I arrived in Ejutla de Crespo at 8:30 pm. The airport in Oaxaca is really tiny. There was one line for us to pass through customs, one revolving belt at baggage claim, and a small area on the other side of baggage claim to perform the luggage scan. Everything went really quickly and Paula (Diego's mom), Marcos (Diego's brother visiting from Santa Barbara), and Chencho (Diego's brother-in-law) were all waiting for me. They helped me with my bags and we all piled into Chencho's truck. We stopped to eat tacos and tostadas at a small restaurant. We washed the food down with mango juice. When we got to the house (Ejutla de Crespo is about 45 minutes from downtown Oaxaca), Paula didn't have her keys. Chencho jumped onto the roof and inside to try to open the door, but a key was needed to open the door from the inside as well. They finally got the key from a neighbor and we went into the house. The center part of the house is all open. The strip right outside of the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen is covered by a roof, and then the garden/patio area starts. There was a hammock hanging right in front of the front door and an altar down the hall from the front door.
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| The hammock by the front door as seen from the door of the room I stayed in. |
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| The altar at the far end of the hall. |
Each of the rooms, including the kitchen, had it's own door and separate key. I put my things into the room near the front door and then took a shower. Paula brought in some roses that she said she had forgotten to bring to the airport for me and also offered me a small yogurt. I gave her the chocolate and small church I had gotten for her in Peru before I went to sleep.
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| The room I stayed in. Oops, I forgot to make the bed that day... |
I woke up at 7 AM, and everyone else was already up. A lot of family came over and more family called to wish Paula a happy birthday. Tomorrow we're having her birthday party at the house and they're going to have a goat to eat. Paula's sister and her son, Mayo, came over as well as her son Hugo's wife and their two sons, Nando and Beto. We ate bread and hot chocolate in the kitchen. They brought out fresh tamales also, so I ate one of those.
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| The kitchen. |
After breakfast, I went with Marcos into the downtown area of Ejutla de Crespo. He showed me the marketplace and the church and then we went to eat ice cream. Their ice cream is spectacular. It's much lighter than ice cream as we call it. They make it fresh at the little shop with fresh fruits and other ingredients. I had tuna ice cream. I know that sounds gross, but tuna is what they call the red fruit that grows on cactus. Marcos had a mix of tuna and leche quemada (burned milk) and then ordered another of nuez (nut).
We went back to the house and went with the rest of the family to go talk to some "comadres" (friends) about what Paula needed for her party the next day. At one of the places, the boys, Beto, Nando, and Mayo, were knocking mangoes out of a tree using a really long stick. We ate some and the rest we gathered in our hats, shirts and hands. There was a huge turkey with all his feathers spread underneath the tree. Paula also has turkeys, chickens, and a dog at the house.
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| Chickens at Paula's house. |
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| Chickens, roosters, and turkeys at Paula's house. |
We went to a small church and we all prayed in front of the altar. That is something I'm not accustomed to, but I just watched what everyone else was doing.
Back at the house, Marcos and I ate bread and honey for a snack and then I relaxed in the hammock. Marta (Diego's sister) came over with her children, Jesica (12-13) and Misael (7 1/2), whose nicknames are Jesi or Pili and Chucho. Jesi was talking to me a lot and she served me lemon juice that they had squeezed and Marta served me mole with chicken, rice and tortillas. It was really good. When I was done, Jesi and Chucho and I went to go gather more "limones" (they look like really small limes) for agua de limon (lemon water). We gathered up a bunch and they were so impressed that I got 10 limones to drop in one big pull. We squeezed the limes after we had gathered up a bunch.
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| The garden area with several types of fruit trees and flowers. |
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| You can see the "limon" tree at the back of this picture. |
When we were done squeezing "limones" we went to the front of the house and played soccer with a soft little ball. One time Chucho kicked the ball and hit the plastic class that Hugo's wife had in her hand. Whatever was in the glass went all over her and she was really wet. She was standing in front of the door with Paula's sister and Marta. We all tried not to laugh, but we couldn't help ourselves. She shook herself off and told Chucho that he had a crooked foot. haha Really it had been the fault of the wind. It blew the ball over in her direction instead of going straight.
We decided to play escondidas with Nando after the mishap playing soccer. One time when I was hiding and Chucho had already been found, he found me before Yesi. He knelt down with me and whispered, "You know there are rats in here." He's so funny. Yesi was very impressed that no one had ever found me while we were playing. The truth was that Chucho was the only one who ever found me in my best spot after he had already been discovered. It was outside the garden gate among the corn and banana trees. :)
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| Banana trees...the corn was planted to the right of these trees. |
After we tired of playing escondidas, Nando showed us how to play airplane, which is just like hopscotch. I ended up winning!!! It was getting really dark, so Jesi and Chucho left with their family and then the rest of the family left one by one until it was just Paula, Marcos and I again. I took a shower immediately since I was so sweaty after playing all day in the hot sun. Paula asked me if it was prettier there or in Peru. It's so hard to compare. They just seem so different to me, plus the people really make up the feel of a place and I'd only just begun to get to know the people better in Ejutla...
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