Oaxaca

First off, it’s easy to pronounce, if not intuitive: Wa-ha-ca.

We’ve been in Oaxaca for the past week, having arrived on February 23. We’re staying at the wonderful Overlander Oasis, run by a very friendly Canadian couple.

We’ve been super busy over the past week – we took another week of Spanish classes, and did a little volunteer work at the Centro de Esparanza Infantil. The Esparanza center has a very straightforward business model. For $250 per year, you can sponsor a kid by helping to pay for their books, school fees, and uniforms, and they get an education that their family may not otherwise be able to afford. We met the center’s director and were so impressed that we decided to sponsor a child ourselves. We are going to sign up next week, and may even get to meet the child. We’re hoping to get someone about Quinn’s age so that they can correspond.

A couple of the older kids at the Esperanza center really got into the math exercises at Khan Academy

A couple of the older kids at the Esperanza center really got into the math exercises at Khan Academy

After Spanish classes each day, we made a point of seeking out well reviewed restaurants in town for a late lunch. We even had a really nice meal in a white-tablecloth restaurant one afternoon! Needless to say we’ve been enjoying all of this immensely!

I was in heaven with all of the seafood and tacos in Baja. I didn’t think the food could possibly get any better, but it has. We had some amazing meals in Guanajuato and again in San Miguel, but Oaxaca has the justifiable reputation of being the culinary capital of Mexico.

It’s famous for it’s “7 moles” – Negro, Amarillo, Verde, Colorado, Coloradito, Chichile Negro, and Mancha Manteles. So far we’ve only sampled a few of them, but we hope to rectify that over the next few days.

A stuffed poblano pepper with black bean sauce

A stuffed poblano pepper with black bean sauce

Poblano creme soup

Poblano creme soup

Pork ribs in Mole Mancha Manteles

Pork ribs in Mole Mancha Manteles

Chicken with Mole Negro

Chicken with Mole Negro

Quinn's not a huge fan of the fancy food

Quinn’s not a huge fan of the fancy food

On the way into Oaxaca we had to cross some pretty high passes, and the van started having the same power problems we’ve been experiencing on and off over the past couple of months. It never got as bad as it did on Christmas eve though, and we made it without any problems.

On Thursday we took the van into the Ford dealer to see if they could help us figure out the problem. They wanted 3 days just to do a diagnosis and we were skeptical that they could actually figure out what was wrong. On Saturday morning, based on advice from The Google, I removed and cleaned the exhaust back pressure tube and sensor. I also posted my woeful tale to powerstroke.org, but it’s looking like we’re going to roll out of Oaxaca no closer to a solution.

We have a few more touristy things to do in town early next week, and we even have dentist appointments for all three of us on Tuesday (for the princely sum of $23 apiece). We’re hoping to be on the road again on Wednesday or Thursday.

Q got some more car time

Q got some more car time

The locals say this 2000 year old tree is the biggest tree in the world.

The locals say this 2000 year old tree is the biggest tree in the world.

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2 Responses to 'Oaxaca'

  1. Bobbie staggs says:

    Enjoyed! Just loving all the pictures of Quinn!

  2. Marcia says:

    Wow-that tree is huge! Q looks like he’s having fun (as do the rest of you).