Oaxaca, Mexico, Dia dos

After a long long journey of confusion and sleepiness and carrying and walking and sitting for hours upon hours. I arrived. with sun shining. and clean green grass. and Chucho drove up in his tiny automobile. waving loudly out the window. I had grand smiles. We breezed through arms and legs and fingers and heads and I brushed up on my Spanish and we laughed at his Missouri accent speaking Spanish through a long ago acquaintance.
Two hotcakes made with love from his mother and a tour of his art collection which is beyond words, brilliant, we drove to find Bryce, one of my oldest friends, as he concluded his teaching lesson. bright pallets of golds and reds buildings holding one another, embracing, row by row, bumping tires, we pound the claw knob and the large door swings!
A hat falls down, jumping and jumping we are dreaming. in Oaxaca, the gringos tell me this is the most beautiful city in the world, the Mexicans live the beautiful world. We eat tasty treats nearby Santa Domingo and the central square of the city.. why didn't I study BEFORE my departure? I lean on Bryce, US American face, Mexican boca. he is my translator. I will catch on. I will catch on.
I rest for hours and we meet Chucho for dinner in an open space, ceilings close atop when rain showers. Immaculate plates of plantains and mole sauce and sweet sounds and pretty faces. The election has stirred strikes for teachers and the city has tarps as sky, human spiderwebs of strings, and bryce says they breathe with the winds and passing time. people line the streets with their sleepings, blankets, pillows, friends in parking like cars.
Today we will visit museums and markets and dance with Bryce and write down my new Spanish words. A dream I am in. I won't wake for 9 more days!