¡Hola de Oaxaca!
November 30th, 2003 by Steven Gabb
We made it! ¡Llegamos! Sarah & I (especially me) have this tendency to over pack. After the Lincoln Town Car taxi with all its trunk space couldn’t accommodate our transportation needs, our generous friends and landlords, John & Elise Soccoli, gave us a ride to Newark, NJ on Friday, November 28th through the wind & rain of the northeast US in the late Fall. Our accommodations were quite nice as we had a relaxing night in the hotel. After rising @ 3:00A and the limo ride to the airport, we were on a plane by 5:30A and in the air for a long day of travel by 6:00A…First stop: Houston. On Adia’s 2nd birthday, were in the city of my birth, but not for long. After a short layover, during which we made our way to the gate of our next flight, we were on an overbooked, overcrowded flight to Mexico City / La ciudad de México. Our travel plans with Continental terminated here in Mexico City, so we had to pick up our bags (& I use that phrase lightly, I’ll explain in a minute) and go through customs & immigration. Remember that I said that the plane was overbooked & overcrowded? Because of a weight issue on the airplane, only 1 of our 5 bags made the trip from Houston to Mexico City. This was actually a blessing in disguise as the vehicle in which we were picked up from the airport in Oaxaca City would not have been able to hold all of our luggage. After more than 12 hours of travel time, we found ourselves en la cuidad de Oaxaca! Our host family (more like families) is very nice. We can tell they have done this before. We are staying in a beautiful big house with 5 bedrooms (that we have seen so far), each with a private bathroom. The house is located in a private gated area that has a handful of homes, all connected physically…&, I think, by blood. We are staying with Amelia & and her son, Gustabo. They are wonderful hosts…friendly, accommodating, helpful. I think they want us to learn Spanish as much as we want to learn Spanish! Amelia doesn’t speak English and Gustabo speaks some. Our neighbors…Inevla (Amelia’s sister), her husband, Gilberto, their son, Oscar, and maid, Severa are also very friendly and accommodating. We eat our meals in their home. There are also another handful of Spanish students like ourselves staying in this hostile, of sorts. Of course, there are some feelings of culture shot, but we feel that the Lord has prepared us for this transition…I felt more culture shot moving to Jackson Heights, Queens than I feel right now. God has greatly blessed us with wonderful host families and a beautiful city. Our first taste of the culture that Oaxaca has to offer was yesterday just a couple hours after we got off the plane. We walked to Santo Domingo, a huge beautiful church in the middle of town, just as a wedding was emptying out of the church. It was a wonderful first experience with indescribably beautiful Mexican music and dancing as the wedding progression turned into a small parade that made it’s way through the streets of Oaxaca. We enjoyed other ad hoc dance parties (for a lack of a better phrase) that also contributed to a wondful first impression of Oaxaca. After picking up a few necessary items (remember, no luggage), we went home, had dinner with the neighbors, had our family devotion, and called it an awesome first day. We look forward to many more…
We made it! ¡Llegamos! Sarah & I (especially me) have this tendency to over pack. After the Lincoln Town Car taxi with all its trunk space couldn’t accommodate our transportation needs, our generous friends and landlords, John & Elise Soccoli, gave us a ride to Newark, NJ on Friday, November 28th through the wind & rain of the northeast US in the late Fall. Our accommodations were quite nice as we had a relaxing night in the hotel. After rising @ 3:00A and the limo ride to the airport, we were on a plane by 5:30A and in the air for a long day of travel by 6:00A…First stop: Houston. On Adia’s 2nd birthday, were in the city of my birth, but not for long. After a short layover, during which we made our way to the gate of our next flight, we were on an overbooked, overcrowded flight to Mexico City / La ciudad de México. Our travel plans with Continental terminated here in Mexico City, so we had to pick up our bags (& I use that phrase lightly, I’ll explain in a minute) and go through customs & immigration. Remember that I said that the plane was overbooked & overcrowded? Because of a weight issue on the airplane, only 1 of our 5 bags made the trip from Houston to Mexico City. This was actually a blessing in disguise as the vehicle in which we were picked up from the airport in Oaxaca City would not have been able to hold all of our luggage. After more than 12 hours of travel time, we found ourselves en la cuidad de Oaxaca! Our host family (more like families) is very nice. We can tell they have done this before. We are staying in a beautiful big house with 5 bedrooms (that we have seen so far), each with a private bathroom. The house is located in a private gated area that has a handful of homes, all connected physically…&, I think, by blood. We are staying with Amelia & and her son, Gustabo. They are wonderful hosts…friendly, accommodating, helpful. I think they want us to learn Spanish as much as we want to learn Spanish! Amelia doesn’t speak English and Gustabo speaks some. Our neighbors…Inevla (Amelia’s sister), her husband, Gilberto, their son, Oscar, and maid, Severa are also very friendly and accommodating. We eat our meals in their home. There are also another handful of Spanish students like ourselves staying in this hostile, of sorts. Of course, there are some feelings of culture shot, but we feel that the Lord has prepared us for this transition…I felt more culture shot moving to Jackson Heights, Queens than I feel right now. God has greatly blessed us with wonderful host families and a beautiful city. Our first taste of the culture that Oaxaca has to offer was yesterday just a couple hours after we got off the plane. We walked to Santo Domingo, a huge beautiful church in the middle of town, just as a wedding was emptying out of the church. It was a wonderful first experience with indescribably beautiful Mexican music and dancing as the wedding progression turned into a small parade that made it’s way through the streets of Oaxaca. We enjoyed other ad hoc dance parties (for a lack of a better phrase) that also contributed to a wondful first impression of Oaxaca. After picking up a few necessary items (remember, no luggage), we went home, had dinner with the neighbors, had our family devotion, and called it an awesome first day. We look forward to many more…
