Oaxaca... off the beaten path, Part Four

Day Six
This will be a relatively short recap as we spent most of the day in the car driving home from Coatzacoalcos. Our trip was ever so slightly shorter as we were down a car. Vicente's and Mari's families stayed there for the day. A cultural observation, although not a new revelation... Oaxacanas are very group oriented and always stay together. They make group decisions and often will deliberate for 15 as to where to eat. While shopping in Coatza. that morning we had to walk around together... all 16 of us. If one person stopped to look at something... everybody stopped. Americans do not generally do this. We designate a meeting spot and time and split up. You're on your own!

Here we are waiting for the group to regroup before heading homeMargarita, Alex and Margaret
We ate breakfast at their version of Walmart (this store accepts Sam's Club credit cards). It was a very upscale store at a shopping mall nicer than ours. Coatza. is a more affluent area of Vera Cruz and definitely all of Oaxaca. Mari took control of Scott, referring to him as "el guerro" (the white guy). "Eh guero... ven conmigo" (Hey white guy... come with me!)

Here is my bestest and sweetest friend, Tello, the proud papa! Here we are at "Walmart" for breakfast
Of the five hour trip, a good four hours is through real cattle country. Real ranches, real cowboys. Most of the cattle there are Brahma which is what you will find in the more southern, hotter states here in the US. En route, we saw "Carnes y Mariscos"(Steak and Seafood) restaurants every where. Our carne included grilled cow's udder. Mmm! Just kidding. It was the texture of calamari and had no taste what-so-ever.

El Carne
Another Mexico inconvenience. Speed bumps... they are every where! I am not kidding when I say we could have easily shaved 1 1/2 hours off from our trip had they not been there. It is Mexico's way of keeping people alive and not having to monitor speeds limits. The good thing about the speed bumps (reductores de velicidad) is that they allows you to finally pass the guy in front of you. You get to the left side of him at the speed bump and once over, gun it. Sometimes someone gets to the left of you to pass you while you are passing him. Three cars, same direction on a two lane road. Sweeeet!

Classic Tello (aka Granny behind the wheel) story:
After following 2 double-trailer tractor trailers for 45 minutes (probably was really only 20 minutes... could have been 15... doesn't matter), Tello finally finds the balls to pass them. We cheer... YaHHHH Tello you did it!" We pass them also. 10 mintues down the road, Tello pulls over. We pull over. Tello rolls down the window and asks, "Anyone need water?" Us: "NO Tello... Let's get going!" Guess who drives by as we are having this conversation? You got it... The two trucks we just passed.

Right now I would give anything to be sitting along the road with them while the trucks passed us. I miss them so much!

We arrived back in Juchitan that night to discover that Javier thought we were visiting him that day and threw a HUGE party in our honor. We felt like jerks! More on Javier and his family in the next installment of "Oaxaca... off the beaten path"