Oaxaca

Oaxaca, city of oh so much loveliness. It´s niceness was no doubt enhanced by my super accommodating host Luis Alfonso, but the city itself was still truly mesmerizing. Plus, i was couchsurfing a couch in a small public library, how cool is that?

The library´s courtyard

Luis drove me to see nearby villages-towns, it was so painful not to buy any of that beautiful handicraft they sell there.

We visited local landmark Yagul:

and also took a walk on a local historical all-in-one market in Tlacolula which seemed to sell everything from food to ventilation ducts. Some Mexican market food can look truly weird, sometimes even off-putting, but nonetheless taste super. When we in Estonia like to marinate everything in vinegar & salt, then here they very often love sugar & pepper combo plus occasional tequila to boot.

Preparing tortillas

Sugared pumpkin pieces

We bought some local delicious sausages and cooked them ourselves right there

By sunset we drove by extremely winding roads up to the very highest peak in the area, where the whole valley was perfectly visible. My legs were shaking when we climbed on top of the last rock, but the view was definitely worth it.

The bugzican food

While i do like ethnic food, it´s hard for me to cross some zoological/biological lines. Like take for example local delicacy - grass-hoppers (chapolines). There´s supposedly a saying in Oaxaca that if you eat chapolines, you will return to Oaxaca. Well, i have procured my successful return to Oaxaca, but one mouth-full was the end of my culinary experiment. I might be offending here all the Oaxacans at once, but couldn´t get out of my mind a thought "who´s to say i´m not eating cockroaches?" :). They look just the same, probably taste the same as well. And even though these arguably delicious bugs had been steamed, boiled and all other ways properly killed & softened, i could still feel their rigid legs crunching under my teeth. And the taste wasn´t also anything to write home about. There´s just something visually problematic about eating bugs that look identical to the ones i was killing the day before in the bathroom :).

The food freshly served, looks very inviting

And then the bugs came out :)
Damn, i feel like a such a tourist sometimes: "Oh my god, the bugz!".