Somehow my time in Oaxaca is almost at a close. Arriving here in mid-January, I did not know what to expect. I found delicious food, a complicated but fascinating history, and a chance to spend time with some of my closest friends who also joined for this winter season. I’ve also made new friendships (two of whom are new neighbors also!) that make returning to Oaxaca even more fun.
As I mentioned in my yearly personal post, I rented an apartment here for the next year. I’ve subletted it for the moment, but I will be returning to Mexico once the summer is over to continue eating. After many years of Asia, it still feels a bit strange to be exploring such a different place. But there are so many similarities, from the altars for the dead, the obsession with food, and the many frangipani trees.
Oaxaca has a LOT more cacti though.
I plan to use this apartment as a base, with a goal to explore more of Mexico next winter. I’ve only been in Oaxaca, and I realize that the food here, with its moles and memelas and tlayudas, is so different from the other provinces of Mexico.
I also plan to restart Jodi Eats food walks here in Oaxaca, because many of you have asked me to do so. If that interests you or you plan to be in Mexico next winter and want to eat: please sign up for updates here.
For now, however, it is time to return to North America.
Posting has been sparse as I continue to work on my presentation at the NAFSA conference in Denver, which is in a few days’ time. But I wanted to share my summer schedule here as there will be meetups aplenty!
Below you’ll find links to the Facebook events page for future meetups. I realize not all of you are on Facebook, so if you want to be apprised of any of these just shoot me a quick email to jodi-at-legalnomads.com.
Some Housekeeping
First things first! Some updates.
Portugal Maps
Excited to share the newest of the maps in my online food map store: Portugal. It was quite a challenge to get Porto Santo, Madeira, and the Azores in there also, but we managed. Wall poster is here.
Tote bags
I can haz TOTE BAGS in the store. These are now available for all countries, and I chose the expensive bull-woven cotton with reinforced handles as my base bag. I’ve been using mine around Mexico and they are really resilient, and look great. You can pick one up here.
Buzzfeed Feature
I was thrilled when Buzzfeed’s Annie Daly sent me a note asking if I’d want to be the subject of a Buzzfeed feature about my love of food. YES PLEASE. The piece came out last week and was a lot of fun to put together. It ended up on the home page, just below an article about President Obama, which was a fun screenshot to send to my family.
Article is here. Bonus: they chose the URL slug “in it for the food.”
YOU KNOW IT.
Gluten Free Cards
The gluten free cards project is coming along, and I have hired another celiac to help with research. As always, I am thankful for my amazing readers who are helping with translations and proofing.
Thus far I have Italy, Japan, and Greece. Next up is Vietnam, then China.
I never wrote about having celiac disease when I started blogging, because I didn’t want to make the site about my illness or challenges. But over the years, I’ve received notes from celiacs who are too afraid to travel, and if my sharing my own experiences helps them feel less afraid, then I will do so.
Guardian Pieces – meditation and celiac disease
An editor for the Guardian saw my Vipassana meditation post and kindly reached out asking if I’d be willing to write for her. YES.
Two pieces have come out of that email:
- Vipassana meditation, a shorter piece than the one that appeared here (half the length actually!)
- A piece about surviving travel as a celiac, with tips that I’ve learned.
YAY I WROTE FOR THE GUARDIAN!
Newsletter
Newest newsletter is out here. It includes a reference to a writing course I’ve been asked by you to offer, and I’m happy to oblige! So far over 50 readers signed up to learn more, and I am excited to work together on writing long form narrative for the web.
Summer Meetups and Plans
Update from Labour Day weekend: I had a great summer of meetups with readers in Austin, Seattle and New York, and the Montreal one is scheduled for September 13th. I’ve removed the individual links to the meetups but you can subscribe to the events page on Facebook to get updates on upcoming reader events.
This summer’s get togethers were better than ever, with people exchanging information and getting together when I left town. We also had such a varied and international group in each city, talking politics, immigration, and the influence on food.
As I’ve said before, I host these to meet you but also so you guys can meet each other! I’ve had readers start dating, others make supper clubs (that then send me photos when they get together) and more who ended up traveling together to far-flung places. It makes me happy.
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That’s it for now!
-Jodi
I was excited you were in Denver but no meetup?? Would love to meet up I am in Fort Collins about an hour north of Denver and been following you forever.
Hi Allison! The reason that I didn’t post a meetup is that I will be focusing on the speech. But if you wanted to organize a place in Denver not far from the convention centre, I would happily come meet you (and other readers around Denver) – is that something you’d be interested in doing? Because I’m presenting on 1 June I figured I would be best to focus on practicing vs finding place for a meetup.
If you have suggestions & are comfortable with helping me organize, I’m game for June 2nd or 3rd!
As a lawyer who never practiced and
A foodie who also likes to travel I enjoyed glancing through your post. You seem to be one busy person who is probably working more than someone with a ‘regular ‘ job. How do you manage stability in your peripatetic life?
Hi there, I have written quite a bit about this – please see my yearly updates, most recently the “8 years of Legal Nomads” post. You manage it the way you manage anything else: by setting boundaries for yourself, by being honest about your needs and what works for you vs. what you think others expect of you, and by taking care of your health :)
I used to attend the NAFSA conference each year. You’ll have a very welcoming audience, don’t worry. You’ll be amongst friends, jealous friends, but friends nonetheless.
That is comforting to know – thanks for the comment Kristin!
Seattle! I’m a vegetarian so I don’t do sushi; however, I do have a recommendation! Mashiko is a sustainable sushi restaurant in West Seattle. I went with a few people and got the vegetarian omakase – which was incredible – and the fish eaters were also absolutely raving about theirs. If you go, I hope you like!
Thank you! Appreciate the recommendation!
Chiso is an awesome sushi restaurant in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle; they have a happy hour every day from 4-6pm. There are also lots of fun secondhand shops to browse in the area.
Thanks Angela!!
Thanks Jodi for this most interesting newsletter. Loved the variety of subjects. Good luck with your conference speech in Denver. And welcome back to Montréal (if only for a short time). Perhaps you’ll also come back next year (2017) when it celebrates its 375th birthday. Happy travels and great food discoveries is my wish for you.
Thank you Jacques! I will definitely be back in 2017 also, and plan to write a piece about the anniversary of our city. Thank you and hope you can make the Montreal meetup in September!
I don’t do facebook, so I can’t RSVP for the Austin meetup, but I’d love to join in if you have an alternate way to RSVP :)
Sent you an email!
Will you ever host these awesome meetups in the UK? I know, I’m on a different continent *sigh*
I have in the past but haven’t been in the UK for quite some time!
Hello, Jodi, what about Eastern Europe? For example, as I learned food is a subject you find very interesting in your adventure and we appreciate that, oh, yes, we do, you might discover some awesome great ideas for your articles and conferences in Romania or in Hungary or even Ukraine. These are countries people don’t usually target for their holidays though only gastronomy is an adventure itself here. Anyway, great meet-ups this summer! Jim
Hi Jim! I have spent time in Eastern Europe but would like to go back!
Hi, glad to hear that! Things might have changed a little. Or, as journalist I may have a different point of view from a tourist just arrived in the area. It would be great, for everybody love stories and making stories here in the East, only a few know how to do it. :)
Jodi,
If you do head to Romania, there’s a beautiful city in the Transylvania region called Brasov. There you’ll find a locally famous little soup shop called La Ceaun. They make 3 different soups from scratch daily, on a rotating menu. When the soups are gone, they close for the day. Some of the best soups I tasted in Europe. I think you’d like it.
Thanks!!
I love your photos and the food well my mouth is watering already. I look forward to peeking in on your future travels. Thanks for including us.