Oaxaca: On the Way, Arrival & Home Stay

Taking off in the morning from Puerto Vallarta, we always take off toward the Bay, unless rarely, the winds are coming out of the mountains. We circle 180 degrees and climb out over the coastal mountains. The mountains are always misty and ephemeral before the sun burns off the mist. We head almost directly west to Mexico City. I change planes in Mexico City, just a short, less than an hour layover.

Taking off from Mexico city we circle around and head south-east right past the major volcano in the Mexico city vicinity: Popocatepetl ("the smoking mountain"). It was not smoking today, who knows, maybe it gave up the habit. Somehow I doubt it. In just over an hour we descended into the Oaxaca valley.

With an elevation around 1,550 meters (5,085 feet), the Oaxaca Valley is a mountain bowl in the tropics. In the tropics, climate is a function of elevation. With increasing elevation, the sun is stronger, but the humidity is lower, the nights are cooler and overall the temperatures are lower. Flying in, I see the mountain ranges circling a valley filled with what looks to be a moderate size city. The population is listed at 350,000, but from the air it seems to be larger. One source estimates the population in 2003 as 700,000, but I have been told that the population is now closer to one million.

Upon arrival, I was picked up at the airport by the family that I was to stay with for the two weeks of my language intensive. They were friendly but there seemed to be some confusion in that their names were different from the names provided by the language school. Apparently there was a last minute switch. No matter, I squeezed myself and my luggage into the car and off we headed on a new adventure. Upon arrival, I was shown to my room which was a bit spartan to say the least and the bathroom was unusual, with the shower being in the middle of the room, the drain in the center of the floor between the toilet and the sink. There was a foot pedal rigged up so that you can turn the water on and off by stepping on the pedal. The laundry room was in the same room, separated by a 5 ½ foot wall which I could easily see over. 

I decided to stay since I would not be spending that much time in the room, with classes and exploring occupying most of my time. I made arrangements with my hostess Angela to have breakfast there each day, but it was obvious that she would like me to take the other meals there too, but one of my goals was to seek out the really fine Oaxacan moles and other traditional dishes. I tried to explain this, but I could see that she was disappointed that I wouldn’t be dinning there for all three meals. On the second day I did have lunch there and it certainly was as good as some of my restaurant meals, but exploring the cuisine was high on my list of things to do.