Off to Texas en la Manana

Hola!
We are going away for about ten days, to a family reunion in Texas. I am thrilled to get to see my parents and sister and one of my brothers. I am also very excited because our children, KD and Ian, are also going to be able to fly in from Denver and Seattle.

However, I must admit that each time we leave our new old town, I feel a little pang of emptiness. So, I usually take my camera and go for a walk. I know I will not forget what my new home looks like while I am gone, but getting photos just gives me a good feeling and makes it easier to leave.

The photo opportunity also gives me the chance to talk to the mail lady for awhile, to sit at the Plaza, to go in as many of the stores as possible, to get a limonada, or a latte in the Teracotta and to just simply soak it all in before we go.

So, yesterday I did that. Then I went and did it again today.
And these are some of the photos I took on yesterday's walk. The Oaxacans are having a street market around the Plaza. They have been here for a week now. On Sunday night we drove around part of the Plaza and it was very festive, alot of people walking around and the lights at the plaza were beautiful and bright. There was alot of promenading going on, although it is generally all in one direction now, and girls and boys hold hands.

I sat at the Plaza yesterday and since I had no mail, I just people watched.

I saw a tree growing out of the church tower.

I saw alot of Mexicanos I know. I saw a few foreigners that I don't know. There was a big bus parked on one side of the plaza and alot of college aged students walking around, buying ice cream and chips and taking pictures of each other in front of the church.

I went into one of my favorite stores, Bochoco.

The refrigerated and frozen food cases were bright and shiny. The bins on the floor contain chicken thighs, chicken breasts and pork products. To the right are all kinds of vegetables and fruits in bins on the floor.

I buy all my chicken this way. You insert your hand into a plastic baggie and search around in the bin for what you want, pull it out, put it into another baggie, get it weighed and you are good to go to the check out girl.

Eggs are not refrigerated in any Mexico stores I have been in, with the exception of Wal Mart in Obregon. Bochoco sells gigantic brown eggs and white eggs as well. I asked today to buy the brown ones, but they were already sold out.

More shiny food cases in the front of the store, where the room is only about twenty feet wide.

Today, I have chosen frozen chicken so I can take the long way home. The check out lady takes my 23 pesos for three frozen chicken breasts, bags it in pink plastic and I am on my way.

Next stop, the Alameda, where they have put some finishing touches on the walkway and added new benches and alot of cottonwood trees, (alamos means cottonwood), grass and bouganvilla. The fountain is full of rainwater, but one of these days I think it will be gurgling away.

On the way home, I stop and take a picture of this beautiful date palm and suddenly I am back at my own gate.

We will be gone a long time.

I can not wait to see my family, but I will most likely think about my home every day and wonder what is going on.....................does Alma have in the new orange and pink oilcloth I asked about..................she said it might come Friday.................the fabric store just got in a new batch of paints.................... some new colors this time...................new little shiny regalos boxes will come in over the weekend........................Rosie, a lady I worked with at DIF during Hurricane Norbert, wants to stop by week after next when we get back........................a friend and I are planning to put together a Christmas Bazaar in November at the Plaza and she wants to get together............she speaks not a word of English, but so far we are communicating anyway.......is it hot......is it raining......................how tall will the grass be..................adios, we are off to Texas en la manana.......see you when we return.................linda lou