Coasting into the land of parades!

5 nights here at my favorite beach town of Puerto Escondito

Well shucks Pacific Ocean... I loved you while I had you. Thank you for your kindness, for letting me swim out of that nasty rip tide, for keeping the sting ray away from stabbing my heart, for only washing machine rumble-tumble-twisty-mc-gooing me a couple times while surfing, and all the many colorful sunrises and sunsets. You, good sir ocean, are a fine piece of work!

We loaded a bus for Oaxaca City of Wonder early Thursday morning. What we thought was going to be a six hour tour-de-countryside turned into some gnarly eleven hour tour-de-where-the-freak-are-they-taking-us? Apparently we hopped on the extended unabridged version. You live and you learn. Brian learned not to sit on a wallet for that long, I learned that western movies dubbed over into Spanish are even better than strawberries dipped in chocolate, and the cute little old couple next to us learned they should never have sat next to two antsy, ADD American travelers.

Jumping around the ruins of Monte Alban here in Oaxaca

We arrived into Oaxaca (wa-ha-ca) right before sunset, found a cute little family run hotel right by the Zòcalo (city center), dropped our stuff and sprinted out onto the streets like grey hounds after a bunny! Our growling stomachs were nearly audible over the hustle and bustle of the food court. I caught the proverbial bunny and quieted the monster within thanks to an incredible bowl of traditional Oaxacan stew. Right in the middle of a perfect bite, some wonderful, well-intentioned woman came within ten inches of my face with a platter of fried grasshoppers. Well shucks, if I didn't nearly lost that mouthful. Miraculously, I swallowed and chirped out my most sincere "no gracias señora". Perhaps tonight, with a soda in hand, without the element of surprise, I'll give these little chapulin a chance.

As we strolled through the brisk mountain evening air, we were happily surprised to hear a marching band coming our direction. We looked at each other, checked my watch, and nodded in understanding that clearly there should be a huge parade on a Thursday night in October. We joined right in, walked with the dancers, bands, and floats for about an hour through the ancient streets of Oaxaca... A city we are quickly falling in love with. The best part and an image I hope to hold forever was dancing in the midst of giants. We were in the presence of sheer brilliance as 15 foot paper mache costumes circled around us. For the first time in weeks I wasn't the only one head and shoulders above everyone. 

Today it`s off to the spanish opera in my finest travel clothes, planning a hiking trip into the Sierra Norte mountains, dancing in more parades, and trying to fix my camera.