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Oaxaca
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Oaxaca Retirement Profile

Oaxaca has excellent museums, including colonial and contemporary art museums, those with folk art and pre-Hispanic ruins, and more. The zocalo, surrounded by cafes, is a great place to people watch. There are many excellent festivals and colorful celebrations at Easter, Christmas, and Day of the Dead.

Good Food
Many regional dishes, like 7 different moles; great hot chocolate, great tamales; tlayudas (huge corn tortillas with toppings); famous string cheese.

Reading
Oaxaca Lending Library has many books in English, books about Mexico

Museums
Lovely cultural museum housed in monks' cells, at Santo Domingo monastery. Good museums of contemporary art (MACO), and archaeological finds at Museo Rufino Tamayo

Ruins
Excellent archaeological sites: Monte Alban and Mitla

Spanish School
Several different language schools in town

Handicrafts
Towns and villages outside Oaxaca City produce colorful wooden alebrijes, black and green pottery, fine wool rugs, and many other worthwhile handcrafts.

Shopping
Government-run shops showcase handcrafts from throughout the state, many excellent fine art galleries; wonderful traditional markets in the city and surrounding towns

Movies
English-language movies with Spanish subtitles, and art films

Desert
Dry mountain climate

Mountains
In a valley surrounded by the southern Sierra Madre

Colonial
Downtown has many restored colonial buildings as hotels, homes, restaurants and shops

Village
Many villages to visit, some with weekly market or crafts for sale

Town
If you stay in the historical downtown, feels like a town

City
Capital of the state

Humid
Rains possible June through October

Dry
Pretty darn dry

Single
Plenty of places to meet other travelers

Luxurious
Some boutique and fancy hotels

Winter
Generally sunny days, brisk nights

Summer
Great if you don't mind afternoon showers

EnglishSpeaking
Large, fairly active ex-pat community

International Airport
National and international airlines come through Mexico City

Expensive Hotels
Best Western and a few others

Mid-Range Hotels
Many to choose from

Budget Hotels
No shortage of budget options

Buy/Rent House
Lots of gringos do it

Weather
Located in the southern Sierra Madre mountains at 1,550 meters (5,085 feet) above sea level, Oaxaca enjoys a pleasant, fairly dry climate year round. December through February are the coldest months, but even then days are usually sunny and pleasant, if brisk. The hottest months are April and May, right before the summer rains. (Also, farmers in the surrounding areas usually burn their fields in April, making the air hazy, brown, and unappealing.) Rain falls mid-June or July through September or early October. Generally there are strong afternoon or evening showers that refresh the air without seriously dampening vacation outtings. The rest of the year, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mainly warm-to-hot and sunny during the day and pleasant at night.