A SUNDAY DRIVE

Our friends, Gerardo, Marielena, and their son, Mateo, asked us if we would like to visit some of the countryside on Sunday. We had been thinking about hiring a driver, but this indeed would be a better experience. We left the house at 8:30 a.m. For the first time in Oaxaca, we had to set our alarm. We were in the back seat with Mateo. Mateo was in a car seat. In Mexico car seats are not required; however, Gerardo and Marielena want to make sure he is safe and use one.


Our first stop was Santa Maria El Tule. The small town was beautiful. The main attraction of this town is a 2,000+ year old drooping juniper tree. The tree is protected by a metal fence and you must pay a small fee (5 pesos, $.40) even to approach the fence. The gardens around the town square were full of rose bushes and other interesting plants and shrubs. Everything was very clean and well kept. The market was open, and the vendors were selling food and crafts. Of course, there was a temple at the town square. We only stayed about 30 minutes and we were off to our next stop.

Sam and Mateo played in the back seat. Mateo was teaching Sam Spanish while Sam was teaching Mateo English. The next stop was Tlacolula which is hard to pronounce. So, Mateo repeatedly pronounced the name of the town to Sam, syllable by syllable, to allow her to practice saying it. He did many times until he was convinced that Sam was saying it perfectly. She couldn’t be close…she had to be perfect. At Tlacolula, there is a huge outdoor market every Sunday. A street is closed to traffic to allow vendors to create the market. It goes on and on for many blocks. The vendors get there very early in the morning to set up their stands. It is like a huge department store, farmer’s market, and pet store all in one. This is the only place available for the local people to buy things unless they come into the big city of Oaxaca. The town was full of little cabs that look like motorized rickshaws. Bob was ready to buy a cab and be a driver because he fell in love with the cabs.

Shortly after we walked into the market, Gerardo decided to go back to the car and get his backpack because he wanted to purchase some granada’s, a type of fruit. When he got back to the car, he noticed he was parked improperly on a two-way street. So he had to move the car. We waited and waited for him and Bob began to worry. So Bob went looking for Gerardo. Then Gerardo appeared but no Bob. We waited for a few minutes and then Gerardo went looking for Bob. Soon they both came back together. Thank goodness that Bob is tall (by Mexican standards) and can see over the crowds. We walked around for a little while. If you have seen one Mexican Market you have seen them all. Now it was time to find the car. Gerardo couldn’t figure out where he had parked it. Apparently, if you have seen one Mexican street, you have seen them all and the car was lost. We walked and walked and walked. As we walked, a man came by with two live small goats (cabritos). Each goat cost him about $100. He said he was going to prepare barbacoa which means he was going to kill them and have a feast.

Finally, Gerardo decided we should walk back to the original place where we parked the car. He was sure he could find it from there. Sure enough he did. In the meantime, Mateo was still quizzing Sam on the pronunciation of Tlacolula. When we got back into the car, Sam was calling Mateo…maestro (teacher). He thought that was funny and was telling his mom in Spanish that Sam was calling him a teacher.

Our next adventure was Mitla. It is an ancient Zapotec ceremonial center. The name of this famous archaeological site means, “place of the dead”. The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back at least 2,500 years. It was very interesting to see how big some of the rocks are that created their structures. Many of the ancient structures were dismantled by the Spaniards and they then reused the materials to create their own buildings including churches.

As we were leaving Mitla, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and a few beers. It was a very warm day and those Coronas certainly hit the spot. Behind the restaurant were the banos (very clean) and a fenced in area full of live turkeys…live skinny turkeys.

Our last stop was Teotitlan del Valle. Again Mateo was giving Spanish lessons to Sam. They were having fun all afternoon. Teotitlan is a Zapotec village where its inhabitants weave wool rugs using dyes obtained from natural products. Rosa gave us a complete lesson on how they make the yarn from the sheep’s wool, by brushing, spinning, washing, drying, and dyeing it. She showed us plants that produce indigo blue dye, and the nopal cactus where weavers cultivate cochinilla bugs to produce the beautiful red color. We also were given a weaving demonstration. It was amazing and beautiful work. Some rugs take up to three months to weave and sell for about $400. For the craftsmanship, these pieces of art are pretty inexpensive. At the end of our tour, Marielena and Rosa kept looking at each other. They finally figured out that they knew each other from the University. They both took the same language class about 25 years ago…what a small world!

On the way home, Sam and Mateo continued to play. Mateo was enjoying a small plastic whistle we gave him. At one point he opened it up and took out the small plastic ball that makes the whistle work. Next thing we knew he had pushed the plastic ball up his nose! We came to a screeching halt to allow Marielena to forcefully remove the ball. That resolved, we were on our way again. We returned home around 4:00 p.m., tired from a full day of exploring the area. The only casualty was the whistle. It was indeed a great day…much better than hiring a driver. Don’t you think so?