Oaxaca Weekend

It´s Sunday morning. My hostal offers breakfast every day of the week EXCEPT Sunday, so I´m walking around the deserted streets at 8:30 a.m. looking for a cafe that might be open. Oaxaca, like most towns in Mexico, is not big on waking up early in the morning. Early is any time before 9 a.m. Likewise Sunday is even worse. It doesn´t help matters any that Saturday night was fiesta night. That´s just all the more reason why those places that are foolish enough to open on Sunday, don´t do so until late.
When I found a cafe that was open, it was filled with gringos. No surprise! I spent a fascinating couple of hours talking with a journalist for an English language newspaper in Mexico City. He agreed with me that, regrettably, Mexican newspapers are terrible. He said a career as a journalist in Mexico is still very dangerous. Last year alone 16 Mexican journalists were either killed or "disappeared". Most of them, if not all, were from border towns along the US frontier. These towns are controlled by the narco-traffickers. If somebody doesn´t like the tone of an editorial or the "investigating news report," they don´t waste time writing an angry letter to the editor. Next to Iraq, Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist.
Fortunately, for him, neither the Mexican government nor the Mexican mafia pay much, if any, attention to the English language press.
I strolled over to the main square. It was now closer to noon. Again, the majority of the tables were occupied by gringos. But the marimba players were out in full force and their sound was marvelous. Alas, all the party-going still-in-bed mexicanos within earshot must wake up their hungover heads to marimba music.
I wandered over to the market and had the good fortune to walk past the chocolate stores. There is a district here in Oaxaca where they sell chocolate. They sell it in every conceivable form: powder, chocolate bars, hot and cold drinks, etc. They serve hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon, almonds, vanilla, whipped cream, the works. Scrumptious! They can also even add chili pepper, upon request. I did not request. Some of the just-waking-up mexicano fiesta-goers definitely did request. Just walking by was a delight to my nose! In addition to the take away chocolate, there are also chocolate "bars," not as in Snickers, but as in places where you can sit at a bar and order your liquid chocolate delight anyway you want it.
It´s ALMOST a shame, the weather isn´t colder to make it more attractive to want to drink hot chocolate.
Cheers!