- Friday marked the last day of conversation class with Andrea. It was a really great class, and I really enjoyed having Andrea as a teacher. She was very nice, helpful, and funny throughout our time with her. In just two weeks, I have come a long way with respect to my speaking ability. My understanding is skyrocketing, and I have a lot more confidence in my abilities. Thanks Andrea! Luckily, we will still see her around the school, so we don't have to say goodbye yet! Grammar classes with Manuel also continue to be running smoothly. Manuel is another great teacher. It is going to stink to have to say goodbye to all the awesome people I've met down here!
- Speaking of goodbyes, Friday was the last day of volunteering at El Centro de Esperanza Infantil. I'm going to miss working with the kids! We finished our work somewhat early on Friday, which left about two hours to sit around and play with the kids. Jenga, pick up sticks, Uno, and just talking were some of the activities we did. We also had to say goodbye to Marcos, one of our go to guys for figuring out what to do. Originally from Oaxaca, he moved to the states when he was two and is currently a student at UCONN. In the downtime we had at the center, we had a great time getting to know him and sharing our advice with him (he is an aspiring pre-med student as well).
- Every day and every night continues to be a party in the streets! The celebrations are really ramping up, both in intensity and frequency with the passing of each day. Fireworks continue to dot the sky, and more and more people are out and about. In fact, the city is noticeably swelling up with both foreigners and natives. The surplus of wanderers in the streets can make for some great people watching, as well as some slowed down travelling times. Nevertheless, it is really cool to see so many people come together to celebrate the cultural melting pot that is the state of Oaxaca.
- La Guelaguetza is set to officially begin on Monday. However, plenty of entertainment has already taken place. For the past couple nights, there have been free parades showcasing the different groups that will be participating in the official ceremony. There are about 14 indigenous groups of Oaxaca, and most, if not all, are represented in the celebration. Tonight, a huge parade with about 10 of the groups took place within the heart of the city. The parade proceeded down la calle Alcalá, around el zócalo, and back up la calle Garcia Vigil. Each group had many, many people dancing, some in large costumes, in traditional dress, with a band playing an identifying piece of music. It was so cool to see, and the crowd was very into it. There were, at the very least, tens of thousands of people congregating around the main route. Quite the spectacle. I can't wait to see what the actual festival entails!
 |
| A sea of people watching one of the groups dance. ¡Que divertido! |
- I hit up a local organic market with Genevieve, Lauren, Sarah, Shan-Shan, and a new friend, Steve, this morning. It was small in size, but rather large in the amount of things to see. Fresh juice, homemade crafts, local sweets, free mezcal sampling, you name it; this place almost had it all. I bought some dried fruit, some milk chocolate treats, a fresh squeezed jugo de naranja (orange juice), and some delicious cracker type snacks in addition to a few free samples of a local mezcal. It was a "cool" way to spend the morning, even if the temperatures were approaching 100°F. In fact, the forecast for next week has the daily high hovering around 105°F. Hothothothothothothot!!
- After a delicious la comida (it's never been bad, and I have yet to try some food item down here that I don't like), it was off to a café with Sarah and Steve to cool down for a while before watching the parade. The café itself was really nice, offering free wifi to go along with my delicious mocha frappe. After an hour or so, we left, met a group of Sarah's friends at the Santo Domingo plaza, and watched the parade with thousands of others. Then it was off to Café Mayordomo for a refreshing Malteada (quickly becoming my favorite local treat, so tasty!). After walking around the nearby market for a bit, it was time to retire for the evening.
The next week promises to be full of awesome experiences, both with the start of the official Guelaguetza celebration and the beginning of my clinical rotations. I have a free day Monday, as most of the town will be shut down for the start of the main event, so hopefully I can get some good pictures of the happenings. Until next time, take care!
No comments:
Post a Comment