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Taco Surprise

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

Yesterday, after a leisurely visit over coffee at the Nueva Mundo coffee shop in the Centro with Sharon, I drove out to Plaza del Valle, past the University, to Oaxaca City’s northern style shopping plaza which is newish…built within the last five years anyway…which sports a Burger King, Office Depot, Sam’s Club, Sears, Pizza Hut and a street full of upscale car sales showrooms, grocery stores, a movie multiplex, a French department store much like Nordstroms…even a Blockbuster video rental outlet. Not what you think of when you think of Oaxaca is it?

A few days earlier, I had taken Joe to Mailboxes Inc, to pick up a shipping box for his return to Chicago in April. Parked in front, I figured, oh the car will be alright so the one and only time I have my car unlocked in Mexico, for less than five minutes, guess what happens? Some guys sitting on the sidewalk (maybe waiting for a suspect) lifted my car tool bag out of the back! So off to Sears to buy a new set of jumper cables after which I wandered through the mall in search of lunch.

In the food court, I stopped at a taco stall and ordered tacos with those fantastic green onions that taste so sweet after they have been charred on the grill. An order included six tacos for $1.60. Not realizing they were only about five inches in diameter I said, oh, muchos tacos! The girl responded with quite a bit of espanol rapido… ending with the words “medio de orden” or half an order. Ok. Sounded good. When the girl set the food in front of me I see a styrofoam plate with six grilled green onions and a few wedges of limon. “No tacos?” I ask. She made a half sign with her hands. So I had half an order…the half with the onions!

Family of Brad Will To Visit Oaxaca

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Family of Murdered Independent Journalist Brad Will to Visit Mexico City and Oaxaca

According to a press release issued by the family of Bradley Roland Will, the independent US photojournalist shot and killed last October 27th in Oaxaca, they will visit Mexico from March 19th to March 23rd, 2007. The purpose of the Will family’s visit is to push for a legitimate investigation into Brad’s murder and to insist that the responsible parties be held accountable.

The family says they hope that their inquiry will help at least 20 other families who are seeking justice for their murdered relatives.

Watching Calderon

Sunday, March 18th, 2007
"I know I am running risks, confronting strong forces," he said on the presidential jet. "But I think the key to life is to live it intensely." He is making many promises as did Fox. And no mention of taxes. We'll ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where Are The “Disappeared?”

Saturday, March 17th, 2007
Latest news in Oaxaca: The ComisiĆ³n Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH has formally confirmed that the "violence" in Oaxaca was carried out by the ministerial, state and federal police troops, thereby agreeing with the complaints of the APPO regarding violations ... [Continue reading this entry]

Zocalo At Night

Saturday, March 17th, 2007
Intimidating, the Governor thought the tourists would feel safer with them there...among other political reasons. Gone from the Zocalo are the PFP with their menacing night sticks and bullet-proof vests and their rifles and sidearms...for shooting and for tear gas. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Tlacalula Again

Friday, March 16th, 2007
When Jennifer got in the car she looked at me and asked if I used to go to the Beanery coffee house in Salem where she worked at one time. Of course I had. Michael and Jennifer from Portland Oregon ... [Continue reading this entry]

Violence “Worries” The Pope

Saturday, March 10th, 2007
Todayā€™s big headline in the Oaxaca Noticias says Preocupa al Papa la violencia en Oaxaca (The violence in Oaxaca worries the Pope). Oh, really?

Protesting Donald Trump With Poise

Saturday, March 10th, 2007
More on the beauty pageant to be staged at Monte Alban: Auditions to be Held April 18 in New York City Toward a Protest with Poise Aimed at Donald Trump and NBC By Cha-Cha Connor Spokesmodel, Popular Assembly of Models for Oaxaca "In solidarity ... [Continue reading this entry]

10th Oaxaca MegaMarch

Saturday, March 10th, 2007
Maria and I missed the 10th Megamarch in observance of International Women's Day March 8. Probably just as well because Maria is mega cautious. Instead, we went to Teotitlan again in search of rugs for her daughter.

Mescal And Lamb With Consumme

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
10am Sunday morning, one of the mescal vendors at the Tlacalula Market latched onto Maria and I with a dozen sample cups of mescal..from Mango Crema to the rare Tuvala Agave...after which we made an imperative beeline to the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Graffiti At IAGO Library

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
Internationally renowned painter, Francisco Toledo, has approved the use of his IAGO art library and the Alvarez Bravo museum for many things-from conferences on the current situation-to the future of Oaxaca. The latest daring move is the recreation on ... [Continue reading this entry]

Arrest Of NYU Professor

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
He was picked up outside the ā€œCurtaduria," a space for arts and performance in the next-door barrio of Jalatlaco. Last week, a professor of German citizenship from New York University was arrested, photographed, finger-printed and interrogated by elements of the State ... [Continue reading this entry]

Monte Alban & The Miss Universe Contest

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
I had worked with my friend Maria, psychologist & nurse practitioner, for some ten years in Oregon. On Saturday February 24 she arrived for a ten day visit with me. I have been leading her all over Oaxaca ... [Continue reading this entry]

Protestor In The Zocalo Fountain

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
Last Friday Ana and Steve saw a man take off his clothes down to his shorts and climb into one of the fountains in the Zocalo. I got a call from Ana: "Eunice get down here with your ... [Continue reading this entry]

Following Trouble?

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Good grief! Either I am following trouble around the world or trouble is following me! First a violent demonstration on a university campus in Istanbul...then the tsunami in Thailand...then the coup in Thailand...then the subway strike in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Solitude In The Sierra Norte

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
In search of a little alone time yesterday, I drove 40 miles (but two hours) north of Oaxaca City up into lush, pine-clad crests descending deep into river canyons to the Sierra Juarez, the birth-land of Benito Juarez, Oaxaca's beloved ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wedding In Teotitlan del Camino

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
My friend Bardo is from Teotitlan del Camino near the Puebla border and his parents, three brothers and a sister still live there. Bardo's father, Don Bardo, a furniture maker, and Dona Mari raised six children in their big open-air ... [Continue reading this entry]

CoCo’s Cantina

Saturday, February 17th, 2007
The last time Max partook of his Brandy Presses at Cocos, a working man's bar with classic swinging louvered half-doors near his apartment, he met with an altercation with a burly self-professed "communist" Mexican who insisted on appropriating Max's drink. ... [Continue reading this entry]

What Now For Oaxaca?

Monday, February 12th, 2007
Local analysts argue about whether the causes of the popular social movement here in Oaxaca are utter corruption and the history of political bossism by the PRI party, the effects of transnational/neoliberal policies created by NAFTA, the lack of economic ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Typical Sunday in Oaxaca

Monday, February 12th, 2007
Made another trip to the Tlacalula Sunday Market last week with my next door neighbors Ana, Steve and little Oscar. Bought some carved coconut shell halves made for drinking our wonderful Mexican chocolate and then in my impending senility just ... [Continue reading this entry]

Crack Down on Mexico’s Crackdowns

Monday, February 5th, 2007
Last Saturday, in Oaxaca City's Centro, I watched the 9th MegaMarch enter the Plaza de la Danza. They had walked five miles in sweltering heat from the airport. The teachers and their supporters are letting people know their demands ... [Continue reading this entry]

What The Tourists Don’t See In Oaxaca

Monday, February 5th, 2007
In December, Hilaria Cruz interviewed Dionisio. Translation: Joy Turlo Dionisio had gone to the demonstration in Oaxaca on the 25th of November. After the demonstration he and his friend Juan de Dios went to get something to eat, during which time confrontations ... [Continue reading this entry]

Learning Spanish Amid “False Normalcy”

Monday, January 29th, 2007
Have been taking Spanish lessons in one of the local schools...Amigos del Sol. Three hours a day sitting in a chair. Only one other student in my classes so I can't space out. Present, past and future. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Abuses In Oaxaca Go To The Hague

Friday, January 12th, 2007
From Prena Latina Outrageous actovities by Gov. Ulises Ruiz against the Oaxaca social movement will be denounced at The Hague International Court, leaders of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) said Wednesday. PRD deputies at the First National Forum for the Defense of ... [Continue reading this entry]

New Year’s In Las Vegas

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
Went to Las Vegas to spend a week with my son Greg over New Year's. Greg and I went to bed New Years Eve at 10:30...he got called in at 1:30am for an emergency...a four year old had gotten ... [Continue reading this entry]

Disconnect In Oaxaca

Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Xochitl's accounts show the disconnect between the low level of frustration, anxiety and aggression in Oaxaca, that is just below the surface, but invisible to the passerby tourists. I have heard that everything is fine and back to normal in ... [Continue reading this entry]

What’s Up With Oaxaca Now?

Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Blog Marc Lacey, The New York Times, 28.12.06 December 28 Oaxaca: Painting Over Signs of Strife to Tidy Up for the Tourists There is a new smell in the air here, competing with the aroma of mole sauce that routinely wafts through Oaxaca. It ... [Continue reading this entry]

Christmas Season

Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
The Christmas season begins with the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 and continues until January 6...the Day of the Three Kings when presents are opened. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra SeƱora ... [Continue reading this entry]

Village of Benito Juarez

Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
Last week Ana, Steve and their 3 year old Oscar and I drove to Tlacalula and then west on a winding road high in the Sierra del Norte to the tiny village of Benito Juarez. I parked the car near ... [Continue reading this entry]

First Christmas In Oaxaca 2006

Monday, December 18th, 2006
The Zocalo is lovely now with Christmas events every night. Both the teachers and the police are out of the Zocalo now. Last night the Canadian couple, Ana and Steve and their 3 year old son Oscar, and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Freedom Of Speech

Thursday, December 14th, 2006
December 14, 2006 More Dispatches from the War against Journalists Before he left office on December 1, Mexican president Vicente Fox lauded big strides against authoritarianism and intolerance during his 6-year administration. Besieged by murder, violence and intimidation, many Mexican journalists are ... [Continue reading this entry]

Max’s Day

Sunday, December 10th, 2006
Since I spoke to you last, I have spend one king-hell of a strange day. The morning was spent exchanging e-mails with one of the Mexican nationals who works for the sinisterly named 'Citizen's Benefits Office' at our embassy ... [Continue reading this entry]

Sights & Sounds Of Oaxaca

Sunday, December 10th, 2006
It is very quiet in Oaxaca now For some people. Others are in hiding. There are only fireworks at night. It is the Christmas season. There is a big tree with lights in the Zocalo. The pain of the people is buried under Tree bark and red ... [Continue reading this entry]

Liberty Or Safety

Thursday, December 7th, 2006
A true patriot, Benjamin Franklin, said: "they that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

San Andreas Huayapam Fiesta

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006
Last week, with friends, I attended the annual San Andreas Huayapam Fiesta about 25 minutes northeast of Oaxaca City. Very well organized with a lot of people for such a small pueblo. There was a local band that ... [Continue reading this entry]

Calderon Takes Oath Of Office

Friday, December 1st, 2006
It was reported on a discussion site that "Felipe Calderon took the oath of office as president of Mexico this morning in a ceremony that lasted four minutes. The house of legislators came to blows several times before he ... [Continue reading this entry]

PFP Attacks Nov 25 During Our Trip To Cajonos

Sunday, November 26th, 2006
I drove Lester and Max to San Pedro de Cajonos yesterday. Left at the intersection at Tlacalula and then an hour and a half up into the Sierra del Sud mountains. Beautiful drive. San Pedro hangs on ... [Continue reading this entry]

It’s Damn Cold In Oaxaca

Thursday, November 23rd, 2006
Well, I don't know what we did to deserve our weather...we have been freezing our asses off especially at night. I wear everything I've got to bed...houses don't have heat here. I have been turning on the oven and opening ... [Continue reading this entry]

Oaxaca Villages

Monday, November 20th, 2006
After getting back from Hierve el Agua last Sunday, I holed up in my apartment for two days. It has gotten really cold and windy. There is no heat in the apartment so I turn on the oven ... [Continue reading this entry]

Women’s Marches

Friday, November 17th, 2006
In the middle of November there were a series of Women's Marches protesting the dead and disappeared and the assault of some women by the Federal (PFP) who had been occupying the Zocalo.

Hierve El Agua

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
Last weekend I took Mica, Bardo and the kids from Hauyapam, and Charlie, who used to be a coffee bean roaster in Oaxaca in the 70's but now is a roaster in Canada and here for a few weeks, in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Zapateca Mescal Distillery

Friday, November 10th, 2006
Yesterday, Charlie and I visited an American and his wife, Tony & Rebecca Raab, who have a beautiful bed and breakfast called Casa Raab about 20 minutes outside the city. Tony has built a hand-made authentic Zapateco mescal still. ... [Continue reading this entry]

So Goes Life In Oaxaca

Thursday, November 9th, 2006
I went to Santo Domingo yesterday to check out the activity there. The teachers and their supporters have moved their encampment up the hill to the streets in front of Santo Domingo Church where marches now end and speeches are ... [Continue reading this entry]

Oaxaca Students Battle PFP At University

Sunday, November 5th, 2006
At 8 in the morning the PFP advances upon the University of Oaxaca and begins firing at the radio and the university campus. Helicopters fly over and descend upon the radio university. At 9 in the morning 2 military convoys ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wedding Today In XoXo

Saturday, November 4th, 2006
Charly, Mica, Bardo, their kids and I went to a wedding today...a happy thing. Someone related to Mica. A professional couple. The wedding was in the very nice home of a relative...as is often the case the house ... [Continue reading this entry]

Today Zocalo & Santo Domingo

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
This morning I took the car to the Toyota Service Agency to have the oil changed in the car...after all, I did drive it from Oregon to Oaxaca in southern Mexico...a darn long ways. This afternoon I joined my landlord ... [Continue reading this entry]

Police Take Over Zocalo

Monday, October 30th, 2006
Late in the night of October 29, the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) took over the Zocalo with tear-gas and tanks. The next morning there was an impromptu march with marchers confronting the police at every street entrance to the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day Of The Dead, Black Mole, Hookah Pipes

Sunday, October 29th, 2006
Went to my landlord's home yesterday morning to make black mole...pronounced "molay" a Oaxacan specialty that is always made for the Day Of The Dead and served exactly at 11:00 on November 2 for the spirits of the dead who ... [Continue reading this entry]

Car Finally Retrieved

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
The car will be ready Saturday at 11...the mechanic said. Then on Sat a call came...there has to be some modification in order to set the domestic alternator. Mechanics don't work on Sat afternoon so the car will ... [Continue reading this entry]

Late Saturday Night Out

Monday, October 23rd, 2006
Saturday afternoon, Gerardo and I went by collective taxi to Huayapam to take some cds full of Mike's pictures he had taken of the soccer game to Bardo's son Pavel. Returning to the city about 9pm we decided to stop ... [Continue reading this entry]