The Return Pt. 4: Oaxaca

I wake up confused because I do not recognize this bus station. A fellow from Hospitality Club is supposed to meet me so that I can leave my things at his house during the day. I’ve decided to just take another night bus from Oaxaca to San Cristobal, just to get somewhere where I can actually put my bags down and rest. But I can’t bear to pass through Oaxaca without at least getting coffee with my dear friend Leo, a wonderful and talented musician whose secret weapon is his incredible laugh. I realize this bus company doesn’t drop me off at the main bus station but instead some little shack-like station outside of the city. So I get in a cab, hoping I’ll find my host soon.

And I do. He shows up and helps me carry my oversized bags on and off a bus and up a street to the gym where he’s going to work out. I put my bags in the gym and decide to walk around the city while I wait. Though I am slightly delirious from the bus ride and the hour of the morning, I manage to remember the layout of the city somewhat. I try to go to the organic market at el Pochote but it’s not open yet. So I walk and walk for an hour and a half, surprised at my ability to just keep wandering despite my exhaustion.

My HC host then takes me to his house where I get to meet his whole family and his mother invites me to eat breakfast with them, very sweet people. I realize I’m already late to meet Leo but I have to wait patiently for my host to shower and get ready for work (he’s already an hour late too, but I guess it’s no problem?). But despite all my panicky fears that the one reason I’ve come to Oaxaca will disappear, Leo is waiting patiently for me at Santo Domingo. Happy laughs and hugs and all the tardiness and waiting mean nothing.

We go to have a coffee and tell each other stories for a couple hours, catching up and also stories just for the laughs of them. Leo is teaching classes now in an institute run by the city government of Oaxaca and he loves it, though now he can’t drink beer anymore, he laughs loud at this. “No more Coronas!!!” He exclaims and he laughs and laughs.

In the afternoon I buy my ticket for San Cristobal, very eager to just arrive and sleep. The afternoon is sunny and breezy and we go to a place where Leo usually plays, a sushi restaurant outside of the center of the city. Leo is supposed to play today but we show up and he whispers to me, “I didn’t even bring my guitar!” and he laughs and laughs. We’re just here for the sushi; he knows how much I love it. Salmon, aguacate, cream cheese, yum.

The day is winding down when we head up to the mirador a look-out point just past the luxurious home we enjoyed for a couple of days back in November, the Hotel Victoria. We chat and laugh and via text message I set up a quick coffee date with another Oaxacan friend. He texts me a bit later saying he'll be 20 minutes late and I am really in no rush, though my bus does leave at 9pm that night. Eventually we ease up from the concrete slab we'd been occupying and head for Leo's red bocho (his old beat-up VW beetle that recently started to smell nauseatingly of gasoline, "At least it covers up the old smell of beer!" I tell him and he laughs and laughs). As I put my hand on the door handle, I hear a voice "Oh my God." It sounds familiar but not until I look up do I see our dear friend Beni! Beni's a young German kid who was sharing the house with us in San Cristobal in December. I had been disapointed when my trip got delayed to the point where I wouldn't be able to see Beni before he left Mexico, but thanks to God we found each other on some little mountain in Oaxaca.

Late again, I meet my friend at Santo Domingo and we head for a coffee shop near the park where I'm set to meet my host in an hour. Mostly I listen sympathetically to him tell me the great saga of some problems he's been having with a radio project. He always has wonderful stories and I never have enough time. Rushing again to another bus, it's very easy for me to fall asleep as soon as I board.