Blogs from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 35

Not to be confused with Dias de Muertos, but some kids do Trick-or-Treat here. Will see if the recent events hinder that. We are going to try to get to the cemetary at Xoxocotlan today, which is on the other side of the city, a good distance. Not sure what the zocalo is like, not having been there since Sunday, or if other blockades are up. Went out yesterday for the paper. No busses and a small demonstration in front of the medical school, welcoming the PFP, chanting "APPO out of Oaxaca" with signs of that nature. With los dias starting, I may not be posting anything for the next few days, depending on how involved it becomes. But here is the tentative schedual: Oct.31 - Xoxocatlan, maybe Santa Maria Atzompa Nov.1 - San Miguel, El ... read more

Thursday night: quiet with a light rain, all of the dogs and firecracker-lighters forced undercover. Thunder and lightening, an eerie foreboding of the impending clash of opposing forces. Friday: in the zocalo, where else. Disconcertingly vacant of vendors, even at noon. Also APPO seemingly down in numbers. We found people out moving the barracades, from just around the zocalo, to as many as 5-6 blocks away. New barricades, sometimes just a huge bus parked sideways, blocking all but pedestrian passage, in other places. Oaxaca de Juarez grinding to a halt. Still a bit of the usual goal-less wandering; a new neighborhood, a new church. Back to the zocalo around 5 o'clock, with another breaking storm, which we sat out with others, under the APPO tarps. Exhausted, we went to get a bus. None. The streets virtually ... read more

Got to the "Gigante" supermarket on foot to find everything one could need. Just a block from "Pitico", also a biggish store. Even there they have a display of sugar, amerinth, and chocolate skulls. Brightly colored sugar coffins that a skeleton sits up in when you pull a string. There was a large display of pan de muerto (bread of the dead) a sweet, orange flavored treat with a little head sticking out of it. In the center of the display was a lifesize skeleton made entirely out of bread. Quite a bustling place. Spent the afternoon climbing the hill behind the house, to the communications towers and a 360% view. Its a pastoral scene worthy of Corot, goat herder and all. Saw the house I'd buy in a heartbeat.... read more

My first thought each morning it to go to the zocalo. Something vital is happening there. Too bad that many have canceled their plans to come, out of fear, while others haven't even heard a word and are flabbergasted. We visitors from elsewhere are few. I read that two more teachers were killed last week. No one knows what will happen next, but APPO is not giving up. Some have started a hunger strike. There is so much that I just don't understand. But now that I can put up images I don't feel the need to write so much. In the words of Benito Juarez, "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz." Respect for the rights of others is peace.... read more

Although it was quiet last night, I was restless, my mind going back to the zocalo and the people spending the night there. Maybe in the next couple of days I'll try to stay after dark, at least. This morning my feet were in no mood to cover more ground, so I puttered around the yard, disicovering an avacado tree full of fruit and a big yellow-spotted green orb-weaving spider with hairy leg joints that made it look like it was wearing knee pads. Come high noon, though, I had to get out. Part of this reatlessness is just having Oaxaca de Juarez outside the window. No time to waste. So I headed north to scout out the cemetary of San Filipe de Agua. Its small, and unfortunately the gate was locked. The neighborhood is rather ... read more