As Fozzy Bear used to say, from his natural habitat of a Studibaker: "Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca!"  Well, maybe not exactly that, but it's close.

Location, Climate
Oaxaca is situated in valley that's basically in the middle of the desert.  It's scorching hot during the day, cool at night, and it usually rains on average of 5 minutes a day (and very lightly at that).  I'm not a fan of the hot weather as I'm too hairy and bearded for that sort of thing, but as long as we stayed out of the sun, we were fine.  Of course, we didn't and I got burned, but such is the case.



Culture
It's pretty layed back in Oaxaca; no one is really in a hurry and there's always plenty of time to sit around the main square and watch the people go by.  I'm glad of this after all of the hectic hustle and bustle of Mexico City...I didn't come to Latin America to be rushed!

There also seems to be a healthy anti-authority culture, which I am always a fan of.  In fact, they had to move they city government building away from the town square so that the protests wouldn't get so large.  We even saw our very first protest of our trip, a fairly orderly and tranquil ordeal where the compesinos (farmers), led by the protection of the police, were protesting the re-distribution of their land.  It looked peaceful, legal and generally well accepted by the people.


I think they took the anti-authority thing a little far with their Communist set-up in the middle of the Zocalo, though.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not apposed to the idea of Communism but I think the inclusion of Stalin with the pictures of Marx and Lenin was a bit much.  I mean, Stalin, really?  Marx and Lenin were intellectuals but Stalin was just a jerk.


Food
Mmmm...Oaxaca disputedly has the best food I have had in Mexico.  It was all very different and flavorful, even though I didn't know what I was eating half the time.  Best of all, I could buy spiced grasshoppers!  Finally, something wierd for me to eat!  Note: they didn't taste that bad...kind of like crunchy spicy chips that were shaped like grasshoppers.


Overall a decent enough town with a lot of things to do in the surrounding areas.  Certainly not the best place we've been to, but definately worth a stop if you're in the area (and I know that you wander the deserts of Mexico a lot).

Oaxaca... is lovely.  It's ultra-chill Mexico with a happening art scene.  It has personality, it's surrounded by mountains, and every hot-sunny day is cooled nightly with chilly breezes to put you sleep.  It's one of the many reasons I will miss Mexico.

Kyle and I have a barometer about liking places, here are the categories and how Oaxaca rates.

Mercado
At the heart of al Mexican cities, towns and pueblas is it's market.  Here the local people come together to sell their produce, handicrafts, and general hoopla.  Oaxaca has a pretty great market.  You can buy everything from fancy-pants piñatas to grasshoppers to the best mole we've found in Mexico at a place called "Abuelitas" = Little Grandma's, but I think it's more like Granny's place, and it has had 5 generations working there.  They've perfected the art of mole, and I'll always dream of abuelita's yummy cooking and try to forget my unsuccessful attempts eating a grasshopper.


Locals
The locals are into the art community here, so it gives the town a cool, thoughtful, moving vibe.  We've been through places where the gringos drive the art, and it feels like Disney Land came into town and made everything the way it wanted.  Here they have local paintings, unique black pottery and these crazy wooden figures that remind me of happy aliens.  They decorate the buildings, too.  I mean I suppose it is graffiti, but being that it's the state's capital, people come here to voice their thoughts of in-justice, and we witnessed local farmers marching through the streets to gain back their land from big farms and socialist messages decorating the walls.


People are just plain creative and it leaks into everything.  Heck, even into their booze.  They make every flavor of mezcal here, which is made from the same plant as tequila, the agave.  We decided to whoop it up one night and got the 6 flavors of mezcal from a local bar called La Cucaracha.  The booze is infused with everything from apple to herbs to scorpion.  Yum.



Gringo Culture
Here the gringos mesh nicely with the locals, and the things that stick out as "American" or foreign seem to be more enhancements of the local culture than anything imposed.  You have more than one book store to pick from and the "touristy" spots near the zocolo = main square aren't just filled with gringos but out-numbered by well-dressed locals enjoying a cocktail.   



Dug the town, and it ranks super high on my list of places I'd like to live in Mexico.  Wondering #1?  San Cristobal of course, the land of ultra-photogetic Beatles.