Oaxaca! part 1

It's been almost a month since I put anything up here, but for relatively good reason: we were away on an amazing trip down to the south of Mexico - down in Oaxaca.
You might be familiar with Oaxaca as one of the places that every would-be revolutionary/artistic type wants to visit when they come to Mexico (along with Chiapas). The people of the southern regions have always been all about not putting up with crap from the government (see E.Zapata, Commandante Marcos, 2006 demonstrations, others). It's also a center of rug-weaving, embroidery, pottery, and other textile-based art forms. The stuff they make is gorgeous, not to mention cheap.

We took the overnight bus to Mexico DF, killed a few hours in the city and then took another 6 hour bus to Oaxaca de Juarez (the city). I'm sure the scenery was nice, but I slept through pretty much the whole thing, so can't really speak to it.

We were super lucky to have a friend back in NY who's father lives in Oaxaca. R. had let us know that we could stay there anytime, and we took advantage. The small, but perfect house, is in a nice neighbourhood about a 15 minute walk from the zocalo. We had a bedroom with a bathroom that is right off the patio. It was great, because we weren't in his way (we hope) and we had some privacy too. The hospitality was just fantastic - breakfasts of fresh fruit, fresh yogurt, granola, locally-grown coffee (fresh-ground beans, of course), fresh eggs, and other fresh freshness. R. has a crew of friends who were all really nice also. The second night we were there, he had a holiday party and we met lots of good people both living and visiting Oaxaca. The next night, we were invited to a lovely dinner at another friend of his' beautiful house. Good times.

shades of last year

Well, here I am in Zacatecas (news alert!), trying to kill time while I wait for a backup to complete. One of the great, great things here has been that I've been learning spanish, as you know. Incredibly, I've been able to work out a deal with the spanish school so that I do computer work for them, and they give me a deal on classes. I don't think I'd have been able to stay in classes this long without such a deal, so it's been key.

And so, here I find myself, back aching, head dizzy from gas heating, occasionally frustrated from failed backups along the way, hating Windows with all my heart for it's virus-vulnerable self, and thinking about how a year ago, I was probably in a pretty similar situation. Arturo Jr's laptop has been limping along for some time with a nasty trojan living in his system, and no amount of utilities have been able to root it out. Finally, we decided to backup, format and reinstall the operating system. Boy, do I wish we could just install Mac OS. Does it have problems, sure. But, and I say this based only on my experience, not nearly as many.

I'll tell you though, I'm happy having something to do this afternoon that involves some slight skill that I have.

To Stare or Not to Stare...

Why the hell isn't that the question?? With the answer being NOT to stare!
Ok, I admit, I had been living in New York City for the past number of years before coming here to Zacatecas (google alert!), and NYC is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, if not the most. You can walk down the street in New York and see anything and everything, so after a while you get numb. Granted.

Still! What is it that makes people here stare sooo much? I really feel like I'm developing some sort of complex. It is literally impossible for me to walk more than 10 feet from my door without being stared at in an intense way.

Now - I understand that I'm a tall-ish gringo, and that there aren't that many around here, but it's not like I look particularly strange, do I?!?
(Please see 'complex, development of' above)
I mean, I don't have piercings, tattoos of any kind - much less something stareworthy on my forehead, a wacky haircut, or an extra limb. Yes, I have grey(ing) hair, but I just don't think that's it.

I walk along and folks just stop in their tracks - not in the 'hey, check out that stud' way, more like 'holy crap, you're not going to believe what I saw today - the craziest thing in the entire world' kind of way. It's not even like people try to be subtle about it either; No side-glance out of the corner of the eye, no quick turn-around right after passing me by, no effort made whatsoever to mask their open-mouthed and wide-eyed look.

A favourite of mine has got to be when they're walking towards me. They glance up slightly, as always, just to make it's not the money-giving-away guy, and then let their eyes fall back down. But wait - this guy is the most far-out freakishly insane person - nay, thing - that I've ever seen! I know what I'll do...stop in my tracks and stand very, very still. Then, when it can no longer see me, because I'm standing so still, I'll focus my gaze on it in an incredibly intense fashion.

That's right - it's common theory here that if a person, A, is standing very very still with their eyes, E, focused on an approaching object, B, then they bend the accepted laws of physics and become invisible, I. So, in mathematical terms terms, that's A+E B=I
I wish I had the heart to stop and say, "hey there, I can see you, you know". Or maybe not...I'm not sure I want to be responsible for BLOWING THEIR FREAKING MINDS.

I'm sure I'll have more to say about this particular subject...it's definitely something I think about constantly...ARRRRGGHHHH

Juices, creative and otherwise

Yes, it's that time of year, when people start to wonder about many things: When did summer end? Why am I not living somewhere warm, like Mexico? Why is it, now that I'm living in Mexico, I have to wear thermals, a wool sweater, a fleece, and a jacket in order to be warm?

Well, I'm sure there are plenty of answers to these questions, but they are way parallel to my pay grade, so won't get a proper response in this forum. Suffice to say, not all Mexico is created equal. Just last weekend, we went to Guadalajara for a couple days - about 4.5 hours away - and the temperature was drastically different. Not drastic in a purely numeral sense, but drastic in a more holistic sense. That is, we not only didn't have to wear all the same cold-weather gear we need here in Zacatecas, but we didn't feel the same chill deep down in our bones, that no amount of warm clothing can banish. T-shirts during the day, sweater at night...mmm. It just feels more happy.

And now, tonight, Hanukah will be here. Festival of Lights. La Fiesta de las Luces, or something like that. I imagine we'll be the only people in Zacatecas lighting candles tonight, and that's a little sad-like. Who knows, maybe far up on the Bufa a small, flickering light will shine forth that will announce to all the world that long ago, in a land far away, there was a miracle of oil that lasted for 8 days. On the other hand, it would probably be interpreted as some kind of drug gang signal and get shot at, or something. I wonder if the Maccabees had to deal with such problems.

Oh yeah, don't see 2012, no matter how much I say that it could be ok with all the cool special effects and stuff. And that it (briefly) mentions the Mayans, so how could we not see it?
I listened to me, and was pretty disappointed.

Annoying thing

People here just don't want to stop for people trying to crosthe street. I get pissed about this multiple times each day.

Just saying.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

spanish, hombre

learning the spanish is rough.
5 hours a day for 41/2 months.
tiring and my head is so full.
worth it, though, when i communicate with someone.

Fashion! Ooooooh.....Fashion!!

That's right - last night we went to the world-wide premiere opening of the first ever Fashion Week Zacatecas, right here in our very own - Zacatecas!

Fashion TV decided to showcase the silver-designing awesomeness of Zacatecas (Zacatecas!) and tape a full-on cat-walking fashion show in the same plaza that has hosted a hunger-striking torero (he wasn't getting enough bull-killing time).

Our friend E, a local impresario, scored us the tickets and there we were, but 30 feet from...the models feet! The weather, cold, was not our friend. Time passed and finally, the flat-panel TVs mounted all around came to life, with shots of the showcase city of the night; the center of fashion for just a few hours...New York City. What!?

Turns out that they had a gala party/awards ceremony sometime in the last couple weeks in NYC and they showed clips from it for a good 15 minutes, cutting back and forth to scenic shots of Zacatecas. I was pretty sure what the point of the comparison was - they're the exact same level of awesomeness.

Anyway, that ended and weak DJ music started thumping out of the huge speakers. The (famous?) model who was in the video living it up at Rockefeller Center, strolled out to absolute silence. Not one person clapped and she was a bit surprised. It was obvious that this wouldn't fly for the broadcast, so she was all like, I'm going to come in again and this time cheer! Second time was only barely better and I'm sure they'll be getting an applause track from somewhere.

The show started and the women busted out one by one: butterfly wings of all shapes and colors, worn with very small underwear. It wasn't obvious when one was meant to wear this sort of outfit, but I'm sure they'll be all the rage sometime soon.

The insect-inspired walk-off turned into a medley of designers, each showcasing really tall, hungry, greased-up women that have "that" look and a messed up walk. Here's a question: The fashion is the height of fashion. The women are the ultimate ideal. Is the walk the best walk ever? It looks terribly uncomfortable and, I believe, really unrealistic for hiking.

The cold got to be too much, and we left, our fashion adventure behind us like last years wardrobe.