Ruminations of an Expatriate

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Saturday, January 19th, 2008...8:04 pm

Oaxaca

I arrived in Oaxaca this morning at 7:30, after an all night bus ride from Xalapa. The ADO GL bus line has very modern, very comfortable buses, complete with bathrooms. The fare to here from Xalapa is $390 pesos (the current exchange rate is $10.88 peso per $1.00 USA), about what it would cost to drive; but buses to here leave Xalapa only on Friday and Sunday nights, though one may first bus to Puebla for more frequent departures to here.

I had purchased a pair of Bluetooth wireless headphones, through which I may listen to the music stored in my phone/mp3, so passed the trip listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Dixie Chicks, and to the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and a variety of other classic music selections. The bus made three or four stops, but I’ll be damed if I can tell you where, as I was fading in and out.

About an hour and a half out of Oaxaca the sun had risen sufficiently for me to see the countryside. It is quite dry here and the rolling hills are sparsely covered with shrubby vegetation. I was told by a taxi driver that most rain falls here in June, July, and August, when it is usually quite humid; and that the hottest months are April and May. There are small cultivated patches along the arroyos amongst the hills where I think corn is grown, though none is currently planted.

Oaxaca, itself, resides in a broad valley amongst the hills, with mountains beyond. At the outskirts of the city are green patches of irrigated agricultural lands, though I was unable to identify the low-growing crops. A taxi driver told me that the surrounding farmers grow a wide variety of vegetables which they sell in the central market here.

Leaving the bus station I crossed the street to one of a number of cocina economicas and enjoyed a breakfast of freshly extracted orange juice, juevos rancheros, a slightly sweet roll, tortillas, and a totally unsatisfying cup of reconstituted Nescafe instant coffee. All for $40. pesos and served by a very pleasant young fellow.

Here, as in Xalapa and Merida, folks entering a restaurant customarily greet those eating with a buenos dias, tardes, or noche, as appropriate, and with a buen provecha.

I took a $40. peso taxi ride from the bus station to the Hotel Virginia, where I had made reservations a couple of days prior. The room is clean and the water is hot, my only two essential requirements for hotel accommodations. The room is $300 pesos per night and the hotel is about a six block walk from the Zocolo, to which the central plazas here in Mexico cities are referred. I recommend the place, which also provides free wireless internet service.

Having checked in, cleaned up and took a bit of rest, I headed for the Zocolo, following a tourist map provided by the Hotel. I looked around a bit and parked myself at a table of a restaurant which afforded a Zocolo side view of the comings and goings. Adan, my waiter, speaks wonderful English, which he says he learned waiting on tourists here; and was a great source of information, being quite patient with my many questions.

There are lots of tourists here, though I am told the numbers are significantly less then before the “problems”, as both the taxi driver and Adan put it, here in 2006.

Those who keep up with news of Mexico will remember that a 2006 teachers’ resulted in the occupation of Centro Oaxaca by the teachers and their supporters. Barricades were erected around, Adan told me, a forty two square block area. Buses and buildings were burned; and, ultimately, President Fox sent in federal troops which shot and killed a number of folks in the process of removing the protesters’ encampments.

Centro Oaxaca, Adan also told me, is called Verde Antequera owning to the fact that very many of the buildings are constructed of green cantera stone. Antequera, he told me, refers to the indigenous folks who once lived in the area. Most of the Centro buildings were defaced with graffiti during the 2006 protests and the pale green paint used to cover the graffiti can be seen on most Centro buildings today, including upon all of the columns of the building housing the restaurant.

The Zocolo here is quite lovely, centered by a striking gazebo constructed of carved, green cantera stone and intricate iron railings. There are large, spreading trees and raised garden beds, also constructed of cantera, planted with blazing red poinsettias.

The vendors of all manner of handicrafts plying the Zocolo, reminds me of the vendors hawking their wares along the beach in Cabo San Lucas.

There was, as I sat enjoying a couple Bohemias, an organ player in the restaurant, accompanied by canned percussions, playing elevator type arrangements of popular North American songs, such as “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” and “It’s Now or Never, Our Love Can’t Wait”. Mid-way down the Zocolo was a duo playing the pan flute and guitar and at the far end a marimba band.