Mexico- A life more rural

Maria is Marillee’s maid at the house in Oaxaca and she will cook and clean for us twice a week, as part of this Mexican house exchange   It is a real treat to come down to breakfast, to chilaquiles,  crispy tortillas with spicy tomato sauce, fried eggs, cheese and frijoles on the side, hot cinnamon Oaxaca chocolate for the kids with hotcakes and syrup, and a large jug of fruit juice . A grand way to start the day. Two weeks slip by really quite quickly,  effortlessly in fact time by the pool, trips out of Oaxaca. This beautiful part of Mexico.

For our final week in the Oaxaca region we ask the kids whether they would prefer to go to the beach for sun, sand and sea of Mazunte or Puerto Escondido, or to venture into the campo to a ranch for some more riding. There’s a unanimous clamour for horses, so the decision is made. Rancho Pitaya is situated 30 minutes out of Oaxaca, in a landscape which could only be Mexican, this is the Mexcal Valle. Where agave plantations line the  main highway leading away from Oaxaca and down to San Cristobal. The ranch is surrounded by cactus in all shapes and sizes, tall and squat, prickly and smooth, some bearing edible atun fruit, others Aloe Vera. From a distance the landscape is unremarkable. We drove through it on the bus. But once you are in it, the valleys are soft flower meadows, corn plantations mainly. Land still being tilled by plough and sometimes tractors. The hills are drier, taller cactus  forests almost.

Our week here will be a bit special. Geena, the cook here, will spoil us to delicious breakfasts and Mexican suppers on the terrace. Her mole is our favourite. This famous Oaxacan dish – spicy chocolatey and rich, appeals more to Mark and I than the kids, who still preferring  the non-spicy.

We spend the next week riding in the morning, with a lesson, then a hack to the cactus fields of the valley. as our horses brush past the undergrowth, the citrus smells, cistus and thyme wafting up, heavenly to our noses. Mary-Jane who runs this outfit, is clearly not going to let us trot,  let alone canter, which seems a bit mean. Either she is afraid of Gabriel’s last riding experience and determined that the same shouldn’t happen to us, or just cautious and overly protective of the horses. I can’t decide which, but these rides could be more fun. Having said that, weaving through cactus trees, with stony undergrowth could prove quite hazardous if any of us falls off our horses again.

Our children are by now smitten with horses, waking up early to help Gregorio feed them. He cuts down the corn with a machete they distribute it to all 12 horses, then they need to be groomed, brushed  and saddles on, they are becoming quite little experts. Mark and I meanwhile read, blog, paint and draw and get a complete rest. It’s quite a heavenly rural spot…..the afternoons are our own to do whatever we want, we walk, chill, and venture out to Hierva  de Agua to swim in the thermal pools.

With only a few weeks to go before our trip comes to an end and we head back to London, we wonder just how we will be affected by our trip. How will we settle back? Where will the kids end up at school? What will Mark do for a job? Will we all slot in just like before? With Millie starting school in September, though not sure which or where. I know I would like to plough my energies into something, a project, a charity, a job….. Something will turn up. That light bulb moment just hasn’t happened like I thought it might. Maybe a life more rural? I will certainly relish a life not constantly on the move, where I don’t have to live out of a rucksack, pack and unpack all the time. There’s not really very much that I am missing – tea, my mum, my family and good friends,  and strong cheddar cheese… a tap I can drink water out of, the Sunday papers, radio 4, and reliable internet… and not much more.