ethnobotanical garden tour
our first big activity was an 11 am english language tour of the Oaxaca ethnobotanical garden, a beautiful reclaimed space in a former monastery/army barracks steps from our b&b. our guide was terrific. this area, meso america, is the birthplace of so much of the food we love in the world: corn, tomatoes, avocados, chiles. and the color red, from the parasite ("plague") cochineal creature that lives upon nopales. Our guide also memorably described the history of amaranth, an important seed protein in the diets of the indigenous people, prohibited by the Spanish, which then weakened the indigenous people with carbohydrate - centered diet...and alcohol. I want to read more about this!
