Oaxaca

My wife Janet and I arrived in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca around 11pm on Saturday, March 10. Our journey took us from Washington National Airport to ATL to Mexico City to Oaxaca---having left around noon. We splurged on exit row seating for the ATL-Mexico leg....very much worth it for the viejo. The Mexico City airport is still slightly confusing--especially when flying in-country. Our gate assignment showed up about an hour prior to takeoff---75A----and it turns out that almost every Aeromexico flight to Mexican locales loads at that gate. So, a bit of a jostling crowd going to Tampico, Veracruz, Juarez, and of course Oaxaca(OO-WAA--HAKA). A little confusion---Miguel has to ask informacion if we are in the right place. We are. Boarding is OK, announcements are clearer than most American airports. I let a couple of older ladies cut in front of us as they seemed reticent to join in the Russian style free-for -all when boarding was announced. One mentioned that this was rare---and of course smiled and thanked. As I gave the fella my boarding pass he said "numero quatro"----thinking this was another gate number we descended a series of stairs to a line of waiting busses. Ours? #4. My mind always goes to how easy it would be to miss something---and get left behind. Plane was a smaller jet, 2 rows on each side of the aisle--two polite stewardesses....a free Heineken as well. 40 minutes later we are landing. 35 years ago, almost to the day, at 19 years old, I first arrived here on the way to the most sublime surfing in the world at Puerto Escondido. My connecting flight to Puerto was a 1940s propeller plane, without cabin pressure, with a chubby lady passing out chiclets as our ears popped. Oh.....and they started it by tying a rope to the propellers and yanking like a lawn mower. Reassuring. This time, there was a couple from the hotel to pick us up--no waiting in the taxi line for an hour with unclear instructions and a bed-buggy hostel shared with my college mates. Having a job has its advantages. We are staying at a little inexpensive boutique hotel with kitchen and a pool. Casa de la Tia Terre.

Oaxaca

A Oaxcan nod to the famous Baltimoran.

 

Oaxaca

Wall art.

Miguel B. Corrigan
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of  BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun

2014 Fulbright Teaching Scholar, SVRIA, Saratov, Russia

mcorrigan@nvcc.edu

703-450-2615

Oaxaca

Cathedral

Miguel B. Corrigan
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of  BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun

2014 Fulbright Teaching Scholar, SVRIA, Saratov, Russia

mcorrigan@nvcc.edu

703-450-2615

Oaxaca

Street poster

Miguel B. Corrigan
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of  BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun

2014 Fulbright Teaching Scholar, SVRIA, Saratov, Russia

mcorrigan@nvcc.edu

703-450-2615

Oaxaca

Tripe counter at market in Oaxaca.

Miguel B. Corrigan
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of  BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun

2014 Fulbright Teaching Scholar, SVRIA, Saratov, Russia

mcorrigan@nvcc.edu

703-450-2615

Janet and I are in Oaxaca, Mexico for a spring break respite. I've been here many times when in my 20s---usually in transit to a surfing town over the mountains called Puerto Escondido. First trip through here was in 1983 with my friends John and Wook. We spent a couple of days here, going to the fabulous ruins of Monte Alban---then getting into an un-pressurized prop plane that was started like a lawn mower with a big rope on the propeller. I was less risk averse then I guess.