This year's Thanksgiving break was one that we will never forget. Ben's parents flew down to Mexico for the week; they spent a few days with us in Monterrey, and then we all hopped on a plane to Oaxaca City for a five day trip. None of us had ever visited a place like Oaxaca and it was very special to share such unique experiences with grandparents.
We flew to Oaxaca City on a Monday afternoon via Volaris. Volaris is a wonderfully cheap Mexican airline, but the catch is that you are only allowed 22 pounds per person without being charged an extra baggage fee. I wish that I would have taken a time lapse video of all of us adults trying to equalize all our backpacks and carry-on luggages into 7 combinations of 22 pounds. We even went so far as coordinating specific backpack/luggage pairs with stickers. It was a hoot! In the end, they never weighed our bags; and come to find out, it was only $30 extra for an overweight bag, which we happily paid on the return trip to save us the hassle of bag juggling.
Happily waiting with our 7 perfect bag combinations.
We arrived in Oaxaca for a late dinner and stopped at a restaurant to try tlyudas (a Oaxacan specialty of a thin corn tortilla with beans, cabbage, cheese and meat, folded like a giant quesadilla)
The first three nights we stayed at an airbnb home about 20 minutes out of the city center. The house was beautiful decorated and had the perfect bedroom for the boys with three single beds (they were thrilled!).
The twins helping Grandma memorize Bible verses in the morning.
Joshy is the best sleeper and can sleep-in anywhere.
Ben enjoying the views from the rooftop terrace.
Our first two days in Oaxaca we spent with a hired guide and driver (thankfully we had friends in Monterrey who recommended this to us). It was an awesome experience! It was so nice that Ben didn't have to drive and navigate and the guide (who was bilingual) provided us with so much extra information. It was well worth the price and we would do it again in a heartbeat!
First stop: El Tule, which is the widest tree in the world (even wider than the Sequoias in California)
It is a Cypress tree. The boys enjoyed running around and trying to spot different "animals" in the bark (can you see the crocodile here?)
The church and plaza by El Tule.
Next stop was to the family studio of an artist named Panteleon Ruiz. This may have been our favorite experience of the trip. Ruiz studied art under some of the most famous Mexican artists of this era. He is extremely talented and started our tour with showing the boys how he does his paintings and etchings.
He makes his own canvases and starts these particular pieces with 25 coats of graphite.
He then uses tools to etch his picture into the graphite (Notice how the twins are almost as tall as him?!)
The boys loved watching.
The next portion of the tour he showed us how his family makes all their dyes for weaving. They are all made from natural substances.
The dyes are used not only for rugs, but Ruiz also uses them for painting. He first showed us how an insect that lives on cacti in Mexico is smashed and used to make red dye. Ruiz then used baking soda and bicarbonate sodium to change the pH balance of the red and make different colors. It was so stinking cool!
All the while his mother sat and worked wool for a rug.
Next Ruiz took a pomegranate (from a tree outside) and used the skin to make the yellow and the seeds to make the red for another painting.
Then again, he used different substances to change the pH balance and make different colors. We were able to take both these painting home...what a special souvenir!
He taught us all about different types of wool and let us touch them to see the different textures.
And his mom continued to work the wool.
Then he showed us the weaving. It was just so cool to have the boys be able to stand right there with him!
The pomegranate tree in their plaza.
Finally it was time to select a rug for a souvenir...it was such a tough decision!
The kids enjoyed the process.
So many rugs to choose from!
Ben finally talked me into buying the ultimate Mexican souvenir in this beautiful rug...it is perfect.
Even though our guide didn't have lunch scheduled until after another stop, us gringos had to stop early to eat (Mexicans typically don't eat lunch until at least 2). We stopped at the best buffet, which was a wonderful way for us to sample a whole bunch of different Oaxacan dishes. We absolutely stuffed ourselves on different types of mole and salsas and fresh, handmade tortillas. Most of the family (not me!) also tried a Oaxacan delicacy: chapulinas...or roasted grasshoppers (picture on the right).
Next stop: Milta...but first a drive through some super cool puebla streets.
The ruins of Mitla through a hole in this cacti
Mitla; this church was built on the sight of Zapotec ruins.
I kept waiting for the boys to get bored with all the information Moises was giving us, but they were really eating it up. Especially the twins who have already learned so much Mexican history in school. Not once in all the tours did the boys complain about the amount of talking.
The etching on the ruins was exquisite. (Also notice how the patterns on these ruins were used in a lot of the patterns of the rugs from Panteleon Ruiz's family)
Moises taught us all about how they constructed the temple, including showing us a cornerstone, which helps to hold up the structure (giving us a nice visual to the analogy of Jesus being our cornerstone)
From the steep steps of Mitla
Our final stop was to Hierve el Agua, limestone pools in the midst of a beautiful mountain range. I was super excited to see this sight, but it was a bit of a disappointment. The water in the pools was dirty, so we didn't let the boys swim. It was pretty, but definitely not our favorite stop of the day.
The boys and I soaking our feet.
Grandma and the boys
Ben and the boys (pools down below)
The view was pretty cool.
Deedo and I watching much braver people than us swim.
On the drive home, we got to see some agave farmers. Agave is what is used to make tequila or mezcal. The plants on the left are actually the root of the agave plant.
That was a very long and full day 1 of touring Oaxaca. We toured from 9 to 7:30! We arrived home exhausted, but thankfully to a meal made by the senora who works at the house we were staying at. Josh insisted he wasn't hungry because he ate so much at lunch, a sentiment I should have listened to. Instead, I prompted him to each "just one taquito," which was apparently one too many and he spent the rest of the night with a tummy ache and threw up. Lesson learned for this mama. Thankfully it wasn't more than just overeating heavy, unfamiliar food and he slept through the night and woke up the next morning chipper and healthy.
Day 2 we started with a tour of Monte Alban, famous ruins right outside the city of Oaxaca.
The ruins are huge!
The walk up to the ruins has some amazing trees.
The seed pods on this tree burst into cotton balls.
The view from the top
The view from the opposite end.
I love when the boys humor me for cute pictures.
After the ruins we visited an alebrije studio. The artistry here rivaled that which we saw at Panteleon Ruiz's studio. It was also a family-ran studio and the entire process is done on sight, from the carving, to drying, to repairing, to painting. After learning that it take around 12-18 months to finish one alebrije or "spirit animal," we understood why they were so darn expensive!
Explaining the process of how the wood is selected, while someone is carving in the background.
The animals that are being dried and waiting repair and painting. The bull in the forefront is a special order for a place in Mexico City. The father and son of the studio are working on carving it together and it won't be finished until 2021. Total cost $22k.
We got to watch the painters and learn how people begin to learn and spend hours upon hours learning from the master painters. They paint things like vases and ornaments to begin with (those were the things we purchased because we could afford them). Something like this large owl is only done by the master painters and takes months to complete.
The man who was painting this dog was only 22 years old, but he was a master painter and had been working at the studio since he was 16 years old. Each symbol as a different meaning based in Mexican history.
Our next stop was to a black pottery studio. Black pottery is unique to this region.
Moises explaining the process of how it's made.
Finally we stopped at an old monastery called Cuilipam de Guerrero. It was beautiful, but honestly, by this time we were pretty toured out and ready to return back to the house for some rest.
The whole valley of Oaxaca is so beautiful with the mountains all around it.
Who could have known that you could pack so much into just two days of touring?
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