JEANNIE'S VISIT

        Went to Happy Hour at Distileria, a nice Mezcal Bar with great food.

       Today was time to stock in the groceries for the week.  All set to welcome my friend and neighbor, Jeannie who arrives tomorrow.  I met with Hector after for dinner to celebrate his Birthday.  It was great to see him again.  We stopped at Importado for "Last Call".

     Jeannie arrived on a direct flight from Dallas to Oaxaca so had to go through customs in Oaxaca.  All is well. 

We got a collectivo to the condo to drop off her stuff and get settled in before we went for Pizza at Belanc Bakery. 

I was nice to see her again though we are in touch frequently as she takes care of my car, mail, scripts,etc.  I just found out that my tenants are not coming this year or every again as this was to be their last year at my place.  The wife, had to have Canadian surgery on her hip the end of January and can't fly for 3 months.  

     Her first full day we went to the Organic Market for Eggs with some kind of leaf on them that was tasty and a Healthy Green Juice. 

We walked around the Aqueduct area then the church for a peak.  The Museum was next door so we spent a couple hours there then headed for the Zocalo for late lunch. 

  Some celebration was going on and a band was playing.  We ate at TerraNova then called it a day.

     Monday was a good cool day to do Monte Alban.   We walked by and visiting the Chocolate Stores where people make and buy their Moles.   Seven popular Moles are for sale. It is a paste of Chocolate, chile, almonds , cinnamon, and whatever you like depending on the food you put it on.  You can dilute it with water, coffee, vegetable broth, chicken broth etc until it is a hot sauce you put over vegetables, chicken, fish, meat...etc and serve with rice .        Later we found the collectivo for Monte Alban and was off up the mountain about 30 minutes away.   Jeannie climbed over and up the temples while I kind of chilled out.  We did that for a couple of hours before catching the collectivo back.  

      The next day we toured the Contemporary Art Museum and the Oaxaca Painter's museum.

   Then we had dinner at Mexita in Colonial Reforma.  A really nice Italian restaurant.

      The next to the last day we took a collectivo to San Augustine Etla to the Cultural Center where we saw a really nice Lithograph exhibit then a fantastic animated film projected onto a screen that covered the entire room. We returned on a taxi/collectivo and got off early to walk into the Zocalo.  There was a food festival of sorts going on around the Soledad church so we stopped in before ending up at the Zocalo for lunch.

        That afternoon we met Peggy and Dave, from central NYS area , who are studying Spanish and enjoying their visit in Oaxaca, so much so they are planning to spend time here every year.  We all had dinner at Tres Bistro and enjoyed it and the fantastic service.

When we arrived at the complex, Adelina was just saying goodbye to her daughter Fernanda , who attends a private school and lives with Americans that help her with her education.  She looked great and spoke excellent English.  Adelina is very proud and rightfully so.

     Departure morning we had breakfast at Nuevo Mondito just down the street .  It was very pleasant and good.  We had a Mexican Dish.

I haven't left the house for three days.  Too cold out.  Tomorrow it will be better. Yesterday, the Hefe (Compound owner) had a party with about 40-50 people.  It started with a jazz band (in Spanish) ...I went into my office and shut the door but could still hear the loud music.  Then they left and a comedian singer who wore costumes like a rock star, then a cowboy, then a hippie with his son on the key board.  Finally it got dark and they finally broke it up. It was for some Mexican Festival honoring some saint or person.  Never a dull moment.

Lunched with a couple from California,Kurt and Lynn, that I met a couple of years ago.  It was nice to get out of the house and very nice to see them again.  I play pool with Kurt today!
January is almost over, the weather is warming up and more friends are arriving from the North.  Till next post...Adios David