La Fiesta de Despedida

Luckily, no one was hurt and we made our flight!

I know many of you thought we were signing off with our last blog, Sabbatical in Retrospect, but we like long goodbyes. That's why we had a going-away party for ourselves on our last Saturday night in Oaxaca. That gave us 2 more days to say goodbye again to people (including neighbor Raul at 6:00 a.m. our morning of departure, as we brought our garbage to the pick-up spot, and again at 6:30 a.m. when we ran into him at Conzatti Park after our cab, literally, ran into someone else).

Fellow En Vía translator and neighbor, Susan,
and the multi-lingual, multi-talented Ryoko.

We were really pleased that during our time in Oaxaca we were able to make friends with a wide variety of people, Mexican and non-Mexican. Of course, it was easier to really get to know the people who spoke English but because of the friendliness and patience of the locals, we also formed a lot of ties with Spanish-speakers. The party-goers represented all cross-sections of our sabbatical lives - our volunteer gigs, Spanish classes, dance classes, permaculture and gardening groups, the neighborhood, the markets. Several gringo friends commented that they'd never been to such a mixed party in Oaxaca. Everything worked together to make it a magical, fantastic evening: food, music, dancing, Mezcal, and 70 or so of our best friends who made our time in Mexico unforgettable!

Victor and Rebecca, Randy's partners in crime and composting.

Our Spanish teacher, Lety, and her daughters
Chelsea and Samantha.

Neighbors Raul, Hortensia, Ramón, and Gloria.

The out-of-towners: Michelle and Leo teach at the University in Ixtlán;
Nick and Pat came down from Huayapam.

No party of ours would be complete without
the familia Márquez-Prado.

Nora and Nadia from En Vía. It was great to hang around with
so many adventuresome young people.

Danielle, from the Permaculture group, and her adorable son. 

Let the party begin! My Zapateado dance friends, Molly and Mica.
I had a lot of fun with these girls, even if I was often mistaken for
their mother!

These two earned their Mezcal. Kim was my supervisor at
En Vía and Octavio was my Spanish teacher for several weeks.

Bibi, my zapateado dance teacher, and her family.

Reyna and Beto, owners of the comedor (restaurant)
across the street from us, kept us well-fed!

A lot of people we met were in the midst of life changes. Debbie,
on the right, had just sold her vineyard in Argentina, got a divorce, and
was spending a few months in Oaxaca.

Scotty (left) makes a living riding his motorcycle all over North and
South America and writing about it for various magazines.

Our housekeeper, Alejandra, and her granddaughter Daniela. I had to shoo
Alejandra out of the kitchen more than once during the party! 

Raices played traditional son jarocho music.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raicesoaxaca/280251488768369

Mica and I led off the dancing...

but soon it was an all-out fandango!

I follow Raul's lead.

Note Randy's partner, Ofelia. She comes up to his waist!

Pepe - friend, neighbor, and Randy's personal hair-stylist -
shows Mica (the dance major) a thing or two.

We had chicken salad sandwiches, bean salad, guacamole,
fruit salad, and (wildly popular) chocolate chip cookies, but
the latecomers had to make due with chips and salsa.

Randy will miss Victor - and being the tallest person in the room all the time!