Now you should believe that Oaxaca is a shopping Mecca!

Today we put our last guests on the bus to Mexico City, and so we have come to the end of our hospitality (and operating the illegal B&B).  I think Margaret and Jim Orman from Dallas, and all our guests had a great time and enjoyed Oaxaca as much as we have.  Jim and Margaret are proof of the fun of travel as we had met them on our river cruise to Eastern Europe last fall, and hit it off as mutual fun loving, and adventuresome travelers.  The drop off today was a little different than my usual trip in the dark to the airport, as we made a run to the new 1^st class bus terminal in northeast Oaxaca.  I have travelled most of all the main arterials so often I have memorized where all the topes are, although I managed to roll over one pretty fast yesterday coming back from the Etla market.  The only consolation is that Jim did not see it either!

From a reading of the previous blog postings, you can deduce that we have tried to give our guests a good overall view and experience of Oaxaca.  This has seemingly included the opportunity to enjoy and buy a lot of the Oaxacan crafts, which the city is so famous for.  This has given Mary Ann (aka The World’s Greatest Shopper) the chance to show off her skills at never forgetting the location of a great shop find.  When in Arrezola last Monday, with Margaret and Jim, the lady at the first alebrijes (wooden animals and monsters) was so excited to see Mary Ann she shouted and came up and gave her a big hug.  Now that is a true demonstration of customer appreciation!  As I am writing this, Mary Ann is busy calculating all her craft purchases so she can lawfully declare our purchases when we enter customs in Houston.  She has told me we have only bought 14 alebrijes.  No wonder the shop lady was so glad to see her, and that we were bringing more friends to visit the village.  We think between us, and all our guests, there may have been as many as 32 alebrijes bought in the two villages we frequented.  Just doing our part to help the local economy!

That reminds me that Margaret Orman is no shopping slouch, and might give Mary Ann a run for her money.  They were only with us for three full days, but Margaret was here to fix some severe shopping deprivation.  I think she even planned this out by leaving a lot of space in their luggage for a lot of “stuff”.  She has a “Mexican” background having been an exchange student to Mexico City when a teenager.  They were visiting her former exchange student “match” in Mexico City.  With her Spanish skills she was busy also buying food items you cannot get in the U.S.  Margaret probably enjoyed buying in the Benito Juarez Mercado and the Villa de Etla Wednesday market more than anyone.  The food items bought included mole, mole ingredients, Mexican drink mixes, vanilla, Mexican brown sugar, and other items I cannot even begin to describe.  Mole is a sauce to put on anything edible, mostly featured in Oaxaca and Puebla.  And what did Jim and I do during these shopping forays?  Saunter along behind humbly, of course.  Jim does have a nice new straw hat.

I want to assure you that all this shopping, whether in the villages surrounding Oaxaca, or the central zone of Oaxaca, there is no traditional chain store cookie cutter stores like you now see all of the U.S. and the world.  There are no Macy’s, Benetton, or J.C Penney’s.  Everyone here is trying to sell something, but it is nearly all locally owned. Small business is thriving, from the stalls in the markets, street vendors, hole in the wall shops, and carts moving on the streets. There are a few fast food franchises, and of course the looming presence of Walmart, but that is about it – as it should be.

 

Margaret at the Mole booth in Benitio Juarez mercado

 

Tom & friend waiting for the "shoppers"

Quirky Living Note

 

Little doubt about the marketing emphasis – In an American department store you always see mannequins, but they are facing front wise and usually emphasize clothing from top to toe.  Here in Oaxaca, usually in the daily markets, you see the effort to sell very tight jeans.  You have to see the photo below to appreciate which portion of the body the vendor wishes to suggest is the best selling point.  Our son-in-law Geoff, when discussing this marketing effort said our grand-daughter Eliza would be permitted to buy a pair of the jeans when she turned 35 years old.