Oaxacan days...

It has been difficult to stay in contact this past week, I've had internet access but not 100% reliable, and usually I wasn't able to plug anything into the computers I was using, so I couldn't load fotos or anything...

To continue my first weekend in Oaxaca... I befriended a motley crew of fellow hostel-stayers, including a woman from Ireland and a guy from Amsterdam, and we set out to explore together.  We went to the town of Tlacolula, to experience the massive market held there every Sunday.  The pictures don't show how overwhelmingly huge the market was, there were 3 streets that were totally closed down to hold all the vendors, that come from all over to sell their goods.  

The market sells ALL sorts of things, from hardware items to basic cooking staples to clothes.  Although some tourists make it to the market, that's not the focus.  

We passed a few vendors selling what we thought were special spices, but they were actually massive piles of chapulines (grasshoppers) in different sizes (see the top-right picture).  And no, we did NOT eat any.  I did my touristic duty back in 2001, when I ate a single chapulin (I think that's how the singular is written!!), and I don't plan on going there again.

I didn't buy anything (since I was on my way to my new home in Miahuatlan, and I couldn't fit a single additional item in my bags!!), but I was tempted, as always, by the hammocks.

Every town has their special "market day" when vendors come down from the surrounding mountains to sell their wares.  Miahuatlan's is on Mondays.  And you can be sure that when I come home for Christmas, gifts are likely to be the local handicrafts...  (although I will attempt to take into account my sisters' carefully lists of "do's" and "don'ts", based on their experiences with gifts from prior travels!)  : )