Denise's Oaxaca Service-Learning Blog

We made it! The 4:30 a.m. wakeup call came awfully early, but we got to the San Antonio International Airport at the designated time, 5:30 a.m., thanks to Ferdy, our sweet friend from our church. (Thanks, Ferdy!! We owe you!) Our flight took off at 7:10 a.m., and I was a little afraid we were going to miss it. We were doing an O.J. (running through the airport) to get on the plane. Checking on 14 people and all of our luggage plus a long line at Homeland Security called for our inner track star to materialize. We made it, though, and the 36-minute flight to Houston was uneventful.

Moving 14 people through Houston´s airport was a challenge, but we made it there, too. The promised carts weren´t waiting for us, and we went to the yellow flashing light, not the blue flashing light, like the Continental employee told us, but we made it to the monorail, trekked over to the international terminal and got on board the plane with 12 minutes to spare. We even had time for a potty break!

The flight to Oaxaca was on a small, 3-seat-across plane. Once we got up in the clouds, I could relax. And, the clouds were beautiful. It was Mel´s first time on a plane, so it was fun watching her "kid-in-the-candy-store" reaction. She was remarkably tranquil for her first time flying. The mountains scraped the white, fluffy clouds, and I was very thankful we were in the air and not on the roads. Snake-like paths criss-crossed the peaks. I got car sick just thinking about it.

We got into two mini-vans at the airport and took off for La Casa de La Tia, our hotel, located in the heart of downtown Oaxaca. We´re only a couple of blocks from the zocalo, the central square of the city. Ana Maria, our contact, met us at the hotel and took us to a nearby restaurant. The meal was delicious. For 40 pesos (about $4), we had soup, vegetables, a main dish, salad, dessert and coffee. And, the food was delicious. We also had an exotic fruit drink, guanabana, I believe is its name. Yummy. The food was "tipico" of Oaxaca. My main dish was rajas con queso. Mild chilis layered on cheese with zuchinni and corn on top. We´ll be going back! Ana Maria is very nice, and she had a new and improved schedule for us. We´re definitely going to be on the run while we´re here!

From there, we went to exchange money to pay for our hotel, which is lovely. Gorgeous bouganvilleas adorn the front courtyard. Aedan loves that she´s got a private upstairs loft that you get to via a spiral stairway.

Back on the streets, we noticed that makeshift tents lined downtown. At first, we thought it was people selling goods in a market. However, we soon found out it´s teachers protesting their wages--one sign we read said they earn $100 a week--and their lack of schoolroom support--no desks, no chairs, no books, no computers, etc. The presidential election in Mexico is in July, so they´re trying to get their voices heard. Democracy in action! I´m curious to see how it turns out.

We walked over to the Cathedral after we exchanged money ($1 equals 11.25 pesos), and it´s stunning. Ana Maria said that it had been worked on this past year, so that´s why it looked extra beautiful. By then, our lack of sleep was catching up with us, and we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow´s adventures. I´ve snuck away to find a cibercafe (cybercafe) so friends and family and loyal readers will know we made it okay. (The cibercafes charge 8 pesos an hour...less than $1 an hour...for access.) From what I´ve seen, this is going to be a great two weeks!