Oaxaca Family Adventure: San Bartolo Coyotepec and Mercado de la Merced

South of the city we visited San Bartolo where the residents make their famous black pottery. There is also a museum dedicated to folk art which showcases the black pottery but also includes work from surrounding areas. Our trip to the museum served as a visual recap of all of the villages and areas we've visited.

The children were delighted to find a playground in the generous plaza which also houses beautiful trees. One of which has a sign declaring it to be a 100 year old Kapok tree. Abe ran circles around it and I tried to imagine its branches were dinosaur necks. We all thought it looked like the tree of life we've seen depicted in the folk art.

At the mercado we hunted for a small vase to replace one from our apartment that Penelope accidentally broke. (We have broken four things in our apartment: a glass, a clay bird pot, a black ceramic vase, and a light bulb. We may not get our deposit back).

Back in Oaxaca we ate lunch before exploring the Mercado de la Merced which is a smaller market catering to a middle class neighborhood near the small plaza where Abe likes to play soccer. We've read that the food is particularly good there. The market generally serves almuerzo, the brunch meal. Oaxacans eat a light breakfast--coffee, bread, or some hot corn drink. Then they eat almuerzo around 11:00 which includes dishes like eggs, enchiladas, potatoes, etc. Around 2:30 they sit down to their main meal called comida which usually entails several courses of appetizer, soup, rice, entree, and dessert. Cena is a light supper around 7:00 or 8:00 PM and is made up of street food dishes--tlayudas, elotes, tortas, etc. which people can pick up as they go for their evening walk or head home work. Of course there are snacks at every time of the day including homemade jello cups, freshly fried potato chips, flavored ice, tejate, licuados, aguas frescas, ice cream of every variety, fresh fruit, and I could go on forever.

Anyway, in regard to the market we indulged in some licuados, paletas, and bought some tamales for dinner. This market is a favorite with famous chef and foodie, Rick Bayless and Mark Bittman, respectively. Here is an article by Mark Bittman which does a great job of summing up our experiences and perceptions of markets and food in Oaxaca. I only wish I could write as well and succinctly. Mark Bittman on Mercado de la Merced