Back In Santa Fe

Well, I am back in Santa Fe and I'm happy about that. I really did miss this place. But Oaxaca really was terrific. I had a great time with great people in a beautiful place.

I am tired and need a nap. I'll write more later.

Goodbye Oaxaca. Thank you!

I've been up since 6:30am or so. My nervous are going crazy.

I said adios to the SDSU gang. They are terrrific people. I will miss you all. Thanks for the great dinner last night. And please come to Santa Fe.

I just had breakfast with Jose. He was stuck in the mountains without any means of communication for 24 hours. Another great person.

But mostly, thank you Oaxaca. I had a great time with great people. This place is beautiful and I hope to return soon.

I have a 3pm Continental flight to Houston. I am ready.

See the rest of you soon.

Yo soy triste

Yes...I am sad. I've gotten very used to being here and taking my last little walk around downtown I can't help but feel emotional.

This is a very kind city and I like being here. I promise myself to return. Soon.

It's nice to be in a city where people don't walk in front you when you are making a photograph. It's nice when people say 'buenos tardes' with a smile in the afternoons. It's just nice.

So for now, it's time to go pack.

29 hours and counting...

Yep...I changed my flight to Friday at 3pm. It's time to go. I love this place but I miss my friends, the Ranneys, Santa Fe and I really miss Amelia. So it's time to go.

Yesterday I shot 3 more rolls of film and then last night at midnight, Pepe and I went to the Catedral on the Zocalo to do some night shots. They keep it brightly lit and there were only a few people around. Pepe was my "muscle" and interpreter if needed. The exposures were long enough not to show the few people who did walk by. I got home around 12:30am and then developed the film. The negs look great. The skies started to drizzle but nothing came of it, luckily.

Before this, I had been waiting for Jose who was a no-show. Not even a call. You all know how I feel about this. So I went out about 9:30pm to give him a chance to reach me. Nothing by 9:45pm so I decided to have dinner by myself. I chose the very fine El Che restaurant that I had read was in the top 3 here in Oaxaca.
I stepped inside and the place was empty except for one other table. I figured this was going to be expensive. Not really. I had a vegetable salad, chicken supremo (chicken marsala in the USA), two Coronas, coffee and chocolate cake. Guess how much? Come on, guess? Give up? Okay, it was 315 pesos including a 20 percent tip, or $31.50 US. Yikes. It was good. I wasn't overly impressed but it was good.
Tonight the gang is going to La Toscana for my send off dinner. This is the place the governor of Oaxaca eats when he comes to town. After tonight I will have eaten at the top 3 restaurants and for well under $100 US. Killer.

This afternoon I'm going to finish shooting the neighborhood I live in, Jalatlaco, and then I'll finish the film tonight after dinner. I also over-bought my chemicals so I am going to donate them to the Bravo Center for use in their darkroom. I'm doing that this afternoon as well.

It's been fun here but it's time to go.

In a nutshell

Well, I had a rather big thing written and the computer crashed. Great.

So in a nutshell, I have decided to head home on Friday instead of Sunday. If I stay I might have an issue with Immigration at the airport, so it's just easier if I go home early. I will still be here for 30 days (instead of 32) and I've gotten all of my work done. I did what I came here to do.

Last night, it rained from 9pm to 2am. I was still awake at 2am doing my film.

Also last night, Jose Martinez called to say he was here in Oaxaca for a few days and we are to have dinner tonight. He is a great guy and a new, good friend. Hopefully he will come to Santa Fe in the fall. He is looking for a publisher for his most recent and ongoing photo project and Amelia and I want to help him out.

So, I'm outta here in 48 hours.

Monday was lazy...

So yesterday morning I was up at 7am. I developed two rolls of film, dropped my laundry off, and had breakfast. All this by 10am.

Then I made it to the Bravo Center where I stayed for over an hour or more, looking through Rulfo and Weston books, and many others. They have an impressive library but lack any books by the great Ed Ranney (maybe the need a donation?). It was nice and quiet and very cool, temperature wise. I even found their darkroom. It rents for 50 pesos ($5 US) an hour and includes all chemicals. That's almost half of the US price.

I then walked home to get my camera to do some photos there at the Bravo Center. The architecture and light there is truly beautiful. But before I could get my stuff together it started to rain again. So I decided to wait it out on the couch with the Daybooks. Well it kept raining and I was fighting a nap, but the nap eventually won.

Two hours later, about 5pm, I woke up to the rain. It sounds so much better here. I'm not sure why. Still drizzling a bit, I decided I needed a coffee at Lilian's. The coffee was good but the music bad, so I quickly left.

After another quick stop home, I then headed to the Zocalo area to get a few more gifts Amelia somehow either missed (yeah right) or forgot about. I then stopped for quick sandwich and developed more film last night. Six rolls in total.

I think it rained more last night because it was damn cold. I woke up to put a blanket on and this morning my thermometer said it was 68. Nice.

A bit more film to do today and then Jorge should be here this afternoon.

I need some breakfast.

Funny things in Oaxaca

(This will be an entry I will add to along the way.)


If it drops below 85 degrees, people start wearing turtle necks, leather jackets, and fleece!! I am not kidding. It was at least 84 the other day and people had leather, fur lined jackets on.

At the movies, I saw a gruesome sight. People put KETCHUP on their popcorn!!! And we think the butter is gross.

At the hotdog stand, Oaxacans pass on the ketchup and go straight for the MAYO!!!

If your money has a slight tear, it will be refused. If you try to spend the 500 peso bill the ATM just gave you, it will be refused. I tried to use a 20 peso bill this morning that has a 1/8th inch tear and it was refused.

More rain and more film exposed & developed

Sunday was a good day. I slept in a bit and straightened up the apartment. I read a lot more of the Weston Daybooks, wrote in my journal and napped for about 30 minutes.
I was so antsy to shoot, that I packed my gear and took off. I went light this time with 15 rolls of film and just one lens. After 4 hours of walking, I think I covered another 5 miles. This is one way to get into shape.
I've always been lucky when photographing churches and around 2:15pm, there wasn't a soul in front of the Santo Domingo church. The sky was slightly overcast above me but there were great, dramatic clouds behind the church. I was able to cover the entire church several times before anyone walked in the my view. Awesome! Everything was working in my favor.
Then I walked down some streets I haven't been to yet. I love the way this place looks to me. The colors are terrific and vibrant and the people are always smiling. Maybe they think I am photographing them?
I finally made it back to my apartment at 5pm or so. I had some Coke and chips with a couple of the new grad students, Keith and Bernardo. It was their first day off and they were running around trying to see as much as possible.

After resting up and taking a much needed shower, I found Pepe and we ran off to the movies. We got to see Senor y Señora Smith (not Darren and Lucy). It was pretty good considering what it was: two beautiful people making a silly movie.
Before the movie, we took a walk towards gringo landia. There was a carnival and people were everywhere. We decided on Burger King for dinner. Yeah, I can't believe it either. No biggie. And not so surprisingly, it tasted just like it does in the good 'ol USA...gross. We got home around 11:30pm or so and it started raining.
It really cooled off outside and the noise of the rain on the outside plants is really pleasant. Unfortunately, I kept waking up to see if it was still raining. I think it rained until around 4am.
I finally woke up around 7am, got dressed and developed two more rolls of film. These were from the time I let the two Mexican schoolgirls make the pictures. The negs look great.

So now I am off to the Bravo center to once again look at the Rulfo images before I leave. They really are terrfic and I feel lucky that I got to see them in person.

I should go now as I only have 150 hours left in Oaxaca. I love this place and will be sad to leave. Yo soy triste.

Update: Shirley is not coming. She is at home (hopefully) resting so she can come to Santa Fe in 18 days. The doctors still don't know what is going on but are giving her a few days to see what happens. They might have to operate. I will keep everyone posted.

Good news and Bad news

Let's start with the bad news....
Shirley is unable to come to Oaxaca. Sometime ago, maybe 10 days or so, she had what she thought was a blood clot in her leg. Her doctor said if it was, they would have to operate. She had an MRI which did not show a clot. Things were okay for a couple of days.
Then today, while on top of the pyramid at Monte Alban, my phone rang. Her husband Jim was calling to let me know they were at the emergency room. The pain in Shirley's leg was so bad that they took her to the hospital. She also had to be sedated. So as of right now, she is not coming. Í've told her not to come as she is also scheduled to come to Santa Fe on July 8th.
So Shirley, if you are reading this, do not come to Oaxaca. Get better first and then come to Santa Fe. At least we speak the language there. Well, sort of.

The good news is that my friend Jorge is finally able to come to Oaxaca. His car is fixed and he's ready to start bribing. This will be interesting.

Today I again went to Monte Alban. I went with Pepe and Angela. After four and half hours of sun and a little bit of sun screen, I have a very red sunburn on my next and arms. I shot another five rolls of film or 180 exposures. I got to see a bit more that I missed the first time around. I concentrated a whole lot more. Today was a good day.

Tonight, we are having a little gathering on the patio around 10pm. Hopefully it won't go as late as last night.
Last night Pepe and I had a guy's night out. It started with an opening at the Bravo Center. The opening was for Juan Rulfo and it was fantastic. Lots of people and beautiful photographs to view. But there were only 15 photographs. I believe they all came from one person's collection.
Then we had a delicious dinner at La Olla where the conversation went from photo to archeology to parents to family. Lots was discussed.
Then we went to the newest club in town called Elephant. Very dark and red on the inside and very loud music. It was fun but an hour or so was enough for me.
Upon arriving home, we home three drunk, well-educated gringas playing a card game called "asshole". Avoiding getting involved in that, we convinced the girls to play poker. I lost pathetically and then went to bed around 1:30am or later. I think they continued to 3am or so.
Time now for a capuchino.