Dreary Monday of Travel

We left the hotel in Oaxaca at 6 a.m., eating breakfast on the bus in order to have more time at the beach. However, we didn't get to Puerto Escondido until after over 7 hours on a windy road with hundreds of curves and bumps, 8 students (none from OTHS) getting motion sickness, rain about half the time and passing several farmers plowing and planting with ox-draw equipment. The long bus ride and the scenes like the one on the right of a farmer working on his "old school" farm equipment gave us much time to ponder the challenges of "Third World" living and the contrast of our lives back home.

Once we arrived and unpacked, we split into groups depending on what we wanted to do. By this time in the trip, we all seemed to know each other a little better, so groups became a little more fluid as students and leaders from different schools began to blend groups as needed for each activity. Some of the students couldn't wait to go to the beach regardless of the fact that it was still raining. However, my stomach was calling me to the dinner table. So, for supper, I joined two of my students as well as two from Michigan and three from Ohio. We decided to go to the restaurant at Hotel Sante Fe, which was a short stroll down the beach. There, I ordered Camerones al Ajo and had one of the best (if not THE best) meal of my vacation: garlic shrimp with fresh seasoned vegetables and two mini baked potatoes along with an agua fresca. It was delicious and I'm postitng it here to make my mom (who LOVES shrimp) jealous. The shrimp was so plump and seasoned just right. Yum!!!

On the walk back to the hotel, it was still raining, but the crashing waves were so impressive that most of us risked getting our cameras wet. (For some in the group, this was the first time they had seen an ocean!) Here's a view of a rocky section of the beach with a sculpture of a hand on top of one of the rocks to the left at the end of the video.

Just above the rocks was a staircase built into the cliff that offered a wonderful view of the beach and the waves crashing into the rocks below. The waves were extra powerful due to a tropical storm that had just hit land north of us. That's also what was causing all the rain.

When we got back to the hotel, some of the students went up to the terrace on the third/top floor where there was a pool and 6 hammocks-some with an ocean view! Due to the storm and the fact that this was the off season, our group provided the only guests at the hotel. Consequently, we didn't need to worry about noise (although they never did get loud) and allowed the students to stay up until midnight. Many kids took advantage of the late curfew and played Scrabble or cards or just talked the entire time and ended up telling ghost stories before heading off to sleep. This group really seemed to get along well and made the best of what could have been a miserable day.