Did you know?....

Here it is, the random information about Oaxaca that was missing from your life. Until now... :)

------------------
Did you know that this bread is called Bread of the Dead?

Another common form is a round loaf with strips of dough forming 'cross bones.' This bread is usually only baked around the Day of the Dead - which is Nov. 1 for children who have died, and Nov. 2 for others.
---------------
Did you know that it is wise to take malaria pills before traveling in the isthmus?

Our upcoming missions trip in November is to the isthmus region of the state of Oaxaca. On the map above, the city of Oaxaca is in the pink region, and the isthmus is the green region. The isthmus has a very different climate than the valley, making malaria pills a wise precaution.
-----------
Did you know that Oaxaca is very seismically active? Because there are so many earthquakes in this part of the world, that means that these Catholic churches, built by Spanish conquerors, have seen several centuries of earthquakes (and many restorations).
---------------------
Did you know that there is not just one kind of graffiti in Oaxaca?There are many, many forms of graffiti in Oaxaca. Politically charged graffiti can be dates, names, simple drawings, even intricate black stencils depicting different scenes. Artistic graffiti ranges from amazing lettering to cartoon characters to representations of culture to realistic portraits of people's faces. I took the picture above by the baseball stadium. Art or graffiti? Either way, I couldn't pull that off.
-----------------
Did you know it is wise to never go barefoot in Oaxaca?
This picture grosses me out a ton, but I thought I'd share it anyhow ;). It is #3 of 4 scorpions I've had to kill this year - and they were all about this size. Ew!!!

Oh, the sights you'll see!

Public transportation in Oaxaca. It is rather amazing how many places you can get to on public transportation around here. I make use of it 5 days a week, and each day proves to be a new adventure.

Off to the races! There have been a couple times now when I've had bus drivers racing one another, usually both headed to the same place and wanting to get more customers than the other guy. Well, that's my guess as to why they do it. What it means for the passengers is a jerky ride as you speed up, only to brake for the next speed bump (generally used in place of stop signs around here). The buses also get unbelievable close to each other on the narrow roads. And I mean unbelievably close. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has nothing on these guys ;-).

Luis Palau. Just these past few weeks, Mr. Palau's face has started showing up on buses and billboards. I first heard it from friends in the U.S. that Luis Palau was coming to Oaxaca to put on a festival here. They're certainly making sure it's well advertised now - as Luis seems to be all over. Hopefully I'll be able to go check this festival out.

Off to the races again - literally this time. Today my bus had to slow down for the traffic police blocking a lane of the road. As everyone peered out the windows, I did likewise and saw a camera man standing amongst all the police. Then we came upon 4 sporty race cars, lined up in a row. Curious.... I might have gotten off to see what was going on had I not been on a time limit, and had there not been dozens of police standing around. I have a healthy wariness of Mexican police :).

Door to door service. I imagine a decent price for avocados in the United States might be a dollar each? Well, this week when my bus stopped at a gas station, a woman got on to sell some nice avocados. 7 for $1. Not bad, not bad. I did not need 7 avocados, but I did buy 3 for $0.50 :). Other things you can buy from the side of the road: maps, pillows, phone cards, balloons, roses, freshly squeezed orange juice, popsicles, bubbles, churros, statues of horses, marshmallows... to name a few :).

Creative routes. Buses and taxis, along with the rest of traffic, are always finding interesting ways to get around blockades - and I think there were blockades every day this week. This morning was no exception, as the University professors protested their low salaries ($3.50 an hour - yes, I would say that is low pay for a college professor). Because of issues with getting around the strategically placed blockades, I arrived at school an hour late. As I walked in, the principal informed me I could no longer just mosey on in whenever I feel like it ;-).

God is THE best artist, ever. I am blessed with beautiful sights on my rides here and there. I've always wanted to be able to paint the majesty I've seen in nature, but unfortunately I have not honed any of those skills - yet ;-). I wish photos could do it justice, but they can't - especially not with a camera that kids have "made good use of" and now each photo has a black dot in the upper right corner and a brown blob in the lower left :). Plus, speeding along on a bus with tinted windows and trying not to look like a tourist also makes it difficult for a good shot. So, for now you will just have to imagine misty morning clouds rolling in over the dark northern mountains and the evening sun casting shadows on the valley filled with stunning mesas. :)

Puzzling

Yesterday after the school picnic, I caught a ride home with the Spanish teacher and her aunt, who live near me. They told me they had a quick stop - they wanted to look for an address nearby. I went along, even knowing that the term 'quick' was used loosely and I shouldn't be surprised if it ended up taking quite a while. I soon found out that we were in search of an address the aunt found on the back of a puzzle. She had gone to the market to buy puzzles for her nephews and nieces, but they were all too simple and weren't really the design she wanted. So, why not go to the source?

After asking many people in the quiet neighborhood for directions and several wrong turns, we ended up on a narrow back road that seemed to be the right place. We could see a man doing woodwork in a yard, and a woman came out from a nearby doorway to greet us. She showed us inside a small room lit by a single light bulb hanging against the wall. At a desk in the hall, I could see a man rolling a tar-like material on a board with a child sitting beside him. Against another wall were shelves of puzzles and bags of more puzzle pieces lay in a corner.

The aunt told the woman what she was looking for, and soon they were looking through hundreds of posters of cartoons, Pixar, and Disney characters. Meanwhile, I was impressed by the different puzzles stacked against the wall - all very educational in nature. After the aunt had selected 8 different designs she wanted and how many pieces for each one, we headed back out to the car. I happened to purchase 6 puzzles as well... :)

What a concept! When you can't find what you want at the store, you just go to the 'factory' and they can cater to exactly what you want there! Despite the hour long detour, it turned out to be a very interesting experience - and I thought I was just getting a ride home :).

.

Some of my new puzzles.
---------
*By they way, puzzles in Spanish is rompecabezas
- literally translated that means "breaks heads" :)

Images from September

Some photos I found on my camera from last month

that I'd like to share :).

-------

Everyone was very festive for Independence Day.

Even my moto-taxi driver had decorated :).

In their excitement, these boys are doing their best to reach
the piñatas hung high for that evening's party :).

I took the chance to go to the circus with the older girls from the children's home one Saturday evening.

It's hard to see, but there are 6 or 7 tigers behind that net. I was a little worried about how often they disobeyed their ring master...

Believe it or not, I think this was the first time I saw corn actually growing in its stalk. Once I realized, I of course had to take a picture :). (The yellow flower in the background is a squash flower.)

Afternoon sun streams through rainclouds onto a cornfield.

September brought a LOT of rain :).