I realized I haven’t posted in a little bit! To summarize the past 2 weeks of work, we collected and cleaned all of the data from all of the schools. Additionally, we have been preparing to head out to the field by gathering equipment and determining the work that will be done in each school.
Non-work related, I took a trip to Oaxaca for the weekend last weekend, and it was incredible! I went with my coworker Lisa, and a friend from Oaxaca introduced us to their friend, Liliana, from Oaxaca. She let us stay with her, and even took us on a day trip to Hierve el Agua which is an incredible nature area with petrified waterfalls. She also took us to a restaurant where we had the best meal of our life. I had fish in a red mole, Lisa had octopus in a green mole, and Liliana had steak in a citrus sauce. The food in Oaxaca was unreal! They have 7 types of mole in Oaxaca, and during our stay we tried 4 types. They were all so incredibly delicious.
We also went to markets and saw traditional clothing, ate tlayudas, which are a local food similar to quesadillas but really delicious, drank tejate, which is a drink made out of corn and cacao, and ate so much more.
The first day, we watched the Mexico vs South Korea world cup match and grabbed breakfast. Then we toured the museum Santo Domingo and saw a traditional Oaxacan wedding take place which included huge dolls of the bride and groom dancing. Later, Liliana took us to dinner, then we met up with her friend and her friend’s family to watch her son perform. She also had a 12 and 14 year old son who taught us dances and showed us their english and made us laugh a lot.
The next day was Hierve el Agua which was unlike anything we had ever seen!
Our last day, we took a tour to Monte Alban which is a prehispanic Zapoteca religious site. It was incredible! Then we took a tour through a workshop of Alebrijes, which are wooden carvings of mythical creatures painted in beautiful colors. We also toured a workshop of barro negro which is the local clay that turns black when fired up.
Oaxaca was truly incredible, and it was nice to see other parts of Mexico to appreciate just how unique each region is!
Very nice post on your weekend trip! Love the food in Oaxaca! I look forward to hearing your updates in person this week!