Isn't
this...
..the perfect place to study?
Isn't
this...
I blew off going to Mitla today...decided to do some studying instead. I started enjoying getting into conversations with the locals around San Domingo and decided to take my books on the road! I met a young guy from Chiapas near the Kiosk in the Zocalo. We had a pretty lively conversation about Michael Jordan and a little bit about the Zapatistas. He had a sense of humor about the situation in Mexico, but said he supported the rebels. When he got up to leave with his buddy I told him my name and asked what his was. He said without hesitating "Marcos!" and laughed. I said "Ching!" and put my arms up in the air. He laughed even harder! After studying some more, I was in front of the cathedral "street grubbing" a hotdog. Another local sat next to me and surprised me by asking if he could practice his English with me. I hadn't spoke English in well over a day and was glad for a break. Antonio and I talked about his plans to build a bed and breakfast with his wife. After his English practice we walked around and I got to practice some Spanish while he showed me where some lesser known museums and buildings were. After a good day studying outside the stuffy classroom I headed home.
Today I went to Mitla
via the Segundo Clase Autobus. Made it from Oaxaca to Tlacochahuaya
de Morelos when the bus broke down. No problem. I hopped another
bus to Mitla from there; I didn't even have to stand on this one!
Buses to towns about 30 miles from Oaxaca (like Mitla) cost about 75 cents.
Got dropped off on the highway and hiked about 20 minutes to the Archeological
Zone beside the church. The church was built with pieces of the ruins;
in fact the entire town engulfs the ruins of Mitla. It's a pretty
interesting place. Taking the bus back we were stopped at a military
checkpoint and the bus was searched by two federal police. Uncle
Sam's money at work. They were quick and never bothered me, the only
gringo on the bus. It was a little unnerving looking at two machine
gun nests with the barrels pointed at the bus, but after about 20 minutes
we were back on the road again. Spent the rest of the day resting
and studying. Went to the Zocalo that night to watch some folk dancing.
Two new students started today. Christina and Milt from Tacoma, Washington. He retired from a College job and got sick of the crime and other problems retirees have in that area. They told their friends and relatives "We're outta here!!", packed up and cruised to Oaxaca. After $40.00 in mordida (this little "bite"), and 10 days driving they made it. Lots of retirees heading to Mexico. The dollar stretches a lot further, the climate is great and health care is improving. Crime is a problem everywhere, but I always feel safe roaming the streets of Oaxaca. A lot of other tourists, students and expatriates tell me they feel safer here than in the streets of their hometowns.
Wednesday, November 11, 1998
Been grinding away at school. On my way home from
school today, I was stopped by a local farmer who wanted to know if I was
a member of the US military and if I knew how his people were disappearing
because of the US government. He started in English, switched to
slow Spanish and then went way too fast for me to understand him.
He was persistent, and I tried to get away by telling him, "No hay me pais!
Perdonome!" I didn't necessarily disagree with him, but I wanted
to get going.. I ended up just walking away and warned an oncoming
gringa named Rita about him. She was a German and probably thought
I was another American using a bad pickup line, but we ended up hanging
out together. We went to Cuilapan
to the southwest of Oaxaca. We visited an old church ruin built
at the time of the Spanish conquest. I found that it's main attraction
were the figures carved into the church of the Mixtec gods by the stone
masons of the time. The stone masons were Mixtec and to appease them,
the Spanish allowed these carvings. A local met with Rita and myself
and gave us a hour long tour of the grounds in Spanish. It was great
to hear him talk of the church and actually understand a lot of it. I also
enjoyed the civic pride he displayed by going out of his way to make us
feel welcome. We caught the bus back to Oaxaca and hung out
in the Zocalo where a local beggar tried to get some pesos from me.
Unfortunately for him, his little act of smiling while calling me everything
from fat to stupid in Spanish didn't help him at all. A lot of people,
children to the elderly spend their time begging in the Zocalo. I know
most of them were needy and I figured giving to some could only help my
karma.
More school, more memorizing. I've gotten better
at using past tense verbs in normal conversation. This helped today,
because our school trip ended up at Cuilapan. I told the teachers
that about my visit in Wednesday, so they made me give the class a tour
in Spanish. I probably made a lot of mistakes about the the dates
and sequence of events during my tour. But the teachers were happy
with my use of Spanish and everybody had fun. John
(Juanito to our Maestras) and I practice Spanish by trading outlandish
insults. We laugh so much in school; I wish I could stay another
month or more. I'm taking a mini vacation in the morning and heading
to Puerto Escondido for a few days. Then I come back for three more
days of school.