It's 11pm as I sip my cervesa, winding down for an early rise. Today
was our first full day here in Oaxaca and so far, I have eaten
crickets, rode in a pimped-out Mexican taxi, visited markets where
room-temperature raw chickens sit on counters, women stir drinks with
their hand and children try to solicit tourists with various trinkets.
I even managed to accidentally break a piece off a parked car with my
hoody as I walked by so the policia may be looking for me as I type
this ;)

I am staying at Las Mariposas hotel in Oaxaca, just blocks from the
gorgeous town center where thousands of pointsettias grow in flower
beds. My room is small but charming and impecably clean. All the rooms
open to various little outdoor courtyards. The terra cotta ceilings
are very high so the small room feels much larger. Skylights wake me
in the morning. I can't even imagine how expensive a hotel like this
would be in the states... certainly no where near the meager $40 USD
per night, that's for certain! The photo above is from the main
courtyard.

We woke early and made our way to the main courtyard for the daily
complementary hot coffee and fresh bread. The coffee tasted of
cinnamon, the home made honey and jam was sweet and sticky. Friends of
one of my travel mates met us for the day. Steve and Kathy are
originally from Cleveland but have been living here for a couple
months. They were a lot fun and we even got to see their place. It was
small but cute. The kitchen sink is outside. They took us to their
favorite eatery for dinner. It was $15 USD for 5 of us and we left
pleasantly full of great local food.

Earlier, all 5 of us hopped in a (tiny) taxi and drove to some local
markets. The taxis are very small compact cars like Nissan Sentras and
even old VW Beetles. The going rate seems to be $3 USD for a ride. I
didn't see a meter. Apparently, you don't tip the drivers unless they
are going above and beyond like helping with luggage. I'm so used to
the insane standard 15-20% tipping in the States. Here, when tipping
is appropriate, it's usually no more than 10%.

The first market we went to was like a huge dollar store...lots of
junk. It was great for sites and sounds though. I was disturbed by the
raw meat sitting out for sale. Lots of flies...ewww! Certainly not up
to FDA standards! There were shrimps, whole fish, chicken, beef,
veggies and lots of bread. We stopped for a deep-fried fish fillet
with hot sauce. It was quite tasty.

The second market had higher quality items. Recommended by Kathy, this
one was full of items handmade by locals. Lots of beautiful clothing
and handbags. I plan on going back for a few things later in the week.

After dinner, we were ready for a siesta...