June 23, 2008
Oaxaca, Mexico
Pictures: Loveduck tries some chapulines (grasshoppers), the biggest tree in the western hemisphere (in Tule, not that I had a tape measurer), and yes, it is still raining unexpectedly from time to time!
Good: Yesterday we had a fun adventure, complete with two (yes, two) trips to nowhere. We went to Tlacalula where they hold a large Sunday Market. From there we wanted to go to Yagul ( some ruins), but apparently there is a suburb called Yagul as well, with tract housing (Oaxacan style) and all. So we returned to Tlacalula, gave up on the Yagul thing for fear that it would rain once we got there, and headed "straight" to the largest tree in the Western Hemisphere. Well, we took a bus in the entirely wrong direction. Good thing it only cost us 3 pesos each way ($.30 usd) on that wild goose chase. Tule, the town with the ginormous tree, was actually a lovely place to visit. And then we got to return to Oaxaca Ciudad in a colectivo (a group taxi). I got the honor of sitting in the middle of the front-not that there was a bench. I had a little cushion that was placed between the two seats, just behind the stick shift. It was a great opportunity to give Kalin some driving pointers.
Bad: Maya woke up with stomach cramps. Once again I am grateful for Cipro! One dose and she is a happy camper again.
Surprising: The chaplines were not that big of a deal to eat. I was prepared for something very foreign to my pallet. They were a bit like eating really salty bits of cereal-maybe puffed rice. I expected super crunchy.
Surprising:
2 comments:
question: were the chapulines and the stomach cramps connected? Just curious!
Maya, Marta is anxious to see you. But you know that.
--Melanie
Please do not eat too many Oaxacan grasshoppers; I just read an article in the Chronicle in the past two weeks about the frightening levels of lead Oaxacans living in the U.S. had, and they traced it to grasshoppers from home. Scientists are trying to figure out if it is from storing them in Oaxacan clay pots or what. Don't want y'all to grow stupid. Grasshoppers from other areas of Mexico should be okay.
--Donna
Post a Comment