Brad introduced me to Omniglot.com today, a website that has collections of useful phrases in Polish, as well as Spanish and 16 other languages.
My brother Roy and I will travel to Krakow in May and I intend to be proficient in many of these phrases as possible by then. I have been disappointed at how weak I am in communicating in Spanish while in Mexico, despite a string of 120 consecutive days in using the Duolingo app. I hope to do better in Poland.
The big event on our final day in Oaxaca was the evening meal at Ancestral, a higher end Oaxacan restaurant. Ham and I treated our benefactor Braulio (Don Brad) to whatever he wished for tonight. He had been an invaluable friend, brother, and guide to our immersion in the culture and a conduit to connect with the people who we had the pleasure of meeting on this special vacation.
The dish that Ham ordered was highly interesting and markedly impressive. Our waiter placed a hollowed-out gourd in front of him, where were placed several vegetables and some assorted seafood. Then a serrated stone pestle mashed the food items into small pieces. The waiter then poured some rich stock into the bowl. Next, he walked over to an open fire pit and came back to the table and placed a very hot baseball-sized rock into the gourd with a pair of tongs. A couple of minutes later the liquid within the bowl began to emit visible vapor, and soon developed into a strong boil.
On the other hand, micy drink was uniquely satisfying.
Everything that was served to us was unique and delicious.
On our walk back to our rooms at Casa Arnel we continued to experience the surprises of the city, such as life on the edge of a daylong wedding celebration where dancing to live music continued well into the night.
My two weeks in Oaxaca will be over tonight. My room, which included breakfast each of 14 days was $420.
Tomorrow will be a final very long travel day ( which extended itself to two days ) starting with a 3:30 AM walk with me dragging my suitcase three blocks up to the city bus terminal where dozens of displaced travelers from across the globe are sleeping inside and in the sidewalks outside the well lit modern structure.
It’s all worth it to be in Oaxaca for two weeks. Everything seems just a bit sketchy here in Mexico, but it always works out. These days, the US looks like everything is in place but lately things aren’t working out quite like they used to.
As one of my cultural heroes (and fellow immigrant ) Arnold says, “ I’ll be back!”
Tom Jamrog's Weblog 
as Brad says “in the US everything works and little works out; in Mexico little works and everything works out” or something like that….
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