doshkeno

I followed up my tranquil evening in Llano Grande with a guided hike to the 3280 meter high Piedra Larga, supposedly the highest point in the Sierra Norte.

I was not sure why I was leaving for Oaxaca on this day. I imagined the city interrupting my peace and growing lung capacity. But I was also alone, and on the other hand, felt like I needed more social activity. This mountain solitude, useful as it can be, can make a city girl restless.

My doubts wer e assuaged when I jumped into a Oaxaca-bound colectivo, a makeshift taxi out of a pickup truck, with 4 people, including the driver, speaking a languge I didn´t understand - Zapotec. It´s like Japanese with an Italian singsong, if you could imagine, or maybe it´s just me. All were middle-aged men, one easily mistaken for Asian, and one carsick child. The man next to me was friendly enoughed, so I asked him about their language. It is disappearing, he said, because schools are taught in Spanish. I got up the gall to ask him a couple words:

hello - bujush
yes - ahwe
no - bee
thank you - doshkeno