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

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Planton - update

I believe today was relatively quiet as the teachers discussed whether or not they would accept the latest offers from the government.  They had planned another shutdown of roads and businesses, but held off while negotiations proceeded.  However, the anti-teacher movement has a petition demanding remuneration from Section XXII to the tune of 50 million pesos each day. Uh, that's 3,475,000 US per diem. 

And yesterday, the concrete union blockaded Cinco Senores intersection and threw some molotov cocktails.  The union president was arrested and others detained.  Negotiations are underway.  I believe it is about non-union workers, salaries and benefits.

So I guess I would say things are tense, but stable.  Someone will have to come up with a solution soon because the status quo will not hold for too much longer.  The hotels are taking a hit as well as many other businesses.  It is not hard to imagine how angry and resentful folks could get.

Who knows what lurks right around the corner?

2 comments:

Sara said...

Thanks for posting, I have been reading since I was in Oaxaca a year ago.

edgewise229 said...

Thank you for these posts. I visited Oaxaca last August and heard about the annual strikes, especially the one in '06. I took a class while there, and my teacher was not a fan of the strikers.
It's really hard to get news of this in the States, and your photos and insights are very informative.