Guelaguetza Roof cont.....

Fugetaboutit, it ain't gonna happen. I have been posting about this for some weeks now and lo and behold, from La Imparcial:

Se pudo constatar ayer, luego de un recorrido por la zona, que toda la maquinaria con la cual se estaba trabajando, así como los soldadores, albañiles y ayudantes ya no se encuentran, desaparecieron como por arte de magia, dejando abandonada parte de la estructura metálica.

Roughly translated:

It was possible to state yesterday, after a drive by the workzone, that all the machinery with which they were working, as well as the welders, bricklayers and assistants are no longer there, they disappeared as if by art of magic, leaving only the parts for the metallic structure.

Yeah, right, "by the art of magic". I am sure it was coincidential that it happened immediately after the election. The whole project had curious or what might be called a smelly, history.

So they left huge piles of dirt blocking the entrance and the stage forcing the bicentennial celebration of the Guelaguetza to be moved to the Benito Juarez stadium.

In my opinion, and what do I know, this is just a blatant "f*ck you" to the city. This is the key cultural event of the summer and anyone who knows anything knows that Oaxaca needs some income comin' in, tourist dollars. This is such a deep, painful and spiteful thing to do, I could spit nails. Nuf said....

Teotitlan del Valle - Fiesta

I have been spending the week driving back and forth to the zapotec weaving village, Teotitlan del Valle, as they celebrate one of their annual fiestas. Each day has been dramatic in terms of weather with huge dark and ominous clouds building over the mountains. And yes, boy did it rain.

This year is extra special with a particularly large group of dancers for the Danza de las Plumas, the Dance of the Conquistadors. The extras this time are Cortez and his army. It is a photographer's dream. I don't know how many times I have shot it, but each time, it is better mainly because Teotitlan is one of the most magical and deep places I have been.
Here the schedule for the week. Click on it and you should be able to read it right down to the dancer's names.One of the best parts of the week is the special tamales served on Wednesday. I was once again blessed to eat Emilia Ruiz's incredible tamales amarillo. She made 300 of them and we put a good dent in them.Three more days to go, but I will post photos soon. I hope to have Emilia's mole negro on Sunday. Simply the best.

Election - Oaxaca

I was here for the last election, staying in the city, and last Sunday's winner, Gabino Cué, was on the ballot. He was ahead when I went to bed and I went to bed because the power went out. When we awoke his opponent, Ulises Ruiz, had won. The years that followed were some of the most trying and horrible years any city or state could endure. There was corruption, oppression, violence, wasteful spending, social problems galore, all of which culminated in the many months of anarchy in 2006. Years later, Oaxaca has still not come close to recovering economically or in its standing as a world cultural destination.

I am a humble guest here, so I will leave it at that.

However, this recent election is such a breath of fresh air, a sign of hope. People got organized and overcame what appeared to be an firmly entrenched establishment. The people's message is loud and powerful and one that resonates, or should resonate, in many places. Oaxaca is known for its culture and for the strength and pride of its indigenous peoples. It is inspirational to see how to make it through tough times and to keep pushing for moral and social justice. It is a key moment. Now let's see what follows.

Can it be done?

How's the roof on the stadium where the guelaguetza will be held in a couple of weeks comin' along? Oaxaqueños are capable of many amazing things, but I am not too sure about this one.

It's official - Election results

Full story and photo from El Imparcial.

With 56 percent voter participation, the results are official. Gambino Cué is the new governor. He won by almost ten points. He inherits a mess of problems, but people are hopeful. And many of them are surprised that this day even came to Oaxaca. It has been a long time comin'.

Before and After - Antes y después cont...

As I wrote, the the planton has left the zocalo after many weeks of protest. It is remarkable how quickly it has been cleaned up. Here you see the remnants of the tree that feel a couple of weeks ago. Oaxaca always has it together in this respect. You can barely see signs of the the previous posters, graffiti and vendors. This was Garcia Vigil & Independencia, the main entrance to the zocalo, last week. And today. The gazebo in the center then and now. The north side of the zocalo.There are no more tents or people sleeping on the streets. Here are thousands of plants being unloaded and ready to be put in all the garden areas. If only all the real problems could be solved so easily.

Election Results - Oaxaca

In the early morning light, with 73 percent of the votes counted, coalition candidate Gabino Cue leads the PRI's Eviel, 50 percent to 42 percent. The PRI has controlled Oaxaca for over 70 years. The media has declared Cue to be the winner, but given the previous election in which he was ahead and then the power went out and we awoke to find that URO had won, best to wait until the final votes are counted.

UPDATE: Here is McClatchy's story about the rest of the country's elections.

Before and After - Antes y después

I drove into the city just to see what the action was on election day and I did not see anything related to political activity. It was a typical Sunday with people walking the streets and enjoying a beautiful day, clear and cool with huge billowing clouds. All in all the campaign was short compared to El Norte and that is not a bad thing seeing as though they are all ready running for 2012 there. It gets old quickly. Give it a rest... like that could happen.

The zocalo was back to normal and I will post much more about that shortly with lots of before and after shots.

No more dramatic an example of before and after than these two shots.

If you don't vote, you can't complain!

Election Day!

Here's a story from yesterday's NYT's for some context, adds to the intrigue. Elections matter... sometimes.

A decade ago, Mexico ended more than 70 years of control by the Institutional Revolutionary Party and elected an opposition president. But in Oaxaca, the PRI, as the party is known, has held fast through a vast party machine that dispenses patronage and often seems accountable to no one except the governor.

The other parties believe that the only way to dislodge the PRI here is to unite across ideological lines against it. Mr. Cué is the candidate for a coalition of the conservative National Action Party and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, along with a couple of small parties.

Shots of the Day cont....

Just walking the street, enjoying the sights, watching, learning. Stoicism chiapaneca style. Aw, Mom, my hair looks fine. Keep a sharp eye for this guy. I wish I had my kitchen knives with me. Check out the flying sparks.Not again! Where is that guy?

Guelaguetza Roof cont.....

The Guelaguetza is coming, July 19 and 26 if I do the math correctly, and the roof over the stadium is, well, I don't know if it is proceeding on schedule. Seems like there is quite a ways to go, but I do not know the final design. It is hard to get a shot of because it sits atop el cerro, the hill overlooking the city and there is a major road in front of it. Yes, I could climb the stairs and get a better shot. I will next week. This is from Llano Park which is quite a good distance. This one and the top one are from the car as I flew by. Will they make it?

Doncha feel it? - Earthquake, Oaxaca

There was a 6.2 earthquake last night at 2:22 in the morning and it was strong enough to wake me up. We had amazing rains last night, at times hard, but most importantly, long lasting. Lots of thunder rolling across the mountains and valleys. A dramatic night followed by a morning in which one can hear the plants growing.

Street Art

Took a nice walk from Jalatlaco to south of the zocalo. As always, the richness of the sights, sounds and smells were uniquely Oaxacan. I shot enough for several posts, including the action at the planton in the zocalo, the roof over the Guelaguezta stadium and street life. I am always struck by the graffiti and street art. This poster on a corrugated wall with sun overhead made as good an op art piece as one could hope for. With the election next Saturday, this will all be history soon... like everything else.

With new eyes - con los neuvos ojos

Now that I am back, I find myself seeing things with new eyes. It is like I am seeing it for the first time. The land has exploded with green and color. Within my sight as I write this, I can see five different colored hibiscus, bougainvilleas, jasmine, gardenias, lantana, spaths and a few things I can't name. It is lush.
But that is not the newness I am talking about. It is like seeing the world anew. My trip north was a whole new visual palette, culture shock of a sort, and I was struck how familiar sights seemed so unfamiliar, surreal.Maybe it is learning to see with a photographer's eye or perhaps it is seeing the world anew every three seconds. The latter being the gist of Blue' valedictory speech in Marisha Pessl's "Special Topics in Calamity Physics." At any rate, things look different.... but good.

Back to normal?

Those of you who missed me...well, you know what they say... How can you miss me if I won't go away or something like that. I took a quick trip to El Norte. Why? Well, for one, my doctor had a cancellation and I snapped it up. Don't get me going on health care.... at any rate, it made sense to see him this decade. Got a clean bill of health, so it was worth it.

So here I am where sights like these seem more normal than the things I saw at the North Shore Mall. Talk about feeling like an alien. It must have been my imagination, but people sure seemed like they were looking at me like I was one. Must have been my nice new Emiliano Zapata tee.
While I was gone, there was lots of rain and I returned to what was brown and now is green. Ahhh...

Las problemas de Oaxaca

Just like everywhere else, Oaxaca has problems. With an election coming up on July 4th, everything seems to have been ratcheted up a notch or two. There are protests all over the place with blockades going up on some of the major roads and in front of supermarkets and malls. The planton continues in the zocalo. The water conflict between San Agustin Etla and the city continues. The Triquis conflict in San Juan Copala continues to attract international attention and is very tense. It is a mess.Scenes from the zocalo. Can you believe it, this is the northwest corner, the main entrance?The cathedral from both sides, north and south.
The reds are here.Hungry?In speaking with people both in the villages and in the city, nobody is optimistic. Businesses are being hurt and consequentially, workers are too.

In looking to the north, it does not seem much better. In both places, the rich and the powerful corporations are running the entire show and the rest of us can just STFU. Politics as usual in the 21st century.

The most telling moment of the week for me was the media outrage at Paul McCartney's mild comment about the former president, who admitted to torture and the willingness to do it again and yet garnered no outrage from the those same pundits.

If a tree falls in the zocalo

We have had some rains the last few days. In San Sebastian, last Friday, it rained hard for a couple of hours, but in the city it only lasted fifteen minutes. However, last night, Sunday, the winds howled and when I went into the city this morning I saw the damage. This huge 150 year-old laurel tree was blown down.
Pulled the roots right up.If you know the zocalo, this was on the very southwest corner. Looking at this I can't imagine that El Alsador Vasco, the Basque restaurant on the corner, did not get damaged, but word on the street was no one was hurt and the building looked fine to me. The same thing happened on the southwest corner of Llano Park, a huge tree came down.
Here is a newspaper story about it. Twelve trees were toppled in the city.