I love this city. It is vibrant, fairly easy to navigate, bursting with culture, and so beautiful. It also has a great temperature. Warm in the day and comfortably cool in the evenings.
We spent about 2.5 weeks there, most of it in the Centro and 5 days in the most beautiful housesit EVER. I was working in the day and in the evenings we would explore different barrios, occasionally eat out, or go to the zocalo to people watch. Not sure what Nick did with his days but it definitely involved art galleries and most likely looking for panaderías.
By and large it was a quiet few weeks, early nights and early mornings. There are several large mercados in Oaxaca and we explored Mercado Benito Juárez (opened in 1894) and Mercado 20 de Noviembre. Both focus primarily on fresh produce, meat, and flowers with the periphery an assortment of clothes, housewares, plastics. They also have several family run restaurants within the market along with elderly ladies selling tlayudas at the entrances. The selection of spices, cocoa, chiles, moles, etc. speaks to the rich diversity of indigenous Oaxaca culture. It feels and looks like the traditions of the different regions of Oaxaca is alive.
We also went to the Central de Abastos de Oaxaca. This market was created in 1974 to lessen the traffic in and around the other more central markets. It is located about 20 blocks southwest of the Zócalo and across the street from the second class bus station. Be forewarned. This market overwhelms the senses and is as inspiring as it is chaotic. It’s also impossible to see it all. It’s just too big. It covers 4 acres and has over 2000 businesses. The area itself is a little seedy, for example, we walked down a street to get there where the bars were open and the girls were working outside. It was 9am. I was warned by a woman in the market to put my phone away as pick pockets and snatch and grab is common. Nevertheless, I loved it. So much going on, friendly people, and beautiful fresh food. We tried to navigate it in a grid but it’s impossible, there are too many nooks and crannies.
Oaxaca has a reputation of being a very politically active city. There seems to be protests daily, women’s rights, indigenous rights, student protests, and of course, the marches to demand action on missing people. Almost everyday we would hear the shouts and banging of drums, road closures and megaphones from the square. And honestly, in the current state of the world where free speech is being taken away it is refreshing to see people taking it to the streets.
All in all, it was a great to be back in the City and we have already decided to spend some time there. Bring a car and explore the surrounding areas. Perhaps spend a winter.
onesmallboat 