Already left on that jet plane

It’s not an adventure without a few hiccups, right?

When we got to LAX last night, we found out not only was my direct flight to Oaxaca canceled meaning I had to take a plane to Guadalajara then Oaxaca, but Orbitz NEVER ACTUALLY BOOKED MY TICKETS. For neither the flight there nor the return trip. Thanks, Orbitz. You suck. Luckily, (I would cite god, but I don’t believe in divine intervention) there was room on the plane and the round-trip ticket was only $75 more than what Orbitz charged (even though we booked back in March?). It is now up to my mum to investigate whether or not Orbitz every actually charged us for those tickets, etc.

All things considered, I actually had a nice flight and was even able to sleep a little. I had a lovely chat with a bloke from Australia during my layover. He was going to Monterey (Buena suerte, mijo) for work, to sell cell phones or some such. He lives in Bejing and moved there without learning Mandarin beforehand. What a fucking pro.

I arrived in Oaxaca about two hours later than originally planned, which the director, Layla, told me was a good thing, because it meant she didn’t have to get up as early. I’m always glad to be of service.

As we took the airport taxi through Oaxaca, Layla pointed out the commercial area, which is completely globalised, full of European and American car dealerships and fast food restaurants. Yes, I was expecting at least a McDonald’s, but there is also a Burger King, KFC, and Pizza Hut. No In-N-Out yet though. Shame. Decent American fast food will someday make its way south of the border. And it turns out half those things I was worrying about were things I shouldn’t have worried about, because they have a freakin’ Sam’s Club here. Wal-Mart’s evil proliferation clearly knows no international bounds.

My host family is adorable and they have a lovely house and my host mother is an excellent cook. For lunch (aquí se llama ‘comida’, no ‘almuerzo’) she made some chicken, rice, and broccoli, but the amazing part is that I actually ate the broccoli. I KNOW. My mother will be so jealous; she’s been trying to get me to eat vegetables properly my whole life.

This evening we went to la plaza central, where la catedral and el palacio de gobierno are. They were having “Viernes Cultural”, with a girl singing opera and some teenagers doing a badly choreographed and rehearsed dance. Bless their souls, pero necesitan practicar mucho más. Mucho, mucho más.

I’m quite enamoured with Oaxaca so far, even with its areas of blatant commercialization. I don’t want to be a condescending, liberal asshole, but I like the slightly run-down buildings and unkempt sidewalks. I feel like they have character and an understated beauty of things that are there because they are useful and no one is worried about them being pretty. I like that.

After all that, I am not going to bother writing something else entirely in Spanish, because I am too tired right now. Also, I have been speaking in Spanish all day and probably shaming todos los hispanohablantes del mundo with my bad grammar and made-up words.

¡Hasta luego!