Retiro "Pájaros De Nieve," A Turnkey Retreat And Unsurpassed Culture Center At "La Villada" In Oaxaca, Mexico

                                                                

                              Retiro "Pájaros De Nieve"

If you are interested in Oaxaca, Mexico as a "snowbird" alternative to Florida, my Oaxacan friends and I have created a "cultural retreat-residence" in the hills just north of Oaxaca's Historic District, just a $5.00 taxi ride to Oaxaca's main square and Cathedral.  

We welcome guests of all ages but have given special thought to designing our "Retiro" for itelligent, aware seniors (perhaps with a Peace Corps, Foreign Service or professorial background) who seek an affordable "turnkey operation" that provides comfortable lodging in a gorgeous setting, three great meals a day, and more onsite (and offsite) cultural opportunities than any Mexican "lodging" we are aware of.

Onsite Enrichment Opportunities:

Mexican Cooking Lessons 
(And Market Expeditions)
with Sra. Julieta Sibaja and staff.

Spanish Language Instruction 
with Profesora Alma Delia Blas Lavariaga.

Alma was born in Juchitán de Zaragoza where Oaxaca State narrows into the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. She holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and worked in economics until becoming a teacher of Spanish-As-A-Second-Language in 1988. Alma is smart, cheerful and eager to serve, a lovely woman who enjoys sharing Oaxacan and Juchitec culture with students.

In addition to one free group class each week, you may also opt for additional Spanish instruction at La Villada, or while "breaking bread" with Alma Delia at one of Oaxaca's many superb restaurants selected from La Villada's carefully chosen list of "upscale" -- and "down-home" -- eateries.

Alma also conducts historical and architectural walking tours of Oaxaca's Distrito Histórico - with delectable feasting opportunities "along the way."

To whet your appetite, check out this mouth-watering New York Times article by Freda Moon:

"How To Enjoy Oaxaca, Mexico's Rich Cuisine And Craftworks"
https://m.thestar.com/life/travel/2018/05/31/how-to-enjoy-oaxaca-mexicos-rich-cuisine-and-craftworks.html

"Live" On-Site Música Latina Concerts Every Two Weeks 

Latin Dance Instruction

Expert Massage

On-Site Yoga Studio And Meditation Hall

Yoga Instruction

Traditional Native American Temescal (Steam Bath)

Medical Consultation (And Referrals) With "On-Call" Physicians And Dentists

Our physicians make house calls.

View From La Villada

Home To Retiro "Pájaros De Nieve"

One of several freestanding cottages at La Villada

Temezcal and Yoga Room at La Villada

(Here is Wikipedia's article about the native American steam bath known as temezcal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temazcal)

Offsite Enrichment Opportunities:

Offsite opportunities include a free round-trip taxi ride (one per day) to downtown Oaxaca. Our team of trusted taxistas is at your service. 
You will determine your departure time - and your return time. 

We also offer very affordable guided tours to all Oaxaca's surrounding "craft towns," archaeological ruins, historic sites (including Benito Juarez lovely hometown of Guelatao), Colonial Churchs, mescalerias, weekly tianguis (markets), and geological marvels, not least of which is "Hierve el Agua" pictured above.

Guided Expeditions 
to Oaxaca's vegetable, fruit, meat and fish markets.

Craft Classes
Craft Classes in collaboration with Huizache, a Oaxacan handcraft cooperative comprised of 70 families.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150801-d7395972-Reviews-Huizache_Arte_Vivo_de_Oaxaca-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html

Sonotherapy - Sonoterapia
... an indescribably delightful experience of traditional, but rarely heard, music. 

Professional Baseball and Soccer

Cheer for Oaxaca's Triple A baseball team, Los Guerreros de Oaxaca. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerreros_de_Oaxaca

Cheer for Oaxaca's professional soccer team "Los Alebrijes de Oaxaca." 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alebrijes_de_Oaxaca

"Fundación En Vía," An Exemplary Micro-Finance NGO
"El Retiro" also coordinates tours with "Fundación En Vía," an exemplary micro-finance NGO that makes loans available to Oaxacan women.
https://www.facebook.com/FundacionEnVia/

"Dental Tourism" 
(Finally! Get your teeth "taken care of" at a small fraction of the cost "en el norte.")

Cost:

El Retiro's customary per person cost is $550.00 per week. 

However, guests who wish to arrange their transportation needs independent of El Retiro's taxi service will enjoy lodging, meals and all our other services for $499.00.

Retiro "Pájaros De Nieve" requests a minimum stay of one week.

Although most accomodations are double occupancy, we also offer a limited number of single-occupancy lodgings. 

Why settle for Florida?

We invite you to sign up now.

Space is limited. 

"Retiro Pájaros De Nieve" occupies the grounds of La Villada, an Inn/Compound/Hospedaje envisioned, built and operated by la familia Sibaja.

"Nuestra casa es tu casa."

We pick you up at Oaxaca International Airport (OAX); return you to the airport; and treat you como familia during the weeks (or months) that we have the pleasure to serve you.

Hasta pronto compañeros!

La Villada
https://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Hotel_Review-g150801-d754704-Reviews-La_Villada_Inn-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html

http://www.hotelesdeoaxaca.com/lavilladainnhostel.html#.WrLy8-jwbIU

https://www.trivago.ie/oaxaca-51426/hotel/la-villada-inn-349206

https://www.familyvacationcritic.com/la-villada-inn/htl/

For more information, please contact me at AlanArchibaldo@gmail.com

Things To Do In Oaxaca's Hinterland
(the following information is from a legacy website and provides a list of "cultural possibilities," most of them available at modest extra cost.)

1.) Monte Alban Archaeological Zone is a spectacular religious, political and residential center built on the top of a mountain whose peak was leveled -- without benefit of metal tools or beasts of burden -- in order to enable construction. 

Monte Alban

2.) We will observe Oaxaca's world-famous hand-made black pottery production, probably at the same workshop where Malia Obama visited during her recent Oaxaca trip. 

3.) Hierve el Agua is one of the world's most stunning "soda bridge" formations with a breathtaking, cliffside swim site.  

4.) We will visit an alebrije workshop, followed by a traditional Oaxacan buffet lunch  in a gorgeous hacienda setting. The huge selection of delectable dishes at Hacienda Culiapam includes all 7 Oaxacan moles. 

Alebrijes

The 7 Moles Of Oaxaca

It's not all chiles & chocolate in the land of mole

http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/08/15/7-moles-oaxaca

5.) We will visit the Mitla Archaeological Zone whose top-notch, low-cost handcraft market is right alongside.

6.) The Tule Tree is the world's largest circumference tree. I think it best if our expeditionaries do not have a preliminary idea of the immensity of The Tule Tree, and -- "to keep the secret" -- I am not sending a photo.

7.) In Teotitlan del Valle, we will observe the entire weaving process starting with yarn-spinning and dye-stuff production, most notably the crimson red dye deriving from cochinilla, a pure white nopal cactus leaf parasite.

8.) Mezcaleria. We will observe the production process of tequila's Oaxacan "cousin," mezcal, starting with massive, open-pit baking of maguey cactus trunks, followed by mule-driven pressing of the cooked juice and, finally, distillation in beautifully wrought antique stills.

9.) Oaxaca's Historic District, including the delightful zócalo (central square), is a hotbed of artistic creativity.

10.) D.H. Lawrence considered La Iglesia Santo Domingo "the most beautiful church in the world."

Iglesia Santo Domingo

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Santo_Domingo_de_Guzm%C3%A1n_(Oaxaca)

11.) Oaxaca's downtown craft and food markets. Time permitting, we will also visit a chocolate factory. 

Mercado, 20 De Noviembre

Chapulin Vendor
Grasshoppers marinated in salt and lime juice. This staple food (which I have come to enjoy) is available at every turn. It is said that eating just one "chapulin" ensures your return to Oaxaca.

12.) Every day we will spend some time in Oaxaca's Historic District, dining at two splendid downtown restaurants, La Toscana, which is set in a grand colonial home with fountain... and El Asador Vasco where our plaza-side perch along the spacious colonial balcony provides a marvelous view of the vibrant street scene -- usually to the sound of live music -- in the zócalo below.

Oaxaca is among the world's most renowned dance capitals.

17 Oaxacan tribes still speak their native languages and the resulting cultural diversity is a wonder to behold.

La Guelaguetza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelaguetza

13.) A brief visit to Culiapam, a grand-but-never-finished monastery built in the mid 1550s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-monastery_of_Santiago_Ap%C3%B3stol  ///  https://www.flickr.com/photos/22627146@N00/8390329967

We may not have time to visit all of the places mentioned above but I will 

do my best to maximize the cultural diversity of our excursions when I meet with our Oaxacan guide on April 28th. 

Even if it proves necessary to bypass a couple of activities, our schedule will be packed with memorable and spectacular experiences. 

I will also try to arrange a brief service project and, to this end, will visit the historic, childhood home of Mexico's most revered president, Benito Juarez, a "pen pal" of Abraham Lincoln. Juarez, who was as important in Mexican history as Lincoln was in American history, grew up an orphan-shepherd whose first language was Zapotec. I will learn if it is possible for our group to do perform some useful work at the rectory in downtown Oaxaca where Juarez was raised by a Catholic priest who taught him Spanish as a second language. 

Benito Juarez, 26th Mexican president, 1867-1872

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez

For more information, please contact me at AlanArchibaldo@gmail.com

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