The Wayward Son Returns…by Stef Tietz

The Wayward Son Returns…

                  I had seriously given up hope that I would ever reunite with my rebellious suitcase.  Despite the fact that the family that runs our hotel was extremely nice and helpful my trust in Mexicana Click was going down the tubes.  Every time the hotel called the airline for me, there would be no answer (???) and they would simply tell me they would call again “mas tarde, mas tarde”…but “mass tarde” there would still be no answer.  Airlines that don’t answer the phone ??? This could not be good. But, yesterday as I slowly came wandering into the hotel after dinner, the owner had a big grin on his face and informed me that he just took my suitcase up to my apartment!  Yeah! A whole month without my clothes and essentials would not have been fun…

                  So, this is our third day here and we are slowly orienting ourselves to Oaxacan life.  We became official yesterday by purchasing Mexican cell phones for a whopping 300 Pesos ($20). As we found out, we needed a way to stay in touch as we are wandering around doing separate things and then trying to reconnect. However, they aren’t really any good for calls to and from the US. So if anybody needs to really reach me, text me on my American cell phone or call me.  I have it on and with me. (Keep in mind that it will put me in the poor house if you call.  So unless something is bleeding or on fire text or email)

                  We met most of the people in my group yesterday, including the girl we are going horseback riding with in the Sierra Madres next weekend.  She seems pretty cool. The group is a very varied mix of individuals and I look forward to getting to know them all.

                  Eating has been somewhat of a challenge. It appears that the Spanish I know as far as food items are concerned, has nothing to do with what things actually are. I realized that a taco in Mexico, was somewhat different from a taco at home…the puzzling thing is that a taco is not a taco. Not even in the same restaurant. Apparently there are also separate words for the different types of meat depending on how they are prepared, which causes much confusion. You won’t find them in the handy dandy Mexican Spanish phrase book either, nope!  You just eat whatever they bring.  Sometimes you luck out, and sometimes…well, you eat a blob of pink cornmeal that all the mole and salsa in the world won’t heal. A few restaurants have their menu items translated into English.  One would think this would make life easier right??? Well, what exactly is a “friendly mushroom”???? How friendly is it?  How long will it take for me to recover from it?  Will I get arrested for trying it? And is a friendly mushroom related to the “muss hoom”? Or does it turn into a “muss hoom” when it is no longer friendly? Well, we stayed away from both since they were on the “appazatizer” menu…         

Greetings from the land of friendly Muss hooms!

Stef