Around the School and our 16th Century Casa

     Our School

The school is very simple with no classrooms. It seems that there's an arrangement with the owners of the B&B where the "school" is situated to use a table in the interior courtyard as a meeting place. It's an entrepreneurial almost virtual set up. There's a web site where you arrange class instruction and principally two instuctors who have university degrees in a discipline as well as training for teaching foreigners. The physical school is coffee shops around town. So we've had a lot of coffee.

This arrangement suits us both well because Bob has had enough of classes in the past and I've completed all the Spanish grammar instuction and need vocab enrichment and practice using everyday expressions. Bob doesn't like homework and mine so far has been commentaries on various articles and YouTube videos. All is going well.

  Bob and his instructor, Lazaro at the "school."

   My instructor Jacob and me.

            Our Hotel is a Casa with Six Suites

            The entrance to our room.

        The bedroom.

                    The salon.

The bathrooms are a room with two sinks and another room with a tub, shower and toilet -- about 1000 square feet altogether -- certainly enough to swing a cat as they say.

            Looking down to the lobby.

      The roof top terrace.

            Local plants.

    A leather parrot.

      An antique candelabra with real candles in our room.

    A friend of the owner's needlework in our room.

At the moment we are planning a weekend adventure in the mountains at 10 000 feet. I'm a little skittish about it because we are at 5 000 feet now and I think it was the altitude that gave me grief during the first few days here. Altitude is stange though. One day it might affect you and another not. It's beautiful where we want to go. So I hope you'll see pics soon.

Mexican artists Carlos and Albert's playfyl art -- all about 2 feet by 1 foot and priced at around $2 000 each.

Be well and many saludos from here in lively Mexico.

Up to the Auditorium

Our days have a rhythm now. Sunday morning we started out at 10 am for the climb to the auditorium at the top of a hill quite high above the city. The huge metal structure was completed in 2010 and is used for a Oaxacan festival of concerts, theatre, art and dance on only two Mondays in July. Bonkers really to spend so much money on so few performances in such a spectacular outdoor auditorium. We didn't rush because our climbing legs are not in form. The temperature was just right as Goldilocks would have said.

   From the hotel terrace.

  Hundreds of steps to get up there.

    An elegant woman.

 Oh what you can create with a saw and a muffler.

   At the top.

    Aerial welders replacing large metal tubes.

             Almost a high wire act.

     The old and the new.

   The new ones waiting to be welded in.

        Wall paintings at the top of the stairs.

   This woman's soul is ascending.

  Some buildings here have razor wire on the roof.

 A marimba passing by.

  Kids playig in the park.

      Local art gallery.

  A Sunday morning run to honour International Women's Day. This view is looking down from our suite.

  El Teatro Juarez where dances are held during this week of the International Dance Festival.

   Spain, the U.S. Ecuador, Argentina and Mexico are giving two presentations a day.

All the presentations are free and well attended. There are so many aspects to Mexico. The government is way far to the right with tons of power, huge personal pockets to put the people's money. But at the same time, there are festivals such as the dance festival this week where everyone can attend free of charge.

As I've said before, people are less reserved than we are. Last night as we were leaving the theatre, I was struggling to get my arm into the sleeve of my jacket when someone simply held the sleeve from behind. I turned around to thank the young woman who had a broad smile. I think in Canada we might think it an invasion of personal territory to do this.

It's so much fun to run into situations that are so different from our culture.

Hasta luego!

Spring in Oaxaca

Hi from Here!

We arrived at our hotel in downtown Oaxaca late last Saturday after 14 hours enroute and I don't know whether it was the 2 hour root canal job I'd had two days earlier or the Valium they gave me to forget it but I've felt sent for until today.

Our Spanish instructors, two 30 year old fellows, are plugged in and don't miss much. They are experienced, informed, educated and fun to be with. We've enjoyed our 12 hours of instruction so far and have lots of time to meander during the rest of the day.

Tuesday night we saw a Chilean film, El Club, at the tail end of the Oaxacan film festival that kind of knocked our socks off. The setting was an isolated house and its environs in an isolated Chilean coastal town where the Catholic church had ensconced five pedofilic priests and a nun. The almost black and white film was tense and foreboding, leaving us with lots to think about.

The pics you see here are from my solo jaunt today, now that I'm back in this world.

You see a lot of skeletans here in Mexico. Mostly they relate to "The Day of the Dead," the day in which the spirits of the deceased return to visit their families. This skeletan is an imaginative take on a spirit.

People are setting up here for a university grad street party.

I caught these girls just after they'd taken a selfie.

We feel safe here in Oaxaca. It would be hard to get away with much. There are police all over the place: federal police, municipal police, traffic cops and security guards in all government buildings, museums and art galleries. I wonder what would happen if they all left.

     Part of the grad party.

    The grads.

    Chic Mexicano

They are also a people of many hats.

     

       Hanging out.

     Better bike racks than we have.

   The colonial buildings are spectacular.

       Often with lively colours.

          Fun graffiti.

         It is what it is.

    My instructor holding one of the school's resident turtles.

   Our past visits were in January and February. At this time of the year the flowers are bursting.

       Cactus in bloom.

 

     The back of the cathedral from our hotel terrace.

Hope all is well where you are. We hear the weather is rocking in Ontario.  I'll post again soon. 

Cheers, Lynda