Good thangs

Here are some of the good things about living here, as promised, to give a more accurate picture of my overall experience. This list isn't complete (and it is growing, bit by bit), but it's a good start...

• Location - this is definitely one of the best parts about living in Miahuatlán. I'm surrounded by beautiful mountain vistas (apparently we are 5,000 feet above sea level). In 2 hours I can be in Oaxaca city, in 4 hours laying on the beach, in 30 minutes I can be snug in a cabin with a fireplace built along the side of a mountain...
• Climate - NO WINTER!!! I can't overstate how important this is to me. I don't want to feel cold for months in a row, or drive in snow or slip on ice... Here they have rainy season and dry season. Either way, it gets nice and warm during the day (70s or 80s), and cools down at night (high 50s), which is perfect for me. The beach is warmer, the mountains are cooler, this is my kind of weather.
• Transport - I don't drive here. And it's great! Especially with the crazy gas prices these days...I love being dependent on public transportation, especially in a place where it is plentiful and inexpensive. Walking, local buses, vans, camionetas, collective taxis, long-distance buses, domestic and international flights to/from Oaxaca... It's easy to get around without ever wishing I had a car.
• Improving my Spanish - I can feel every day that my Spanish is getting a little bit better. New words and phrases keep popping up, and slowly they become part of my vocabulary. Even guilty pleasures - bad telenovelas, trashy Spanish-language magazines, watching pirated copies of movies with Spanish-subtitles on - it's all helping my Spanish, which was one of my goals in coming here.
• Food - okay, I know that the food situation has been one of my main complaints here. But now that I'm not suffering from stomach illness, I'm really starting to enjoy the local cuisine. The cafeteria here serves a few (usually) tasty options for my mid-morning meal, and on my weekend travels I have been eating great local specialties... Tacos, enchiladas, tlayudas, chilaquiles, tamales, huevos rancheros, flautas... Served in various salsas (roja, verde, different kinds of mole) and yummy fillings (quesillo, nopales , chorizo, eggs, potatoes, bacon).... And there are always hamburgers, salads, french fries and other comfort foods in the city.
  
• Cooking - I'm actually starting to cook new things, out of necessity and (some) interest... The limited nature of the grocery stores in Miahuatlán is forcing me to be creative, and I'm starting to feel comfortable and a wee bit more confident in my kitchen. Now that I've learned how to navigate the Monday market, I have access to really fresh fruits and veggies, at cheap prices. Mangos, avocados, potatoes, tomatoes, pears, apples, bananas, plantains (which I've now learned not to eat raw!!), zucchini, onions, garlic, and all sorts of other things, known and unknown, are available. I don't ever plan to buy meat at the market (scary stuff, whole pigs/chickens/turkeys hanging skinless, or sometimes they sell the fowl live and people carry them around by their feet)... So I eat plenty of meat when I'm traveling on the weekends and for my mid-morning meal at the cafeteria. And I found out that they sell regular bacon in one of the grocery stores, so I'm all set!!
  
• Down-time - As many of you know, I'm at heart a pretty lazy person. So it's really nice to have so much time to read and sleep, to watch movies (usually in Spanish) to meditate and exercise (I'm trying to do these things a bit more!!)
• Self-sufficiency - I'm learning some of these lessons the hard way, but I AM learning them. There are people that I can ask for information and assistance, but most things I have to do for myself. With the arrival of my newest co-worker, I am realizing just how resourceful and self-sufficient I have become. And how much I've already adjusted to the huge list of challenges I made a couple of weeks back... It's really nice to feel like you're getting the hang of life here, especially remembering how tough it was at the beginning! Things are looking up!
  
• New experiences - this is one of the main reasons I'm hooked on traveling... Meeting new people, learning the customs of different places, experiencing the festivals and food... And all of this is so easy to do from here. Before I leave Mexico I'm hoping to visit Veracruz, Guadalajara, Chichen Itza (one of the 7 Wonders of the World)... I want to see the parades and fiestas for Independence Day (Sept 16), Day of the Dead, Carnaval, Semana Santa (Easter Week)... It's so easy to experience these things now, I feel really lucky to have made this move and be living close to so many amazing places. It's much more than what I could do in a few weeks of vacation, instead I have a whole year to do these things...