Having availed myself of my wet sidewalk thoughts - which really need to stand alone, don't you think? - I'll now get down to the big what's-happened-since-I-left-Mexico-City post.

I guess I'll start at the start, which is the bus ride to Oaxaca. It was pretty uneventful (fortunately), but I did write down a few random observations which I'll share with you now.

Hour 1: A truck drives by with a load of plucked chickens. The legs hang over the sides of the truck bed.
Hour 2: I really hope someone climbs on this bus to sell me food. Breakfast sucked and this ride is going to take six hours, minimum.
Hour 2.5: Volcano towers over rows of maiz.
Hour 3: I love cacti.
Hour 4: Still no food.

Other than that, there are some thoughts about the landscape, but my poetic skills pretty much fail to impress, so I'll keep them to myself. Suffice to say, there was a desert, a small canyon, and then it got greener. We drove through the mountains almost the whole way, preventing me from doing much of anything for fear of car sickness. The bus was frigid due to an overactive AC system, and I was very jealous of the sleeping woman beside me with her fuzzy brown blanket.

Arriving in Oaxaca, I had yet another minor hiccup with directions - although this time it was really a problem with a direccion. In search of 1116 Emiliano Carranza, my cab pulled up in front of 1114, which was immediately followed by 1118. Across the street were numbers in the 900s. After a quick phone call and assistance from a lovely neighbor (with a very nice car), I found 1116 a block away and all was well. I was welcomed by my hostess, Doña Gloria, her husband Don Pepe, and their son and his family. They asked if I was hungry (thank god!) and then proceeded to stuff me full of home-made quesadillas, tacos, arroz poblano and a shot of mezcal. Bienvenido a Oaxaca! Turns out, Doña Gloria runs a restaurant out of her house. She also has wifi. Life is good.

After a quick shower, (at which point I learned that 'tepid' in Spanish translates roughly to 'not quite freezing') I got ready to head to the welcome reception at the apartment of the program directors. The reception was at 7 pm and according to Google Maps it was only a twenty minute walk - which it is. Turn out the door, go one block to the right and then head straight until you hit Calle Zarate. No problem, right? What I failed to realize is that the majority of the streets here change names at various points. So, while I was looking for Nezahualcoyotl a block away, I should have been looking for Zapata. Instead, I made it one single block before confusion set in. How could this be so complicated? I left 45 minutes early so that I would have time to explore after locating the apartment, and yet I managed to roll in half an hour late. But at least I found it and I learned a valuable lesson about street names in Oaxaca. (As a side note regarding the general craziness of streets here, there are two places in the center where the traffic flow changes sides randomly for one block. What I mean is that all is normal with cars driving on the right-hand side, and then - for no apparent reason - THEY DRIVE ON THE LEFT. For one block. And then they go back to normal. Have I mentioned that I love this country?)

After the reception, all the students headed out for a beer. Within minutes, all ten of us were lost and I felt much better about my own meanderings over the last two days. We finally found a place to drink a beer at 10 pm on a Sunday: a lovely rooftop bar with a live band. We ordered a round, and then attempted to huddle under umbrellas as it started to rain. After a damp walk home, I did battle in my bedroom with two small bugs, a giant black beetle (known commonly as a Mayate and measuring about an inch and a half in size), and a spider before going to bed. Unfortunately I only killed two of the four, and not the ones that counted. Fortunately, I was assured over breakfast today that Mayate stay on the floor. Until they fly back out the window. Yes, they fly.

Today was much less eventful. I woke up, I worked, I went to an orientation talk, I worked, and then I went to the opening presentation, much of which was way too fast for me to understand - in Spanish - but interesting nonetheless. The only point worth elaborating on before I wrap this up was food (what else?). Breakfast consisted of a quesillo omelet with extra queso, chocolate milk and cafe con leche. What a relief to see a full pot of coffee at 8 am. This was followed a few short hours later with a massive lunch of arroz Oaxaqueña and a giant plate of enchiladas con mole. Feeling it would be rude to leave food on the plate, I ate all of it and found myself wishing I had time for a siesta. No such luck. I am beginning to suspect that I may leave this place ten pounds heavier than when I arrived. The directors have invited us to climb a giant set of stairs every morning that overlooks the city and I suspect I may just need to take them up on this.

And in case you were wondering, Oaxaca is stunning and clean, there are flowers everywhere, and aside from the rain, the climate is perfect.