Instituto Cultural Oaxaca

The School

My family is living without me for the month of March (thanks to 'St. Joseph') so that I can immerse myself in the spanish language and Mexican culture. I have I wanted to learn Spanish since long before I met Joseph, and the fact that he has two sisters and two nieces living in Spain only increases my desire to learn the language. There are a number of language schools in Oaxaca offering different programs with emphases on anything from learning conversational speech to indigenous culture.  

I chose this particular school because  they have a program that offers up to 7 hours per day (!!!) and as I said - I wanted to immerse myself. Way back when in 7th grade, I took Spanish class and am embarrassed to think about my behavior. I also took a weekend course three years ago for school credit but can't say I got much more than a partial review of my class in 7th grade.

My schedule here at school (I am in "A1" - beginner-beginner level) is three hours of class work. The teacher doesn't speak a word of English.  She'll go to her iPad before saying anything in English.  Then we have an hour of conversation which is of course very interesting in the beginning class. : )  Often we play games to help us along.  

At 1:00 we have a two-hour break.  Lunch, siesta, errands, the time always flies by. At 3:00 each student is assigned an intercambio -  someone who wants to learn or practice their English.  You divide the time between speaking english and spanish however you want. Alyeda is my intercambio. She is getting her Phd. in nutrition at a university in Spain and has to present her thesis in English.  Wow!! She is super sweet and we have a great time together.  

We both feel it is mutually beneficial to get together and have done things together outside our assigned hour.  From 4-6 pm you have a choice between a few different classes. The first week I chose salsa. What a blast! Unfortunately there were more girls than guys so the girls had to dance alone some of the time. What an elegant style of dance. (JB want to learn?)  The second week I took a cooking class. So fun!  There were only two of us in the class so it made it even better.  We cooked entomatados, chilaquiles and amarillo mole.  And I learned a lot of kitchen vocabulary.

Here are some photos of the school and activities:

My salsa class on the last day.  You can see a bit of the school setting too.  It is an old mansion and one of the heirs decided to turn it onto a language school. It has been very successful.	I just love this set up. Truly a Mexican feel.  This was a celebration they had for "good Samaritan day".  The entire city celebrates this day.  The businesses give out  traditional Mexican drink to anyone who walks by until noon.  Some of the drinks were Chilacayota, horchata, tejate and aqua del dia.  It was fun to see the whole city participate.
This is my intercambio. Aleyda	How cool is this set up?  These are simple gas burners. The counter is all cement. Think I want to build one?  You bet!!
This is a pan called a cazuela.  The sauces get cooked in this dish for a long time. Vicky roasted chilies on the lid laying next to the dish.	Vicky our cooking instructor.

I feel fortunate to have choosen this school. I am sure that many of the schools in Oaxaca are good, but this fits my needs.

around the city

Around the city of Oaxaca 

This is an art installation near the center of Oaxaca.  It represents the mass exodus  in 1994 of Oaxacans living in near by pueblos into the US - for jobs and opportunity.  2500 figures were made in total. I heard they will eventually be installed somewhere near the Mexican-US border. Approximately 300 are currently installed in Oaxaca. The exhibit was supposed to be removed in February but it remains.  For more information on the art installation you can watch the movie on Netflix "2501 Migrants" directed by a Oaxacan woman. 

The exhibit is in front of Santo Domingo church and the Oaxacan Cultural Center.  The church was built in the 1550's.  Built after the conquistadors  took control of the area.

, Each figure weighs at least 100 lbs and needs to be crated individually. The artist apparently had a lot of help from community members.

Ethnobotanical garden

This garden was completed in 1998. The famous artist, Francis Toledo, was responsible for preserving this historic site near the Santa Domingo Church from an American corporation that wanted to build a 5-star hotel. During the excavation for the garden an irrigation system and under ground kilns were uncovered from hundreds of years ago. The fact that this garden was completed in four years and that it is only14 years old is amazing. They transplanted huge trees and plants.  The Oaxacans are extremely proud of their garden and it neighboring building Santa Domingo.

A 10 year old agave plant	These cactus were transplanted when they     were 7 ft tall. They must be at least 12-14 ft tall     now.
The kiln used to fire limestone ?	These dogs were not part of the garden but were sleeping right outside the garden door.  I see these same 4 dogs roaming the streets at night.  Looking for food I presume.

Murals on walls and buildings

Bike Rides in Oaxaca

Bike Rides in Oaxaca 

Every Friday night at 9:00 ,  about 200 bikers gather and make a 10-kilometer loop around the city.  I was able to borrow a bike from the posada where I am staying, so I was fortunate to join them.  It was amazing to see young kids with parents, couples,  grandparents,  a few gringos - not many -  and the organizers who stop and hold up traffic at every intersection.  Some bikers decorate their bikes, everyone is smiling.  They yell si bici,  no coche! ("yes bike, no car!") Here's a few not so clear pictures .

The same organization offers group rides on Sundays too.  Each Sunday they go to various towns or pueblos around Oaxaca.  I joined them this past Sunday.  We went to a town called Ocotlan which is about 40 km from Oaxaca.  There were about 25 people in total.  We took back roads on the way there, which included going through small villages, sewage crossings, farm land and in general barren land.  The views of the mountain were amazing.   It was helpful to have a mountain bike although some of the riders had cross bikes. I think we might have gone the wrong way at one point but it was hard to tell since the communication was difficult.  There were a few other people from the school so I wasn't the only English speaker.  I had a blast with everyone. Laughing at my pathetic Spanish but trying nonetheless. On the return trip, we took the highways but it was clear the organizers wanted us to stay well off the road. That meant riding on the rough shoulder/break-down lanes. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Eating in Ocotlan - the meal was excellent but of course I didn't know what I was ordering! I said I would have the same thing as the woman next to me.  Turns out it was a quesadilla with squash flowers.  Apparently very popular this time of year.  In fact I have never seen such a large bag of squash flowers as I did that day.	I made friends with the Mom and daughter who are wearing jeans at the top of the hill.  You will see pictures of their house in my next post. Rocio and Andrea.
One of the nasty sewer crossings	This is at the end of the day. We biked between 80 and 90 km.  very impressive for the organizers to take all these people that far!!