#194 / 2011 Spring: Oaxaca

I ARRIVE IN OAXACA

#194

April 27

By one o’clock in the afternoon, slightly disheveled, I was on the plane. I didn’t catch the fact we passed a time zone going to Mexico City so I had to really run to make that plane. I don’t think I would have if I had taken my laptop.

The plane was TINY. The smallest commercial plane I have ever flown in. And it was fascinating to fly the short flight on to Oaxaca City. The mountains were rugged and most of the land looked inhospitable. There was an occasional small town visible, but basically it looked raw and primitive.  We kept going higher and higher.

One of the most important things I wanted to do in Oaxaca was meet Doña Queta, a native herbalist, who is internationally known. Sometimes called the woman of the clouds as we continued higher and higher I could see why as the tiny plane passed under then over huge billowing white clouds.

When I arrived at the small airport, for the first time in all my years of travel, there at the front line was someone with a sign “Pamela Hirst.” It was my dream come true; our dream come true.

Tere Gomez Andres and her daughter met me with smiles and a hug. We got into her car and drove out. I was captivated by the foliage and the smell in the air. It was nice. Mountain air.

We travel through a nondescript town of one-story buildings, passed Sam’s Club, and after less than ten minutes we were home. Tere parked on the street next to a building on the left full of graffiti. Not very attractive. She nodded to the other side of the street. And there I saw an enormous twelve foot high ancient adobe wall with a massive wooden gate on iron hinges. Ancient. It looked just like a monastery. I loved it instantly.

And when we walked through the portal to the oasis inside I marveled at my good luck. Here is where I live. It was elegant. Tere showed me to my room on the second floor. There were four units. I had a nice bed, kitchenette, shower and balcony. That night I went down into the garden below and cried as I talked to Joe, cried and cried. Here is where I will mourn and hopefully heal.