to a video of one of the songs from the CD "Wood"



Highlights while in Tucson....

Golf at Randolf Park course. (excellent shape, first-class municipal course)

Mission San Xavier (striking architecture,  creepy statues of saints and virgins,  beautiful setting on Native American reservation, great bean burrito with charcoal grilled tortilla)

Birding at Sweetwater Wetlands (Ruddy Duck, American Widgeon, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Coots, Pied-bill Grebes,  Ladderbacked Woodpecker,  Red Naped Sapsucker,  House Finches,  Coopers Hawk, Roadrunner, Green Winged Teal.)

Hiking and birding at Sabino Canyon.( humming bird doing spectactular display flight where it hovered six feet above ground then ascended rapidly straight up to a point where it became invisible it would then fall straight down and make a loud "cheep" as it nearly hits the ground.  We watched it do this over and over again.  Spectacular! Also Roadrunner, Phaenopepla (sp.?) Brittlebush and Globe Mallow in bloom and, of course, the stately Sahuaro.

Tacos at  Taqueria Pico de Gallo in South Tucson.  (muy saboroso, birria taco made from goat meat,  very authentic,  a muy "in" place for Tucsonians)

A wonderful dinner of carne asada tacos and beans at Katie's new home cooked by her very talented boyfriend and musical collaborator, Ben Nisbet.  Fun meal also included fancy Manhattans made with a special  "High West" rye whiskey recommended by Ben.

Lunch at Beyond Bread with my sister Anne and her daughter Heather.  Anne lives near Phoenix and Heather is a pediatrician visiting from Australia.  Wonderful, relaxed time of family connection. 

Alabama to Tucson

Our travels to Tucson from Alabama were relatively uneventful.  Each day, except the last, we drove about 500 miles.  Birmingham - Shreveport - Big Spring TX - Deming NM and a 200 mile sprint to Tucson on Monday, January 25th. 

Some moments....

Very heavy rain as we were leaving Birmingham. Throughout Alabama and Mississippi saw dozens of utility repair trucks heading north to deal with storm  damage expected from winter storm Jonas that was slamming the northeast.  Roanoke was buried in snow the day after we left. Storm left 30 to 40 inches of snow in much of the area we had traveled through.

We were in heavy traffic near Jackson, Mississippi and were passed by a truck pulling a full double decker car carrier.. Truck made a quick lane shift and the trailer started wobbling so severely we were sure it was about to tip over and spill cars all over the highway.  Driver got it under control but it was a very close call. Scary.

Couple, our age, sitting in a booth at a Wendy's restaurant somewhere in Mississippi.  Man looking tired, beaten, head bowed with oxygen tube running to his nose.  4-5 yo child in a stroller next to booth moaning and continually beating its head on the back of the stroller. The back of the child's head had a large patch of bare skin where the constant beating had worn the hair away.  My assumption is that this was their grandchild they had decided to take under their care.  What a sacrifice.  What a different path than ours.

Young woman at the same Wendy's came over to us, smiled and asked us how our meal was. Can't imagine that happening in New York.

Louisiana weather miserable.  Cold, 35 degrees, wind, 25 miles per hour. 

Gambling a big deal in Louisiana.  Shreveport had huge casino hotels like Los Vegas. Every motel and convenience store had its own little "casino" with video gambling machines.

Eastern Texas - lots of pines, rolling hills, huge houses with big metal gates, and the "Silverado Cowboy Church."

Vast flatlands of west Texas looking like prime tornado territory speckled with forever bobbing oil pumps and thousands of huge whirling white wind mills stretching across and beyond the horizon. Big Spring had the feeling of a town way past it's prime.  Many boarded up, broken down buildings surrounding the town's only high rise, a ten story abandoned hotel. Nice sunset though.

New Mexico had a homey, friendly "Welcome Center"  and the motel we stayed at in Deming (Quality Inn) was by far the best one so far - china plates and cups/in house bar and restaurant/quality decor and furniture and it was one of the least expensive so far. Very windy in Deming.  Wind was 35 mph when we were checking into motel.  I had to lean backwards to get the car door shut and then had to crawl under the car to remove a large tumble weed. 

 We met a couple from Quebec in the parking lot and compared gas mileages.  I told him I was disappointed that our Prius was only getting 44 mpg.  He told me that was about what he was getting about the same mileage with his non hybrid Sentra.  He said he was keeping it at 65 mph whereas I've been regularly going 73 to 75.  I slowed down to about 70 for the rest of the way to Tucson and the mileage improved right away.  Will try to keep it under 70 on the way back East in March.