The city streets are alive with people all day and all night it seems, and there are many small parks close to the churches as well as Llano Park where Aurelie and I joined in the zumba crowd on Sunday morning. Mike particularly enjoyed the Ethnobotanical Garden, the only one of its kind in the world, where the diversity of the plants, indigenous to Oaxaca, are explained by the excellent guide. The food is probably the most famous product here and we certainly are enjoying it.
Once again, the people are the treasure - so friendly, kind and always ready with a big, wide smile. Music, art and theatre abound. This is a city, proud of its heritage, and so very willing to share with the many visitors from all over the world.
A TEMAZCAL AFTERNOON IN OAXACA
Since it was not possible to take photos during the following adventure Aurelie and I shared in Oaxaca, Aurelie has written a description.
I'd like to share with you something that Mollie and I experienced in Oaxaca: a temazcal afternoon. We were picked up by a taxi and taken up into the hills of Oaxaca where we were welcomed by a Mexican woman. She told the taxi driver to come back in 2 1/2 hours. After walking through a lovely, peaceful garden where we sat for a few minutes, we were escorted into a small dwelling made of wood. The first room had two low mattresses and pillows where we would later have our massage. After undressing and wearing no jewelry, watches, etc. and with towels wrapped around us, we stood in a dark room lit only by candles, many of which surrounded a large picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a most revered religious figure in Mexico. Then the woman told us to crawl through a low door into a sweat house similar to that used by Native Americans. The ceiling was not so low that we felt claustrophobic. Mollie and I each took a corner where there were little cushions for our seats. In another corner, an oven-type wood-burning structure provided the heat. Next to the oven was a big pail of water and over the oven were bunches of different herbs/grasses that emitted the most pungent, interesting aroma. Rosemary was one of the herbs, I don't remember the others. I had told the woman that both Mollie and I had survived breast cancer so she gave each of us a bunch of grasses to put over our chests. So there we were, naked in a dark, very hot and steamy room, with our legs straight out in front of us, holding branches of herbs. The woman left us for about half an hour. We were absolutely quiet, did not speak to each other, just absorbed this amazing experience. I found that I could stay in there much longer than I first thought; time stood still. After a while, the woman returned with a candle and flashlight, dressed in a white sheet, her face covered. She turned off the light and using only the candle, took a swatch of herbs putting them first in pail of water, then on the oven top. She slapped us on our legs, arms and backs. She began to sing a soft song in an indigenous language. Then Mollie, originally from England and with a lovely voice, asked if she could sing. So she sang, and we both sang a song softly. At this point finally the sweat started to pour down my neck and arms. She took the branches we had been holding over our chests and held them over the oven to symbolically burn the toxins.
It was time to leave the sweat house which we did slowly, moving back into the relatively cool air, and were covered in large towels and told to lie down on the mattresses. Another woman entered, covered us in warm blankets and left us for a while to relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings - we were almost asleep - and then both women began our massage.. I must say, I've never had a massage like that; it was a thorough and deep massage that was comprehensive without compromising our modesty. Once again, we were wrapped in blankets and left to rest. Lovely, soft Indian music played during and after the massage. Hot lemon tea was served before we got dressed. It was difficult to leave such a peaceful place, feeling so relaxed, and travel by taxi through the noisy city to our B&B. It was experience that neither of us will ever forget.
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