Saturday Night Fever

On Saturday morning, our new guide/driver, Oscar picked mom and I up for our excursion for the day. We first drove around the city, looking at some of the neighborhoods we hadn't seen yet, and then made our way up to Monte Alban (those of you who are following along might recall that I had all ready been there, and despite my mother's prior insistence that she didn't need to go there, she changed her mind... so we went). It was completely fine because this time we did it without a guide (Oscar's English was not so good, so he mainly served as a driver on this day), so we walked at our own pace and finished in about 45 minutes. I'm glad my mom got to see it because it really is beautiful and significant to visiting Oaxaca.

Next we stopped at our hotel for a pit stop... for me... (not looking good for me) and then on to San Martin Ticajete, another alebrije village. This town was very different, more spread out and rural. Oscar took us straight to an artist's house/compound where we found loads of people working on carving the wood creatures and painting them. They were all mainly from the same family and we learned that this family, the Jacobo family is very famous in their craft and sell their "high end" collector's pieces, all over the world. Their work was BEAUTIFUL, but way out of my price range. My mom did negotiate another big purchase for her husband of some hummingbirds on a cactus flower. Very pretty!! I tried to negotiate for some smaller pieces but they didn't want to go as low as I could afford to pay. So we asked Oscar to take us to another family's shop and he did. This time I made my purchases and managed to find 3 pieces that I loved. Here is a photo of the artist, Vincente Hernandez, holding the pieces that I bought from him. I was glad to finally get some larger pieces that I loved!

After we left San Martin, we went to San Bartolo for a quick look at the Black Pottery, which is another thing Oaxaca is famous for. Mom and I bought up a few pieces that were super cheap, but by this time I was really starting to feel like crap so we made our way back to our hotel. We had dinner plans with our friends from Belgium but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to make it, considering my bones were aching and I hadn't been able to eat all day...

Fast forward to Saturday night... no details but I will say it was HIDEOUS!! I got the bug... the dreaded travelers stomach. There was a high fever and some other unmentionables, that kept me up through the night. My mom and Rosy and Luis (the caretakers of our hotel) were great in helping to get me medicine, tea, Pedialyte, etc... for my nasty ordeal. The good news is that the next day... today, Sunday, I am on the mend. My fever has broken and I feel my stomach getting stronger. Perhaps some food today?? We'll see. I'm sure that by tomorrow I'll be up and running once again. Mom is out on her own today, and I am here at the hotel, sitting in bed, catching up on email and posting to this blog.

Hope you're all well and though I am not a bit homesick, I do miss some of the creature comforts of home, and the familiar faces of the people I love. See you soon!