Back in Oaxaca at last!

I have been feeling a bit disconnected from Oaxaca lately, something that makes me a bit sad. With travel to San Francisco, then to Puerto Escondido for a weekend, then to Playa del Carmen for another weekend, I feel like I've not had a chance to spend time in this city I love. I also felt I needed to step up my language practice. So this morning we went to what is called "Inter Cambio", a 2 hour language exchange. Spanish speaking natives and english speakers show up, it's free, and you basically chat for 2 hours, 1 hour in Spanish and 1 hour in English. My speaking partners today were Marisol and Martha. Let me tell you, you can cover A LOT of material in 2 hours. Unionization in Mexico, Christmas traditions, if I had ever seen seals or polar bears near my house, describing your house, your future plans to immigrate to Mexico and grow grapes for wine, the type of work you do, for what company...shall I go on? At the end of the two hours I was tired, thirsty and my brain was fried. What a great experience! We'll be back on another Satruday for sure.
We went to The Italian Coffee Company for coffee and cake, it was way too early for Mexican lunch. Lunch is taken at about 3:00 in the afternoon, and it was barely 12:30!
Last night, in another great Oaxaca building, the Libary, we attended a classical guitar concert. Free. It has been many years since I have heard a guitarist of that calibre play. We gave him enough applause to merit an encore, the courtyard of the library was full and we hung on his every strum. He played beautifully. Thanks Julio Garcia, for an inspirational evening.
And thanks to Oaxaca, as always, for being Oaxaca, nothing more, nothing less. It's good to be back, at last!