A View of Aging: Mine: Oaxaca, Mexico. November 2014

The Beginning
A month in one place in the warm climate of Mexico. This was one of my goals for post-retirment from Chiripa.

View from my Oaxaca apartment rooftop looking east.

I wanted to see if I liked it and how I would spend my time. Circumstances made November a good choice: a perfect place in Oaxaca found on VRBO/Vacation Rental By Owner (http://www.vrbo.com/407237) and what I thought would be not the coldest of times in Wisconsin, but cold enough to make me appreciate the warm Mexican sun. Little did I know that the Polar Vortex would descend again in November on Wisconsin. I felt a bit smug.

Papaya for breakfast every morning!

Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead
I arrived in Oaxaca, Mexico on October 31st just in time to partake of the many Day of the Dead activities going on in the city. I have a deep respect for this ancient ritual of honoring and communing with departed loved ones.

Many businesses have ofrendas (alters).

This one was at Las Golondrinas, a favorite hotel.

The street scene at night in Oaxaca had a feeling similar to "Freak Fest" in Madison, Wi; people strolling the pedestrian walks and Zocalo (central park) in costume, some posing for photo ops and collecting donations. I tend to avoid the crowds in Madison and this was just a small amusement for me.

What appeared to be an almost spontaneous parade convened beneath the rooftop restaurant where I was dining. The pope brought up the rear!

The real attraction for me was the cemeteries. On November 2nd I experienced two. In the afternoon I walked to the huge Panteón San Miguel (the Oaxaca cemetery). People were arriving with loads of flowers, marimbas were playing, food was being shared. I had only my phone camera, but tried to capture some of the ambiance.

In the evening I went with a small tour group to the neighborhood cemetery of San Filipe de Agua. There I experienced the chaos, the music, the rituals, and the flowers of Dia de los Muertos traditions.

I did feel intrusive with my camera and my gauking, but this community seemed well prepared for the curious tourists and I've heard that many families wait until after the interlopers have gone back to their hotels to pay their tributes.

My Oaxaca Digs
Finding my apartment on VRBO was one of those Chiripa moments (a happy accident).

Callas from the local tianguis (pop-up market)

The place was perfect for me. As the owner showed me around I kept recognizing the folk art that we had purchased for Chiripa! I knew the artists! It was like walking back into the shop. She even had a custom-made hammered copper table-top.

Jenna and Karen at Heirve el Augua

The first two weeks I was joined by Karen (my Spanish teacher in Madison) and her daughter Jenna from Albequerque. I was taking Spanish classes at this time, so we would often meet up in the afternoon and go out for dinner in the evening.

Jennifer and Brian enjoying a glass of wine at Tres Bistro on the zócalo

Week three Jim joined me along with Jennifer and Brian our tennis buddies from Madison. And the final week daughter Heather visited and Jim stayed on. It's been a long time since we've spent a week together. Quite fun.

Jim and Heather at San Augustín Etla

For apartment details go to http://www.vrbo.com/407237 and see the pictures and description. But, there's no picture of the purple exterior!

Spanish Class
Another goal for this trip was to improve my poor Spanish and timid attempts to use the language.

I enrolled at ICO (Instituto Cultural Oaxaca) and attended classes from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. five days a week for two weeks. It wasn't really enough and I lapsed into speaking English whenever I could. But, I did work hard at it and I became more confident at initiating interactions with non-English speakers. It will be a lifelong effort for me and I'm not going to beat myself up for not being good at it. I'll just keep plodding along with my once a week class in Madison and attempt to find other ways to learn and use the language. It's quite interesting, really. I think I started too late. Oh, well.

Two classmates with my teacher Marycarmen in the center.

An affiliated non-profit organization called EnVia operates out of the school. They provide small no-interest business loans to women in the Oaxaca valley. I was intrigued by the concept and signed up (with Karen and Jenna) to take a tour of a few of the loan recipients. The cost of the tour ($700 pesos or $55 US dollars) is considered a donation and it goes toward loans for the women. The loans start at $1,500 pesos (or around $120 U. dollars). EnVia knows that the loans will help the women and their families. Their payback rate is almost 100%.