Safely Ensconced in Oaxaca

Aqui estamos!!! We had a had a long but uneventful flight. We flew out of Tijuana airport, which was pretty uneventful, if hot (no air conditioning). Bron dropped us off with plenty of time to navigate the Tijuana airport for the first time. When we arrived we realized for the first time that our flight from Tijuana to Mexico City had a stop over in Zacatecas, so it was a longer flight than we had anticipated. While waiting the kids befriended a four-year old boy named Angel. They played, drew, and chewed gum (treat for the trip).

The first leg of the trip was about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Flight was good and Mexicana fed us a nice lunch of stir fry and chicken. The kids are always excited to be able to get drinks on the plane - both chose soda. The layover in Zacatecas was only about 25 minutes. We stayed on the plane and played. Kaya is really into being quizzed fro

m a deck of true or false cards on a range of subjects. The Zacatecas International Airport was a tiny building with a single runway, that might be described better as a landing strip. We landed and then turned around at the end to taxi to the airport. Needless to say, the passengers deplaned on a stairway right onto the tarm

ac rather than via jetway.

The flight from Zacatecas to Mexico City was basically one long nap for everyone. When we descended below the clouds, the expanse of Mexico City appeared. It was impressively large - buildings as far as the eye

could see. Mexico City is the 9th largest city in the world, and it was apparent by looking at it from above. In Mexico City we realized (in time) that we did not turn back our watches enough. It is a two hour difference from the US. We thought it was 4:15 PM but it was 5:15 pm and our flight to Oaxaca was scheduled to leave around 5:50 pm. We rushed

to the information board to find our gate but only the main area was listed "sala B." We had to go to an information booth to get the gate number, which seemed like a strange process.

As we approached the valley of Oaxaca, we were impressed by how green it was. Kelsey was excited that the plan dropped us right off onto the runway of the tiny airport. Transferre

d into a little collectivo taxi which dropped us off here at Dona Maria's aptartments (shared the ride with an American woman who is writing a book about chocolat and feminism!). Maria is a peppy little lady who is adoring of the kids.

gave us a little tour of our new upstairs home: nice little living room, kitchen, small bath with shower. It is perfect for our needs. The apartments are arranged in a rectangle with

a beautiful courtyard in the middle. We tested our internet connection and got through immediately but realized that it is spotty and only works in a few spots. This is nothing new as we have only gotten a good signal at home after many months of sitting in the corner of the desk with one hand and leg up facing east to get connected.

We all unpacked and nested in and then headed off for bed. The adults, kids, and Kelsey each has our own bedroom- kids have cute double twins. After a snack and requisite game of cribbage for Kelsey and Scott, we all crashed for the night.