As I've previously mentioned, coming
to Oaxaca and doing a blog is considered cliché by the more experienced ex-pats
already here. At times, such opinions make me hesitant to even bother. I
stumbled across this fellow Oaxacan's blog today.
Over the course of her time here,
she’s already touched on many of the same observations I have had and that I
figured I’d eventually post about in one way or another. I haven't met her
(that I know of), but I can tell from some of the people/things she mentions
that she (like many gringos here) seems to run in the same circles here that I
do. E.g. A&T’s Thai-food home restaurant, the Oaxaca Lending Library (OLL)
(http://oaxlibrary.org/
).
It seems that most of the expats
here are retired liberals - i.e. aging hippies and intellectuals (with the
requisite overlaps and antitheses one would expect from such types). Some of
our awareness of this swarm of people of course comes due to our friends, D
& P, who originally hosted us in Oaxaca de Juarez, and who continue to
provide highly valuable assistance to us. They surely fit the bill for retired,
intellectual hippies...though they are only liberal in the original sense of
the world, being libertarians not leftists. Nonetheless, their age and
involvement with the OLL put them well in the mix of this expat crowd I and
Yaxchibonam refer to. I can’t imagine she doesn’t know P.
With B's school we have met fellow
residents more our age...though I still seem to be the token "right wing
nut" here (WHY, WHY, WHY is it so hard for leftists to understand the
libertarianism is NOT right-wing or conservatism ?!?!?). And of course, one of
these is also doing a blog. If looking at these Oaxacan Visitor Blogs from a
publishing standpoint, supply exceeds demand.
I guess I'll hang my hat on the fact
that I'm just continuing my pre-Oaxacan blog and sticking with the same theme
(i.e. rants and observations), just from a different geographical location.
Ergo, don’t look to me for a day-by-day blow of An American Visits Oaxaca And
Is Charmed and Schooled By The Welcoming Natives And Their Wise and Ancient
Ways.
Anyway, outside of these blogs, I've
noticed that there is a strong inclination for foreigners (when talking amongst
themselves) to comment in the negative about the new culture they find
themselves in. Much headshaking and “Can you believe they….” types of comparing
of notes. At first I thought it was just human nature to focus on the
strangeness and loss of familiar things/ways. Now I suspect it is a bit of
commiserating and bond building (i.e. the old “Us v. them) for strangers in a
strange land.
Yes, there are many travelers who
seem to be in a perpetual state of awe and wonder about the new lands they are
visiting/living in. Or maybe we just haven’t shared private gringo-only time
with them. Regardless, from what I've seen, almost all of those
native-ways-are-great types are enamored with a past or subset culture, not the
primary, contemporary one they're in at the time/place of their
observations/praises. For example, due to the relatively untouched
indigenous cultures still visible here in Oaxaca, much of the praise for
"life in Oaxaca" is actually praise for the
remnants/trappings/displays/performances of such cultures (e.g. Mixtec,
Zapotec) and NOT for the current culture as displayed daily in the city of
Oaxaca de Juarez. E.g. taking an automobile ride to go take digital pictures of
Mixtec weavers who gladly accept your Mexican pesos in exchange for a blanket
means you’re in a NON-Mixtec culture. It’s a bit like going to Disney World and
thinking you’re exploring space when you go to Space Mountain. Or wearing your
Goretex snowsuit to visit Alaska and “experience the oneness with nature.”
Hyperbolic examples? Yes. An analogy with truth at some level? Yes.
What really bothers me is that much
of this strikes me as the romanticism of "ancient ways" and a willful
blindness to the cultural evolution swirling about us. As if the “race” has
been run and, sadly, the better contestant was cheated of their rightful win.
“Oh, if only the evil conquistadors had left these fine
peoples alone, how wonderful all would be here and everywhere. Surely the pains
of our times show the evil seeds they were sown from. If ONLY we can stop and
learn better ways from these few remaining, simple but wise peoples perhaps we
can save ourselves. Anyone need a refill of organic, fair-trade, Zapotec-raised
coffee from San Pedro Pochulta?”
NOT to pick on Yaxchibonam, but note
the different perspectives applied to these two posts of hers:
versus...
Not in any way excusing the Spanish
for what they did to the natives here, but is a culture that has very high levels of
illiteracy, malnutrition, and infant mortality any more worthy of praise than a
“Byzantine” one? I realize that
Yaxchibonam isn’t making such a direct comparison. Furthermore, it’s quite
clear that she is aware of her (poor) mood on that hot shopping day. And it’s obvious
she is a kind, caring soul who should not be harshly judged by that honest blog post. I
appreciate her sharing her opinion of the maddening merchant practices. The
title of her post shows her self-awareness of its inconsistency with her normal
perspective of life in Oaxaca de Juarez. Yes, we are all a spectrum of
perspectives, opinions and mood. So I don't think her inconsistency is unusual
or any more grievous than the same as displayed by every other human, yours
truly included. And besides it's another Oaxacan cliché to observe the plethora of
dichotomies here (or in Mexico in general).
But being well aware of my VERY
limited exposure to the people and customs of my new home, not to mention the
language gap I am forced to observe across, I feel obligated to speak up for
the underdog (i.e. MODERN times and modern methods) while trying to strike the
right balance so I don't come across as yet another ugly American (or French,
or Canadian or other "gringo") who sees the new land only in the
terms of its failure to be his native land and then proceeds to do nothing but
lambast, bitch, and moan about the current land he's in. Go home, Yankee!
Yes, the natives wear ornate
hand-made clothing that NOBODY I know could make if their life depended on it.
Yet, they pile the whole family onto a single, well-worn moped and drive to the
market to sell chapulines so they can save up to buy a tv to put in their
one-room, adobe hut – sorry, “house.” Who says you MUST get indoor plumbing
before getting TV? Silly first-world consumers.
Other than those isolated islands of
small tribes/peoples, humanity is an amalgam, constantly being stirred….and
ever more rapidly thanks to handy inventions like radio, TV, airplanes, color
printing…and the latest easy-to-decry, the Internet. And that mixing is not
only ongoing and ever-present in our perceptions/observations, it in turn
synthesizes whole new “flavors” into the mix.
So, I'm trying to blog observations
and tales of what life (as we experience/observe it) is like here so I can
assess and later recall these experiences and, maybe, share these with family,
friends, and others who have any interest, all within the aforementioned
constraints. I’m NOT trying to paint an “objective” picture of Oaxaca nor share
with you all the wonderfulness of Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca, or any other slice
of Mexico.
As with all things in life, one
should avail oneself of the multitude of opinions and measurements available
before making a conclusion. I thus urge people interested in Oaxaca to seek out
the many blogs and other such Web sources to learn about life here. I’m just
calling it from where I see it, and thanks to wonderful “modern” inventions
such as electricity, satellites, the Internet, etc., I am able to do so in a
way that lets me…like countless other expats in Oaxaca de Juarez….serve it up
fresh to you.
