Day 1 of our trip to Oaxaca! We kicked off our vacation with a red-eye flight to and a 10-hour layover in Houston! Why Houston, you ask? Because I didn’t have enough points for a direct flight, and I couldn’t afford to pay the difference.

My lack of sleep these last few days finally caught up to me. I slept about 8 hours last night, then another 4 hours in the afternoon. Now I’m feeling. After further exploration, we decided that Oaxaca is a very Instagrammable place. It’s very colorful, and the weather is perfect.

Had breakfast and ordered this bagel, guacamole, and egg sandwich. Much better than the avocado toast we have in San Francisco, mainly because they are more generous with the avocado.

This morning, we visited several local mercados where we had a traditional Oaxacan breakfast. I wish I could say that I enjoyed it, but I didn’t. The meal itself was fine, but I was seated in front of all this raw meat, and the pungent smell made me nauseous. Fortunately, I was able to wash away the feelings of indigestion with hot cocoa and bread, which gave me the right boost to power through the rest of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Water Boils! These petrified waterfalls formed from calcium carbonate and other minerals present in the waterfall. There are only two petrified waterfalls in the world: one in Oaxaca and the other in Turkey.

Today, we spent most of our time hiking! The highlight was this morning when we visited the Auditorio Guelaguetza, a prominent cultural venue. Situated on the hillside of Cerro del Fortín, it offers panoramic views of the city and showcases vibrant folkloric dances and music that celebrate Oaxacan heritage and traditions.

Today, we moved from a small hotel room in the city center to a larger Airbnb at the top of the hill overlooking the city. We spent the day admiring our view and exploring the new neighborhood and restaurants.

Today, we took a cooking class with friends! This might surprise some, but I’m not an awesome cook. That’s why I desperately needed this. Prepare for a fine dining experience.

We discovered this morning that my Airbnb host is taking care of a monkey while the owner is away. Generally, I don’t handle wildlife, but I couldn’t resist this opportunity. I’ve never been this close to a monkey before! She’s a spider monkey named Bonita.

This morning, our host introduced us to his birds. He had several of them, but the nicest one was named Carlito (featured here). So far, this old man may challenge me for our love of animals. Besides these birds and the spider monkey he’s babysitting, he also has two dogs that he rescued from the streets.