Oaxaca, Mexico - March 5, 2006

Well, it looks like my time here is drawing to a close. I've spent the last week trying to knock off as many items as I can from my Oaxaca to-do list. I went to the painting museum, the pre-hispanic art museum, the graphic art museum, the city cemetary, the contemporary art museum (again - they had a new exhibit), and today I did the city tour (which probably would have been smart to do when I FIRST arrived, rather than on my last day).

Also, last Saturday I went to a soccer game. The stadium was almost completely empty. Apparently Oaxacans only go to the stadium for the playoffs - the rest of the time they watch the games at home on TV. The crowd there seemed pretty subdued too, compared to the one in France. I think it's telling that the second biggest cheering in the game came when the home team's players were injured, since that gives them a penalty kick. (The biggest came for the cheerleaders, at halftime). I left the game before it was over: it was hot out, and the game wasn't very exciting. (The refreshments were more interesting - although that's generally my view). The soccer game being played by a group of kids in the graveyard was a lot more fun to watch. A lot of the glass windows in the crypts were broken, probably from previous matches.

I'm deeply disappointed. I've spent the whole quarter trying to get a picture of a VW bug police car, but I've never managed to get one. Sigh... another reason to come back...

Are soda bottle bar codes shaped like soda bottles in the United States?

It's interesting that different types of vendors make different sounds here. The gas trucks moo, the water vendors howl, the knife sharpeners whistle, and the balloon vendors squeak.

I made banana bread this week. It seemed to go over pretty well. I think it's lot easier to cook here than in France. The high altitude can cause problems, but recipes are easier to use, since the Mexicans aren't as anal-retentive about metric as the French are. The French recipes all called for '300 grams of flour' or '250 grams of sugar' - as though the first thing I want to do when I start cooking is pull out my triple-beam balance - and there wasn't a measuring cup or teaspoon measurer to be found, so I had to do a lot of guesstimation. The Mexicans use metric when it's practical, but most of the time for cooking they seem to use whatever it is we do.

Last Sunday, after going to the museums, I went to the Cathedral to meet my host-family, but they ended out staying after church (my host-mom was the stenographer at the bishop's press conference), so I walked home. They still hadn't gotten there by the time I arrived, and it was hot out, so, being the paragon of patience you all know me to be, I immediately scaled the wall to get in (neatly dodging the shards of broken glass studding the top). Anyway, long story short, they're now planning on putting electric fencing in.

In school, I tried taking literature this week. But, it was basically 4 hours of listening to the teacher talk at us, so I immediately transferred back to my other class, which was a lot more fun. Last week, we did a radio play. It was a lot of fun - after recording it, one of the teachers added sound effects and deeply melodramatic music, to spice things up. Apparently a lot of the staff here come from backgrounds in radio and TV. My most recent teacher was a lowly writer for student radio, but the history teacher apparently had a very successful radio and television career, before quitting it to start teaching.

Speaking of the media, it's all very morbid here. The newspapers have police blotter sections that seem to be filled with nothing but gruesome pictures. 'Woman hacked to death with machete! See pictures, page 2!' 'Boy commits suicide! See exit wound, page 3!' Actually, that's not entirely accurate. Both of those pictures were on page 1. On TV, a few weeks back there was a news story about a bull fight, where the bull (pajarito - 'little bird') jumped over the wall and into the stands, trampling a dozen spectators before it was subdued. No one was killed, but a bunch were injured. While I think that can safely be marked down under 'karma,' (I mean, everyone in the stands was there for the sole purpose of watching a bull be stabbed to death...) in the United States the announcers would have at least tried to keep a straight face. Here, the morning after, they were making jokes, and were showing the footage with circles following the beer glasses, which three of the spectators managed to keep level WHILE BEING TRAMPLED. (That's dedication). I expect the clips will soon be appearing on Mexico's equivalent of Funniest Home Videos, which regularly shows things like people getting hit point blank with molotov cocktails at protests.

Besides that, television here consists mainly of sports, news, telenovelas, and reality TV (including 'Asesino:' according to Carlos 'una mala copia' of Fear Factor). I generally watch the dubbed American shows and movies, which are easier to follow.

There was another goodbye party at the institute this Friday (amazingly occurring the right week for me this time). On Thursday night, Anne-Marie (our program director) was here with her son, to give us exit exams, and treat us to dinner. Which was very good. I had banana pizza.

By the way, if any of you are interested in learning or practicing Spanish, I highly recommend the Insituto Cultural Oaxaca. They provide apartments or homestays, they have Spanish classes for people of all levels, for people staying any length of time, from a few days to a few months, they offer workshops on history, cooking, salsa, ceramics, and weaving, they're reasonably priced, and, once a month, they give coke and tamales at a goodbye party. And they have TV stars for teachers.

A few days ago, for the first time since my arrival in Mexico, it rained. And when I said it rained, I mean it POURED. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of thunder, and rain drumming on the roof, and promptly went outside to stand in it, getting drenched through in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, back in Oregon, I've heard that the rain has finally stopped, after about 40 days and nights without reprieve. I think that's as good a cue to leave as any. I feel like Mary Poppins, just staying until the wind changes. I expect that the weather in Oregon will be sunny and warm, when I arrive. Right, Mom?

Mom?