Submitted by Samantha Kerr-Vanderslice on the 2013 spring semester study abroad program in Puebla-Cholula, Mexico…
For my birthday, Jake surprised me by planning a wonderful trip to Oaxaca, a colonial city about 4 hours away, south-east of Puebla. Oaxaca is known for its food, its artisan crafts, and its beauty, so we were looking forward to getting to spend some time there. We left Puebla on Thursday and got to Oaxaca around 5. We got a map from a tourist kiosk at the bus station, and made our way to our hostel: Casa Angel, which was another great hostel find.
It is in a great location, very close to some great restaurants, a few blocks from the zocalo and the markets. Everything is pretty much within walking distance. It is also very clean and well maintained, with friendly and helpful staff, and it comes with a really good breakfast! Once we dropped off our stuff, we wandered around the neighborhood, and stopped for dinner at a place Jake had read was good. And it was! I got empanadas…yummm.
The next day, we expanded our exploring. First stop: the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. It was yet another beautiful, ornate church, that makes me realize how boring the Pilgrims were. We don’t have anyyything like this in the U.S.
Down a few more streets, we came to a women’s artisan shop, which sells pretty much every kind of craft you could ever want to buy. If you have ever seen small, wooden statues of animals painted in awesome vibrant colors, those are from Oaxaca.
We got a few gifts, but mostly gawked at all the beautiful things. The intricate, woven rugs were really gorgeous, along with the colorful embroidered traditional clothing. From there we walked down to the zocalo, which was bustling with the usual shoe-shiners, food and goods hawkers and vendors, and lots of people just watching the world go by. We stopped in to see the other cathedral, which had some beautiful stained glass. 
For the next few hours we enjoyed the wonderful markets of Oaxaca. There are three big ones: Benito Juarez has just about everything–crafts, butchers, fruit and vegetables, clothes, and mezcal. Mezcal is an alcohol from Oaxaca which, like the more famous tequila, is made from agave. Unlike tequila, there are not as strict regulations on the processing or creation of mezcal. We stopped at a stand that had a wide variety of mezcals and we got the run down by the owner. He scoffed at the touristy brands of mezcal, the ones that come in a pretty bottle and have a sombrero on the cap. He recommended, of course, the most expensive and the strongest ones.
We stopped at a chocolate store, where I was much more interested in what they were offering.
The next market we went to is called 20 de Noviembre, which is all food vendors, selling the traditional dishes of Oaxaca: tamales, atole, various caldos (broths), and TLAYUDAS!!! Tlayudas are delicious. We had them when we went to Mexico City, but these were even better. It’s a giant flour, crunchy tortilla, covered with refried beans, oaxacan cheese (which is amazing), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and meat. We were pros so we knew you have to fold it in half then cut it in half to eat. We watched some tourists struggling to eat it like a giant slice of pizza.
The next morning we walked up a big hill/park nearby our hostel. It was a bit of a hike, especially in the 90 degree Oaxacan sun. As we were walking, there was this constant loud, whining noise. There were some radio towers at the top, and power lines going up either side of the path, so we were worried that there was something wrong with the electricity lines. When we got to the top, we went down a different path for a few minutes, and even though there were no power lines, the noise was louder than ever. Finally, I realized it was coming from the trees, more specifically, the GIANT cicadas living in the trees. We were glad that it wasn’t the power lines. 
As Jake said, that afternoon we went to the Tule tree. The real highlight was the food. That evening, we wandered around a bit more to walk off our food babies.
Oaxaca is a great city to walk in. It’s very clean and scenic, with lots of nice restaurants, churches, parks, and markets. Even though I’ve heard Monte Alban (the archeological site nearby) is great, and the Hierve el Agua (natural springs in the mountains) are beautiful, I was content just hanging out in the city. We’ll just have to come back.
The landscapes on the way back were amazing. White hillsides covered with cacti and brush, mountains, cliffs, and cows and goats grazing in fields. It was a great trip, from start to finish. I highly recommend a trip to Oaxaca for anyone planning on going to Mexico. 