A Walk in the Oaxaca Barrios of Xochimilco, Reforma, and Jalatlaco

Thanks for your interest in my recent nine day trip to Oaxaca City, Mexico. I’ve broken the trip into eight parts loosely organized by the central activity of the day. Want to see the other posts? Browse the Oaxaca category.

Our breakfast quesadillas and lack of plan put me in a spunky mood. I christened myself “Daddy Mack AKA ND DaddyMaXXX AKA Potential Daddy Mack Attack” and I riffed on the name for an annoying amount of our stroll. I also called J a dog, because Daddy MaXXX is a cat, yo!

We passed through many quiet neighborhoods off the beaten path, along dry rivers littered with fruit. We stopped for lunch at the only place that seemed open and ordered the only thing they were making: cameletas. This snack consists of small tortillas topped with beans, salsa, cheese and other toppings that are heated on an unglazed baking disc called a comal.

Each was about 6 pesos.

Mexican flag color scheme.

This can teaches a bad lesson about stuffing garbage in clown mouths.

Corrugated wall.

Window dressing.

Random acts of tile.

Colorful walls.

Arcade.

Closed.

R is for red wall.

Reflections of an uninviting bathroom.

Squash wall.

Bleachers.

J has a gang down here.

A plain sign.

Creek.

Mud bricks, stone, and a blocked window.

More homes tucked amongst old aqueducts.

When bricked windows don’t offer enough security.

Decorated, but unfinished mansion.

Bridge over absent water.

Dengue fever warning.

Little walkway.

Inside an all pink church.

We went to the bathroom at a medical school some distance away. Again the ground was littered with fruit, specifically mangos and pomelo. Oaxaca seems to have more colleges per capita than any other place I’ve been, and likely related to this is the amount of doctor and dentist offices that seemed to be on every block.

Abandoned building in front of a bustling medical school.

Courtyard.

The breaking of a thousand mother’s backs.