I am having a lousy day, which is probably proof that it can happen anywhere. Hay un lado oscuro, siempre.
I am tired of getting up at 7:00 every day and being tired all the time.
I have not had a shower in over two days because the water is all screwed up in my house. (Actually, the water is all screwed up all over Oaxaca. There is only public water available two days a week, and if you don´t have your own private cistern and/or a neighborhood well, that´s all you get. Which makes my two days without a shower seem like hardly anything to complain about, but nevertheless, it´s making me cranky.)
I have an enourmous, disgusting cold sore covering half my face, which is something I´m pretty sure I´ve only had once in my life before. It is hurting me quite a lot, and presumably is why I´ve been waking up in the middle of the night with low-grade fevers. Oh, unless those are caused by what I imagine is a spider that is cohabitating with me, who bites me to pieces while I sleep, and who is also making me very cranky.
Today, someone in a store gave me a bill that has a tiny tear in the center of it, the kind of thing that in the States we wouldn´t think twice about. But apparently here they ¨don´t like¨ their bills to have tears. This is the phrase I have heard, ¨We don´t like them like that;¨ hence no one will accept the bill, and how exactly do I argue with them about it? In New York I would just say ¨C´mon, it´s money, you have to take it,¨ but even in New York... if they really didn´t want to take it, what could you do? I am told that I can go to a bank and trade it in for a more aesthetically-pleasing, and hence acceptable bill. (In fairness to the small businessmen and women who have refused it already, I am also told that this ability to exchange torn bills is new. Until very recently, any torn bill was simply the possessor´s loss.)
Today I am a little lonely also, and feeling guilty about being away from work, and childishly resenting some of the representations made to me by my Spanish school prior to my arrival. My ¨friends¨ have all left town in the last couple of days, and the student population of my school has dwindled to 2. The city still seems crowded with tourists to me, but they say it´s nothing compared to what it was 2 years ago, before the uprising, and I guess perhaps my school is struggling a bit, at least this week.
On the other hand, in general, when I talk to strangers, they seem to understand me much better, which I suppose is ultimately why I am here. We´ve come back around to the subjunctive again, and this time I kind of get it.
I just realized that I never followed up about the saintly priest. Suffice it to say that I didn´t end up meeting him. I did have one brief adventure at an orphanage for girls, but more on that some other time. In the meantime, tomorrow afternoon I´m going to visit a preschool to see what it´s like.
I wonder what it would take to get the kids in Hierve El Agua back to school, and whether or not that is a feasible task...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Google News Links
If you haven't already looked, the Google News links along the right side of this page are particularly interesting right now.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Hierve El Agua
Sabado, 26 Enero
The town in which the springs are situated (not sure exactly whether the town is simply called Hierve El Agua, or something else) is notable for having a school, but no teachers. As such, according to my sources, the children have not been to school for two years. The dirt road to Hierve el Agua from Mitla is long and treacherous, full of switchbacks hugging the precipice (18 kilometers, 350 meters up, and 45 minutes via taxi o camioneta). Despite the absence of teachers, we did spot a Coca-Cola delivery truck wending its way along this route. I'm glad we have our priorities straight in terms of our American exports.
http://oaxaca-travel.com/guide/natural.php?lang=us&doc=home§ion=natural&atractivo=11.03.02.01&getdoc=true
The town in which the springs are situated (not sure exactly whether the town is simply called Hierve El Agua, or something else) is notable for having a school, but no teachers. As such, according to my sources, the children have not been to school for two years. The dirt road to Hierve el Agua from Mitla is long and treacherous, full of switchbacks hugging the precipice (18 kilometers, 350 meters up, and 45 minutes via taxi o camioneta). Despite the absence of teachers, we did spot a Coca-Cola delivery truck wending its way along this route. I'm glad we have our priorities straight in terms of our American exports.
http://oaxaca-travel.com/guide/natural.php?lang=us&doc=home§ion=natural&atractivo=11.03.02.01&getdoc=true
Random facts
Things I have ingested for the first time since arriving here in Oaxaca: at least 3 types of atole (con chocolate, con panela, y con leche); the most overcooked pasta ever to be overcooked; Oaxaqueno sushi; mole coloradito (tal vez mi preferida ahora).
Things I have not ingested since arriving here: chapulines (dried grasshoppers, available either plain, con chile y limon, o con chocolate); 7 different kinds of mezcal, including one with scorpions in the bottle, and one which is bottled around a rose that grows inside the bottle.
Items that cost more here than in New York: Cup O Noodles; dental floss; a pedicure; music CDs.
Speaking of prices: There has been roughly a 1000% increase in low-end hotel prices since I was here 11 years ago. This increase is only in pesos; in dollars, the increase is typically more like 300-400% (I don't fully understand the math of this, but it seems to be accurate). A couple of nights ago, I stumbled upon the hotel that I stayed in when I was last here. At the time, it was a rambling place called the Hotel Pombo, with strangely enormous rooms for about $10 (US) a night. It has been reinvented as the Hotel Something Very English Sounding That I Can't Recall, with rooms now going for $100-$150 a night. I realized where I was when I saw the building across the street, which I recognized from a photo I still have that I took from our window back then. It was a rather transporting moment, as there is little I have seen here that has felt very familiar from that time. I'm not sure if that's because the city has changed so, or if I have inherited my mother's relentlessly unreliable memory.
The university students here are in the process of electing (yes, electing) the leaders of the various schools within the University. They seem to be putting an awful lot of energy into marching and demonstrating for the candidates they like. It seems that the political turmoil here last year has ignited a spirit of activism. It is not entirely clear to me what difference it makes who is elected president of the law school, the medical school, the school of education. These students are all quite young. It seems that here folks train for professions during the same time that we in the States are undergrads -- there are an awful lot of 21 year old lawyers walking around. But one of them manages the telephone and internet caseta down the street from my house, so I am not entirely clear what it means that she is a lawyer. I was introduced to the nephew of someone I know, all of 20 years old; he was wearing a torn AC/DC tee-shirt, and jeans baggy enough to fit in in Bed-Stuy, and I was to call him licenciado. (Sidebar: AC/DC tee-shirts are a weirdly popular choice, though I don't think I've heard any AC/DC music, not that I would know exactly. Much more commonly heard emanating from the shops around el centro is Total Eclipse of the Heart, equally popular in Spanish and English).
Things I have not ingested since arriving here: chapulines (dried grasshoppers, available either plain, con chile y limon, o con chocolate); 7 different kinds of mezcal, including one with scorpions in the bottle, and one which is bottled around a rose that grows inside the bottle.
Items that cost more here than in New York: Cup O Noodles; dental floss; a pedicure; music CDs.
Speaking of prices: There has been roughly a 1000% increase in low-end hotel prices since I was here 11 years ago. This increase is only in pesos; in dollars, the increase is typically more like 300-400% (I don't fully understand the math of this, but it seems to be accurate). A couple of nights ago, I stumbled upon the hotel that I stayed in when I was last here. At the time, it was a rambling place called the Hotel Pombo, with strangely enormous rooms for about $10 (US) a night. It has been reinvented as the Hotel Something Very English Sounding That I Can't Recall, with rooms now going for $100-$150 a night. I realized where I was when I saw the building across the street, which I recognized from a photo I still have that I took from our window back then. It was a rather transporting moment, as there is little I have seen here that has felt very familiar from that time. I'm not sure if that's because the city has changed so, or if I have inherited my mother's relentlessly unreliable memory.
The university students here are in the process of electing (yes, electing) the leaders of the various schools within the University. They seem to be putting an awful lot of energy into marching and demonstrating for the candidates they like. It seems that the political turmoil here last year has ignited a spirit of activism. It is not entirely clear to me what difference it makes who is elected president of the law school, the medical school, the school of education. These students are all quite young. It seems that here folks train for professions during the same time that we in the States are undergrads -- there are an awful lot of 21 year old lawyers walking around. But one of them manages the telephone and internet caseta down the street from my house, so I am not entirely clear what it means that she is a lawyer. I was introduced to the nephew of someone I know, all of 20 years old; he was wearing a torn AC/DC tee-shirt, and jeans baggy enough to fit in in Bed-Stuy, and I was to call him licenciado. (Sidebar: AC/DC tee-shirts are a weirdly popular choice, though I don't think I've heard any AC/DC music, not that I would know exactly. Much more commonly heard emanating from the shops around el centro is Total Eclipse of the Heart, equally popular in Spanish and English).
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Que haces?
Have been asked by more than one person what I am doing...
have been to various mercados, watched a lot of local life, been out to a pueblo or two, watched a funeral procession in Teotitlan, watched soccer in the park, been to el tule to see the big tree, which is exactly that. 2nd biggest tree in the world. brings the town quite a bit of money, as they have landscaped gardens with green grass, which is rare here this time of year (dry dry dry season). we approached the tree... ¨my, that´s a big tree.¨ Then there´s a gate, and a guy collecting 3 pesos for entry. entonces, of course we pay the 3 pesos and then... hmmm... now i´m two feet closer to the big tree. what exactly was the three pesos for? ah, see, so the town of el tule can have green, manicured grass.
At least part of every day, i roam endlessly around the city, which is quite a pleasant place for doing that, and hanging out in various parks. not parks exactly - no grass. i am tan, and my feet are a bit sore.
Y ustedes?
have been to various mercados, watched a lot of local life, been out to a pueblo or two, watched a funeral procession in Teotitlan, watched soccer in the park, been to el tule to see the big tree, which is exactly that. 2nd biggest tree in the world. brings the town quite a bit of money, as they have landscaped gardens with green grass, which is rare here this time of year (dry dry dry season). we approached the tree... ¨my, that´s a big tree.¨ Then there´s a gate, and a guy collecting 3 pesos for entry. entonces, of course we pay the 3 pesos and then... hmmm... now i´m two feet closer to the big tree. what exactly was the three pesos for? ah, see, so the town of el tule can have green, manicured grass.
At least part of every day, i roam endlessly around the city, which is quite a pleasant place for doing that, and hanging out in various parks. not parks exactly - no grass. i am tan, and my feet are a bit sore.
Y ustedes?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Arrozola
On Thursday afternoon we (as in we from my school) went to Arrozola Xoxo, a pueblo about a half hour outside the city that survives almost exclusively on sales of the intricately painted, brightly colored carved wooden animals that inhabit pretty much every mercado and tourist shop in southern Mexico. Other than me and my schoolmates (totalling 8, including Luis and Fernando, our two teachers), I didn´t see a single other potential source of income that day for those folks. We walked from house to house while Luis, who seems pretty knowledgeable about local culture and politics, described the process. Usually we´d walk in on two or three women painting around a table, with one man outside somewhere carving. ¨Pueden sacar fotos, si quieren,¨Luis would say. It felt uncomfortable, rather like a zoo of wooden animals and live people. I did not want to take fotos. But of course I took a few, not entirely sure why...
Some of these families also sell their art at various mercados around the area, but some are not able to do that, or not without a middleman, who of course takes a disproportionate cut. Later, I asked the woman I´m staying with about whether the children of these folks are able to go to school -- she said that yes, generally they are, and that there is a government program that pays families if their children go to school. Senora Ruth thinks the program works pretty well, and it´s not new. A little like Opportunity NYC, no?
Anyway... In all, the excursion was intersesting, if a little depressing. That´s the disadvantage of visiting developing nations, I suppose. But, I suppose better developing than devolving... Speaking of which, what´s the news about the primaries?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Little update
So, I feel a bit compelled to write simply because I said I would... I am sure the details of my days are of little interest, and I am sorely lacking in sensitive cultural reflections or wild adventures so far. As it is Mexico, many things are a little slow in getting started. There has been a lot of comical wandering around with my housemate looking for things that turn out to be closed (this or that particular restaurant, various offices for biking or other excursions to the Pueblos Mancomunados in Sierra Norte, el cine, etc., etc.). I think yesterday after class we walked nearly 10 miles around town (no exaggerations, for those of you who know that I am prone to that) and our big accomplishment in the end was an ice cream in the zocalo at 9pm. Which, I have to say, just isn't so bad.
I've had two days of classes so far, and they are intense. Three students, one teacher, and four hours of no English. After these eight hours the last two days, I've forgotten that there are any tenses besides the subjunctive.
Tomorrow despues clases, mi maestro is taking me to some place outside of town where a priest ("como un santo") runs some sort of facility for homeless and/or orphaned children. There is the possibility that I will work there doing something a few afternoons a week. I'm very interested to see. The city itself is a lot more affluent than I remember it being 11 years ago (though Oaxaca is still the 2nd poorest state in Mexico). It is also quite a bit dirtier, with many more cars, many more people, and many more Americans.
I would like to have some pictures to put up here, which I suppose means I will have to take some. In the meantime, a piece of a soccer game I watched on Sunday in a park behind my house.
I've had two days of classes so far, and they are intense. Three students, one teacher, and four hours of no English. After these eight hours the last two days, I've forgotten that there are any tenses besides the subjunctive.
Tomorrow despues clases, mi maestro is taking me to some place outside of town where a priest ("como un santo") runs some sort of facility for homeless and/or orphaned children. There is the possibility that I will work there doing something a few afternoons a week. I'm very interested to see. The city itself is a lot more affluent than I remember it being 11 years ago (though Oaxaca is still the 2nd poorest state in Mexico). It is also quite a bit dirtier, with many more cars, many more people, and many more Americans.
I would like to have some pictures to put up here, which I suppose means I will have to take some. In the meantime, a piece of a soccer game I watched on Sunday in a park behind my house.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Greetings from downtown Oaxaca
So here I am, on my first night here, wandering around downtown, and I spy a little internet spot, and thought I´d check in for a moment.
Just before this, I was standing by a payphone on a corner and suddenly heard this loud boom, which, were I at work, I would have assumed to be a weird gunshot. It set off car alarms, and sent folks (locals, too) looking all around for what was going on. A few seconds later, firworks were raining down on my head, set off by some guy about 50 feet away from me for no apparent reason. But real fireworks, like Macy´s would set off or something, not some Brooklyn bootleg rooftop stuff. No idea what that was about, but I was never so right underneath fireworks. I´m still picking the blackened remants out of my hair.
The city is as beuatiful as I remember it, though I admittedly can´t see it so well right now, through the haze of my sleepiness and the general night-timeness. I ate a perfect elote, which I really hope doesn´t make me sick.
The woman I´m staying with seems lovely, and her house seems to be quite a complex, with half a dozen American 20 year olds staying there. I am starting to wonder if when a Spanish school in Mexico says that the average age of its students is ¨35,¨that´s because 70% of their students are 20 and 20% of their students are 70. I´ll learn more on Monday, presumably, and not all the 20 year olds in my house are from my school - several are a collection of NYU undergrads doing some short-term volunteer project. They´ll be leaving on Wednesday, but so much for getting away, huh? I am told, on the plus side, that Ruth (who is decidedly un-Jewish) is a fabulous cook.
Okay. There´s the update. I better head home now, in case that elote turns out to have been a bad idea.
Just before this, I was standing by a payphone on a corner and suddenly heard this loud boom, which, were I at work, I would have assumed to be a weird gunshot. It set off car alarms, and sent folks (locals, too) looking all around for what was going on. A few seconds later, firworks were raining down on my head, set off by some guy about 50 feet away from me for no apparent reason. But real fireworks, like Macy´s would set off or something, not some Brooklyn bootleg rooftop stuff. No idea what that was about, but I was never so right underneath fireworks. I´m still picking the blackened remants out of my hair.
The city is as beuatiful as I remember it, though I admittedly can´t see it so well right now, through the haze of my sleepiness and the general night-timeness. I ate a perfect elote, which I really hope doesn´t make me sick.
The woman I´m staying with seems lovely, and her house seems to be quite a complex, with half a dozen American 20 year olds staying there. I am starting to wonder if when a Spanish school in Mexico says that the average age of its students is ¨35,¨that´s because 70% of their students are 20 and 20% of their students are 70. I´ll learn more on Monday, presumably, and not all the 20 year olds in my house are from my school - several are a collection of NYU undergrads doing some short-term volunteer project. They´ll be leaving on Wednesday, but so much for getting away, huh? I am told, on the plus side, that Ruth (who is decidedly un-Jewish) is a fabulous cook.
Okay. There´s the update. I better head home now, in case that elote turns out to have been a bad idea.
And we're off.
It's 5:20 on Saturday morning, and I am reminded that my brother has pointed out that, having told people that this blog exists, I now have to actually post things. I've been up for an hour already, which brings me to a grand total of about 3 hours of sleep (espero que podre dormir en el vuelo).
I depart from Kennedy at 9:00. At least the first part of this trip involves staying with a family in Oaxaca (the city, capital of the state). I know very little about them, other than that I am being retrieved from the airport at 6:00 this evening by "La Senora Ruth." Which makes me wonder if they might be Jews, a possibility of some interest to me. I know also very little (do I detect a theme?) about Mexican Jews. What I do know is that they tend to be inordinately white, wealthy, and overrepresented in government, and I'm not sure how accurate this impression is. Oh, and also that they tend to be northern (i.e. not Oaxaqueno). Someone know more than me that would care to educate?
I expect to have internet access again by Monday morning, 1/14. Until then...
I depart from Kennedy at 9:00. At least the first part of this trip involves staying with a family in Oaxaca (the city, capital of the state). I know very little about them, other than that I am being retrieved from the airport at 6:00 this evening by "La Senora Ruth." Which makes me wonder if they might be Jews, a possibility of some interest to me. I know also very little (do I detect a theme?) about Mexican Jews. What I do know is that they tend to be inordinately white, wealthy, and overrepresented in government, and I'm not sure how accurate this impression is. Oh, and also that they tend to be northern (i.e. not Oaxaqueno). Someone know more than me that would care to educate?
I expect to have internet access again by Monday morning, 1/14. Until then...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Counting down...
4 days 'til lift-off...
This blog is
letters
memoir
overedited
fiction
journalism
biased
poetry
storytelling
picturereading
stayingoutoftrouble
notquitetellingthewholetruth
and most importantly,
this blog takes requests
so keep em coming.
This blog is
letters
memoir
overedited
fiction
journalism
biased
poetry
storytelling
picturereading
stayingoutoftrouble
notquitetellingthewholetruth
and most importantly,
this blog takes requests
so keep em coming.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
State of the city, one year post-rioting
According to one Canadian journalist
www.thestar.com/Travel/article/282400
www.thestar.com/Travel/article/282400
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
On considering blogging (which would be easier if blogging wasn't such an awful word)
me: i don't want to write some annoying gringa shit about the poor, beautiful people of oaxaca.
i'm just not sure how to write without sounding like that.
or actually being that.
Cesar: i hear you
5 minutes
Cesar: that might be a good first entry -
me: maybe....
might just make me sound even more like that.
Cesar: hey... in case you haven't notice i'm a brown guy
me: yeah?
Cesar: so i imagine you have some thoughts about my peeps and i would love to hear them
me: i wasn't thinking of it like that at all.
Cesar: i just realized
that you might not be thinking of it like that
me: i wasn't even exactly thinking of the oaxaquenos as being much connected or similar to you personally, but maybe you feel differently?
Cesar: i don't. maybe i was just connecting with the MEXICAN id
see
there is so much to write about
me: perhaps.
maybe you'll be a character on my blog.
Cesar: cool
me: but if you're gonna be a character, you'll have to know that sometimes i'm gonna get it wrong.
Cesar: what do you mean?
me: misrepresent you.
Cesar: ok
i see
you can do an e-ethnography
me: well, i wouldn't go that far.
i don't even know what an ethnography is.
Cesar: a narrative
a story
a method
it's great - you're going to be embedded
me: see, you're talking about ethnography...
meanwhile i'm playing with the colors.
or actually being that.
Cesar: i hear you
5 minutes
Cesar: that might be a good first entry -
me: maybe....
might just make me sound even more like that.
Cesar: hey... in case you haven't notice i'm a brown guy
me: yeah?
Cesar: so i imagine you have some thoughts about my peeps and i would love to hear them
me: i wasn't thinking of it like that at all.
Cesar: i just realized
that you might not be thinking of it like that
me: i wasn't even exactly thinking of the oaxaquenos as being much connected or similar to you personally, but maybe you feel differently?
Cesar: i don't. maybe i was just connecting with the MEXICAN id
see
there is so much to write about
me: perhaps.
maybe you'll be a character on my blog.
Cesar: cool
me: but if you're gonna be a character, you'll have to know that sometimes i'm gonna get it wrong.
Cesar: what do you mean?
me: misrepresent you.
Cesar: ok
i see
you can do an e-ethnography
me: well, i wouldn't go that far.
i don't even know what an ethnography is.
Cesar: a narrative
a story
a method
it's great - you're going to be embedded
me: see, you're talking about ethnography...
meanwhile i'm playing with the colors.
me: i'm afraid to write anything so public as a blog.
especially public to people i know.
i'm not sure why.
especially public to people i know.
i'm not sure why.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
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