Feb. 14. Switching to dates. Have completely lost track of days in Oaxaca. I think that's a good thing. I hope that's a good thing.
Cristina came back from her morning run with a huge, helium-filled Valentine's Day balloon for me. Quite the surprise! I had planned to buy her something nice, but the damn jeweler was closed on Valentine's Day. What kind of a jeweler is closed on Valentine's Day?
He has remained closed the next 3-4 days, so I'm trailing far behind Cristina in the gift-giving department.
My brother Gary arrived in mid afternoon, and we took him to an outdoor, balcony restaurant overlooking the Zocolo, with nice views of an orchestra and some dancers below.

Cathy and Jim outside their home.

Day 18, Part B: After "La Mesita," we had a fantastic lunch at Jim and Cathy's beautiful home, with shady porches on two sides. The house is a model of energy conservation with cisterns and dry compost toilets. Cathy runs a small organic lettuce (with nasturtium flowers) business that employs several locals. She has also organized a women's collective that produces foods from amaranth. We had something very tasty that I could only describe as an amaranth pretzel.

Cathy's organic lettuce (and other greens) patch. The shade coverings are necessary to protect the greens from the intense Oaxacan sun.

Lunch included organic salad (and nasturtium flower) salad and amaranth tamales.

Before and After

Day 18, Part A: Quite an amazing day with a lot of photos, so I'm going to do it in two parts. With Cristina back from Houson, she, I, and Jackie Hastings went to visit San Pablo Etla courtesy of Jim and Cathy Austin. Jim is a retired Harvard business school professor who worked on social development projects around the world. Cathy worked in public health. They bought a place in SP Etla, on a mountain slope just outside Oaxaca, in 1994, and have gradually transferred much of their life here. Jim is a lifelong runner who actually ran the 1968 Boston Marathon.

We spent the morning with Jim exploring a wonderful Eco Conservation project in the SP Etla hills called "La Mesita." Basically, a local group is using low-tech means to reclaim land that was previously over-farmed, which led to horrible erosion. The project includes striking sculptures, amazing buildings constructed by students of a RAW architecture group (Real Architecture Workshop), plant and seed conservation, a butterfly house, and more.

Cristina, Jackie, and a little Mexican girl who adopted us.

This building, the "Leaning Tower of La Mesita," was completely unique, captivating and disorienting. We climbed the inside staircase to the top, feeling sure it would tip over.

View from the uppermost outpost.

Outdoor fitness equipment station.

Day 17: I did a 2:45 run this morning without ever going more than 1.5 miles from our hotel. I managed this by lacing together a modest number of urban Oaxacan mini-parks, long blocks with sidewalks, and a government-built and maintained sports park. This park is a marvel. It includes a modest-cost health club and indoor swimming pools, as well as a wide assortment of outdoor playing fields, ranging from soccer fields to basketball, handball and more. There's a children's playground at one end, and some funny outdoor fitness equipment for adults in another area.

The track is 8 lanes, rubberized. It is ringed by a 1000 meter "jogging trail" that winds around all the fields, and includes two concrete rises or hills (with more rubber surface) to add some variety. The whole thing is quite wonderful, if you ask me. The mountains outside Oaxaca are everywhere in the background.

The while ramp to the right is one of the "hills" on the 1000m jogging trail.

I keep wishing this curve on the track, with palm tree, also had a steeplechase water jump.

Day 16: Along with Jackie and John Hastings and Nancy and Gary Johnson, I went for a lovely dinner at the home of the people, Tanya and Ralph, who took us to Hierve de Agua last week. We started with drinks up on the rooftop patio, then moved downstairs to their cozy home for dinner.

John Hastings and cat who looks a bit like our Leo. Photo taken for Cristina, still in Houston. Behind John, from left, Nancy, Jackie, Tanya.

Day 15: Friday is market day at our nearby Illano Park, where we do a fair amount of running, strolling, and buying jugos and licuados.

Roasting park, then slicing it thin.

Breakfast tables. There are dozens of similar mini restaurants within the market.

Day 14: Losing track of time again. The days fly by remarkably fast with a mix of runs, working in hotel room or Library, going out for smoothies and other jaunts about town, and then a leisurely evening meal.

Amby was doing his normal "walkabout" after dinner the other night, Cristina being in Houston, when he came upon a light and music show projected against the facade of the famous Santo Domingo church. The colorful patterns moved about in a totally abstract manner, which was quite mesmerizing.