The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tlacolula Faces


One of the best markets to visit any day of the week is the one is Tlacolula, but Sunday is Market Day and the place is bustling with vendors and action.  The different dialects one hears in passing and the variety in people's clothing, especially the women, are always interesting.

It was hot, so people were getting their ice cream cones.

A family affair.

El planton - The sit-in... winding down?


According to the papers, the teachers voted last night to end the sit-in, maybe on Wednesday, and return to work.  The vote was split, so it remains to be seen what exactly will transpire.  The surrounding parts of the city seem quiet and functioning as normal.  I am sure I have missed the fiery speeches and rallies, but every time I have been in the zocalo, it has seemed relatively subdued, crowed with tents and vendors, but subdued.  Maybe it was the heat as it has been unusually hot and hazy.  There government has issued a nation-wide heat advisory.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

El planton - The sit-in... waiting for Godot

Progress is apparently being made in negotiations and a few teachers have returned to their villages.  So no action.... What am I saying???  There is this.  Don't miss it.

And of course, as always great street art.

What does it mean?

La lucha continues

Friday, May 27, 2011

El planton - The sit-in...cont 3


I ventured into the city and it was eerily quiet away from the zocalo, really not much traffic and many businesses closed.  People were just sacked out.

The pedestrian walkway, Alcala, heading south from Santo Domingo.

Most of the protesters were in under tarps, hiding from an intense sun,  It was hot, hot, hot.  There was no action of any sort, just people sitting, hanging out or sleeping.  I stopped and talked to several friends with stores, Victor Vasquez from Teresita, the great hole-in-the wall wood carving shop and Arnufo Mendoza, the famous weaver at Mano Magica.  Both said business was non existent and hoped that the planton would end in the next couple of days.  "It's the ambulantes, the street vendors.  They are not from here, but they have taken over." That was the consensus at the cafés around the zocalo as well.

There were a few tourists eating, but only a few.  It is just too hard to move around.  At times it was almost comical. This cart was going backwards.  There were too many low ropes for him.

Still, they were selling some good stuff.

Need a bra, amigo?

Total bottleneck.  A single lane through the southwest corner of the zocalo, which is normally ten meters or 30 feet wide.

Mom. can we go as soon as I solve this Rubic's cube?

Why not drive a motorcycle through it?

This one reminded me of yesterday's burro shot....sometimes it is better to ignore everything and just eat.

Trash piling up.

The revolution will be televised by an all female crew no less.

Siestas in the flower beds under the laurels in the zocalo.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

It must be something in the air

It is everywhere.  This is the main entrance to the nearby village of Etla.  All the other entrances were blocked, as well, in protest.  The sign reads, "We, the retailers of the village of Etla, do not accept the opening of the "Super Precio" store, the municipal president and council must comply with their promise and (show that) they are not corrupt."

(As always, let me know if I incorrectly translated.  I found this one to be confusing)

The large strange building is not the store in question.  No, that is a new financial business.  I have shot and posted it several times before.  I guess they are following some franchise model.  I hope so or else I want some of what they are on.

As for the protests in Etla, I will have to see if I can find out more.  No matter what is going on, sometimes it is better to mind your own business and get something to eat.....

oops, our favorite restaurante is in..... Etla.

El planton - The sit-in...cont 2

The protest has its supporters and detractors.  I try to read both, but I confess, I am not sure of my sources.  Well, one is an acquaintance.  It took me a while last year to realize that I was getting some of my news from a PRI controlled paper.  All of a sudden, I understood why the stories were written the way they were.  There is a big difference if you are getting your news from Fox & Friends or McClatchy. So I post these with a proviso that I am not sure from whence they cometh.  However, in both they refer to Section 22 as a cartel.  Rather than subject them to my poor translations skills, I encourage you to copy them, if you need to, and punch them into your favorite translator.

From Ricardo Aleman at Zocalo Saltillo
La terca realidad volvió a Oaxaca. Y conste que el PRI ya no está en el Gobierno estatal; que Ulises Ruiz fue echado por la fuerza del voto y que, la cacareada alternancia en el poder, es contundente e inobjetable.

Pero lo cierto es que parece que de poco le ha servido a Oaxaca la llegada de un gobierno apoyado por el PAN, PRD, PT y Convergencia, de poco ha servido la llegada de un gobernador como el ex priísta y perredista, Gabino Cue, y de nada sirvieron el oro y el moro ofrecidos. ¿Por qué? Porque la terca realidad confirmó que el problema de Oaxaca no era solo el PRI, sino que son las mafias políticas –como la del magisterio-, que se apoderaron de esa entidad.

Y es que en Oaxaca se siguen cometiendo los crímenes políticos de siempre; campea la impunidad oficial de siempre; la educación pública sigue siendo una grosera ficción, se sigue matando al turismo, al empleo y a las empresa y, por si fuera poco, la mafia política que tiene sometido al estado de Oaxaca, no sólo sigue llevando a la ruina a la entidad, sino que se trata de una mafia intocable, capaz de toda clase de crímenes políticos y sociales, sin que ninguna autoridad pueda hacer nada para combatirla y sancionarla. ¿A cuál mafia nos referimos?

Por absurdo que parezca, y por increíble que resulte, la mafia que tiene sometido al estado de Oaxaca no pertenece al cártel del Chapo. Tampoco es una célula de La Mano con Ojos. No, la mafia que lleva a la ruina económica, educativa, política y social a Oaxaca, es la del magisterio, la insaciable sección 22 del SNTE, cuyos dizque maestros –verdaderos criminales sociales-, son responsables de buena parte de la tragedia que vive esa entidad.

En Oaxaca, los maestros no enseñan y menos educan; la educación no significa ampliar las libertades y menos salir de la pobreza, y la escuela nunca ha sido símbolo de progreso. En Oaxaca los maestros de la sección 22 promueven el atraso educativo, estimulan la pérdida de ciclos escolares, y son ejemplo vivo de corrupción, depredación, saqueo económico y chantaje social. Y, con todo ello, condenan a la miseria de por vida a millones de oaxaqueños. Pero además, en Oaxaca los constantes paros magisteriales llevan a la ruina la economía local; paralizan el comercio, expulsan la industria, aplastan el turismo y desalientan la inversión.  (read the whole story)
And from author, Ulises Torrentera, in an email this morning.
El Cártel de la seccción 22

   La sección 22 del SNTE puede tipificarse como una organización criminal como los Zeta. La diferencia es que los capos magisteriales se mueven con una inaudita impunidad: hasta se toman fotos con el gobernador Gabino Cué (quien, por cierto, hasta les pide disculpas) lo que no podría hacer el Chapo Guzmán con el presidente Felipe Calderón. Y digo que es una organización criminal porque, al igual que los otros cárteles, se han insensibilizado ante la tragedia humana: unos torturan y los otros también; unos asesinan y los otros también… pero de una manera más cruel: los desangran, los exprimen. Unos atacan a pocos, los otros, a toda una ciudad. Ambos tienen en vilo a la sociedad. El brazo armado de la organización criminal llamada sección 22 es la APPO, ahora respaldada por el Ejercito Popular Revolucionario, una banda terrorista.
   El cártel de la sección 22 es una organización perfectamente organizada para evitar cualquier tipo de disidencia, como lo hizo hace más de 30 años Vanguardia Revolucionaria, comandada entonces por Carlos Jongitud Barrios. Hoy, el cártel magisterial, es la tiranía perfecta decir de Mario Vargas Llosa porque, como en el PRI, las facciones magisteriales se encargan de distribuirse el poder y colocan a un dirigente comprometido con apoyar irrestrictamente a cada una de las facciones que lo colocaron.
   Además, como la Cosa Nostra, tienen un pacto de silencio.  No es difícil qué es lo sella tal acuerdo: el dinero, dinero a manos llenas. Las facciones magisteriales, a diferencia de los cárteles de las drogas, han pactado para repartirse el botín, es decir, el presupuesto gubernamental. Por ello no tienen enfrentamientos intestinos, simplemente se turnan la dirigencia porque saben que cualquier gobernador se doblegará ante su chantaje.
   La sección 22 es una banda de secuestradores: no solo de la capital de la entidad, sino de sus ciudadanos, su economía. Su modus operandi es la extorsión, como lo hiciera Al Capone en los años 20 del siglo pasado en Chicago.
  La banda de la sección 22 es la última herencia del priismo. De hecho es la expresión más cínica del PRI. Lejos de democratizarse, los vándalos magisteriales se montaron sobre un anquilosado edificio del que supieron sacar provecho. Luego, los gobiernos priistas se encargaron de alimentar lo que ahora es un Frankistein. Por ejemplo, una vez jubilados, los profesores pueden vender su plaza o heredarla al más inútil de la familia. O bien, se oponen sistemáticamente a ser evaluados como el resto de los mentores del país por la simple razón de que saldrían reprobados, como reprobados son sus alumnos en el examen Enlace.
    Las diferentes facciones de la sección 22 actúan de manera inteligente, pues lejos de pelearse entre sí, cierran filas en la consecución de dineros públicos para su usufructo y disfrute. La “democracia” del cártel de la sección 22 se basa en la elección de 800 delegados sindicales que representan a poco más de 70 mil profesores. Tales delegados, adoctrinados y dogmatizados, manipulan al resto del profesorado que prefieren no trabajar a oponerse a sus dictadorzuelos. Un círculo vicioso del que los capos magisteriales se aprovechan.
Aparte de priistas y corruptos, además de ser delincuentes organizados y destructores del patrimonio histórico de Oaxaca, el cártel de la sección 22 se vanagloria de sus fechorías y a la indemne sociedad oaxaqueña solo le queda mantenerse callada y sumisa, so pena de ser agredida por los mentores genízaros.
   Sabiendo que cuentan con la protección de las autoridades, los profesores y profesoras pueden agredir a cualquiera que se les atreviese, resguardados por el anonimato que da la multitud, la bestia de mil cabezas a decir de Horacio. Pero cobardes como todo delincuente, han creado y criado a un engendro que hace la tarea sucia: golpear, pintarrajear paredes, destruir el centro histórico, saquear negociaciones. Obvio, me refiero a la APO.
    Lo peor de todo ello es que las negociaciones entre gobierno y magisterio se da en lo oscurito. Los oaxaqueños y oaxaqueños que pagamos impuestos no sabremos nunca a qué tipo de arreglos se llegara con la canallada magisterial. No sabremos el costo, como tampoco lo sabemos con las anteriores administraciones. En fin, es una desgracia tener un gobierno ineficiente y pueril y una organización de delincuentes pagados por el Estado.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

El planton - The sit-in...cont

First of all, I am a guest here, so I cannot and will not overstep my place.  Secondly, these a complex issues made more complex by recent history, namely 2006 and the tenure of the former governor, Ulises Ruiz.  The current governor, Gabino Cué inherited one hell of a mess.... sound familiar?

If I had to posit a guess, I would say that Section 22 has over-reached, like the GOP has in the States.  There will be blowback.  People are just basically pissed off by the whole thing. 

The traveling vendors have taken advantage of the situation and compounded the logjam in El Centro.  The merchants to the south of the zocalo are a very tough, no-nonsense group.  To the north, it is a more genteel crowd, but no matter who or what, businesses need supplies and customers.

Cué has made offers and they have been rejected.  I am sure negotiations are taking place.

However, some of the teacher's demands are the equivalent of ending poverty and corruption.  Oaxaca is the poorest state in Mexico.  If ending poverty were even possible, not teaching children in school, should not be a bargaining chip, because it will take years to solve those sorts of problems.  No, this a power grab and we shall just have to see how it plays out. 

I will let the current pictures speak for themselves.

Tents around the gazebo.

Impassable paths at the northwest corner of the zocalo.

Comida set up in front of the entrance to the cathedral... looks pretty good, eh?

One of the main entrances to the zocalo.

Heading north from Benito Juarez market into the zocalo.

The Governor's Palace blocked off.

Heading up Garcia Vigil.

As I was leaving down, the Port-a-Johns truck sped by  heading into town.

Life goes on....

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ugly, Ugly, Ugly

Or maybe it should be dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.........

I ventured into the city to check out el planton, the teacher's occupation of the zocalo.  The protests extend several blocks around the zocalo and all the major streets are closed off.  There are tents set up everywhere and the vendatores, selling-you-name it, have moved in.  Basically, it is impassable with ropes and wires holding up tents or stalls everywhere.  Some are at neck level and others at waist level, too high to go over and too low to go under easily.

I had gone in to get candles and yerba conejo from Benito Juarez market.  If I thought I was pissed and inconvenienced, I was calm compared to all the vendors I spoke with.  "It is impossible to do business. We can't get supplies.  And it is so dirty now.  It's a disaster."

Tell me how you really feel.

So got my things and headed back to my car near Carmen Alto.  I only clothes-lined myself a few times, managing only to knock my shades off instead of decapitating myself.  I did run into Antonio and Claudia Ruiz and their kids from Teotitlan del Valle and the boda two weeks ago, who were in for a day in the city.  In my bag I had a scrolled letter I had just received to the wedding which had been left with friends.  I asked them if there was another wedding coming up and said I was psyched, but they said they were wedding-ed out.  It was just a slow delivery of Sergio and Virginia's affair.  They laughed because I looked so disappointed.

Back to the car.  The herbs and I are feeling the heat.  I mean, I was lugging 100 candles uphill.  I had a few more things on my list.  Hey, I am out in the country and like everyone else from el campo, we come in with lists and try to get things not available in the villages.

So I headed toward Plaza del Valle to go to Soriana.  It was a bear getting there, but I made it.  The teachers have blockaded all the stores so it is a total no go.  The funny thing was that I was only there for blue cheese.  It is the only place I have found that has it and in truth, it is terrible blue cheese, but I have been living on salads and had a hankering.

I had to chuckle to myself and imagined myself doing the huffy prissy gringo rant, "I appreciate your protests and all that, but don't you understand, I just drove two hours to get some blue cheese"... oh, the humanity.... so I went to an ATM instead.... OK, the hell with it... back through the city to head home and maybe get some mouthwash at Aurrera or Chedraui... I am not out, but down to two bottles, hmmm, not too neurotic... the road over the mountains, el cerro, is blocked by the teachers.... no problem, we are used to this... long detour on back roads over the hills, circle back to get to the stores.... Chedraui blocked....OK, turn around.... Aurrera blocked.  All supermarkets blocked, so I split... no cheese, no mouthwash....but seriously what about people who need food?  What about businesses that cannot function.  This is not good.  And don't get me going about the kids not being in school..... indefinitely.

They say it could be a week or a month.  I can't see people tolerating it, but what do I know.  As I said before, the teachers have little or no popular support as they did in 2006..... and I have no blue cheese.
Do I have to mention that last line was tongue in cheek?

Pictures shortly.... I just needed to vent.... ah, I feel so much better now.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Roof job - Techo nuevo

There is a house being built right next to this property and it has been fascinating to watch the process.  The first floor was done before I moved in two years ago, but nothing was being done until a couple of months ago.  Then a couple of workers showed up and started to build the second story, brick by brick.  The house is all hand built with no machines at all.  There is no electricity.  I watched them like a TV show, how they mixed the cement, cut the bricks, put in the re-bar, laid out the interior walls, put in conduit.  The progress was slow, but steady.

Then last week, they started the roof.  First, supports went in and then a layer of wood upon which cement would be poured.  Then tons of re-bar was tied in, a grid assembled.

Each day, there was an extra worker so maybe there were five at the end of the week.  Then yesterday, a whole crew of maybe twenty showed up and it was on.

Trucks delivered sand, gravel and bags of cement and miracle of miracles, the first machine, a cement mixer.  Then it was on.

A roof must all be poured in one fell swoop with a constant flow of cement to insure strength and integrity with no cracks.

Please, please, please, never let anyone say or think that Mexicanos do not have an incredible work ethic.

These guys were running up homemade ladders all day carrying five gallon buckets of cement....

and laughing, talking, having a blast.

Of course, it was a family affair with a nice midday meal.
 
Tamping down.

The finished roof this morning.

Note the flag in the background.  There is a federal police academy just across the fields.
Once the cement is set and dry, the supports and wood layer upon which it was poured will be removed and there will be a nice, clean, strong cement roof. Earthquake proof, too.

Here we go again....

Once again, the teachers, Section 22, are going on strike.   There are massive marches starting all around the city that will converge on the zocalo.  The issues are long standing and complex. but mostly it is politics as usual.  With such actions, there are always "collateral damages," students will not educated, businesses will not be able to function and the streets and roads will come to a standstill.  However, because this is just a part of life here, people will find ways to function... except for the kids.

As a former teacher, yes, I know, in the US, I was responsible for the economic collapse and everything bad that ever happened, however, I was in a private boarding school, non-union, and we did not get paid much and were on call 24/7.  If you were 24 years old, you got paid 24K. That's how it worked. You got paid your age and I was there for 28 years, so not only was I ruining the country, warping America's youth, I was also racking it in!  All I know is that I cannot remember a time I ever abandoned my kids or classes.  Just couldn't do it.  Maybe one of my colleagues or students can jog my memory, but basically if we protested or took collective action, we were gonna end up looking for a new job.  But I digress....

I think the teachers here have used up all their good will.  People are tired and angry.  The new governor has made proposals, but I guess they are not enough.

Here is the story for LAHT
SNTE teachers union members have voted to go on an indefinite strike starting Monday in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, a move that affects 1.3 million students, union leaders said.

The decision to go on strike was made Saturday after SNTE Local 22 members decided that state officials had not made satisfactory concessions in negotiations, union leader Azael Santiago Chepi said.

The teachers plan to occupy the main plaza in Oaxaca city, the state capital.

The union is not making any pay demands, focusing instead on educational and social issues, Chepi said.

Teachers want better uniform allowances for students, computers in all of the state’s elementary schools and electricity in all schools, the union leader said. (Read the full story for a little history)
from El Imparcial
Con una marcha masiva, el magisterio oaxaqueño iniciará hoy el paro indefinido de labores en las más de 14 mil escuelas, con lo cual se quedarán sin clases más de un millón 300 mil infantes.
We will see where it goes from here.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Is this the answer?


I wonder how Arizonans feel about this.  I'm sure some will say that this was the desired effect.  On the other hand, it represents a significant loss in the work force.  Some will say it saves money.  Other will say the opposite.  You know what I say?  We need a better immigration policy. 
Imagine if this law were reversed and enacted here in Oaxaca.... I would be toast, over six feet and painfully gringo.  It ain't like I could blend in.

From the Latin American Herald Tribune
Arizona’s Hispanic population has fallen by at least 100,000 since the SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration measure was passed in 2010, even though a federal judge blocked the law’s most controversial provisions, BBVA Bancomer said in a report.

“A smaller number of Hispanics in the state of Arizona can be observed,” according to the report by Mexico’s largest financial institution, whose economic studies service frequently publishes analysis on immigration issues..... (read the full story)
People here are very aware of this law.  Maybe people in Arizona are fine with how they are thought of by many oaxaqueños.  It would weigh heavy on me.

Also, too, I offer whatever talents I have to Oaxaca.  I try to contribute, you know, work.  It is just normal life.  We do what we can to make where we live a better place. Mexicans in the US do exactly the same thing.  They work hard and contribute much.  Arizona, both countries continue to suffer because of this law.  Compassion would work better, but obviously, that ain't on the agenda.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I'm still here...


Has the Rapture started where you are?  I am still here.   What does this mean?  Am I all set or totally screwed?

Update:  It's Sunday.  Hey, I'm still writing and you're still reading.  Back to our normal programing....

Friday, May 20, 2011

"Some days you feel like a nut...."


Ah, yes, the old Peter Paul jingle.... good thing they say the rapture is coming tomorrow.  Then there is this, of course (from LAHT)
The governor of the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, Mario Lopez Valdez, has issued a decree banning songs recounting the exploits and travails of drug lords, known as “narco ballads,” from being performed or played at bars, taverns, nightclubs and banquet halls.

A top state official, Bernardo Cardenas, told Efe that the decree conditions renewal of those establishments’ liquor license on their “not having sold, exhibited, shown or played music, videos, images or concerts that glorify criminals, anti-social behavior or illegal activities.”
Image detail: On calle Constitucion, no less.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

If a tree falls.....

While I was delivering photos and eating wonderful fresh mole negro tamales in Teotitlan del Valle, each with an avocado leaf flavoring the chicken, stuff was happening.  The teachers are marching and blockading roads, buildings and businesses.  And we have had amazing storms, some of which have been causing quite a bit of damage.  I got a call from my friend, spixl, to tell me that one of the huge laurel trees had come down near the zocalo.  It turns out they have diseased roots, so others may be in peril.  Go check out her shots of the tree at her blog, View from Casita Colibri. 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Posting Posters

Off to the city to get photos printed and to see what the latest offering of posters and street art are.
The revolution will not be twittered.

 I want to find a copy of this one.  It has the different varieties of agave for mezcal..... it also explains why I have seen cuish in graffiti all over the place.

Maybe a political figure or one of the missing?  .... it would be irresponsible not to speculate.