Night aliveness

Puebla of Mitla

We are staying in the puebla of Mitla, a village near the ruins of the same name. 

The thing to do tonight is to eat snacks and hang out in the town square. I participated in this wholeheartedly, with a boiled ear of sweet corn stabbed with a hefty stick handle, spread with mayonnaise, and then dabbed thickly in flaky cheese and chili. I don't know what half these food items are called, and rarely are there menus. But I got by with some food voyeurism and then asking, "uno de eso, por favor." The corn was the most delicious corn. 

Other snacks are eaten, little cups of flan or torta sandwiches, and children run in groups or squeal in a tent of air hockey and arcade games. Two little ones are collecting dirt and stones in their shirt fronts and excitedly filling in a hole in the town square. The main event is a basketball game of various teams of teenage girls, a very enthusiastic announcer rolling his Rs and sounding to me just like an incomprehensible auctioneer.  Strings of lights hang in zigzags across the streets and little epiphytic plant puffs grasp the electric wires like spikey green pom-poms. Orange three wheeled tuk tuks with canvas roofs drive around, some playing music softly and none bothered me for a ride, bless them. A white pickup truck drives slowly by, police sitting upright in the back, automatic rifles in laps.  

This mix of seemingly anxiety-producing police presence and family fun seemed not to give anyone else a second glance. That just may be the way it is here. It could have made me feel nervous, but I have felt a general feeling of relaxation being here. Nobody has bothered me, I am mostly ignored, not stared at, and mostly the people who do interact with me are incredibly polite or encouraging.

Oaxaca city

I must also share about the night life in Oaxaca city. Nightlife while traveling has predominantly felt inaccessible to me, but there was something about Oaxaca that felt welcoming and compelling, a mix of locals and tourists. The Zocolo, the biggest town square, with a church and huge shady trees and benches, has restaurants and shops bordering it, and is the center of everything; it was such an alive place. This concept of a community space, like the Ithaca Commons, is enchanting to me, and seems to bring a simple richness to life, which comes from simply enjoying pleasures and relaxing and being human all together in the same place.

There's a Marimba band entertaining one particular restaurant but which can be enjoyed by half the square, enormous bunches of tacky balloons for sale, hawkers stretching scarves out to buy, two women dancing a sort of authentic looking dance outside the marimba band, large groups in suits or heels walking slowly and amicably. A couple on a bench completely involved with kissing, a small speed-walking boy offering beaded necklaces to the sitting relaxers, families sporting lengthy blow-up tube toys. The place feels like a fiesta, a giant party where everyone is invited, dressing up or not, with party favors of those large plastic balloon things, complete with live music, food and drink. Huge trees stand sentry over the whole experience. And a salsa brass band from across the park wafts thru to contrast with the marimba.