Mezcal Sampling

Oaxaca is fantastic! Yesterday started a little poorly, leaving Veracruz and my friends there behind, I was lonely arriving here. The hostel was pretty empty when I checked in and I wasn't looking forward to my own company, but soon enough I started chatting with some great people- Julie and Dom from England. They let me tag along with them out drinking last night and we had a blast. Met up with an American and a Swiss- Comron and Tobias and went out to a couple of bars. One had a live band playing great music and the place was packed with people who were feelin' it. There was some interesting decor in the bar- a laundry rope strung over the bar full of hanging bras. Not to worry though, I still had mine on when I woke up this morning. After dancing and jumping around like mad for a few hours, we went on to a reggae bar but arrived as the band was playing it's last songs. I was somehow pulled into a group photo session of some random Mexicans, the details are vague.
Today Julie, Dom, and I wandered around town and checked out some cathedrals and markets then climbed up a hill out of town to check out the view from above. Oaxaca is very much like Antigua, Guatemala- the streets are all cobble-stone and crooked and the city is surrounded by mountains and hills. Many of the buildings are quite old and historic-looking, it's nice to just wander around and people-watch. I've had some really good food so far- Oaxaca cheese is soooooo tasty-salty and stringy. I found a place with tacos arabes, but they were nothing like the ones in Veracruz and I was disappointed. We sampled some free chocolate in a store today- mole negro y rojo, usually served over meat, which I don't particularly care for.
Speaking of sampling, there are loads of mezcal shops that hand out free samples here. My first taste was at 11 this morning, and I almost felt a little drunk all over again. Mezcal is in the tequila family and is made right here in Oaxaca, so this is supposed to be THE place to drink it. I got the fantastic idea to get a little free buzz going on this evening by sampling in the various shops-there are clear, gold, aged, and creme varieties which actually aren't half bad. But I think it would be far too much work to go around testing all night, haha.
We went to a food market for dinner and they sold delicious empanadas, 2 for $1.20- definitely the place to eat on a budget. There's street-meat galore here too. Dom and Comron ate pig's brain, and everyone tried the chili-crickets again. There's so much I still want to try...So far so good with my stomach too.
And that concludes my adventures in Oaxaca thus far.