Mitla Christmas Lights

We have done all sorts over Christmas in Oaxaca: a mammoth baking session, tasty fish dinner at local posh restaurant, ten pin bowling, wine and cheese party at ours, pot luck Christmas Day lunch with lots of ex-pats at the library, bus tour (in Spanish!) of Oaxaca and lots of catch ups with friends. 

We thought we would treat ourselves to a few days away in Mitla which is a couple of hours away. We booked in to a friend’s Airbnb. It was gorgeous. The rooms were beautifully put together with lots of local backstories and the breakfast was yummy. Mitla has a population of 10,000 so it feels really local and small. Although it was fiesta time both nights with a ticketed centre full of people enjoying the Christmas lights and listening to the mexican bands. We had loads of fun and ate lots of street snacks: corn, tostas, tortas, punch, chocolate and a dubiously shaped waffle! We also looked round the small set of ruins with a palace and tombs. We are already planning to come back one weekend.

Routine is good!

Three weeks in and it really feels like we are living in Oaxaca. It’s a really lovely place with great people and we are already doing our usual thing of envisaging retiring here! We can add that to buying an RV in either America or Oz! Retirements going to be busy - Ha ha! Oaxaca though is a super place, we have landed on our feet. 

We already have quite a routine with Spanish classes on Mondays, cookery classes with our lovely cleaner Norma on Tuesdays, various swimming sessions throughout the week that are getting all of us into the pool, art classes on Thursdays and the regular set of play stuff for Olive in Llano Park on Sundays. We are gradually building up a bit of a network and I am constantly translating WhatsApp’s that I’m receiving then replying with translated Spanish messages. Olive is settled in to school and we have a daily lift share with a super nice family that gives me and Olive a giggle twice a day. And we are obviously eating lots of lovely food. It really is beginning to feel like home and we are starting to plan Christmas. 

Random set of photos of San Domingo church and cool street art we saw on a walking tour, Olive enjoying her favourite Jamaica juice, Olive’s art work with Vik and Boo’s first swimming lesson!