A 9-Hour Tour of the Sights Of Oaxaca, Mexico

From Saturday, January 15, 2011
While Amber was visiting for 2 weeks, we decided to take a guided tour.  We each paid about $30 (I used some of my Christmas money) a week before & were really excited about the tour!  I took hundreds of pictures of the beauty of Oaxaca & I'm posting about 20 glimpses here for you:
Stop #1 ~ The Tule Tree (possibly the oldest & largest tree on Earth)  http://www.delange.org/Tule/Tule.htm

Stop #2 ~ Teoticualan ~ The Rug Making Village
www.oaxacaoaxaca.com/weaving.htm

Stop #3 ~ Hierve el Agua ~ Hotsprings & 1 of 2 Fossilized Waterfalls in the World
www.oaxacaoaxaca.com/hierve-de-agua.htm

Stop 4 = Mitla ~ Archeological Site of Ancient Zapotec Ruins
www.suite101.com/content/the-zapotec-ruin-of-mitla-oaxaca-a-primer-a179853

We got back downtown after dark. Although we were both exhausted, we decided to cross 2 more things off of our list.
We’d been wanting to go to Café Bruhala, a funky coffee shop that sells my friend’s baked goods.

Then, we went to see the famous Santo Domingo cathedral. 

After walking several blocks, we took a bus home.  It was a LONG, wonderful day!

A Sunday Afternoon Downtown

From Sunday, January 9, 2011

After church, one of the teachers I work with (Lorri) went downtown with Amber & me. Since we hadn’t figured out getting a tour yet, she was going to help us check around. She took us to a couple of different places, but we ended up buying from a place where she & her sister had purchased a tour. Amber & I paid about $30 each for full-day tour tickets for the following Saturday & $3 for ride tickets to Monte Alban archeological site that Sunday.
We visited 2 beautiful old cathedrals.

We also went out to eat at one of the restaurants on the zocalo.  (That is the city's central square.) 

Because I had told Amber that pizza here is SO different from home, she ordered a pizza.  She took one bite & that was more than enough for her.  She couldn't stand it...  I ordered the chile rellenos. 

Most Embarassing Moment In Oaxaca!

From Friday, January 7, 2011

Amber was only going to be visiting for 2 weeks, so we wanted to make the most of the weekends. So, Friday after school, we began searching online for a tour we could take. I called several numbers with no success as the numbers were no longer in service (that is typical here).

Finally, one hotel I called, a lady answered.

I tried asking (in Spanish) if she could tell me at what time the tour bus left from their hotel. She asked me to repeat myself. When I did, she said (in English), “Can you please speak in English, because I don’t understand your Spanish.”

I was SO ROYALLY embarrassed!

When I got off the phone, I told Amber what had happened & we just laughed & laughed hysterically!

1st Day Back In Oaxaca...3 Kings' Day

From Thursday, January 6, 2011

This was my first day back teaching. It was great to see everyone again!  Amber did really well, helping out in the classroom & getting to know the students!  After the first day, she said, "I think I would enjoy being a teacher." 
After school, I spent a couple of hours unpacking all of my suitcases, putting things into organized piles. (I had brought back things for myself, things 7 other missionaries had asked for, & donated gifts for the staff & students of the school.)
Then, we spent an hour grocery shopping.  It is 3 Kings' Day here in Mexico.  It is a day when small gifts are exchanged & it signifies the end of the holiday season.  So, there were these special cakes (in a variety of sizes) being sold in the stores & on the corners.   

I bought 1 of each of the 3 kinds of cheeses here for Amber to try.  I'd already told her I didn't care for any of them...

After putting away the groceries, I spent an hour putting away some of the things from the suitcases.
Then, I cooked supper for us.
It was 9pm by the time we ate.
Then, I put my swollen feet/ankles up for a bit before bed.
It was a good, productive day, but it was a LONG day!!

An Unexpected Visitor Comes With Me To Oaxaca

From Wednesday, January 5, 2011

One of my dear friends, who I’ve known since junior high, has 2 grown daughters. Both girls are very interested in missions. One day over Christmas break, my friend was visiting me, while I was packing. She was asking me questions about living & teaching in Oaxaca, Mexico. All of a sudden, she said, “My girls would love that! I wish they could go back with you.” I said, “Well, why can’t they?” That led to me calling the mission organization for permission, checking airfare, & purchasing a ticket for her daughter, Amber. The flight I chose for her had her flying from Philly to Houston alone. The plan was for me to meet up with her in Houston for our flight to Oaxaca. Praise the Lord, after I rechecked my luggage in, I was able to get a hold of her on my cell & we met up at the gate!

When we arrived in Oaxaca, customs decided to hand-check all 5 of my large suitcases & my carry-on. They were quite interested in what I had brought back from the States! They sniffed my chocolate, smiled at my snowman napkins, & commented on my Jif peanut butter. But, they zippered them all back up & let me bring them through.


I was so thankful that when we got to my apartment, everything was in working order! The electricity was on, the hot water heater turned on with no problems, the fridge/freezer were working…We had arrived & all was well.

Too Close For Comfort To An Alligator!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

To make a long story very short ~ I ended up having a full day & night layover in Texas on my way from Levittown, Pennsylvania to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Church friends from my childhood were SO generous to pick me up from the airport, “host” me for a day, & drove me back to the airport the following afternoon.
It was SUCH a blessing to not have to worry about guarding my luggage overnight in the airport, or to have to drag 4 huge suitcases to an airport hotel!
To top it all off, my friend played hooky & spent the day with me! She took me out to breakfast, we spent the day at Brazos Bend State Park, then for a Texan BBQ meal before going back to the airport.

Apparently, the largest population of inland alligators is right there, at Brazos Bend State Park, in Texas! Even more amazing is that you can just walk the path around the lake where they live…no bars, no cages, no thick plexiglass separating you from alligators! I’d never seen an alligator in its natural habitat, so I was pretty excited on the way there!

I got out of the car, made sure my hiking boots were tied & my camera was ready… I didn’t realize my heart wasn’t ready to see an alligator sunning itself just a few feet from us! I actually squealed like a little girl when I saw it! I think I might’ve even tried to hide behind my friend?

Here are just a few pictures from my first visit to Texas:

My “Last Supper” With 16 Loved Ones

Monday, January 3, 2011

My flight out of Philadelphia was the next day.

So, I used Facebook & text messages to invite friends & family to the Chinese buffet on my last night in Levittown.

16 were able to make it! It was a great night!

I savored every bite of that yummy food!

I treasured every laugh!

I absorbed every hug!

I appreciated all the well wishes!

& I took a few pictures to look back on once I was thousands of miles away from it all…

Do You Believe in “Small Miracles”?

Monday, January 3, 2011

Yes, it’s true & I’ll be the first to admit it ~ I have an awful habit of losing things!  I’ve been told, “You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached, Jennifer!” Some things I’ve misplaced are gone forever ~ like my Daddy’s high school graduation ring that I took off to apply suntan lotion & forgot to put back on, like my Mommy’s high school graduation ring that we still have no idea where it went, like the gold necklace that was a gift for my high school graduation & I’m convinced walked out of my bedroom all by itself…

Other things though, are just misplaced for a period of time until they finally resurface.

That's what happened in this "small" miracle.

My Grammy Noll gave me a check when we were upstate, visiting family, on Christmas weekend. When she handed it to me, my purse was in the van & all I had on me was a novel I was reading. So, I stuck it inside the book. I finished reading the novel that weekend & ended up passing it on to my Grammy. Well, when we got home (3 hours away) I couldn’t find the check! After I looked through my purse, my luggage, & the van, I called to ask Grammy to look inside that novel. It wasn’t there either. She told me to call her before I left to let her know if I finally found it or if she should write a different one.

The entire vacation went by without me finding the check. On my very last day in Levittown, the check miraculously turned up!

Now, understand ~ not every time I find something that was lost do I consider it a miracle. But, this time, because of the timing of it all, I believe it was. You see, I wouldn’t normally call my relatives to just talk when I just spent time with them the week before. But, when I called to tell my Grammy I’d found the check, we had an amazing conversation! She is such an awesome, inspirational woman of God! We talked for half an hour & she was so encouraging! She knew I was concerned about my finances. But, with absolute certainty in her voice, she quoted Philippians 4:19 to me, “My God shall supply all your needs, from His riches in glory.”

I got off the phone with tears in my eyes.

That “small miracle” of finding a check had ended up fueling my faith to believe for the coming of “bigger” miracles!