Fat Tuesday

Since yesterday was Fat Tuesday, the culmination of Carnaval, we decided to look for something fun to do here in the city. Selso discovered that Mercado Juarez, which we visited last week, hosted festivities so we planned to go there.

Our first stop was the zocalo for some much needed coffee and hot chocolate.

On our walk to the Mercado, we stopped by the Templo la Compania de Jesus/Iglesia de la Inmaculada. It had a lovely golden altar.

I mentioned a few days ago that there are a large number of churches in Oaxaca (over two dozen in the Centro alone). The churches are all Catholic, and many are the Dominican order (although the one above is Jesuit). The Dominicans were the first order to arrive in Oaxaca after the Spanish conquest, and had the duty to convert and minister to the indigenous peoples here. Many churches include convents where the Dominicans lived, although few of the convents are still in use.

At Mercado Juarez, Selso bought a beautiful pair of leather sandals and we chatted with the vendor. He told us that typically events are held to celebrate Carnaval, but this year they were canceled because there wasn’t enough money, due to fewer tourists this year.

Our next stop was the Mercado 20 Noviembre to have lunch. Selso and I each had a delicious tlayuda, a large, crispy tortilla covered with beans, meat, cheese, avocado and tomato. A couple from Belgium sat down next to us and we enjoyed visiting with them. We also passed on Peace Bear! They were happy to take Peace Bear back to Belgium and pass her along there. The picture above shows Peace Bear in front of the Catedral, on the zocalo, which we've passed by numerous times, but haven't been in yet.

After lunch we returned to the house where I had a nap and the kids played. In the late afternoon we went to a park we’ve driven by every day – El Llano. It’s a beautiful park, with fountains and a statue of Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca who went on to become President of Mexico.

The kids played tag for a bit and then we checked out the Templo de la Virgen de Guadalupe.

This church has beautiful stained glass windows conveying the story of the Virgen of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.

We were ready for dinner, and found a restaurant on the south side of the park to eat, and then home.

Laguna Manialtepec and Playa Carizalillo

On Monday we decided to check out Laguna Manialtepece, a lagoon bordered by mangroves, just 15 minutes away. According to my guidebook, it is home to hundreds of species of birds and one can rent kayaks to get an up close and personal look.

We headed over in the late afternoon, figuring we’d have better luck seeing animals as the day cooled down. We stopped at a place that advertised kayak rentals and boat excursions. The boat excursion was ridiculously expensive, so we went with our original plan of kayaking.

Unfortunately, there were only three single kayaks. Upon closer inspection, only one had a regular paddle, the other two had an oar. And the seats were missing, resulting in a very wet bottom and discomfort in the thighs. The girls and I paddled around for a few minutes, but then decided to watch the activity from shore.

Thankfully, the restaurant portion of this spot had great seafood and it was nice to be in a slightly different location. Rafael made friends with the proprietor’s three-year-old daughter so that was fun. And by the time we left, we did see quite a few different bird species.

We made it back to the hotel in time to see one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen. Spectacular!

Tuesday we went to another beach in Puerto Escondido – Playa Carizalillo. This little cove was gorgeous, definitely the prettiest beach we’ve been to, in a place full of beautiful beaches. When we arrived, the water was relatively calm, and we enjoyed some great swimming. I also saw lots of fish (although not as many as at Playa Manzanillo last week) and sea urchins, which I hadn’t seen before.

The rocks were home to all kinds of little shellfish, as well as blue crabs, which are only a few inches long. It is a lot of fun to watch them scurry around and jump from rock to rock.

After returning to the hotel in the late afternoon, we played Marco Polo in the pool. Although some of us have been playing throughout our stay here, this is the first time we’ve all played, thanks to Rafael’s newfound ability to make it around the pool!

In other news, we are back in possession of Peace Bear. Our new friends decided they wouldn’t be able to pass her along soon enough, so they returned her. The search is on for a new family.

Trouble in Paradise

Just so you don’t think we are doing nothing but surfing, napping in hammocks and drinking margaritas, I thought I’d share a few of our frustrations. The street and sidewalk right outside the hotel are being worked on, and a couple of mornings the jackhammer has woken us up. In addition, we are being eaten alive by either mosquitoes, sand fleas or ants, or a combination of all three. Yesterday I counted 43 bites on my body.

The kids are suffering from homesickness. They miss their friends and having their own space, and the lack of space has led to a lot of bickering in the last few days. In fact, yesterday they tried to convince us that we should go home.


It does feel like such a waste to be grumpy in such a beautiful place. Thankfully, we met a girl and her mother and the kids have been playing together. They are from Mexico City, and have agreed to take Peace Bear home with them as they have some friends traveling soon.

Rafael has been swimming up a storm in the pool with a couple of noodles and goes into the deep end and back very confidently.

Isa tried her hand a boogie boarding but is not interested in surfing. (Neither am I, by the way. I prefer to be in the water, not on it!) I saw some rays the other day during my swim.

We’ve also taken advantage of this quiet time to play games and read together. Life is good.

More Art!

The condo we are staying in is not far from the oldest park in Mexico City, Parque Alameda. It has paths meandering through the trees and beautiful fountains. However, there are no wide open spaces and all the vegetation is behind two-foot fences so people don’t walk on the grass. It reminds me of parks in Paris. All kinds of people had set up shop today, selling food, movies, crafts, clothing and more.

We walked through the park on our way to the Museo Nacional de Arte, the fine art museum in the city. The museum is housed in a neoclassical palacio and contains paintings by Mexican artists from 16th until the 20th century.

Rafael was enraptured by a painting of a man about to be decapitated. We could barely pull him away. The more recent works include several by Diego Rivera, as well as David Alfaro Siqueiros and Juan Clemente Orozco. Great stuff!

The painting on the top left is the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is hugely iconic in Mexico. This image of her is seen everywhere.

After lunch we headed to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the performing arts center. The building itself is magnificent. The interior is Art Deco with beautiful purple marble columns all over the place. Peace Bear got to check out Bellas Artes, too!

The interior also contains murals by Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco and Rufino Tamayo (you can see part of one of Tamayo’s murals on the left). Not surprisingly, the kids were getting a little tired of walking, so Selso and I took turns walking around while the kids sat in front of Rivera’s busy mural, Man, Controller of the Universe, and played I Spy. Pretty cool.

Selso went to another museum – a small one with just a few of Rivera’s works – while I took the kids back to the condo for some much needed relaxing and another dip in the pool.

Meet Peace Bear

Davis and I have belonged to a wonderful mother-daughter book club for the past couple of years. At our most recent meeting, we decided to do a project called geo-bear, which one of the moms had read about. The goal is to have the bear journey throughout the world by means of kind travelers. Hopefully, we would get updates about the bear and her location through postcards, emails and notes in the bear’s notepad. We all thought this was a wonderful idea, and in relationship to the book we had just read (Schooled by Gordon Korman), our members’ interest, and the idea that learning about other cultures promotes acceptance and understanding, we named the bear Peace Bear.

Since we are heading to Mexico, we were an obvious choice to start Peace Bear on her travels, and we’ll be looking for someone we can pass her along to. First however, she’ll probably get to check out some of Mexico City with us, so if you see her in a few pictures, you’ll know why she’s so special!