I had always heard about them and felt sorry or laughed at the people that had problems with them. Until now… my first night here at the Hostal Pochon, the sheets had two long hairs on them and I am pretty sure they didn’t get changed that day. I have watched them change them everyday so I do not think it is a common occurrence here. I was just the lucky one. I have red dots on both my arms and legs. They itch like crazy. I am usually able to not scratch bug bites but these I have. I have opened up several of the bites and they are now scabbing over. This really doesn’t solve the problem. I do not think I have been getting more every night I think they are just worse from the scratching.
I am very happy with the Hostel otherwise, and would recommend this place to anyone staying in Oaxaca. The staff is very friendly and the breakfast is great, and it is only a few minutes walk from the zocalo. I have enjoyed my time here considering that I got sick and the bites.
Archive for March, 2010
Bed Bugs Suck… really they do… kind of like mosquitos!!!
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 28th, 2010I went down to the Zocalo today to check out the start of the festivities. Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Semana Santa. I had seen some posters around but they were all in Spanish so I didn’t really know what they said, but I could understand that there was something going on in front of the Cathedral today. So I grabbed my camera and headed down there. All around the zocalo there were eople selling knick knacks. Ballons, street food, jewelry, and right out front of the church were tons of crafts made from palm fronds.
About noon a processional came by with hundreds of people carrying palm leaves escorting the clergy to the Cathedral. They were lining the path in front of them, hand in hand holding palm fronds. It was pretty impressive to see. I wasn’t far from the side door of the church and I could hear the mass being given in Latin. I noticed some people were setting up video cameras and speakers, so I ambled over. At 1230 there was a concert. It was a band of children and they were really good. I found a good spot in the shade to sit and watch. But soon I was getting crowded and hot so I headed back to the hostel. More later…
Semana Santa!!!
Saturday, March 27th, 2010If your like me not Catholic, and from a non predominantly Catholic society, you probably only know about Easter Sunday. Semana Santa is a celebration the entire week from Palm Sunday until Holy Saturday, but not Easter. Easter is actually the start of the next great 50 days. . I remember Palm Sunday when I a kid in church as the one before Easter. I remember this because of the practice for and performance of the passion play. I also remember getting up absurdly early to go to sunrise service a few times. I just never really thought about the holiday affecting the population at large.
Semana Santa as it pertains to my trip , well in Mexico and Central America Semana Santa is a huge deal!!! When planning my trip I did not realize that I would need to take precautions and make reservations for this week. So now I have a minor problem, I am trying to go to San Cristobal de la Casas, and so far three hostels have wrote me back that they are full. I am not sure where I am going to stay but I am going to take a chance tomorrow and head up there. I get there very early in the morning so I have plenty of time to find a place. If not it looks like I will go to Guatemala a bit early.
My extra day here in Oaxaca is great, as I am looking forward to going down to the Zocalo tomorrow and watching the start of the holy week festivities.
The photo is taken from http://oaxacatimes.com/html/semanasanta.html
