Dancing in the rain

Water enters car

La Gran Aventura de Hoy -- Todays Great Adventure

Heavy rainfall began and ended today.

Last night I arrived in Oaxaca City. This is my second time in the City and I am happy to be back in this climate. It is less hot and humid here than the coast. (although the humidity was nice to my skin).

I traveled through the night on the bus from Ixtapec with Frank and his Cousin. Frank is a mediator and lawyer that I met in Salina Cruz. He is my age. I stayed one night with his family at their house in Ixtapec. We are now at his family´s second house in Oaxaca city. I didn't sleep much last night because the 5 hour bus ride from Ixtapec to here was very curvey! When we arrived, the house was full of people. So his cousin, Danae, and I shared the futon after we arrived at 5am.

Today everyone left and Frank is going to Mexico City. tonight to get his lawyer license, having just finished his education and passed the exam to be a lawyer. Thus, tonight it will just be me and his 17 year old Danae in the house. This will be the first night that I will have a bed to myself in over a week! I am not complaining though, I have had free lodging for the past couple of weeks and have made lots of new friends. Lookout though Oregon. I have invited all my new friends to stay with me if they ever want to visit and I think that I will be taken up on my offer.

Today began a little to slow for my liking. I made scrambled eggs and oatmeal for us and then we hung around the house doing nothing. I had planned on going to the mediation center here in Oaxaca early in the morning, but Frank had things to do. Finally I decided to take a Taxi to the mediation center.

I had a few great hours with some really nice mediators that let me ask them questions about mediation in Oaxaca. And they replied in slow, understandable Spanish! It was such a nice change of pace! I am excited about what I am learning about mediation here...and I can´t wait to get started on my thesis. I have a lot of questions I still need to answer though.

I left the mediation center at 3 pm in search of a Taxi to get back home. However, there was a some sort of strike and all the city buses were parked to block all the roads. The whole city was one big traffic jam! And there were no Taxis to be found. I made it the central bus station with the help of one of the mediation employees. This person left me at the station extremely apologetic but not being able to do anything for me. We called Frank and he said he would get me when they moved the buses.

By this time it was around 4 o clock, and finally being on the Mexican eating schedule, I decided to pass the time by having lunch. I ordered two quesadillas across the street and sat on a door step just out of reach of the rain to eat. Man, the food here is soo delicious. Those fresh warm made by hand corn tortillas are amazing.

From where I was sitting I could view a four way intersection, each street blocked by a bus (this was a protest because taxes were raised for the bus passengers recently). A lot of people were yelling and some kids (malos muchachos) threw rocks at one of the buses and broke out the windows. Soon after that the buses were moved from here and Frank arrived in a VW bug with a friend to pick me up. However, there were still bus blocks around the city and we drove around for two hours trying to find an open path home. During this adventure I got to see more of the city than I knew existed. I also saw one girl pierce the tongue of her friend in the middle of the sidewalk...no gloves, no nothing. Blood trickling down her tongue... ewwe.

After many turns we came to a street that had turned into a river from all the rain. After sitting at the mouth of it, contemplating whether or not to go through, and watching other cars (some successful and some not) go through, Frank's friend decided to give it a go. I protested that our car was too low. Two big trucks that passed us from the other direction shook their heads at us, "I wouldn´t do it amigo. The water is really high" they advised.

The friend, confident his VW bug would be fine, rushed into the water, and moments later, water rushed into the car. I stayed dry by pulling my legs up onto the seat, but Frank and friend were not so lucky. Soon after that the engine died and we sat in the middle of the river for a few moments before being able to slowly return from whence we came. Many minutes later we were turned around, which was another amazing feat considering the traffic at this point. We pulled over and let the engine dry out. 

Around 7 o clock we finally made it home, we stopped at the store for milk and sweet bread and enjoyed hot chocolate at home. A perfect end to a very rainy and somewhat cold day. But what an adventure! I can´t wait for tomorrow! Ohh and I have pics of all this. I will post them soon!

Spanglish

Tonight I am staying in the house of a very important lady in Ixtepec. 1.5 hours de Salina Cruz. Her son, 25, is a lawyer-mediator in Salina Cruz and I was invited to stay with his family. His mom dresses in traditional Zapotecan wear and she speaks the Zapotecan dialect. Chela means cervaza (beer) and Chawy Chawy (dont know how it is spelled) means despacio (slow). I didnt know I would be learning Zapotec tambien (too).

Last week I was staying with a lady who I thought was a mediator in Salina Cruz. Well, she is a mediator, just not full time. Only when she wants to (but she still receives a salary for it?? I havent quite figured it out). She is a "woman without responsibilities" her mom owns a small resturant in a great location (right in front of the bus station) and She owns an internet\clothing boutique next door.

The day I arrived, last Sunday, this lady lost the baby she was carrying (three months left to go). Apparently, the week before, she was in an accident. She ran into a man working in the streets in a tunnel (she didnt see him). When she got out to help him and offer to take him to the hospital, his sister attacked her. From my limited ability to understand spanish, I gathered that she attributes this incident to losing her baby.

She has two other children. One 7 year old very bright girl and one 14 year old boy. They lived with their grandma the week I was there. Well, the boy always lives with grandma. She had two friends stay with her the entire week helping her out since she was in a lot of pain after the operation to remove her baby. One of them has a 2 year old little boy who was a pain.

It took me the week (and accidently walking into the room during an intimate moment) to figure out that these woman were girlfriends. I am so dense when it comes to realizing these things. In Salina Cruz and much of the Isthmus, being openly gay is accepted. This, in my opinion, is a good thing. The Istmus of Mexico is also very matriarchal. It is pretty interesting.

The last few days I have been staying with another Mediator in Tehauntepec. (20 min from Salina Cruz).

Last week there was a mediation between a pregnant woman and the man who made her so. He doesn't want to take responsibility because he has a wife. But the mediation was the first time he acknowledged that the baby was his. It was quite interesting to watch. Oh how I love mediation!

I am still struggling to know what is going on all the time and I have trouble expressing myself, which is incredibly frustrating....This is the first time I have been somewhere where no one speaks English. Some people know a few words and love to insert them when talking with me. Which is quite funny. In the middle of a sentence in Spanish, English words like "house" "grandma" "dog" "orange" "one, two, three" will find there way in.

Ahhh, Spanglish!

Salina Cruz week one

Hey all,

I have been in Salina Cruz for almost a week now. Wow the time has flown. The people I have met here and the people I am staying with are the most generous and hospitable people I have ever met. If people in the US could only understand how I have been recieved here, they would be ashamed at how Mexicans have been recieved in our country.

I am still shaky with my spanish, and cant understand everything, but it is becoming easier. Watching the mediation process in Spanish is facinating but I think that mediation will be 10 times easier when I get back, just beacause it will be in English.

I am a bit sad I only have two more weeks here.

Portraits

Meet Daniel -

Daniel is around 20 years old and lives in San Jaun Sasola. It is a small town of about 50 people. He is one of the youngest people living here because, unlike his peers, he didnt choose to immigrate to the states or to bigger cities in Mexico. Daniel seems much older than he really is. He took the WFP group on a walk through the country side sharing his favorite spot...the high vantage point where he used to sit all day and watch the goats. This was his job when he was 5. He showed us the plants we could eat, the ones that cured hangovers, and the mala mujer, (bad woman) the plant not to touch.

He is the town representative of an organization called CERICAM, which is an organization that promotes traditional organic farming practices. I think it started in the mid 1980´s. The hope that the town can survive and the people can continue to feed themselves rests in the hands of the younger generation...in this case it rests in Daniel´s hands.

Meet Adi -

Adi is around 33 years old. She lives in Puerto Escondido and teaches Spanish. She loves her town and she loves her country but she doesn´t understand why the governement is more interested in improving touist´s lives than the lives of the people who live there. "Look she says, most of us can´t afford to eat here." (the street located in front of the surfer beach, Playa Zicatela). "This sidewalk is for you, these lights are for you. Walk up to the carretara, where is our sidewalk?" She wants the people to wake up. "It is in our hands" she said. "We need to fix this."

I thanked her for explaining her views and she thanked me for listening and wanting to learn. In order to learn the language she said, you need to understand the culture."La cultura es el espejo de la lengua" She told me. (The culture is the mirror of the language).

Meet Z...

The lady I lived with in Puerto Escondido. She has two young kids, a little black dog and a husband. She also agreed that the tourist part of town is too expensive (this might be a good time to mention that most Mexicans earn $50 pesos for an eight hour day, which is equal to $5 US dollars. However, food costs only a little less than we pay in the states). Also, after my ATM bank issue she informed me, "we don´t put our money in the bank. The banks are corrupt. They charge the people to have accounts. They charge extra fees and slowly draw your money out. Don´t trust the banks. Also, they are mostly not Mexican owned."

Meet Irene -

Irene also teaches Spanish in Puerto Escondido. Sometimes she hates her job because some of the people that come to learn spanish just want to know how to give orders. She explained that Mexico is for sale and foreigners buy the land, but don´t care about the people or understand Mexico´s complicated history. She is from the middle class but her eyes were opened to the county´s problems and corruption in 1994. 1994 is the year NAFTA was signed and the Zapatista´s cries of protest reached the international world.

Irene is trying to save seeds on her own, like the people in San Jaun Sosola, to keep them pure from GMO contamination.

Meet Daniel -

Daniel is 28 years old and lives in Puerto Escondido. He lived for many years in the states and worked as a bricklayer. He is in constant back pain but he works in Mexico as a brick layer for himself, now that he understands the business. He thinks about going back to the states but he loves Puerto and also wants to be here for his brother. His mom died when he was 8, she was in labor with his brother. His dad was in the army and died when Daniel was 16. Thus, Daniel has been fending for the family. His brother is gay, but Daniel tells him he has to fight those demons. Daniel also fights demons. "There are voices inside his head that tell me to do bad things and act crazy. But I believe in God and know that God is always there, even when you think he is not, he is."

Meet I -

I is around 32 years old and speaks English almost perfectly. He lived in New York for many years. He had a false SS number but didn't collect any taxes, he opted to donate them instead. You can tell he loves New York a lot, but he loves Puerto more. He wants to build a house there. He first crossed the border when he was 16. For a while he helped traffic people, which he does not consider to be wrong. "I was kind of like Zorro he said." He also worked for drug traffickers, but "not the bad kind".

"They didn´t kill anyone, I don´t think. I heard them beat someone up once. But he deserved it." He went to school in the states, eventually attended University and worked for an agency retouching ads. He made a lot of money but spent a lot of money too. Especially on alcohol. He works in Puerto as a Spanish teacher and he teaches English to young kids.

Meet random Collectivo Taxi driver -

"Where are you from?" he asked. "I am from the states" I replied. " "Oh really? Where?" "The state above California, Oregon." "Really!? I lived there for 6 years. There are a lot of trees! Even the license plates have trees! It rains a lot there!" "haha, yep. That is Oregon."

I miss Oregon.

Puerto Escondido

I have spent this last week in Puerto Escondido and havent been very good about updating my blog.

The first word of this town, Puerto, signifies that this is a port town. It is located on the Southern Pacific coast of Mexico. Escondido mean "hidden" in Spanish. Which is a joke now. Puerto Escondido used to be hidden, years ago, but in recent years, as surfers realized this place has unique and grande waves, it has been developed. Sadly.

My guide book says that Puerto Escondido is a great example of unsustainable development. I don t really quite feel like I am in Mexico here, except that I am hot most of the time and sweating profusely. There are three main beaches. The one only for surfers, where it is too dangerous to swim, is full of tourists, Eurpean, Mexican and American. There is another beach where there are more Mexicans than Europeans or Americans. (it is an unspoken rule where about what beach you should be on).

During my week here I have quite enjoyed the view of the ocean and this view is this picture that I will take with me.. I had a great view of the magnificent crashing waves from the high point of a language school. I decided to attended Spanish school four hours a day. I suffered through a review of the grammar and worked on increasing my vocabulary in order to be more prepared for the next part of my journey as a volunteer at a mediation center. I had great teachers and learned more about Mexico's complicated history and identity. One of my teachers gave me great resources to look up later about human rights issues in Mexico.

The first part of the week I felt lonely. I spent all week thinking that I dont  fit in with the surfing culture. I also had permanent a headache from trying to cram as much Spanish in my head as possible. For a few days I felt very energized, optimistic and happy, but then I had an issue with an ATM not giving me money, while my bank account registered that I did take money out. What a stress! 

I was able to call my bank and fax the necessary paperwork. I also went to the bank that owned this ATM to see if they could do anything. They told me that it was the fault of my bank and there was nothing they could do. So keep your fingers crossed for me that somehow this all works out, because I cant afford to have money vanish.

I learned though, that most Mexicans do not keep their money in banks here because the banks "rob" the people. It was really comforting to hear. (not). 

I have been staying in a private room owned by a family here. I was eating meals in their house but without the rest of the family. It made me feel very uncomfortable. I also could not figure out when they actually ate! I learned last night when I went to chat with them they they eat at least one of their meals, at 10 pm. I watched Family Guy with the kids ...which, in my opinion, is a stupid show in both English and Spanish.

Tomorrow I am traveling 5 more hours down the coast to Salina Cruz to volunteer at a mediation center there. I am nervous because I dont know what to expect. One of the people that works there, that agreed to let me do this is going to meet me at the bus station. Wish me luck!