Quick Stop In Cholula and Kayaks - Mar 24
This morning I spent a lot of time finding some good resources to warm myself up in the morning for Spanish speaking. I’ve found, though I’m not proud to admit it, that I’m a little slow on the draw when I try to speak or listen in the mornings. So I found Radio Cinco and Telemundo News to work pretty well. I then went to Cholula to tourist around there for a while. I sat in the park for a bit to people watch and then I climbed the hill/pyramid to the main church to people watch. I then got a text from Antonio asking if I wanted to go kayaking. Uh, yes please.
It took about one hour to get to his little slice of the lake and we had headed out on the lake in a kayak each with his mom’s dog Diana. This was incredibly relaxing and we had a ton of laughs. It was a great time. On the paddle back into his spot on the lake we decided to switch to English. Antonio told me my voice in Spanish is harder than in English which is funny because the Spanish girl Eva told me the opposite. Who knows. What I do want to note is my new outlook on foreign accents.
Basically, I strived to have as little of an accent as possible because I think it’s both more impressive to native speakers and, of course, they can understand you more easily. Both good things, however, I realized that, as a perfectionist, I was upset every time someone told me that they heard my Canadian accent come through when I talked. The most recent time this happened was with Carla in Teotihuacan after we had been speaking English for a full day. I was a little down in the dumps after that. But now, thinking about all of it, as long as I can express myself as intelligently as I want, I don’t think it matters nearly as much as I thought. In my experience, I used to put a small judgement on those who don’t speak English as a first language, thinking that they hadn’t put enough effort into learning to speak properly. But it’s hard to get right and hard to hear the differences. I haven’t had the prejudice for a while and I’m realizing that I don’t need to put that same prejudice on myself. I feel much better now.
After the lake we dropped off Antonio’s car and dog and headed to a restaurant for some dinner. We ate pizza, potato appetizers, dessert, and headed out for a some time on the town. We started off at a bar that Antonio recommended. However, the place was pretty empty so we had one beer and left. We then went to Container City, downed one shot of mezcal like water and then we walked the strip to find a club. We were attracted into a bar by a girl telling us that there was a promotion of 10 shots for 100 pesos. Deal. But a bad one. I think I need to start realizing that just because I’m in a new town with a new friend doesn’t mean that I have to drink my face off with that new friend. Let’s just say the shots didn’t sit well, but they didn’t sit for long anyway. We grabbed some tacos al pastor across the street and I spent the rest of the night being a party pooper. Too bad you had to deal with that, Antonio. Maybe the next time I visit things will be a little smoother.
Oaxaca Aqui, Otra Vez - Mar 25
In the morning I rose out of my bed, a little reluctantly, and got myself and my things together to leave. I spent some time doing nothing before asking about where to catch the bus for the bus station. By that time, however, the parade had started. Of course, it’s almost Easter and I’m in Mexico, a country where every city has seven back up churches despite the size of the city. It was around this time that I decided to check up on my finances, something I hadn’t done for almost a month. Big news coming from my bank, someone got a hold of my debit card that I lost somewhere and started taking money out of my account about six days ago. I had already started the process of cancelling my card but they didn’t actually do the cancellation, cool. I spent some time first figuring out why the microphone on my phone wasn’t working and then called the bank to sort it out. They said it would take around ten business days. Classic bank move. Nothing I can do about it now though, whatever.
The parade lasted for a while and then I got some lunch. After lunch I got myself to the bus station and hopped on my bus to Oaxaca. The bus ride was pleasant. I listened to Juanes, read HP, listened to a few Spanish podcasts, and rested. I still remembered where my last hostel was from last time and I was lucky enough that they had a spare bed without having a reservation. Score.
I settled in and walked the main square for a while. This time around it is busy and full of pop-up shops, restaurants, games, rides, and the like. I got some tacos al pastor and watched the final minutes of the Canada vs Mexico game which ended up with a win to Mexico at 3-0. That’s fine, I already knew Canada can’t play soccer. For starters we called it soccer. Enough said. Back at the hostel I hand-washed some clothes, asked about Hirve el Agua, and basically went to sleep. Today was simple and full of reflection and nothingness.
Hierve el Agua and Back to the Night Bus - Mar 26
Keep it simple. I went to Hierve el Agua today. Half way, I met some Mexicans that shared a taxi with me. We chilled, it was relaxing and cool. We did a small amount of hiking to get better photos. We hitch hiked back almost all the way to Oaxaca City then shared another cab. I ended my night with tacos and a crepe waiting for my night bus to Puerto Escondido.
Here are some photos:
New Beach, Same Story, a Summary - Mar 27 - Mar 31
The night bus went pretty well but I didn’t sleep much. I got to the hostel after a short walk from the bus station. I spent a few hours checking out the first beach that is closest to the hostel, not impressed, and hanging out with a mixture of people from America, Australia, Germany, Mexico, and England. This seems like a pretty chill spot but it just reminds me of Sayulita. With that in mind I decided that I’m going to cull one night’s stay in Puerto Escondido, skip Mazunte, shorten my stay in San Cristobal de las Casas and spend more time in Sayulita. I’m thinking I might have to visit Mexico City again because I didn’t spend enough time hanging out with all my friends there.
For the rest of the days in Puerto Escondido we spent our time either chilling in the hostel, eating at the nearby restaurants, or at the beach. Obviously. I didn’t bother keeping up with the blog posts here because I knew it would be similar to those posts from Sayulita where we just had fun and relaxed. Although there isn’t a lot going on, it’s nice.