Day 19: Final Day in Oaxaca & Goodbyes

And then there were 7.

Kevin and Namrata left the hotel early in the morning to go back to Houston. Now it really feels like things are coming to an end.

Sleeping in.

Haven't done that since leaving the US. We got a late start at 11am to walk around the city center. Most of the group hadn't had a chance to explore Oaxaca the first day we arrived, so we went to Santo Domingo and perused some of the vendor stands outside. Daniella acted as our pseudo tour guide as we visited an heladeria (ice cream shop) near the church and tried some exotic flavors such as guanábana and manolo. I left our mark on the tourist log they had on the table. We also wandered into the graphic art institute, which consisted of thousands of books about art from different countries, cultures and disciplines. We walked through a beautiful open patio into various rooms in the library, passing students working on projects and the occasional art exhibit. Oaxaca truly has an air of beauty that all of us have come to appreciate and expect to miss upon our return to the US.

Home.

I have noticed energy levels have been slowly depleting since our second week in Suchil. While there are many things and people here we will miss, most of us are anxious for the comfort of home. After getting lunch at Le Gourmand, a French restaurant with craft beer and 6 inch tall sandwiches, we returned to the hotel for a post-lunch siesta. While most everyone was done for the day, Daniella and I set out to visit the Zócalo, the open marketplace. As we neared the area, Daniella's face displayed her surprise as the stark contrast between the quiet open plaza she visited on her first day to the chaos that the center had become with the rows of market stands stacking the streets. Also, as a result of the teacher strikes, tents filled in the gaps around the stands as people waited to resume their usual protest in the city. With the threat of rain darkening the sky, many shops had strung tarps between trees and street poles, which made the whole thing feel like a tangled web of color and commotion saturated by the smell of sweet plantains. We didn't stay for long.

No goodbyes, only see-you-laters.

After using all our wits to navigate back to the hotel, we met up with Richard and Sarahi for a final dinner. We had all mostly risen from the depths of stomach sickness, so we ate our last supper sharing tastings of food and drink and planning PUC reunion 2019. And so I leave you all with a big

TO BE CONTINUED in Longhorns in Oaxaca Ch. 2: Vamos a la Playa

Seriously though, thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog and keep up with our project. So many people contributed to making this wonderful experience happen.