Meeting Dr. R
Dr. Gabriel Rodriguez, my host dad, met me at the airport in his little silver Peugeot, a cute car. He was a small thin man about 5 foot 4, maybe 55 years old, very dark brown and a with a kindly, lined face.
He dragged my bag out for me, which was both gentlemanly and kind of funny since I probably outweigh him by 60 pounds.
We tried to converse as best as we could, though I am having a sinking feeling that I know even less Spanish than I thought I did.
He told me about his family. His wife, Senora Gloria, is a dentist who doesn’t practice anymore. He has 3 kids, two girls, one boy. The girls are a Gaby, a doctor in Mexico DF and a Pati, a college student who is home for the summer. The boy is Cesar, an architect who is married with two young children.
Oaxaca is a trip. It is kind of like San Luis Obispo, with a circle of mountains all around. They are higher than the ones in SLO. It is tropical and humid. I saw lots of banana trees, ficuses, bamboo, green fields.
It is definitely Mexico however. I ain't in California anymore! It is a wacky mishmash of color and dirt and beauty and crappiness.
The first stoplight we came to was green and Gabriel kind of hesitated and I wondered why.
It turns out he had good reason, because the people coming the other way didn't even slow down for the red. He called them "anarchisticos" who "no tienen respeto" (don't have respect). I couldn't believe my eyes.
The buildings are painted in a rainbow of colors. I mean all colors. Turquoise, purple, lemon yellow - ALL colors. I love how lively it looks.
Many are open-fronted, so life is conducted right out in public in a way. You can look right in the doors and see people shopping, getting haircuts, eating.
TOPES
I was impressed by the speed bumps! California speed bumps have nothing on these.
"TOPES" the signs say, or "reductor de velocidad" (speed reducer) and they are not freaking joking.
They are about a foot high, some rounded on top, or like a ramp with a big flat top, then another ramp down. Others, the worst in my opinion, are made of metal, about the size of softballs buried in the road. A lot of them aren't painted, either - I suppose you just have to know your way around and not hit them by accident, because you could really ruin your suspension.
Metal topes under the car's rear wheels - these are some of the worst.
He dragged my bag out for me, which was both gentlemanly and kind of funny since I probably outweigh him by 60 pounds.
We tried to converse as best as we could, though I am having a sinking feeling that I know even less Spanish than I thought I did.
He told me about his family. His wife, Senora Gloria, is a dentist who doesn’t practice anymore. He has 3 kids, two girls, one boy. The girls are a Gaby, a doctor in Mexico DF and a Pati, a college student who is home for the summer. The boy is Cesar, an architect who is married with two young children.
Oaxaca is a trip. It is kind of like San Luis Obispo, with a circle of mountains all around. They are higher than the ones in SLO. It is tropical and humid. I saw lots of banana trees, ficuses, bamboo, green fields.
It is definitely Mexico however. I ain't in California anymore! It is a wacky mishmash of color and dirt and beauty and crappiness.
The first stoplight we came to was green and Gabriel kind of hesitated and I wondered why.
It turns out he had good reason, because the people coming the other way didn't even slow down for the red. He called them "anarchisticos" who "no tienen respeto" (don't have respect). I couldn't believe my eyes.
The buildings are painted in a rainbow of colors. I mean all colors. Turquoise, purple, lemon yellow - ALL colors. I love how lively it looks.
Many are open-fronted, so life is conducted right out in public in a way. You can look right in the doors and see people shopping, getting haircuts, eating.
TOPES
I was impressed by the speed bumps! California speed bumps have nothing on these.
"TOPES" the signs say, or "reductor de velocidad" (speed reducer) and they are not freaking joking.
They are about a foot high, some rounded on top, or like a ramp with a big flat top, then another ramp down. Others, the worst in my opinion, are made of metal, about the size of softballs buried in the road. A lot of them aren't painted, either - I suppose you just have to know your way around and not hit them by accident, because you could really ruin your suspension.
Metal topes under the car's rear wheels - these are some of the worst.
posted by Suebob at 5:15 PM
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