Mission Impossible - Dish Edition

Yesterday was one of those days; I had a string of bad luck. It was kicked off by the events of the other night when I broke a whole set of dishes in the apartment where I'm staying. Yes, an entire set.

Here's a visual for you.

I know you probably want to know how that happened, so here's a pic to set the scene. This is the shelf they were on top of (a bad place for me to put dishes, I know) and when I tried to remove the water bottle that was in the bottom of this shelf, it toppled over and that was that. Yes, this happened to be late one Friday night after a mezcal (or two). Coincidence I think. 

Diagram of a disaster

Operation Dish Replacement Begins: Adventure in Abastos 

And so, my mission lately has been trying to replace the dishes. Turns out they are a little hard to find because of course, they're not from Wal-Mart, but handmade. After checking around town, I desperately posted pictures of them in the Oaxaca FB group I'm a member of, and a couple of people suggested I'd find them at this big, crazy market in town that has everything, called Abastos. So yesterday after work and before Spanish class, I went there. I did not find the dishes. I found everything else I could have ever wanted or needed in the chaos of this gigantic, traditional market– from live turkeys and chickens to purses and clothes, fresh cut flowers, furniture, and of course every fruit and vegetable Mexico produces. However, as deep as I went into the labyrinth of Abastos, I could not find pottery.

Mission Abastos, Aborted 

Since I had my Spanish class at 6:00, I gave up and made my way out of the market (not easy) and started walking along a busy road toward the part of town where my class was. I took my phone out of my bag to check the map and then ended up texting Melody. This was my mistake. I was holding the phone in my hand and actually voice texting her, "This place is crazy," when a guy ran up out of nowhere and snatched it from me. There was a bit of a struggle (it was a reflex to try to hang on to it), and somewhere in the mix I know I screamed. Then he was gone with my phone. I was so mad!

Anyway, I had no choice but to keep walking, so I carried on to Spanish class. Since our class is only an hour, I figured I'd just deal with the phone issue afterward.

Spanish Word of the Day: Pendejo

Catalina and I meet in a restaurant, and when I walked in, some old guy at another table started chatting me up and telling me I could join him at his table. I declined and went to wait for Catalina in the other room. When she arrived, we went back into the room where the guy was. I had taken off my hat, so at first he didn't recognize me and asked if I was the same girl who had come in before (super observant guy). I said yes, I had just taken off my hat so maybe I looked different, and he said I looked lovely now and the difference was like "beauty and the beast." ¡Que pendjejo! (That means "What an asshole/dumbass!" And BTW, my hat was awesome).

Sueros to the Rescue 

This rudeness was the last thing I felt like hearing, but after he left, Catalina and I ended up having a great last class! We drank sueros (beers with lime and salt) and played a traditional Mexican game called la loteria, which is like Bingo with pictures. Her version had little word-plays and poems on the back of each of the picture-cards, and I loved trying to guess them.

When I got home, I called T.Mobile and suspended my service and I went online and changed all my important passwords, just to be safe. I pulled my other phone out of my closet and charged it. I'll need to get a new SIM card from the States to reconnect the phone service, but at least I can use it to access WiFi.

Wobbly Political Statement 

Settled in and with the phone under control, I realized I was out of drinking water, so I had to go to the corner store and buy some. I popped over, grabbed the water, and when I went to pay, some old drunk guy came in the store and got way too close to me and started asking if I was from the U.S. I answered politely but kept it brief. I was not in the mood for drunken small talk. Unfortunately, then it escalated into him saying something heated about Trump and getting all riled up. The woman behind the counter just rolled her eyes sympathetically at me and asked the man, by name, to leave. I guess he was must be the local borracho. I had to laugh at this end to the day. I headed home.

Success-ish in Atzompa   

Today, my unlucky streak seems to have ended. Melody and Jess and I went to a nearby town called Atzompa that's known for its pottery. We had a fun day exploring and I managed to patch together a set of replacement dishes. Granted, the "set" is a bit sad (imagine a Charlie Brown Christmas table setting), but it will just have to do. Maybe the time is right for me to leave the country. :)

Jess, looking chic as ever in sunny Atzompa 

Squished in the cab on the way back. In Mexico, there's always room for 3 up front!

Seriously though, I fly out of Oaxaca this coming Saturday morning for Florida, and I'm feeling pretty sad about leaving. Melody, Chris, Jess... and Mexico, I will miss you more than my stoic nature lets me express. There's no question I'll be back.

Money spent today

150 pesos- 2 plates, 2 bowls, 1 mug
200 pesos- lunch/best juice ever/frappe
240 pesos- shirt/belt (super cool but I'll probably never wear it)
50 pesos - taxi
= 640 pesos/about $32 USD