Trees Of Oaxaca - the "Guage" tree

OK, so this post is not for everybody. In fact, maybe it's just for Mike Larson, my self-proclaimed plant geek friend. And maybe for Hannah, my only kid who has even pretended to take an interest in trees.

Being a bit of an aspiring plant geek myself, and recognizing almost none of the trees here in Oaxaca, I am making it a mission of mine to learn to identify at least some of the more common trees here. There are lots of trees that look like legumes, with their compound leaves and beans of one sort or another. They remind me a bit of the honey locust and black locust trees you see back in Minnesota.

But whereas in Minnesota you might see one or two legumes among the vast majority of maples, oaks, birch and pines, here in Oaxaca the legumes are in the majority. I think that is because the soil here is deficient in nitrogen. I further suspect that this is caused, or at least exacerbated, by centuries of agriculture (the indigenous Zapotecs began practicing agriculture in the Oaxaca Vally in 1500BC). Nitrogen, abundant in the atmosphere, is the number one limiting factor in most plants (it's the "N" in N-P-K fertilizer labeling). Legumes are able to pull nitrogen out of the air and fix it in the soil for their own use, and when they drop leaves, slough off roots or die, they leave it behind for other plants. A plant that can fix nitrogen has a distinct advantage here over trees that require nitrogen to already be in the ground.

The Guage Tree (Leucaena leucocephala) - common names include wild tamarind, white leadtree, jumbay, faux acacia, faux mimosa, white popinac.

In Sarah's post from 8/21/14, "How Do You Pronounce Oaxaca?", she makes mention of that Oaxaca (a derivation of "Guaxaca") takes it's name from the Guage tree (pronounced "GWAH-hey"). So this became the first tree that I set out to identify. Luckly, many of them are in bloom right now, with the white spherical flowers (at left) which makes them a LOT easier to identify.

Turns out this tree has quite a story. Native to Guatemala and southern Mexico, it has been introduced around the globe as a kind of miracle tree - a long-lived, tough perennial legume with a deep tap root that breaks through hard-pan subsoils. It also produces edible shoots, leaves and seeds for people and for limited use with livestock. It's wood is used for charcoal, furniture and paper. But it also spreads quickly, so it is considered by some an invasive. And it blooms year-round, so it yields beans year-round as well.

I'll post more about the local plants as I learn more about them. Though I know it's not for everybody, I know at least one or two of you will be interested to hear more. :-)

What Could Go Wrong?

Vendors who cannot afford a stall are welcome
spread their wares out on the floor.

For all of you who feel we have too many safety rules in the U.S., I invite you to visit Mexico, where people are unencumbered by such things. Let's start with food safety. We previously introduced you to our chicken vendor at the neighborhood mercado. None of the meat vendors use gloves as they spend the day butchering, slicing, and packaging raw meat. They do not use gloves or wash their hands when they stop chopping for a minute to take your money. They do not wear gloves or wash their hands when they give you your change, sometimes with a little tendon attached to the peso.

I'm not sure what category this would fall under...I've seen bikes used for several purposes here, but this is my favorite. We are just outside one of the biggest and busiest of the mercados, with tons of people knocking into each other as they navigate the narrow sidewalks. This man is in the middle of it all, using a stationary-type bike to sharpen knives.

Finally, what do you do when an established tree dies and you need to remove it? You remove it, of course, along with all the dirt. That's it. Then you leave a big, gaping hole in the middle of a popular pedestrian walkway. After a few days someone put a rock on one edge to alert people. Good thinking.

You see this a lot, too. The great thing about these unexpected
holes in the sidewalk is that they double as garbage receptables.

Play Money

Whenever Sarah and I travel internationally, I take charge of the money (and the passports, and the boarding passes - I am a control freak, what can I say?). The first thing I like to do, sometimes before we leave the US, is get some cash in the foreign currency. Then, I work out a "cheat sheet" method for converting the local money to US Dollars. That way I usually avoid that awkward moment of sorting through "play money" trying to figure out how much to give to the nice taxi driver or shop clerk while they stand there waiting.

Lunch at La Abuela.

When we have been in Mexico in the past, exchange rates were about 12 pesos to 1 dollar. So my cheat sheet method has been to drop a decimal place, treating the exchange as if we got only 10 pesos for a US dollar. Then, if it looks like an ok price, it's a GOOD price.

What I recently learned is that the dollar has gotten stronger since we were here last a couple of years ago. The rate is now 13.5 pesos to the dollar. Or, stated another way, it now only takes 75 cents to buy 10 pesos. That means if I drop a decimal place and it looks like a good price, it's a really GREAT price.

Not everything here is a great deal. We paid something like 770 pesos for a small espresso coffee maker, which comes to about US $57. I think generally manufactured goods are higher here, but services, food and lodging are cheap.

Like he said, not everything is a great deal!

So prices for most of the things we buy here have looked really GOOD - based on my "cheat sheet" method - lunch for 2 for US $7, a 15 minute "cab" ride for US $1 per person, a 5 gallon jug of drinking water for US $1.50. On top of that, the standard for tipping here is 10% (and even that is not really expected, so you usually get a genuine smile).

Artists (and husband and wife)
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo
on the 500 peso bill.

So now that I know what the exchange rate is, these prices have gone from GOOD to GREAT!

Sights and Sounds Assault

I don't like graffiti, in part because it's vandalizing property but also because most people just aren't very talented. Any idiot with a can of spray paint can do this:

 

 

But the truth is, there is a lot of graffiti in Oaxaca and some of it is really pretty good. Here are some of the "works" that I don't hate:

Some buildings can only be improved with a little art.

The Dead are pretty busy in Mexican art.

                     

And some views can't be ruined.

Who doesn't like a singing frog?

But here is our favorite, carved in a cactus -

If Oaxaca is in-your-face with graffiti, it's in-your-ear with the auditory equivalent. Every morning, starting around 6:00, the water truck starts roaming the neighborhood. "¡Aaaah-gua! ¡Super aaah-gua!" Through a bullhorn. All day.

Then comes the gas truck, which announces its presence via loudspeaker with a combination of music, words and random noises. But I guess if you live here you come to appreciate the warnings. This is how you get water and gas. When the truck comes by, you run out into the street to meet it and make your purchase.

Then, the garbage truck. You cannot leave your garbage out. When you hear the truck, you have to bring your garbage to it, perhaps a block away. And if you think the garbageman is going to throw it in the truck for you, think again!

Apparently, some people can habituate to the constant noise.

Oaxaca is a fairly big city (pop. 250,000) but it retains much of the charm - and sounds - of a small town. Hence, the barking dogs and crowing roosters. Truly, something for everyone!

Baby Talk, Baby Steps

I have been taking Spanish lessons for a few years now, and I am to the point where I can understand a fair bit if people speak slowly, and keep the topic basic. But after over 3 years of weekly lessons, I can really still speak very little. It's like being a toddler, I am told. They understand much more than they can say.

Then, suddenly, I arrived in Mexico, and I CAN SPEAK!

It's always good to know what you're eating but sometimes at
the market you just have to take a chance!

Now, I am not here arguing philosophy with professors. I am walking into a shop, asking if they have something we can carry Sarah's resume around in, or asking if they have anything chocolate for dessert. But it just suddenly got a lot easier to "produce" a little basic Spanish, which is a thrill.

Randy was able to find out that although
the saleswoman and I had the same sweater
(bought from the same vendor), she paid quite
a bit less for hers.

I think part of the difference is that back in Minnesota, in the classroom setting, in our home, or in public, I felt encumbered by grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary - it was about speaking Spanish well, which is intimidating. And if I saw an opportunity to talk to a native Spanish speaker, I felt horribly presumptuous. And it seemed like every time I asked a question in Spanish, they answered me in flawless English!

But here in Mexico, there is no net. Mostly they don't speak English here. And it's appropriate for me to try to speak Spanish, no matter how poorly - we are in a Spanish speaking country. If I don't know a word, I have to talk around it to get my point across. And if I find myself bumbling, I have to get myself together and try again. And they seem to try to work with me at my level.

Our neighborhood market chicken butcher. No matter
how good your Spanish is, you can't tell him that he
shouldn't handle raw chicken, then money, then chicken...

As long, that is, as Sarah remains silent. As soon as she speaks - sometimes as soon as they see her - whomever we are communicating with leaves me in the dust and talks to Sarah instead. They somehow know that she is the one of the two of us who actually speaks the language.

So, I have gotten a little bit of a shot in the arm, a little confidence, coming here and being able to speak and to be understood in some basic real life situations. And that is a darned good thing, because I will need confidence going into my Spanish lessons which start tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Oh, what a first week!

It's hard to believe we have only been here a week so far, as much as we have gotten done and gotten into already.

María and Emanuel's home in the Figueroa neighborhood.
Our apartment is to the right.

We arrived in Oaxaca Friday afternoon, a day late due to missing our connection in Houston. We spent the weekend resting, setting up house in our little apartment at the home of Maria and Emanuel, who speak no English. And it's a good thing we rested up because...

Monday we showed up at  INSO (http://www.insoaxaca.org) to set up my volunteer gig at El Pedregal. There we were introduced to Oliver, the German INSO manager at El Pedregal. Oliver invited us to the first-ever meeting of a new Permaculture group, meeting the next morning at the Oaxaca Lending Library. Oliver also invited us to attend the October meeting of the Oaxaca Garden Club in Huayapam (a small town outside Oaxaca City near El Pedregal) to be held Wednesday morning, followed by an afternoon tour of El Pedregal. Bueno.

Doug and Joanie's home in Huayapam.

Tuesday we showed up early at the Oaxaca Lending Library, giving us time to look around. Besides offering books, the library serves as an information and social hub for ex-pats and Oaxaqueños alike.  On Mexico time people started showing up for the Permaculture meeting. Joining Sarah and me were Aome (the instigator of the gathering), Oliver, a German woman and a couple other Americans. We talked Permaculture, soil, compost. In the process we learned that good compost is expensive here and hard to get. We also learned that Aome was to be the featured presenter at the Oaxaca Garden Club the next day at the home of Doug and Joanie, where Aome had designed a Permaculture garden. Pequeño mundo.

Long and steep - but beautiful - hike to El Pedregal.

Tour group.

Oliver points out the burms and swales.

Wednesday we took a colectivo to Huayapam where we showed up "early" (on time) for the Garden Club meeting, which of course started on Mexico time. The home of Greg and Joanie was adorable, the food was delicious, and the talk on Permaculture was interesting (more to me than to Sarah, no doubt). After the meeting we headed out on the 1 kilometer hike to El Pedregal. There, Oliver gave a few of us a tour of the site, which they have transformed from an eroded mountain slope into a lush and productive farm and demonstration site. Muy interesante.

Entrance to Instituto Cultural de Oaxaca.

Thursday we stopped in at the Oaxaca Cultural Institute to get information about Spanish lessons for me. Housed in the same building is an organization called Fundacion en Via, which offers microloans to local women (http://www.envia.org/). We have been interested in this organization since we took one of their tours three years ago. Sarah asked the director about volunteer opportunities and was invited to become a tour guide - and so she starts next Wednesday.  ¡Que Bien!



Friday we got stuff done - we got work pants for me, scheduled my Spanish lessons, got our apartment cleaned, picked up our laundry, went to the market

Our laundromat.

 - whew, we were so ready for the weekend!

Dinner at María Bonita included traditional Oaxacan dishes such as
Chile Rellenos with crickets and in Mezcal worm sauce. I passed. (SB)

We stumble upon dancers everywhere! These 8 kids were practicing
a traditional dance in one of the town's many plazas.

(All photos by Sarah, the official photographer of the 2014-15 sabbatical)
(Also, this blog entry was a collaboration between Sarah and Randy - and we are still speaking to each other!)

Montezuma's Revenge

I know better than to order a salad at a restaurant in Mexico - with lettuce, tomatoes and other veggies that would be very hard to wash with bottled water - but I let down my guard yesterday when the nice waiter said, "si, agua purificado".

I have noticed a certain attitude when I ask about whether the water is bottled. I get the feeling that the locals here don't take seriously that gringos can't drink the local water.  One woman seemed kind of insulted, like I was disrespecting her ice cone stand. Another man seemed to imply that it is non-sense, that we just need to toughen up.

I am not saying that they want us to get sick, as the name "Montezuma's Revenge" implies. Another name for it is the "Aztec two step", which removes the connotation, but I am not sure I "get it" (does it refer to the dash to the bathroom?). In other countries it is called by other names - in India it's the Dehli Belly -  in Turkey it's the Turkey Trots. No hint of malice there.

But to be fair to the idea that we need to toughen up, in a sense they are right. My guess (and it's just that) is that in the U. S. the chlorine and fluoride in the water kills off some of the biology in our gut. When we go to Mexico, where (again, I am guessing) they don't use chlorine or fluoride in their tap water, we get exposed to things we are not used to.

This will all be worth it if I do build up a tolerance to the foreign microbes. Until then, I'll just lay low.

The Whys of it All

A lot of people are asking "Why now," "why Oaxaca," and just plain "why?"

First, why? When I was young I was fairly adventuresome and loved to travel. I took a bus across the Yucatan peninsula, studied abroad in Spain (before it was a popular thing to do), backpacked through Europe twice with BF, Liz Flannery. I always thought I would live or work abroad. After nursing school I applied to the Peace Corps but was turned down since I had an infant. Little by little, I settled into a pretty conventional life. A great life, but conventional - and comfortable. I wanted to be a bit uncomfortable again, with the language, the layout of a new city, the mores of a different culture. I've also been teaching ESL the last several years with an eye towards teaching in another country.

Another beautiful flowering tree. I believe this one is a Flame tree.

Why now? The main reason is that all of our kids are out of the house and settled. Evan has been living independently in San Francisco for the past 6 years. Quinn just finished college and moved to WA - and got engaged! Beau has a full-time job and an apartment with friends. Hannah is in her 2nd year at the U of M, living in a house just off campus. Plus, we are not getting any younger. I've noticed that as the years go by I'm less flexible, more attached to things, you might say I'm becoming stuck in my ways. Time to nip that in the bud!

We are spending Oct. in a boarding house. Emanuel and María are our hosts.
Here they have taken us to see their new business, an event center.

Do you think Randy stands out enough here?

Why Oaxaca? We have friends who've been living in Thailand for the past 6 years. They've been trying to persuade us to move there - and it was tempting. But I hated the feeling of not understanding the language at all. I've been learning - and forgetting - Spanish for the past 35 years and part of what I'd like to get out of this experience is proficiency in another language. Randy and I have checked out a few places in Mexico, Central and South America. I've always favored Mexico and I fell in love with this city. The photos will speak for themselves and you'll just have to imagine the taste of the food, the warmness of the people and...well, I'm not going to mention the climate.

Charming lunch spot.

So far, it's been a lot of getting ready

Well, finally, here we are.

After years of dreaming and planning, and months of execution, we are now finally in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I think we started the dreaming phase 7 or 8 years ago, using our vacations to go check out Spanish-speaking countries so that when the kids were out of the house we could go live there for a while. It felt like we entered the planning phase three years ago when we first visited Oaxaca, because when soon after that I went to work for JPMorgan Chase I gave my new manager the date: October, 2014. And the execution phase started in earnest about a year ago when we reminded our managers that, whether we would have jobs when we got back or not, we were going. But it really started to get real last spring when we bought one-way tickets to Mexico!

I don't mean to complain. It's been a great experience already, in every phase of the process. It was good for our marriage to plan the great escape and work on it together. I think it's been good for our kids to see us doing such an unusual thing. It was good therapy to go through all of our stuff and sort it (toss/give away, store, take along) multiple times until what was left could fit in our checked bags and carry-ons. It has been a great challenge for me to try to learn Spanish, but I hear it is good for old brains to learn new things. Still, I swear I felt travel-weary by the time our friend Dave Buck dropped us off at the airport!

So, if any of you are thinking of taking 6 months off to go live in a foreign country, I just want to warn you - you are in for a LOT of getting ready!

How we got here (figuratively, not literally).

Our 19-year-old, Hannah, is ingenuous. When we told her we had started a blog, she said "But you guys haven't done anything interesting yet." True; and we might not ever do anything interesting but I'm going to tell you how we got here, anyway.

Our original blog title, Sabbatical in Oaxaca, was a misnomer (as well as a bit uninspired). Our original intention was to take a sabbatical, a temporary break from our work lives, to try something new in a foreign country. When Randy took his job 2 1/2 years ago, he told the hiring manager upfront that he would be taking 6 months off starting in the fall of 2014. No problem. I told my manager the same thing when I started my job in 2010. No problem. Somewhere along the line...problem. Randy's boss backpedaled, saying that a sabbatical was really only considered for health reasons. My manager left and the new management offered me a different job when I returned - if one was available.

So, we quit our jobs and maybe a more accurate title for this blog would just be Unemployed in Oaxaca. But we are at a point in our lives where time seems more important than money and more limited than job opportunities. I just hope that we never look back and pinpoint this as the moment everything went al diablo!