Here is What Happened When We Tried to Celebrate 4th of July in Oaxaca, Mexico

Many American expats who like parties make their home in Oaxaca, Mexico. As if there are not enough parties and celebrations in Oaxaca, why not add American holidays into the mix.

It's not surprising that an American Independence Day celebration is planned for the 4th of July and it was to become quite the mad-cap adventure in the hills above Oaxaca.

The celebration is planned in a town called Huajuapan.

Here is the set up:

1. 4th of July is Independence Day for the United States of America, so a USA expat potluck is being held in the village of Huajuapan high up in the hills above Oaxaca. The party is held in the headquarters of a charity called Casa Linda.
2. Casa translates as house. Linda translates as pretty, AND, here is where the trouble begins, Linda is also a common female English name.
3. Printed directions go something like this: Take the road up into the hills, turn left at the first building, go past two fields of agave plants, turn right onto the second dirt road, pass the red flag, etc.
4. The directions are in English. Our driver's English is poor, so is our Spanish.

We set about commandeering a taxi for a drive out of the city of Oaxaca, Mexico and up to the small village in the hills called Huajuapan.  

First we decide we’ll contact an English-speaking taxi driver who gave us his business card and told us to call him whenever we needed a ride. 

Since we’re in Mexico without a phone, we have to find a public phone. The public phones are not on the public streets, but in little shops that charge you by the minute. 

We find one of these shops, contact him and he decides that there’s too much traffic and he doesn’t want to come into the center of town to pick us up.

It’s a bit obnoxious but after being in places where you can’t get a taxi to stop, you appreciate it. 

We go through several taxi drivers and nobody wants to take us up into the hills. Finally, one taxi driver acquiesces to joining us in the pursuit of an American Independence Day celebration in Mexico. 

We’re about 20 minutes along the road to the Huajuapan  and looking for our first landmark which is listed as “the first building”. 

The driver sees a building and turns left per directions. 

The next landmark is: two fields of agave plants. Agave plants are everywhere and it’s difficult to discern where one field ends and the other begins. This is where the trouble begins.

With the fields of agave and the lush landscape, the scenery in this hill country is worth the drive alone. This is a good thing because by the looks of it, this journey may become a sightseeing trip rather than a visit to a party. 

The continuing directions describe dirt roads and flags that are colored red. These flags are EVERYWHERE.

Our poor cabby; we've have never seen a cab driver work so diligently to deliver his passengers.

We are 45 minutes into this search and ready to give up, but he isn’t. 

He begins stopping people on the street and asking them about Casa Linda. After several pedestrians are unable to help, he stops the car and runs into a shop asking everyone inside for directions. 

Nobody seems to have heard of the place so he borrows a phone and we call the number listed on the invitation. Nobody answers.

Perhaps we are in the wrong area. If this is supposed to be a charity that serves the village, why doesn’t everybody know about it?

Meanwhile, our cabby keeps on truckin”

After 1/2 hour into these interactions I hear him say the word “Gringa”.

If you know the definition of gringa or gringo, you know where this leading………

His efforts prevail…..almost! 

After 1 1/2 hours of travel, the driver has located La Casa de gringa Linda. Translation: the house of a caucasian lady (a gringa) named Linda. 

But the home of some lady named Linda is not what we were looking for. We’re supposed to be at Casa Linda, the charity called PRETTY HOUSE. 

Our cabby knocks on the door and  speaks to Linda, the homeowner.

We held out a glimmer of hope that this would be the right place, but ultimately, this is Linda's house and she is not running a charity. Neither is she throwing a party just for us.

We are hoping she would perhaps invite us in for a drink or at least come and speak to us, but a Fourth of July party in Huajuapan is not in the cards for us today. 

You know what, it’s ok because we have an open invitation for another 4th of July party back in Oaxaca. 

Finally our driver admits defeat and agrees to head back to town.

He clearly does not want to give up but I am concerned that even if we do find the party, we will have trouble getting a ride back to Oaxaca. 

I can see that he feels badly about the whole thing but it really is not his fault.

I give him a big tip and begin looking forward to tonight’s 4th of July party at Hotel Las Mariposas. 

I’ve been told that someone’s dad is bringing Mezcal. 

We’ve already had one party at Hotel Las Mariposas this morning.

Often, hotels and resorts will hold celebrations for foreign holidays if they get a lot of guests from another country. Hotel Las Mariposas is no exception.

United States Independence Day is celebrated with a breakfast this morning.  

Several local women are hired to demonstrate the process of making homemade corn tortillas. We saw the whole process from beginning to end. The women began by milling the corn and finished by cooking the homemade corn tortillas over a wood fire.  You can’t get any more authentic than that. 

Tonight, the owner cooks several Mexican dishes for us and we have a 4th of July eating and drinking party. 

The mezcal (which I have been strongly informed is not tequila) is flowing.

And not only the mezcal, but also the worms.

How do the worms enter into this scenario, you ask?

Well, you know how margarita glasses are rimmed with salt? The mezcal was served the same way, but this particular salt tasted a little funny. Can you guess the secret ingredient? 

Just about everyone who tours Mexico brings home a little souvenir bottle of mezcal containing a floating worm. This provides great entertainment when your friends are dared to shoot the tequila and consume the worm.

Guess where else the worm comes into play? That’s right, on the rim of the glass. The funny taste of the salt is the addition of dead dried worms.

So with that, our most memorable 4th of July Independence Day celebration comes to an end.

We get fireworks too because one of the saints has a birthday. More about that later.

After tonight we plan to say goodbye to Hotel Las Mariposas. Teresa, the owner of Hotel Las Mariposas, booked an appointment for us to view an apartment at Mason de Penasco tomorrow and it sounds promising.

If all goes well we will sleep in our own beds tomorrow in our very own apartment.