Escape the Confines: Beverages

Somewhere along the way I feel as if I have transitioned from traveler to living somewhere. Life has become quite settled here in Oaxaca. We have established routes we walk. We frequent venues, cafes, food stands, places to buy provisions. It has me thinking that perhaps we need to freshen things. I guess that is what last week’s trip to the coast was about, but, it was a break, less so a refresher. I am feeling that we need to be wary of falling into the same comfortable web of pre coast trip life.

The difficult part of that is to define what it means.  Yesterday felt fresh. Now we have to perpetuate that. For me it is easier than for Sheila. I can take more Spanish classes, even at another new school, new teacher, new students. Sheila has no such focus. I worry about life becoming too stale for her. We have an apartment rented until April first. Not sure we will make it that long. We have a great desire to travel to Boquete Panama. If we can find a reasonable way to do that we probably will forfeit some of our already paid rent for Oaxaca. Oaxaca is an expensively difficult place to travel from. Anything we do likely has to be routed through Mexico City.

We know we need to be in Spokane in April to take care of various business items. The question has become will it be the beginning or the middle of April. This is leading to another travel conundrum. We have to ask the question, “What does travel mean to us?” We need to define whether it means moving around, or staying in a place long enough to know if it could be “the place”. Two extended stays in Mexico have helped us define that, helped, not defined. We plan to be in the United Kingdom come May. At that time we hope to have solved the conundrum.

In the meantime, we went shopping today, but in a different neighborhood south of us we had not already seen. We ran across the incredible wall pictured below. Vivid fresh colors highlight this mural/wall.

Later we explored north a little further after visiting the bank. we stopped to look at a striking fountain. Then we looked further and saw a restaurant setting extending deep inside a courtyard full of trees.  We were on our way to find a place to buy juices. The waiter assured us we were at the right place so we went in.

We have transitioned with the hot southern Mexico weather. The hottest month of the year here is March. Our transition is our drinking habits. In the past three weeks I have probably drank more beers than in the previous 3 years, not that it amounts to many beers. The past week we have hopped on the juice bandwagon. Juice is another beverage I generally avoid in favor of the entire fruit. The heat though is changing that. Today we treated ourselves to two big goblets of fresh squeezed orange juice in a cool courtyard away from the 90 degree heat.

When I was a kid we often spent 2-4 weeks in the Los Angeles area in the summer while dad traveled for work. Grandma had a house in Alhambra, and the house had orange tree(s). We had fresh orange juice daily and the gustatory pleasure of that remains with me. It also means I have a high standard for orange juice. A good orange juice has a glycerol sweetness that coats the different areas of the tongue leaving multiple taste impressions on a long finish. Every orange juice I have had so far in Mexico has satisfied my demanding criteria for quality, today was no exception. The effect is similar to drinking a superb wine.

I am also becoming fond of blending my own juice blends with fresh ripe fruits from the mercado across the streets. Papaya, pineapple, mango and orange in any combination is incredible. The key, I believe, is the ripeness – read sweetness.