Hello Tangerineys from Oaxaca City! It is October 29th and looking at the Dia
de Muertos calendar for Oaxaca it looks like today is the day when events
actually get started here. It is poppin' off!
We'll see. I think we're going to have a full day
though. Yeah, a fun-filled day with tons of activities. I'm stoked, absolutely
stoked, but first we need to get some breakfast.
We're at this cool little
breakfast spot that was highly recommended and it's called Marco Polo
it's actually a fish restaurant but they do breakfast that's not related to fish
at all, and it looks really good, and it's a nice atmosphere so I'm excited for
this breakfast. Maddie's not ready to be on camera yet this morning but she's
over here going "Mmm! Mmm!" as she's eating so I'll pass on from her
that she is enjoying her food. (Maddie) Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'll say it, I'll say it.
These are Enchiladas Suizas and I got them
with cecina which is a type of like marinated or brushed meat.
I forget what kind. It's pork. Pork? It's super, super good and flavorful!
And the sauce is amazing! I just love the food in Oaxaca.
Mmm! That breakfast was
Really good, I'd go there again. Oh yeah, so tasty! I couldn't finish the
whole thing and that seems to be a common theme here in Oaxaca City is that
you get these plates but filled with food, so much food, it is impossible to
finish it and it's all so good so slowly but surely I'm getting much fatter than
when we arrived. [Laughter] I ate dinner last night and my mole and chicken was so good
but I couldn't finish it because it was too much food. And it's so sad, right? I know!
Usually it's not enough to take it with you to like waste the to-go containers
But like mmm! And I'm not complaining either, the food is so good! Bring it
all, bring it on! I thought it was interesting though, this place that we just ate at
It was all Mexicans in there besides us, so clearly it's a local secret. And we
were going to show you some of the festivities last night but
this happened... I don't know why but I think this is like the greatest thing
ever. He has his elote cart decorated for Día de Muertos.
That's awesome!
[Banda music playing]
[Mariachi music playing]
This is a "comparsa" - A lively parade-like procession with music, dancing, and costumes.
[Banda music playing]
Okay, so we were going to try to come out here and see what type of festivities
were going on this evening but it quite literally rained on the parade. You stole
my joke! I did, I stole his joke. [Laughter] And it has been pouring buckets all
evening so I think... But that's okay because they have baskets over here on
their heads with plants in them so it's going to do good things for that at least. Yeah, but for us
not so much. For the rest of everything else, not so much. I think we got to wrap it up for the night. Yeah, we do.
Didn't their parents tell them not to put bags on their head? That's okay, they're dead.
[Laughter] They're already dead.
Get me out of here! Help!
[Laughter] Jordan, you're so sparkly!
[Laughter] Maddie, what do you
think of Oaxaca so far? I think you guys know by now, I love Oaxaca! I love everything
about Oaxaca: food, people, the colorful stuff, the textiles, artisanias
Everything, everything! How about Dia de Muertos? Well, I've been enjoying it so
far. And I just think it's special that we can even be part of this
because this is totally not part of our culture at all, so to be sort of like
welcomed here to partake in it is like, wow! I love that! So I want to say
something about Dia de Muertos. We've gotten some pushback of people saying no
it's Dia de los Muertos and we thought that last year as well until we
made some videos about Dia de los Muertos and we got a bunch of comments
saying actually it's just dia de Muertos and Dia de los Muertos is actually a
incorrect back translation from English countries. So it was translated into
English from dia de Muertos to Day of the Dead, and then you translate it back
from Day of the Dead and it becomes Dia de los Muertos
However, if we're wrong on this and our information is incorrect or people have led us astray
please let us know in the comments because we obviously don't want to do
the same for you.
Okay, we decided to pop into the inauguration festival de las catrinas.
At least I think that's where we are right now.
There's so many people and so much going on.
And I've seen one catrina. Yeah, one. I thought there'd be multiple or
I was expecting a parade, actually. But
like normal I have no idea what to expect ever. Soo...
So I was told by someone that this was the festival de catrinas. (points to Maddie) Wow! Wow! But it's actually
Festival of altars. Way to throw me under the bus, I'm doing my best here. [Laughter]
Get me out of here! Get me out! [Laughter]
Go, find the opening.
I found more proof that it's dia de Muertos.
You really, really want to prove this! [Laughter] I just want to get to the truth.
So we are now at Feria Artisenal which translates to artisan fair or perhaps
maybe handicraft fair. And this is where towns from all across Oaxaca have come
and set up booths for clothing, and footwear, and jewelry, and different types
of crafts and it is just like incredible how much culture is packed into this
tiny little space. Last time we were in Oaxaca we took a day tour to see three
of the town's, three of the many towns that are within this fair, and it's just
crazy we traveled all over the place and it was a whole day, and here you have
this fair where you get to see all of it just like jam-packed in one place.
Jordan has found his favorite booth.
Okay, What is this? Dulce de leche.
Sweets.
Oh okay. And this?
It's lime filled with coconut.
Oh, how interesting.
Do you want to try it?
No, I don't want anything sweet.
Okay, maybe later. Thanks a lot!
So this one, it says "San Bartolo Coyotepec"
And barro negro meaning black mud. And that's one of the places we went
in the tour before. Then we go right here it's San Martín Tilcajete and
Madera Tallada meaning "Carved wood."
And that's another one in places we went to
learn about alebrijes! So we've been to four of the nearby towns to Oaxaca
City and I thought we got a really cool experience of what Oaxaca is all about.
But there's so many more towns that I've not only never heard of but I couldn't
even begin to try to pronounce within this little market or a fair. So this is
like just way too cool! Do you want to try to pronounce them? No. Here's a game I'm
gonna show the name of the town and have Maddie try to pronounce it.
Santa Maria Texcatitlan?
Okay, that might be all right. Okay.
This one is a little easier. San Pablo Yaganiza. I got this.
Teotitlan Del Valle. Oh, nice! You're getting good at this!
[Laughter] 150, right?
Are there other colors? Of that, it's the only one.
Okay. We have these.
Like this, look.
They're various colors.
I prefer this one. I'm going to buy it.
Here you go. Thank you very much. Have a good day!
Thank you. Well, we're here this booth from the town (Maddie struggling to pronounce Tlaxiaco).
Tlaxiaco. Tlaxiaco.
Tlaxiaco. Tlaxiaco. I'm having so much trouble with this!
We're looking at the jewelry here.
Thank you. So she's selling jewelry here made of silver with
many typical symbols and animals of this town. It's very pretty and you were
Just mentioning... Are they Aztec? Mixteco. Mixteco. Mixteco.
Okay. And you were mentioning
that the silver is usually nine point no .925, .925.
This is 0.95 so even higher quality, that's very cool.
Thank you. Yes. 100...
126 pesos. I'm going to buy it.
May I hold? I hold. [Laughter]
This ring is so pretty! It was kind of like quiet in there so I wasn't talking
that loud but I ended up getting this little simple silver ring for 126 pesos.
I really like this, and I like picking up small things from time to time to remind
us of these fun trips that we're having. I love Oaxaca a lot so I think I've
bought significantly more things here than I have anywhere else. Oh yeah! Here
Beats all other cities combined for your spending. Easily! I can not take
her here! [Laughter] So two videos ago we told you about what not to do when visiting the
Riviera Maya and one of those things in that video was when people are selling
jewelry that's claiming it's gold, or silver, or precious stones to not trust
that unless you're an expert because there's a lot of people who are known to
sell fakes. But I would put a lot more trust in someone from a small
town from the mountains of Oaxaca than someone in a heavy tourist zone in
Quintana Roo. Yeah because it's like in the Riviera Maya - The reason we even brought that up
is because they're preying on
tourists who don't really know what the prices are. They don't really know what
they're looking for, and then they're thinking they're getting something like
exotic or special that they wouldn't be able to find back home, whereas like here
it's not flooded with US... Well not as much.
It's not flood with
that type of tourism so someone who's a Spanish speaker from like you said,
the mountains of Oaxaca, where there's probably a silver mine. Where there's probably... Yeah,
exactly. That's not someone who's trying to rip you off so much. I got these
pumpkin seeds. Ten pesos for this pretty decent-sized bag. They're not just
Normal pumpkin seeds. I thought they were going to be toasted pumpkin seeds and
they're that plus deliciousness! Magic! Really good spices on them.
So now we're trying to find some more because we have to... They were ten pesos
so now we're gonna give her like a 50 and buy 5 more. Well we have no idea where she went
so I'm just thinking... you know how vendors have their calls, right? Like
"Agua Ciel!!" Is how the guy alerts you that he's selling water. Cinco pesos los tamales!!
Exactly. Well, okay. This lady didn't have a call so we're just gonna try to
call her. (Maddie yelling) Semillas de Calabaza!! [Laughter]
No, you can't hide!
She has to come find us now, I did the work. [Laughter]
Okay, now that I've sufficiently hidden from
embarrassment. (Talking to a vendor) Thanks, friend.
I can't take full credit for that. A good friend of ours from
Guadalajara, Emma, you've seen him in some videos before. He sent us this recording
of a guy who is selling Camote and Calabaza.
A vendor screaming "Hay camote y calabaza!!"
And the recording it made me laugh, I mean, if I had been drinking something
it would have shot out of my nose, it was so funny!
(Jordan yelling) Semillas de calabaza!! Stop!
Jordan! Stop! [Laughter] I'm embarrassing her.
[Laughter] Help! If I could disappear, I would. [Laughter]
These catrinas are big!
Or is it "los catrinos" because it's like a guy and a girl?
I think it's "catrinas" regardless but
what do I know. Or can catrinas only be women? I don't know.
Clearly not, it can be a guy with overalls. [Laughter]
Show me those pearly whites!
Sometimes people decorate their cars.
[Car honking softly]
Can I offer you some water? Yes, please.
So we're at this brand-new place to us called Zandunga - Sabor Istmeño, so that
translates to the Isthmus which is the section of Mexico, the skinny
section between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of, I think
Oaxaca, Veracruz, Chiapas, and one other state I believe.
I can't believe I've never heard of this style of food before!
Yeah. Or it's one of those things where you know, you think you haven't heard a word or seen it before...
And then you learn it and all of a sudden it's on billboards and on the radio.
People are saying it to you. I wonder if it's like that? [Laughter] Yeah. I'm really loving this
place so far! We kind of came here because we may have heard that they had
mezcal margaritas but then we looked at the mezcal drink section both ended up
getting this other one called Llorona I believe it was.
Well, it's still I think considered a mezcal-type margarita.
But mezcal, jamaica... what is that (in english)?
Hibiscus, ginger, and pineapple. And then a star fruit.
And so pretty! How pretty is this drink? so it was 90 pesos I believe for
the drink and then we both ordered and they brought out this complimentary
appetizer which is fish, and some spices, and some sauces to go along with it.
It looks interesting to say the least. Why don't you try it? I will!
Yeah, you can tell it's fish. It's good!
So our food just came out and it already looks so good!
I got Molito de Maiz, it's
a type of soup and it also has pork ribs.
And I got red mole with fish and mine was 210 pesos.
Do you like it? [Laughter]
Well you made quick work of that! [Laughter] Yeah!
I like this place! My food is amazing and that drink was so good! I
better make sure the other cocktails are just as good! [Laughter] Well, so we had every
intention of going to Centro but it's raining buckets again two nights in a
row. So instead we decided to get drinks with our new friend Andy. He actually has
a YouTube channel called Timeless Travel Club. His videos are way
underappreciated so if you like watching Mexico videos, you should definitely check out
His channel! Andy, what do you think so far of Oaxaca? I love Oaxaca, actually!
It feels like I've been here a long time. Yeah? There's a lot happening right now
there's paintings splattered everywhere, even faces, but
yeah I'd like to come back when there's no holiday going on.
Maddie, you better be careful otherwise
they're gonna mistake you for a catrina. Ooo! All I need is to get my face painted!
That's like a huge bucket list item for Día de Muertos! And you're taller
with this and your bright shirt! Well, we really want to go take part in some
more of the Día de Muertos shenanigans that are happening here in
Oaxaca City before it starts raining, because it looks like that might happen
It's been doing that every evening on us which is typical Oaxaca weather. Hey but
we're not going to let that ruin our time! Thank you to everyone who bought a
Rocket Languages course, if you haven't yet, email your sales receipt so that you
can get that special promo that we're offering - An additional two hundred and
fifty dollar package from Spanish and Go. If you want to take part in that, if you
want to redeem that offer, you have until the end of the day for the Rocket
Languages sale. We will put the instructions for that down in the
description. If you have an amigo that you think would enjoy this video please
share it with them on Facebook or whatsapp, wherever you use on social
media and subscribe to our channel if you want to see upcoming Dia de Muertos
Videos that we have. We are hoping to put out at least like, I don't
know, 75 more! I'm being ambitious. But we are gonna put out a bunch more, so
Don't forget to subscribe if you want to see those!
Wait!! One more thing!
[Bell ringing]
Gong that bell! So that you are the first to be notified the next time we release
a new video! And we will see you very soon because we're putting out a lot of
videos while we're here. [Laughter]