Oaxaca, Mexico

Diary:

Today was casual with nothing planned for a change. We started with desayuno at Tito's Cafeteria, then walked around the area north of the Zócalo, the Alameda. Visited the Plaza de Santo Domingo and all the nearby arts and crafts shops. Of course we wanted to buy a few of the very cool things we found here, but are totally constrained by the thoughts (a) we don't want to lug heavy and/or fragile things in our backpacks and (b) we don't trust the Mexican postal system to ship anything back to California and (c) even if they do, it may not be shipped in one piece. ¡Que frustrating!

We ate a delicious dinner at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre of charcoal grilled strips of beef wrapped up in fresh soft tortillas with guacamole, salsa picante, and grilled green onions and chilies with lime. It was a unique experience. Each vendor in the marketplace sold only one of the ingredients; to make up the complete meal we had to negotiate with each vendor separately! Total cost for both of us: about $7.

After dinner we wandered about town and came across a free Youth Culture Seminar ("Semina Cultural de la Juventud") concert. Tonight it was a guy singing and playing Spanish guitar, accompanied by a girl on violin. They were both fantastic and mesmerized the audience who called out for many encores. Her style reminded me of the violinist on Bob Dylan's "Desire" album. Awesome.

Photos: (click on images to see full size)