Hi all! Sorry for taking so long to write another entry. I apologize in advance for any incoherence this may have... I returned from a trip to southern mexico following semana santa, around 4am this morning. After a full day at work, my thinking isn't exactly clear and i feel incapable of thinking in both spanish and english. The last two weeks have truly flown by- between moving into my own apartment, busy weeks at work, and our most recent vacation to the southern state of Oaxaca during Semana Santa (holy week), life has been full of both chaos and happiness. It seems to be universal that the big cities of the world have a way of swallowing up your days and hours without any concept of where time has gone.

I guess I will start by saying, all is going well in Mexico. I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition to life south of the border...I have settled into my new roommate situation living within walking distance to work (this is quite a life saver in this city) and live with two locals, Carlos and Carlos, in a neighborhood called Roma Norte- full of street stands and restaurants and cafes and of course, people. I have a nice view of Mexico City from my window, looking at a beautiful old church (with not so beautiful bells at 7am on Sunday morning) and I can even see the mountains far off in the distance. My roommates are "buena onda y tranquilos" as they say, make great tour guides, and have been incredibly helpful for me in learning my way around this city safely. I took the place of various female french exchange students, and I have had no problems of 'convivencia.' I debated for awhile living in various apartments, that while were all very nice and reasonable, were mostly with Americans. As I work with many from the states, I opted for the more chilanga experience- and couldn't have made a better choice. I have been exploring little corners of this city, little by little, with one of my favorite discoveries to date being a part of the city called Coayacan- former home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, this colonia as its called, overflows with people, dogs, fresh juices, artesan markets, coffee, and more. It is very difficult to be bored in this city.

For Semana Santa, we had Thursday and onward off from work. The city pretty much empties out and many head all over the country traveling. My friends and I made our way south to Oaxaca. While we had originally intended to make it to the Pacific coast and the beaches, the realization that this would mean an additional 7 hours down winding mountain switchback roads from the city of Oaxaca convinced us to stay in our friends place in the outskirts of Oaxaca and get to know the city and the surrounding, mountainous areas.... We couldn't have made a better choice.

While Oaxaca has experienced great social and political turmoil in the last few years, and continues to be one of the poorer regions in Mexico, it is truly amazing in so many ways. It is a city and state with incredible diversity, cultural richness, beautiful landscapes, indigenous history, ruins, churches, and life. It also, I might add, is home to some of the most delicious tamales with mole I have ever tasted in my life. My trip to Oaxaca was in many ways off the beaten path, as I went with a group of friends from Mexico City that were able to take me to places I would not have ventured on my own.

To begin, my friend of a friends' house was about 30 minutes outside of the city, tucked away in the hillsides and free of city noise, traffic, contamination, and people. Ale had recently moved to Oaxaca after tiring of D.F. life, and is now working at a museum type place called la Casa de los artes de San Agustin. I spent many hours just talking away and soaking in sunshine in one of the may hammacks tied up to palm trees. While I could write for pages and pages about the things and people and sights and sounds, I will save you all this and tell you just a few of the highlights of my week.

Our first day in Oaxaca, we visited the museum where he is working, tucked away in the mountains in a pueblitito. They had an exhibition dedicated to Oaxacan migrants, mostly males, who have migrated to the U.S. in search of better living conditions. It was very moving... The artist who created these sculptures, each one representing one of the men who had left his Oaxacan community many years prior, was inspired to create it after returning to his hometown to find essentially all of the men in the town gone. Only the elders, women, and children were left. The vast majority had gone to the United States in search of a 'better' life. I wondered to myself if the Oaxacan community in Washington and Mount Vernon could have come from this artists' town. The artist, distressed by the unraveling of his town socially and culturally following the men's absence, decided to venture to the U.S. "illegally" in hopes of better understanding the path these migrants follow and what becomes of their lives once in the U.S. He had paid a 'coyote' to take him across the border, and after living awhile in the U.S., returned to Oaxaca to begin a life dedicated to arts and representing his people's struggles. The museum had a rather eery feeling to it, and in some way you felt like there were really 2000+ Oaxacans standing right there with you. Many of the statues laid on the grown, representing perhaps those that would never make it to the states or other parts of Mexico... Seeing this exhibit was a very real and unsettling reminder that the phrase "illegal immigrants," is so much more complex than what our media leads us to believe. Nonetheless, the gardens of the museum were breathtaking and we had a view of the valleys of Oaxaca that extended for miles and miles.

Yesterday I spent most of my afternoon exploring the ruins of one of many indigenous groups in Mexico, the Zapotecas. While full of tourists on vacation just like me, the ruins were truly amazing. I have never seen anything quite like that. I spent my afternoon climbing pyramids and admiring the artwork of extremely skilled individuals from many many years ago before the arrival of the Spaniards to Mexico. I still havent' been to the Aztec ruins outside of D.F.- but my friends told me the pyramids were three times the size of those I saw yesterday, which is hard to imagine.

I also had the chance to try very delicious and traditional foods from Oaxaca, including perhaps the best tamal of my life- wrapped in fresh corn leaves and doused in not-too-sweet Oaxacan mole sauce (think fresh corn and a spicy sauce made out of coco). Words cannot describe. We crowded into this 'hacienda' in the middle of the Oaxacan countryside (alongside some 2000+ oaxacenos and their families...really) to enjoy very traditional food. I was most definitely the only gringa at this local gathering.

And let's see,another day we drove through some very winding mountainous roads and through tiny towns at high altitudes. Because it was Semana Santa, many of the streets of these little towns were lined with alters and flowers and pictures of "jesus cristo." As with everything in Oaxaca, it was unlike anything I have ever really seen. We made our way back from these towns with my friends blasting Mexican music from all over the country, of all types and genres with my friends giving me detailed explanations of the countless types of music we listened...

My eyelids are getting heavy or I would probably continue to ramble on... I guess all I have left to say is that every day is full of new adventures, people, sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. For all of the bad press Mexico may be getting, and for however much I acknowledge the challenges this country faces, there is so much to appreciate and adore in this country...

As for work, tomorrow I begin with my latest assignment: create a presentation and write up on the effects of the financial crisis in the U.S. on financial support/scholarships for Latin American students in the U.S... should be a very simple topic ! And I almost forgot!! Obama gets here Thursday... looks like we may have another meet and greet !!!!!! I'm sure security will be on lock down and not as laid back as the Hillary gathering, but things are looking promising. The cut out that greets us every morning just isn't the same..

Hasta pronto!! Whit