Leashed rabbit

This morning we went to Tamsui, a town by the sea and a river and visible from our windows. The day I arrived was the final day of the Chinese New Year and I watched fireworks all along it, far below our condo building on a hillside above the town. The Boddhisattva is in Vietnam […]

A very long day

And still many hours to go. I woke up early, around five, as I have been in recent days, and then had a phone meeting about a bit of work that remains very fuzzy and unclear and is due very soon. Then there was some frenzied packing – frenzied largely because I did a wash […]

Lost plane

At 7 this morning a colectivo picked me up from the homestay and took me to the airport. It was a colectivo but there were no other passengers, so it was a quick journey. Of course, it was also 7 in the morning on a Saturday. It also turned out to be a very early […]

Farewells

Last day in Oaxaca. I’ve been feeling rather sad. The city is overflowing with people and cars and dancers and music and excitement, which is making it feel like I’ll really miss out but also the city is starting to be unrecognisable. There are vast tents set up on some streets, and filled with stalls […]

A final outing

It turns out that my Instagrammer acquaintance is well known in Bangkok’s food scene. Last night she invited a few of us over to the place where she is staying for a Thai meal. So I went to the market for fruit, met up with Vida Loca (who arrived at our meetup point late and […]

The dance of the feather

At 9 I met the Instagrammer at the spot from where one can catch colectivos to Tlacolula’s Sunday market. It was a pleasant journey, quite chatty. I told hre about my limpia, she told me about her limpia, and with this early morning exchange of innermost secrets it was easy to get along. We arrived […]

Spiritual cleansing

This morning, I and one of my housemates met my teacher in town to catch a taxi to a village near Tule, the home of the largest tree. Unfortunately, the road was very, very crowded and eventually turned out to be blocked – we would have to walk the rest of the way, about 3-4 […]

What could have been

An unexpected successful, if short, excursion this evening. I went out to get dinner and had thought I would go to Llano park for the delicious elotes from the cart one has to queue for 20 minutes for. At the last minute, as I walked towards Porfirio Diaz, I changed my mind and decided to […]

Bigger class yet

Two more people joined the class, bringing the total up to four (another left over the weekend and may or may not be back the next weekend). They are perfectly pleasant, even interesting – one a soldier who was posted to Afghanistan, and the other an Instagrammer in the flesh. But yes, too many people. […]