Well!  I am here after preparing for so long, it seems.  I am at the end of Day 2 and couldn't do much of anything yesterday.  Last night was the first I had sleep in 2 nights..and those of you who know me know that I NEED my sleep!!!  I also do not adapt quickly to what I call "hot"( no one here thinks it is hot) and moving in to a
completely different setting than I lived in before!  I will talk more about that later.

I ventured out yesterday 2 times and my need for food was the only thing that got me out the door!   I found 2 places that I had eaten before and got some really great food and just the veggies and eggs and salads and guacamole that I needed!  I had one wonderful surprise in that I received coffee instead of tea(my Spanish issues) and the coffee was wonderful.  Oaxaca has its own coffee...made in the mountains here and it is fabulous!  I don't even like coffee...usually....I found 2 great coffee shops today each in sharp contrast to the other.  One was tiny with old brick walls and tiny little rooms...this place was recommended by a local book that I bought at my residence!  The really nice young man served me my coffee and I discovered that I had no pesos and no American dollars....and, as I guessed, they did not take MC or Visa.  I opologized and got up and walked out....ah..touristas!  In many places, they cannot deal with the American dollar either and I know that but I just had not had time to go to a bank and use my debit card...instructions in spanish...my meager Spanish comes in really handy and I am learning many words every day already....well..maybe not "learning" but starting the process.  People are so patient and try to teach you in the shops and restaurants.
Oh..and by the way, I did later find my dollars in my purse but they wouldn't have been useful either.  I am rambling but that is what I will be doing for awhile...
I made my way to the zocolo where I remembered a restaurant that I knew  my would take MC/Visa.  I also sat on a long veranda and the breeze calmed and cooled!   Many people enjoying Sat.  at the Zocolo...enjoying the day...literally colorful...balloons and stalls selling food and many other items....I found my way up the Alcala and was lured further up the hill by music....of a wedding happening at Santo Domingo, a huge beautiful church.   Happy People everywhere!

This, I have learned, is a rainy month and I don't mind at all.  It is warm rain and cooling but it does come down hard.  As this started to happen, I made my way to the one English book store called Amate Books, and spent over an hour and treated myself to books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the area.   After awhile I paid and went into the corridor where teens were taking shelter and generally having a great time pushing and shoving each other into the rain.  Oh I forgot...when I was paying for my books, I looked out into the hallway and saw a young dad and his little 18 month old waiting out the rain...I looked at her and smiled and waved...daddy said something to here and she blew me a kiss...which I readily returned!  Such joy.....these are the little things that bring me back here.  Next, 2 men convinced me that is was time to go out because the clouds were clearing...all this in a mixture of broken Spanish and English.
And it turns out, they were right!!

Now, if you think that is enough adventure for the day, I didcovered an indoor shopping area with an amazing coffee place(with air conditioning, I think) and I won't forget that one when I need respite from heat and comfortable surroundings....and then as I take a new street to get the 7 blocks back to my place, I run into Mike who shared the short plane ride from Houston to Oaxaca.  He is staying in a place that I am familiar with because they have a restaurant connected to his b&b Las Bugambillias(SP)   He is traveling without his wife...she went to Iowa to see family and isn't so fond of Oaxaca....they have been here before.  He is going outside the city tomorrow to a market called Tlacalula.  I am not looking up the spelling, sorry.)  I have been there and hope to go back.  We are going to meet Monday morning at a coffee shop across
from his place.   He had spent 2 days walking and walking and said he needed to calm down and be more "Mexico-ish".   I understand that because Oaxaca is like hundreds of surprise gifts just waiting to be unwrapped.

Gary, the owner of my place and director of the tutoring facility...invited me to go to the Chocolate hotel tomorrow.  I know Oaxaca is known for its chocolate but I am not a big chocolate person, I have not looked into that area.  I will tell you all about it tomorrow.!
Hasta La Vista!!!      I send love from a really loving culture and location!