24 - 6 END OF JUNE IN OAXACA

 Today, I am off to Democrats Abroad Brunch. This evening, Chris and I are taking our friend Zoe to dinner at Casa Celia to celebrate her 80th Birthday! This will be a fun day. 

     Day before yesterday, I returned to Aquacate for their Breakfast Combo Special.

                      Wonderful Meal....

                        Grandma and Granddaughter

                    Carving from dead Tree Trunk.

Improved landscaping in Llano Park...very nice.

Yesterday I returned to Casa Hildago for Breakfast before my pool game with Alan.

             

After pool, I noticed this crowd and a parade starting...it was Graduation!  I went to a roof top for Wine and snack to observe the festivities. 

The Driver is taking photos...like texting while driving?

I enjoyed my snack and returned home.

Lee and I went to Kintaro for dinner last night and forgot to take photos of the wonderful food...took some of the gallery on the way out.

Strange...then a "window" fashion show on the way home!

...and one of the most unusual sunsets.

I attended a Sunday Brunch on Father's Day with the Democrats Abroad. Small turnout and my Salmon was overcooked but in a Sauce with Shrimp that helped...a bit.

I think Mexicans are very creative and ingenious. This is made from one used tire.

Later Chris and I took Zoe out to Casa Celia for her 80th Birthday.  We had a nice dinner with dessert but again...I forgot the pics. Most was plates already photographed in prior visits.

Today was my massage with Eliz.  Fantastic as usual. I stopped at a favorite Cafe on Hildago and sat with a window view.

Coke Bottle Chandelier...have to see at night...light in center.

   Tourist photo in front of the Entrance to the hotel.

      Avocado Toast ...lots of Alfalfa Sprouts...good.

Bus blew me off when I was only 10 yards from the stop, so I walked home. Is this a 50,51 or 52 Chevy with a 4 or 6 cylinder "Flat Head" engine?

Dominos Day at Maddie's hotel. Arrived and rang the bell while standing in the sun. Heard some lady respond in Spanish so I said David to see Madeleine Cranston but no response...it was getting hot so I knocked on the door and noticed it was new...they must have changed it. I crossed the street to get in the shade and wait.  Then I noticed a delivery man next door. I was NOT at the hotel but the home next to it! Hmm?

     Carlos the Manager answered as soon as I rang the bell and Maddie came down with the Dominos. We had a really quick game. I led most of the way until she beat me in the end. We had lunch at ONNO, an excellent breakfast and lunch place I had not been to in a year. It was lovely. I had a Tuna Melt with a Jalapeno Pepper and Water of the Day...Mango/Pineapple. Maddie had a great Chicken and Avocado Salad.  

                                         ONNO...Cafe

I took the bus to Reforma to and walked through the Market to Cherdaui to buy some White Wine on Special and some milk to make more Kiefer.

Did my shopping and caught a taxi home.

Today I had breakfast at Ayuk then to the Sanchez Mercado for Ginger but had NONE so went to the Zocalo and had a Hot Chocolate while waiting for the Pool Hall to open.  I stopped at the Benito Juarez Mercado where I knew I could get Ginger but it was their once a year shut down and everything had to be removed while they literally scrubbed then hosed the whole place down.  It is rare to see it closed but nice to visit the Zocalo without the Tents and Protesters.

Nice cool day to sit at home and book my flights, rent a cars, and hotels for my September journey to the U.S.

My daughter Heather, her partner Allen and Ellis my grandson visited Humboldt California to see if Ellis would like to transfer there after his two years at community college in LA.  I arranged for Sandra, my dear friend I met in Oaxaca to meet and show them what she could in as little time as they had.

I think he decided to go with it and Sandra enabled them to see things they may not have in a short time.

Today's forecast was cool and rain starting around noon, so I was late in getting out for lunch and half way through it I heard the thunder and downpour. I had already ordered dinner to go.  I finished a delicious 

Chicken Vegetable Soup and Excellent Vegetable and Fruit Salad, paid the bill and got out my umbrella. I made it with only wet feet from the rush of water throughout the streets.

Today was a big Poolhall day but passed. It rained all day and stayed in mid 70's. I got to wear long pants and a Sweater with a Shirt under it!  Juana arrived to clean house so I read and stayed out of her way. Good movie watching night. Nice rain.

          Interesting Dawn after the evening rain.

Had an Ayuk Breakfast and tried the French Toast to go with my Avocado Eggs.  I walked down to the library and back home.  Gaby arrived this morning on a Redeye flight from Tijuana.

                Perfect every time! Good Chef!

     Went for a walk and stopped into a gallery for some photos. While waiting for the bus home, I saw one of my "characters of Oaxaca" in the same outfit for over a year. Strong. Doesn't talk. 

                               

                             I'm Tired of Mopping

                             My Jigsaw Jumper

            New Restaurant to  visit ...LUCRICIA?

 

     I am off to San Felipe to a Steak House for mid afternoon meal with my good friend Ian and looking forward to it. We had and enjoyed the best NY Strip Steak I've had in Mexico. Ian took some home. We stopped at Cherdaui to do some shopping then he graciously dropped me off at me Casa. Good time.

             Bone Broth. Nutritious and Delicious

Another Wedding party with a band overlooking my balcony....Gaby arrived and we visited. She came over to catch up and have some wine...but was falling asleep so the Moon came out and she went home.

Today I am off for a walk before the rain comes....love Sundays. Quiet today.  I stopped at Boulanc Bakery for a Ba Mi Vietnamese Sandwich with pickled cabbage and a Kavas Fermented drink.

Started my Monday with Breakfast at Ayuk ...love that place.

               

                               Perfect Every time!

Wanted to show you the Diced fresh Pineapple, Papaya, Watermelon, Cantaloupe with peanuts, and sesame seeds that was under that beautiful presentation.

                

                     Just East of Cayee Palacio.

It's worth finding! Not a Fancy or pretentious place.

So good that Maddie and I returned the next day after she beat me in Dominos.

Pollo Enchiladas with Mild Flavorful Red Chili Sauce

 

The Best Mole Negro in Oaxaca with Pollo Enchiladas.

We stopped at the Market.  I didn't recognize the Prickly Pear Cactus buds that Prickly Pear Jam is made from.   I bought a large plant to be delivered on Saturday.

I took a nice walk today and spotted another classic VW Bug. Loved the Luggage Rack and two tone paint job.

I ordered a photo I took of a painting to be put on canvas and framed to hang in my casa.  Then stopped by one of favorite Cafes for Roast Beef on Ciabatta.

         Immigrants bound for Phoenix Arizona

                          Tour group in the Rain

Visited the Corazon Bakery this morning to replenish my Fantastic Sourdough Bread. I don't eat a lot of bread but when I do...it's Corazon's Sourdough! It was nice to walk in my Barrio neighborhood. Been a month or two.

Ripe Mangos fallen from the trees. Caretaker told me to take some but afraid the sweet juicy Mangos would ruin my bread. Then he told me I was on private property and to leave.

                                    New cafe to try.

That evening, I took Gaby out for her Birthday.  She celebrated while visiting her Sons in San Diego so we celebrated the big 70 again!

Casa Celia served us Mussels in Wine Sauce, Gazpacho Salad, Grilled Pork Ribs with Vegetables...nice meal. Yes, I forgot to take pics.

Pool Day.  I also had to stop at the Market and see my Leather man to cut my belts back from 36 to my new 33 inch waist! He is right next to the Tripe and Hoofs stand. 

                              Manicured Hooves

                                         Fresh Tripe

I was the only player in the place....Alan was sick and no one else showed.  I beat myself one game, and lost the other so left.

I stopped at Aquacate for the Rice Bowl...so good and good for you!

This morning I decided to head into the center to try Goji, a fancy restaurant that was serving breakfast. I thought I'd try it and if it was good, I would they return for dinner. I loved the open air dining room, found a seat and asked for the menu. The waiter handed me a Bar Code. They spent a lot of money advertising a nice article with photos of the food, etc. , then hand me a Bar Code. My phone is not designed to display a menu nor are any.  I want to browse and look through the selections and pick out a beverage etc NOT fumble with my phone scrolling through one at time. I left.

     Pan Am was still serving their wonderful Eggs Benedict and presented me with their new menu to browse.

Mezcal Bottle Tour Bus...mind your head when boarding.

Taking down the tent...what did I miss? 

Zocalo was sparse this Morning.

                    Love Tres Bistros Oysters/Ostiones

This is one of the oldest churches. Jesuit I think. There is the Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, etc

 

This Priest was sent by the Vatican to spy on the Church Politics. Clergy weren't allowed to wear vestments in Public...only in Church. The politicians believed the church was taking advantage of the people and using them to line their coffers. As a result...the Vatican wasn't getting the money they were used to and sent him to find out why.  A war between the government and the state was going on. Graham Greene befriended this spy and wrote a book about the war.

       In the late 1930s, Graham Greene was commissioned to visit Mexico to report on how the inhabitants had reacted to the brutal anticlerical purges of President Calles. The Lawless Roads is his spellbinding record of that journey.

        

Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory is hands down, the best Catholic novel ever written

I've just finished reading Graham Greene's 1940 masterpiece The Power and the Glory and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The book is set in Mexico during the Cristeros war of the 1930s when religion was largely outlawed in Mexico by the secular authorities and focuses on an unnamed flawed Priest (or a Whiskey Priest to use Greene's own terminology) who attempts to escape the authorities, only to find his duties getting in the way.

Even if you're not Catholic or Christian, the book is not only an exciting thriller, but it has some genuinely great passages on the nature of man and god, forgiveness and redemption and all that.

  

 

                A convent is attached to the Church.

No, this is not the convent...just a back up for a cheap place to live if I decide to move. Rent negotiable.

That evening I went out to a Boutique Hotel's fancy restaurant to try something different. I had the Chicken with Vegetables. It was tough and flavorless. I had to get a sharp knife to cut the carrots and beets...they were raw. I ate there last year and it was so so and I thought they may have improved...NOT.  The clientele that stay in the hotel are very rich and famous. A group were sitting down to eat as I was leaving.  They are in for a surprise.

             Wonder if I can get a discount...and do they do ceremonial Mushrooms.

A Tuna Fest...I've never seen one. I have seen Tuna in Salamanca, Madrid, Guanajuato, Oaxaca...but this was 8 groups of Tuna, including Women Tuna from different areas of the State of Oaxaca.  I never knew they existed.

      In Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries, a tuna is a group of university students in traditional university dress who play traditional instruments and sing serenades. The tradition originated in Spain and Portugal in the 13th century as a means of students to earn money or food. Nowadays students don't belong to a "tuna" for money or food; rather, they seek to keep a tradition alive, for fun, to travel a lot and to meet new people from other universities. A senior member of a tuna is a "tunante", but is usually known simply as a "tuno". The word "tuno" also refers to anyone who is a member of a tuna, although the first meaning is more common among tunas. New tuna members are known as "caloiros", "novatos" or "pardillos."

Thought I would supplement my dinner...which was not filling, with a tamale.  So I stopped this guy and bought one.  I didn't realize that it was a banana heated with sweet syrup and sprinkles.

          

                     Good and filling...

Forgive the video...thought it better than none...I will remember to keep the camera in one position next time.

I ended the month with some new fresh mushrooms. The season just started and you can book a day of mushroom picking in the mountains with professionals that will insure you do not get poisoned.  These turned out to be delicious.  They looked scary and I have never had them before but will definitely include them in my diet while they are still available.

My new plant.  I bought a pot but not big enough.

 4th of July party this week in Huayapa at a beautiful home....I hope the rain lets up for it.  My boys...Juan and Jose will be the band.  I'm looking forward to hearing them and the great Hamburgers/Red Hots and friends.