Back on the Streets

 

 

Always nice to see people have a good start to the day. Llano park in the morning has a bunch of groups doing various forms of exercise. Me, I start with a nice walk to a cafe for some of the excellent coffee, often grown here in the state of Oaxaca or in the neighboring state of Chiapas.

Oaxaca offers up an endless variety of street art. It's a very graphics oriented city. Although I enjoy poking around the many galleries, I find the street murals fascinate me. Every year there seems to be a new crop, and many stay around for years and slowly weather and acquire the patina a harsh environment induces. Colors fade, paint peels, and old murals are replaced with new. 

I greatly appreciate the sense of humor shown in the signage used by the businesses. Always something to catch the eye and tickle the funny bone. Pretty easy to figure out the offerings even without much skill speaking Spanish.

This is a rugged city to walk through. The streets are old, the sidewalks and pavement cracked. The walls have seen countless repairs. There is a lot of vegetation, some flourishes, some struggles to survive. 

I spend a lot of time walking with my head down in Oaxaca. It's the only way to not suffer a bad fall. Stopping and looking up does offer it's rewards, so I do so periodically.

I surprised my friends Oswaldo and his wife Rocio with an unannounced visit to their studio in Cinco Seniores, a working neighboorhood on the east side of the city. They don't speak English, I don't speak much Spanish, but pounding on the door and shouting "Mas Cafe por Favor" did the trick. 

I caught them hard at working preparing a multi color engraving for printing later that day. Each of the carefully chosen colors had to be applied to the appropriate area of the plate, and once done, a single impression could be made. This was an all day effort for the two of them

Later still, I was out at night, which is a rare event for us. Most socializing is done during daylight hours. Not so much for avoiding crime (it's a pretty safe city), but due to being able to avoid tripping hazards. It's a totally different look that the city has during the day.

Red Corvette in Oaxaca!!

Monday, Wednesday and Friday late morning is spent at the billiards parlor, shooting pool with a dozen or so friends. Great pool hall, about 20 tables, runs us a dollar or two for a couple of hours of swearing and cheering

They're happy because its time for lunch

This Guy sure can cook!

These two sure can eat. One of two good Korean restaurants in Oaxaca.