deliberations

Well after my last post of sounding so sure about staying in Oaxaca we deliberated over drinks and wrote an elaborate pros and cons list and decided (again motivated by Zarhas strong, yet still flexible, desire) again to stay in Oaxaca. We finally walked (as we had been doing all day endlessly searching for a place) back to the hotel to liberate our backpacks from storage. I started conversing with this very cute desk guy at the hotel about our long day of looking for an apartment and only coming up with an overpriced one bedroom. He told us about a hotel nearby that had a small apartment for rent that we would could see in the morning. We tried to walk past that hotel just a few blocks from where we had been staying in the central part of Oaxaca but decided that it was too far from the school (even if the price would be half) so we headed about 20 minutes from the center to the apartment we looked at earlier that day.

After we paid our taxi and got our bags out of the car we were told by the woman working at the apartment we needed to pay a 5,0000 mil deposit as well ( $500.) We tried to negotiate with the management to take a license or passport as security and they wouldnt go for it, so again we were wondering around aimlessing knocking on random doors and making calls and coming up with nothing. We took a bus back to the same hotel and the cute guy with the astec heritage laughed at our story and said not to worry he never canceled the date the next morning to check out the other apartment.

We got up today and went to the hotel with the "apartment." Which as it turns out is a larger room in the hotel off a very pretty courtyard for 200 dollars for 3 weeks. We can put a curtain between the beds and share a cozy space for 3 weeks. We have access to the peaceful courtyard (In this loud and hectic city is a treat) and we can share the familys kitchen. Although we wont do all that much cooking, eating is cheap if you find the right places.

We took our tests at the school today (Saturday) and will be placed in our class levels after a spoken exam on monday. We already signed up for our workshops for the afternoons, I am doing native ceramics, Andy Oaxacan cooking, Zarha is taking an indigenous loom weaking class, all taught by locals with these skills.

We met another family at the school with two kids aged 11 and 13. Zarha probably will place higher than them (they just started studying spanish 2 weeks ago) but she could be in their class and it might be fun for her to have some kid energy around. The family is traveling for one year, they sold everything and live out of a truck and pop up trailer and are planning to settle in the southwest after the year of traveling. When we told them where we found a place to stay the wife said "thats the wild part of the city!" It is true that where we will be staying is the more authentic older part of the city and that is the area I much prefer. Many from the school stay in an area that is wealthier with more corporate sprawl. I really dont like that part. This will give us a twenty minute walk each way ever day in the bright mexican sun and I will need the excersize.

The family confirmed our feelings about the school. The school really digs into your wallets and are not flexible about anything financially or with the housing. They wouldnt even help us find housing until we paid. However they have a good reputation for being challenging and dynamic.


Some Oaxacan mother, speaking english, came up to me today looking for someone to read books in english to her 3yr old son. Not a job Im really interested in but for 2 hours a week in exchange for a guide around the area for a tour or two of some places could be fun. She is this really hip woman with a french speaking husband and she could be interesting to get to know. She is going to email me.

We have only seen one booth in the main plaza relating to APPO (Popular Peoples assembly of Oaxaca) that had literature and some cool posters. We noticed them the first night and have not seen them again to talk to anyone. I am hoping to meet someone who new Brad or knows where his memorial is. Brad was an indymedia activist who was killed here by undercover police in 2006 while reporting on the demonstrationsagainst the government. Its hard to imagine the Oaxaca I have been reading about the last 2 years with all the demonsrations, government killings of activists, toture and imprisoned people. You will be relieved to know outside of the normal hectic hustle of the city there is no indication of any unrest. I hope to learn more about the history and activism here and I hope to bump into Brads spirit. I have thought about him often while roaming the streets imagining how he spent his days here, where he stayed how he met people. Which makes me think of the last haunting video he shot, where he captured his shooters as he is being shot and falling to his death, shouting in pain. So sad that he and dozens of other people died here recently in this painful way. I have his conductors train hat that was on a table with his belongings at his memorial. We were all suppose to take a piece of him with us wherever we went and I brought that hat to Venezuela and now to Mexico. He spent a lot of time in Latin America and we shared a love for these places.

Well family and friends, I really wish we could call home to you. Its so expensive! Its almost a dollar a minute (unlike Venezuelas 3cents a minute! And people complain about nationalized services!) and once we started talking the minutes could become long exciting hours. I plan to talk my whole way home from the boarder of the states into Rochester.

Now we are going to move into our new place and then going to another spectacular market. I already went to the organic market this morning and bought delicious breads, pizza and cookies. I found the merangue cookies I love so much that only my mother can really make. (hint.. Ma, can you make those this summer for me?) The merangue cookies here had lime. No suprise everything here is flavored wth lime or chili. I love both. It is strange to see kids candies and fruit leather topped with chili.


I am missing you all, I really want more news from home. I had a dream about maura! Any truth to my dream??? Keep us posted. Also zarha is really bugging to have Kim send a photo of Emilys haircut. She is so eager to see it!
Ted where ya getting all the kisses from? You bad boy!

We miss and love ya all.
daz