Week 7, Days 1-2: Oaxaca City

Wow, has this been an incredible week! Although we don’t have an official fall break here, all of the Notre Dame students were pulled out of class to go on a week long trip to Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido!

The buses left bright and early at 6:00 am on Saturday. Needless to say, on the four hour bus ride south to Oaxaca, you could hear nothing more than the silence of sleeping students. Mid-morning, we arrived and went immediately to an archaelogical site outside of the city called Monte Albán. Founded around 500 BC, Monte Albán had a huge socio-political and economic presence in Mesoamerica until around 500 AD. Many parts of the architecture and city layout resemble Teotihuacan, which we visited last week, which indicates a strong trade relationship between the two powers.

After Monte Albán, we ate a buffet lunch before heading to the hotel. Luckily, our hotel was located right on the Zócalo (downtown square). When Mary and I opened the door to our room, we were delighted to hear the live music flooding in from the streets below and to find a balcony that led right out to a view of the Zócalo with all its music, cafes, and markets.

After getting settled in, we explored the streets and weekend markets. From art, to textiles, to jewelry and more, there was so much to look at. Similar to Puebla, the streets were cobblestone and were lined with a rainbow of different buildings.

We also decided to go to mass Saturday night, as Sunday was packed full of activities. We went to Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, which was yet another gorgeous colonial Spanish church. Church was absolutely packed, and as we were leaving, we saw a bride and her wedding party getting ready to walk down the aisle!

After church, we weren’t hungry for a full dinner, so we decided to get some gelato right around the corner from the hotel. The least favorite flavor was “Leche Quemada,” which means “Burnt Milk,” and that is exactly what it tasted like. Ew!

We finished the night with a big group game of cards and then headed to bed and got ready for our early morning.

Sunday morning, we woke up and ate breakfast on the Zócalo. Then we headed toward Hierve el Agua (The Water Boils), a set of natural rock formations and springs on a cliff overlooking a stunning mountain valley. We were able to swim in the springs, and the cloudiness of the day added a very cool ambiance to the site.

After Hierve el Agua, we headed to a textile market in Mitla. Here, we learned how tapestries are hand woven from sheep’s wool. We watched as they mixed white and black wool to make various shades of gray, and then watched as they hand-spun the wool into thread. They also taught us about different plants and insects they used to dye the wool, and how pH can affect the color. Then we were able to look around the shop at all the different tapestries and clothing items. Super cool!

After the textile market, we went to a mezcal brewery. We learned all about the process of taking the different agave plants and processing and fermenting them into liquor. We also learned the difference between tequila and mezcal: tequila is made only from the blue agave plant, while mezcal is made from a blend of many higher quality agave plants. After the tour, we sampled different qualities and flavors of mezcal. We also tried some gusanos (worms), which are traditionally found in the bottom of a bottle of mezcal. While I can’t say I enjoyed eating the worm, it was not as dramatic of an ordeal as I thought it would be. It didn’t really taste like much and just kind of crunched in my mouth (sorry, Grandma, I know you’ll hate reading about me eating worms).

After the mezcal brewery tour, we went for another large buffet lunch/dinner, and then returned back to hotel for some free time. All 21 of us piled into one hotel room and had a MarioKart tournament and watched an episode of Black Mirror together.

Overall, our stay in Oaxaca City was a blast, but Monday morning we left bright and early for the beautiful beach town of Puerto Escondido. More to come 🙂