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!)