Mexican Bomb Squad

There was a suspicious package down the street today by a government office. Everyone, I mean everyone, hates the governor of Oaxaca and his family runs this office. So they move in trucks and soldiers and they even brought in a howitzer for some reason. You've seen the bomb squad guys with the helmets, body armor, and plexi-glass shields. Those guys were there. They surrounded the "bomb", moved in slowly, brought in a German Shepard, and then some dude wearing a shirt and tie with a cigarette dangling from his mouth pushes through all of them and kicks the box over. Of course pedestrians were standing like 15 feet away watching the whole thing. Well done Mexican Bomb Squad. I think I'm going to write a pilot for Comedy Central called Mexican Bomb Squad.

Helicopters, Soldiers, and Swine Flu (Part 2)

So the president of Mexico was in town and that explains some of the helicopters. The Mexican army thought it would be a good idea to stage exercises in town without telling anybody in the middle of an international health crisis. Good planning as usual. People are pretty calm for the most part though. At least in Oaxaca. I think people have a pretty realistic grip on the situation at this point. Of course the situation could change and change people's reactions. The US can be a pretty hysterical place at times (I mean, half the country believed the fairy tale that Iraq had something to do with 9/11 - what?). From what I can tell, people are freaking out more outside the country. As I said before, the people here are really freaked out about the economic impact. And I feel terrible for them. I know a lot of really hard-working decent people here who happen to have a shitty government that contributes greatly to the economic situation. And I am taking this whole thing somewhat personally as a result of some of the people I have met and the friends I have made - they don't deserve it. And some are going to lose businesses over this.



Speaking of hard-working, these aren't people I know but I watched these people set up their stalls to sell crafts, art and clothing etc. in this little park. Actually I watched them tear down their stalls one night and then decided to go watch them set up one morning because I knew that what they did took an astronomical amount of work every day and I wanted to see. I couldn't believe how long it took them to take down the metal frames for the structures (tent like booths that are not light). It was 9 PM when they started to tear them down and then I walked by and it was 11 PM and most were getting close to finishing. So I went the next day to watch them set up and they started at 8 AM and are up and running (after a difficult set up) by 10 or 11. So they work 12-14 hours and some days don't even make a sale. On a good weekend day, they may make $10. That's a good day. It isn't for lack of effort, that's for sure. Now they can't work at all. These people are on the brink. Can you imagine worrying about how you were going to eat? I can't. We're all very lucky. It makes me lament all those people who inherit money or family businesses or whatever and delude themselves into thinking that they have "done it on their own" or that there is such a thing as a free market. Think again. If anyone happened to be born here to the same families, he or she would be doing the same thing. We all would be. We are not smarter or harder working - just luckier. That includes me. Anyway, it's about t0 get.....um.....real interesting.

The soldiers rolled back into town today in force. Lots of troop carriers and more helicopters. Not sure if this is more "practice" or what. They aren't telling anyone. Not one dose of Tamiflu to be found in the Farmacias either. Sold out. The cops and social workers are distributing masks. I was thinking about heading to Peru but I can't get into the country. I was also thinking about renting a car and driving to the coast to hang out and surf and kind of be in a less-populated area but things are changing so fast, we may not be able to rent a car. The president is essentially shutting down the country for five days and all non-essential businesses could be closing although I think that rumor may be dead. The streets are becoming more and more deserted every day. I suspect it will be a ghost town tomorrow. I think my school may shut down. I need to go talk to the director and find out but I am almost certain we will be shutting down.

Helicopters, Soldiers, and Swine Flu

The situation here in Mexico is a bit precarious. The reality on the ground is very fluid because information is either non-existent or changes all the time. It feels like a country on the verge of collapse (or something like a collapse) although I've never been in a country that collapsed so I don't know what that feels like. I would say we are getting very close to marshal law in some parts of the country, like the one I am in for example. There are rumors of curfews going into effect. Rumors of lots of things actually. Rumors of death, quarantine, total shutdown of the town. I have to leave now (going to a party of all things) but I will update as things change or I learn more. Following is the email response I sent to my sister and a link to the BBC article that prompted it:

No, but I am close to Mexico City and one of the quotes was from someone in Oaxaca. I don't want to panic but I don't want to be stupid. People are scared. And becoming more so every day. Two days ago, nobody was wearing surgical masks. Yesterday I saw fifty. This morning, they're everywhere. Three helicopters flew over today and landed - that hasn´t happened. They´re either bringing something in or taking someone or something out. More soldiers around today also. They rolled in a few weeks ago for Semana Santa but then left. Then rolled back in yesterday. Nothing like walking out your door in the morning and seeing a 17 year old with an M-16. People were a little freaked when I arrived because of the economy. Now people are really freaked out - because of the effect this will have on the economy (more so than the health risk). You thought tourism was hurting here before? This is a crushing blow. This could put the entire country on the verge of, if not into, collapse because of all the other shit going on. I feel some responsibility not to freak out and to keep supporting the economy because I really like the people here that I am staying with and who are teaching me at my school. But I am going to talk to my Australian friend today (a minister - funny) about wheter or not we should take our trip to the coast a week early and get into a less-populated area. I also have the luxury of leaving the country but feel kind of like an elitist pig for doing it. But at least we have the solid Mexican government behind the problem who are providing very clear and complete information and implementing their well thought out plan (like getting their own families up to the US). Excuse me, but I need to go wash my hands for the fifth time today.

To: andresmitchell@hotmail.comFrom: susanmathai@cox.netSubject: BBC NEWS Have Your Say Mexico flu: Your experiencesDate: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:54:46 -0700
I realize this is from Mexico City, but keep an eye out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8018428.stm

Mayumi

Mayumi deserves her own entry. I don't even know how to describe this person. You have to see her to believe her. It's only the beginning of this adventure and she is possibly the most fascinating person I have ever encountered. I can't imagine meeting a more intriguing person on my travels. Her official title is "Personal Chocolate Consultant." That's right. She travels around tasting chocolate and cacao beans and vanilla and even coffee. She basically made up the job herself. She speaks Japanese, Chinese, English, and French and is learning Spanish. She's been to every continent but Antarctica. She plays the piano and the drums and sings. She can cook anything, juggles, and salsa dances like a Mexican. The only thing she can't do is drive a car - she hit a bus and a taxi the first week she was driving. Then wrecked their other car the next week. Hubby took her keys and license away. She´s been married for ten years and has never slept with her husband (in both respects - they have separate bedrooms). She gives the best massage you have never paid for. I got one almost every day after class. And funny, funny, funny. The Oaxacans love her even though they can't communicate with her well. Her energy is so good that people like her even if they can't exchange words with her. Possibly the most fearless human being I have ever encountered as well. She's made five solo trips to Africa to check out cacao farms. Tonight at 9 she gets on a bus for the 12 hour ride to Chiapas to check out more cacao farms. Sound like anyone you know? Me neither. She will be missed.

Greetings Citizens of Earth

A few updates. First of all, for those who don't know alot about Mexico, here are a few "facts."

• Mexico has been in existence for more than 30 years.
• There are over 100,000 people living in Mexico today!!!!
• Mexico was founded by the Walton family who coincidentally founded Walmart.
• The official food of Mexico is Mexican food.
• The official music of Mexico is Mexican music.
• The official language of Mexico is Mexican language.
• Mexico invented electricity.
• Mexico and the United States have fought 47 wars. Mexico won 42 of them.
• Mexico used to be part of Canada.

I think it helps to have a little "background" so some of my entries make more sense and you can get a better picture in your head of things. All of the information above is kind of insider information. You won't find it in the history books. I only discovered this information after I took some peyote and went to sleep in a cave. I interpreted the petroglyphs and then dictated my findings (in Zapotec) to my shaman.

The last couple of weeks have been dominated by language school and related activities (and late night parties with some locals). It was a great decision to start with school for a lot of reasons. For one, my Spanish isn't as good as I thought. But the school is also a wealth of information and organizes some excusions and activities. Some activities are good, like our trip to Tlaxitac where they reenacted the crucifixtion de Jesus and whipped the actors so that they were bleeding by the end and some are not so good like the trip around town to see the creepy Catholic churches. That one could have been done in 20 minutes but the guide dragged it out for an hour and a half. The pagan stuff was really cool and was placed subversively into the architecture of the churches by the locals who built them and who were tired of having their land stolen by the church (you know, the work of God). I kind of felt like I was getting crucified, it dragged on so long. But my Spanish teacher who organizes this stuff is cool/fun/crazy and cares way too much about her students. She's one of the hardest working people I've ever met. I'm now going to four hours of class per day which is a lot of Spanish class plus I have an hour or so of homework. Next week I start private lessons probably for only an hour a day.

Went to a baseball game last week and the saw the local team (Los Guerreros de Oaxaca) beat Campeche on back to back homeruns in the bottom of the 9th (the first a grand slam). It was exciting, especially with the 90 cent beers, the scantily clad dancing girls, and $3.00 seats on the field. For my un-American soccer loving friends, a homerun is when the guy with the stick hits the ball over the fence. Yes, that's you Weitzenberger and Holback. And Cunningham for that matter. I know, I know, everyone in the world plays soccer. But it´s not because it's exciting to see your team score a goal every third game but because almost every village in the world can scrape together enough money to buy a soccer ball and then put two sticks in the ground for a goal. I have photos but it's taking me so long to upload them so I am going to push my photos to Flickr.

Oaxaca is a great town. Very progressive people (you know, people who like art, music, books, and don't hate people because they are black, poor, or homosexual - but only Christians do that and also want to burn books). It's about 100 years ahead of a good portion of the United States in terms of thought and attitude. People are so much better informed than a very large swath of our country. However, it´s one of the most dangerous places I've ever crossed the street because nobody obeys stop signs and at intersections controlled by lights, you can never find the light because it is always in a different place (like hanging from a tree). But I have never seen a place with so much art and so much music. There is live music every day, day or night. A good place for me. Of course my hangout is a jazz bar where I know the owner and all the bartenders and have made some local friends. Cool people. My friends back home would love the people I've met. They've paid me the highest complement that they can give - I'm "chida" (cool). But not cool like cool but cool like part of the family. People have my back here already. I can't believe how much I have learned in the past three weeks. More than in the past three years.
I saw an art demonstation today that was one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen. This dude (indigenous artist) would take a natural substance like pomegranete seeds and smash them up in his hand. So he had red. Then he would add this limestone powder and he would have orange and then he would add lime juice and it would turn to something like lavender. He then paints clay sculptures with these all natural substances that he mixes in his hands. He paints with his fingers from the five or ten colors in his palm. Cool shit.

So my boys here are Paco, Carlos, Kenny, and Pinky. Obviously Pinky is a nickname and I don´t know his real name. Eddy and Pinky are bartenders at Cafe Borga and Paco hangs out there which is how I know him. Carlos plays in a classic rock band. A little story about the band that I emailed to a friend:

A week ago Saturday I was walking by this bar and I hear a band playing classic rock covers (I believe it was Hotel California). I sit at the bar and start talking to the guitar player´s girlfriend. At set break the bass player/singer (Carlos) comes over and we start talking about music. Instant friends. So he tells me that they are the only band in Oaxaca that plays this type of music. None of them speak English but they sing the songs in English. They start asking me what they should play because nobody else in the bar cares so I tell them what to play for the rest of their set. After they are done, they invite me to this other bar around the corner. And there's a classic rock band (so there are two). BUT, they sing in Spanish. For some reason classic rock bands in Mexico all like to sing songs by America (Benturrra haighwaiy, in de sonnnnshiine). Anyway, the guitar player's girlfriend is hitting on me with him sitting there (as she was at the other bar) and I´m trying to fend her off while also conveying to him that I am not interested. I'm asking Carlos to help me out and he's just giving me this evil smile and telling me that I was on my own, Amigo. Anyway I start talking shit and saying that I hate Mexico and Mexicans and that I hate speaking Spanish and she is buying the whole thing and getting pissed off. Carlos and his cousin are sitting on the other side of me falling out of their chairs laughing and telling me to keep going. She finally figures out it's a joke after an hour and then continues hitting on me, trying to get me to go get more beer with them and go to her house (it was 4 AM). Called it a night but I am going out with all of them again this week. Hopefully she'll keep her hands off me.

Oxacaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh

Good to be here. Before I post anything else, I have to say that I can live in a 1 bedroom apartment and drive a ten year old beater of a car for the rest of my life and probably will. But please, can I just fly business and/or first class forever? It's the only luxury item I want. Ice cold Tecates served in an ice cold glass (a real glass) before takeoff and four more before Mexico City. A cute flight attendant that called me Mr Mitchell. Yep, that´s the way to do it.

When you fly into Mexico City there are always lots of fires. You see these fires dotting valleys and hillsides as you approach. I assume they are trash fires. Nasty stuff burning. Anyone who doubts the science of climate change should fly into Mexico City and look at the number of people and the air quality and tell me we aren´t responsible for most if not all of it. I am going to start writing on other subjects in a separate blog and keep this to travel subjects but I will make mention of the reality that is our world from time to time and cover it in more detail elsewhere. So don't read the other one if you are one of those who prefer to hide their heads in the sand and pretend we don´t have any GIGANTIC issues (if you do read it, don't say you weren't warned). So this can just be the fun adventure portion and the other part can the be the adult section for those who not only want to live their lives but also consider what's happening in the world and see me finally get closure on the catastrophe that was George Bush with an angy diatribe. And other angry diatribes (religion comes to mind...and the total hypocrisy of the right wing). So this is the shop ´till you drop, everything is ok, buy Amercian, you are with us or you're with the terrorists, mission accomplished, American-flag-pin-on-your-lapel-for-TV section of the blog. See, there I go again. I will do my best to make this all travel and no editorial. No, really.
Mexico City Airport is surprisingly efficient though. And warm. And polluted. The air inside is like an August day in L.A. At one end of the terminal, beers are $5, at the other end, $2.50. Shop around. And eat at 100% Natural and have the best smoothie of your life. And check several monitors for youir departure because they don´t all match

Oaxaca

Got into Oaxaca at about 9:45 last Wednesday but had to take a collectivo into town as there were no taxis. The collectivos wait until they are full before they leave so I didnt get into town until 11:30 after driving down a bunch of really narrow and dark streets. Somewhat sketchy. Went out for beers on the Zocalo (centrel square) and then saw some hot dog vendor almost get crushed by his cart so I went to help him. The streets here (more on them later) are narrow and people double park and box in other cars. When the boxed in driver returns, he LAYS on his horn to try and find the other driver. The hot dog guy was trying to help this one guy move by getting the cart up on the sidewalk but he was losing it so I righted his hot dog ship. Across the street was a jazz bar and I wandered in and had my first Mexico crush on the bartender who spent a lot of time talking to me in my shitty Spanish.

I´ve actually been sick for the past four days with perhaps the worst cold I have ever had. Limited activity although before I felt sick I did go for a three hour hike and walked down the back side of this mountain to which the owner of the place I am staying (an American) said, "wow, I don´t know anyone who has ever walked through that area - did anyone harrass you?" Um, yes. Lesson number one - don´t walk through neighborhoods (colonias) that do not appear on a map. The people who live there don´t want you there but they would very much like your money. Some guys were trying to "make friends" with me from up this little hill and were hurrying down to "greet" me. Lucky for me a bus was driving by (and not stopping) but I hopped on through the open door and got a ride into town. I hope they didn´t think I was rude. Idiot.

Finally I can sit upright for more than an hour at a time and can post. Day two of Spanish class. My teacher, Flor, is awesome and the class is at the right level which can be a problem. You know what I mean if you have ever attended language school. There are three of us in the class - Michelle from Seattle is a physician's assistant and Miyami is from Japan and owns a chocalate shop. Miyami speaks Spanish with a Japanese accent and she went to France for a couple of months to learn French so she throws French words into her Spanish. She says oui a lot when she should say si. It's pretty comical. I call it Sprench. Or Franish. Like Spanglish that the Chicanos speak in California. "I'm going to the tienda" or "voy a la store." I have some photos to upload but I crashed a computer yesterday while doing it so I need to do it over (and take some better photos). I'm still experimenting with this website so I need to figure some stuff out. And maybe change blog services if I can't get things just the way I like them. But it's not like I don't have the time to work on it. Now that I will be able to get out more, I should have more to post but I'm not sure how interesting a daily post is unless something really funny or crazy happens.

Testing 1-2-3

Blah, blah, blah. Swine Flu.