After a really long bus ride from San Cristobal, sleeping in 800 different positions on the bus Tyler and I arrived to Oaxaca. We got into town very early in the morning and it was really great to walk around a city that was still asleep. Tyler had been there before and new his way around town a bit. We looked in the guidebook and decided to walk to one of the hostels. Big mistake. The place was far and uphill and when we got there we could only check in at 11 and they were charging way too much even though it was the low season. So we decided that even though it was a long walk that was not the hostel for us and with our very heavy backpacks with decided to find a new place. Its crazy how things sometimes work out so well and everything is in synchrony. We arrived at the hostel which is a very funky place, not in the best shape, but it felt good to be there and instantly we met a few other people who had just arrived and felt right at home.
The first day in Oaxaca we decided to walk around town, go to the main square and get to know the city a little bit. I could not be happier to be in Oaxaca at the eve of Dia de los Muertos. The entire city was decorated with gicantic sand sculptures around the zocalo, every home and business had built their altars and the marygolds where present at every direction you looked. Tyler and I had our minds set on face paint for halloween and went to the market to buy some food and see if we could find some paint to make it all come together. The market is indoor and huge and they sell all types of things from clothes, to vegetables, meats, cheeses, and even halloween costumes. We bought ourselves some food to cook the next few meal and were able to find the face paint for the night. When we got back to the hostel we decided that we would rally some other people we had met to face paint with us. Earlier that day we had met one of the most beautiful couples I have ever met. John and Marie and their beautiful baby Kai who is 9 months old. They have been travellign since Kai was 6 months old and plan on travelling as long as they can and maybe starting a hostel. Kai is such a fun mellow baby and gets along with everyone, it was awesome to get to play with him a little bit. So we decided we would see if they wanted to face paint with us and as it turns out, another sign that the universe really works for us sometimes, Marie is a face painter and also had a lot of paint. So that night after dinner we all got to drinking and painting each others faces to get ready for a wild night in town and celebrate halloween on a foreign land. Marina and Vincent also joined us and we had a nice group of 5 painted faces to go party in town.
It wa great walking around with faces painted, everyone lookign at us like we were the strangest people they had ever seen. We walked to a clown show by the main cathedral and I guess they thought we were pretty funny with our faces painted and invited us to join. Pretty soon our group had taken over and was entertaining a huge group of espectators, so much that some of the clowns just sat down and watched the crazy foreigners. There were knives being thrown over our heads and we had a great fun time with them... although they kept all of the tips at the end of the show. After that we got to some local bars and after midnight we celebrated my birthday with a green shot that was on fire and together we made the entire bar get up and dance with us. It was great and there was so mcuh positive energy!!!! I could not have asked for a better birthday night!!
On my actual birthday we walked around town visiting more places and lookign at their day of the dead decorations and at night John who is a chef cooked us a delicious prawns and fish pasta. I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant and not a run down hostel!
On actual day of the dead there were many celebrations in the cemeteries and I was able to watch a beautiful performace organized by one of the cultural centers. It was a mix of theater and dance all honoring the day of the dead and using the huge stone church as a backgraound, it was a very beautiful and dramatic performance.
The next morning Tyler and I made our way through a very long and windy road to the beach. Finally arriving in Puerto Escondido. ( which by the way is not very escondido)
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