I would like to ask you to all please cross your fingers and say a silent prayer that I don't catch malaria, because the mosquitoes here are eating me alive. It is taking some serious will power right now to continue typing and not scratch my legs raw, because I might as well have the chicken pox. For some reason, the mosquitoes here prefer me and my fellow gringo travelers 1000:1 over native Oaxacans, despite the fact that I perpetually smell faintly of Deet - although, fun fact, I recently learned that mosquitoes actually prefer birds to humans, who knew? Emma assures me that it is because I have "sangre dulce," which in her book is a good thing. Personally, I'd prefer to have bitter blood over a thousand bug bites. I somehow managed to get through this week alive, and though I swore I packed some benadryl, I was unable to find it among my things. When I went to a pharmacy, I was informed that I need a prescription for any sort of antihistamine. Damn. Blessedly, I found the bottle of benadryl today in a hidden pocket of my backpack, although I would have loved to have made this discovery much earlier in the week.
I was able to reassert my position at the top of the food chain later in the week when I was presented with the opportunity to try chapulines, a Oaxacan delicacy. What are chapulines, you may ask? They are crickets, covered in chili powder, eaten with chips like guacamole. They're not bad, really, just a bit salty for my taste. I have to admit, I'm still getting used to some of the eating customs here. The Oaxacan meal schedule consists of two main meals each day, rather than the three to which I am accustomed. We eat a fairly big breakfast early in the morning and an even larger meal in the early afternoon. This leaves me a little hungry come nightfall, though an evening coffee usually settles my stomach down. I really understand the appeal of a siesta now; after eating such a hefty midday meal, I definitely appreciate the opportunity to quietly digest for a while before continuing my day. All in all, the food here is pretty good. I could eat mole negro, tamales and avocados every day until I die and be blissfully content. I'm a little more wary of other meals, like mystery meat balls and eggs with chili paste and chorizo, but then I just remind myself that after eating crickets, anything else should seem like a piece of cake (pun intended).
While it sometimes seems like my days here are centered around the meals, I have, in fact, been doing other things. I started class at the Instituto Cultural de Oaxaca, affectionately refered to as the ICO. Four hours of Spanish intensivo in the morning followed by two hours of salsa in the afternoon. I have to say, I'm getting pretty decent at salsa, though in a class with 14 girls and only 4 men, getting any face time with a living, breathing partner is pretty competitive for us damas. I think I need a little more practice before I hit up any of the salsa clubs here, but according to my sweet, 72-year-old abuelito Manuel, I will be able to "shake my ass" in no time at all.
After finishing up our first week of classes, we had a couple of fun activities this weekend. On friday we did a "Juego de Pistas," or scavenger hunt, in which we were paired off and set loose to find important landmarks in the city, armed only with our spanish, some maps, and our cameras. After roaming around for a good three hours, we were treated to tamales and chocolate con leche back at the ICO. Yesterday, the group set off for Monte Alban, the site of thousands of years-old Zapotec ruins, just outside of the city. That was definitely the coolest thing I have done here so far, and actually one of the coolest places I have ever been in my whole life. It was incredible to stand on top of an intensely lush, green mountain, overlooking the city from all directions, and walk through the remains of such an old civilization. Maybe it's just the art history nerd in me coming out, but I thought it was pretty cool. Today, I've just been enjoying a day off from everything. After a leisurely breakfast, I hit up the laundromat with Bri and then went for a run in the rain. The rest of the day has just been filled with more food, some futbol on the tele, and a lot of down time. Now, it's time to do a little "light reading" and writing about piracy before I go back to intensivo tomorrow. While I'd much rather head back to Monte Alban or tuck into some arroz con leche, I guess I have to accept schoolwork as part of this whole study abroad thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment