Wrapping Up Our Trip to Oaxaca

A shack by a park in the mountains above the city of Oaxaca

We returned to Seattle 9 days ago and have been readjusting to the more…..Scandinavian….environment here. It’s very beautiful, but also alarmingly orderly in comparison to Oaxaca. Almost sterile in it’s minmalism.

There is a much greater tolerance for chaos in Oaxaca. The traffic and building codes, not worrying if the streets don’t drain that well. Letting weeds overtake a property. Little order to signage; how many and what kind. Some of the city is pristine, but that seems out of place. Almost tacky. Like, quick, let’s get out of here to someplace more authentic.

Many of the streets had tarps and tents set up because of a Teachers Strike.

A tolerance of the old and in disrepair is also reflected in the attitude of the people. They are just not as uptight. “Tranquilo”, they would say. We like to think of ourselves as being all relaxed and west-coasty here, but when you go away to a more tropical zone for awhile, you realize that the Seattle Freeze is a real thing.

The long gray winters, albeit fairly temperate, take their toll and serve to cocoon us into little consumer units that connect to nature via REI purchases. We largely exist online (ahem) and often seem organized in groups based on our purchasing habits.

The Clouds turned to Thunderheads. It was the rainy season.

But hey, I am an insider here, and know too much. It’s easy to idealize a place as an outsider. I’m sure that a few more months in Mexico would have me complaining about too much religion and tacos. The traffic and emissions is definitely a drag. And do they have to be so easy-going all of the time?

Maybe I am just not clued in enough to see how they are uptight. It’s probably a different flavor of uptightness, that yo no comprendo.

Below is a video of us driving through the streets of Oaxaca on the last day we were there. Amie had just hurt her leg again and was in pain, streets were flooding, trees falling over the streets, traffic was crazy. When it rains it pours. (note: videos can be viewed by clicking the link that takes you to the Original Post, if you are viewing this through email)

That said, there was a state-wide Oaxcan teachers strike that descended on the city for all 3 weeks we were there. I discovered it by walking through a tent city that completely surrounded and inhabited the Zocolo, which is the central historic square in the city. It must have been…..5000-10,000 small camping tents in that area, covered with tarps between the buildings to protect them from the daily swing of sun and evening rain.

What stood out about this is that everyone just accepted it. The store owners, the vendors, the tourists, the taxi drivers…even the government (as no troops were sent in to remove them). They were quiet and well organized….whole families relocated to the streets for Lord knows how long.

Can you imagine Westlake and Pike Place being subsumed by a tent city for a month? I think even our new progressive mayor Katie Wilson would wind up calling out the National Guard. But who knows? It is so beyond our Scandinavian orderliness to even imagine such a thing. Or maybe it’s more of an American Individualism/pull yourself by your bootstraps and pay your bills kind of thing, making no time for true group unity and power in order to actually effect change.

Even sacrificing one day to show group unity is considered a waste of time here. Which seems like the perfect way of achieving….no change whatsoever.

While in Santo Domingo Square, we happened upon a wedding, or rather, it happened upon us. I saw a couple of giant puppets processing towards us in the distance, obviously Bride and Groom puppets. The groom puppet looked oddly caucasian, which made more sense as they got closer and we saw that the groom actually was a caucasian, being ritually subsumed into a very rich cultural tradtion through his betrothal to a Oaxacan woman.

This was no waspy wedding. Women with large headresses and flowing skirts led the procession with the bouncing puppets, and a spinning Tiliche dancer, while a phalanx of musicians played with the wedding party following. The procession stopped in the street right in front of the cafe we were at, and everyone would dance to the same song on repeat for like 15 minutes, and then they processed to another spot, and another, and another, dancing the whole time.

It seemed almost like a show for the tourists in its level of spectacle, but it was just a wedding, full of exhuberance and celebration. It was easy to get caught up in.

The ubiiquitous plethora of art in Oaxaca is somewhat overwhelming, so I will just focus on one museum: The Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre Hispanic Art. Renowned Zapotec artist Rufino Tamayo and his wife Olga founded the museum to stop ancient artifacts from being sold and smuggled through illicit markets. Tamayo’s core vision was to display pre-Columbian relics based on their aesthetic power, shape, and originality, rather than focusing strictly on their historical or religious contexts.

I really appreciate that perspective when looking at ancient art: The aesthtic power in and of itself.

There is very often a condescending attitude taken when displaying prehistoric art. Kind of like, “Isn’t it cute that these savages can actually make things. It gives us excellent insight into their silly beliefs and customs.”

Personally, I am struck by the aesthtic power way more than the symbology or historical context, and I appreciate that this museum displayed the artifacts with that intention.

Side note: It took 3 of us to haul Amie up the stairs in the wheelchair (thanks museum guards!). It was smooth sailing,…unitl she had to come down again.

The Food! Pretty fantastic. I will leave you with this: Criollo is a mind blowingly good restaurant with a multi-course meal that I highly recommend (Not cheap, but worth it.) Also, a 30 min. taxi ride out into the Oaxacan countryside is Don Agave….Go for the Mescal tour and a 7 bottle tasting, but the food is even better. Almost equal to Criollo. Also, street tacos…..sample a bunch, and don’t be afraid of getting sick. We never did, and we ate everywhere.

Thanks for coming along! moodysteffon@gmail.com