Visitas y Viajes

Last weekend Nithim, Katie and I went to Oaxaca City. Although it isn’t that far away, (about 2.5 hours), I hadn’t gone yet. I don’t know anyone in Oaxaca City, and I think Agustin and Irene would have been concerned if I went on my own.

Who are Katie and Nithim? They are the two people who found my blog and decided to come and help out for a couple weeks. Our main project is putting together a volunteer handbook for future volunteers at HEI. When I first started looking into Casa Hogar, I couldn’t find any information about it at all. (Luckily, I was able to e-mail with a past volunteer!) We’re hoping that with the new website and a handbook, more people will know about HEI, and more people will decide to come. I guess there was no volunteer last year. Obviously, it would be nice if every year there was a volunteer. In the handbook, there will be information about Tlaxiaco, Casa Hogar, and what it is like to live and volunteer here. The other project is putting together some curriculum for teaching English. Also, Nithim is studying digital libraries and is collecting various things to use as resources on our new computers. It’s been really great to spend time with them, have a good project to work on and not be the only extranjera at Casa Hogar.

Anyways, we went to Oaxaca! It is a really beautiful city. I loved having breakfast in the zocalo, listening to musicians, and watching the vendors set up under the tall trees. It was a very relaxing place to be, and even though there were lots of people out and about, no one seemed to be in a hurry. It was also significantly warmer than Tlaxiaco! Not that it was that much different during the day, but it was so nice to walk around at night and not be cold. And to be able to eat dinner outside wearing a light sweater instead of eating inside wearing a coat!

I really enjoyed traveling, seeing a new place, being a little more independent. Perhaps I’ll be able to do another weekend trip sometime. If nothing else, it will be fun to plan something for Semana Santa!

Oaxaca is famous for its textiles and other handiwork.

Mmm... churros.

Queso Oaxaqueño- we ate a lot of it while we were there!

A really big tree in Tule, and possibly the largest biomass in the world.

Traditional huipils still worn by some in the indigenous community.