Traveling on...

Well we left Oaxaca early Saturday morning and headed to Veracruz a gulf coast town east of Oaxaca. We actually arrived to a bit of rain and cooler temperatures. We had heard it would be a bit hotter here and expected to sweat and instead we are feeling chilly and underdressed in the mid 60's temperature and moist, cool gulf air. I think this day is a fluke of cool as occasionally happens in Oaxaca. Our skin has become that warm, thin skin that reacts easily to cold.

Our last week in Oaxaca was great. One of my Spanish teachers is a public school teacher and is part of the section 22 teachers union. That is the union that fought hard to see Ruiz removed (the governer of Oaxaca) and for teachers rights. He also saw Brad filming the day he was killed. Brad had walked past my teachers barricade filming (there were strikers' barricades all over city) hours before he was shot. One day after school he took me, Andy and another student to the street Brad was shot on, in Santa Lucia. I had read it described in papers as both a "slum" and the "Suburbs" of Oaxaca. I didnt see it as either. The street seems like an average barrio of Mexico and had a feeling a very intimate quiet community. The street where he was shot, Juarez, is still covered in strong political graffiti. His name, Bradly, is written large in a couple places and intense statements about keeping up the resistance and bringing the killers to justice. There is also a bullet hole in one of the concrete walls outside someones home. The hole is circled and it says "assasins bullet." It was intense to see some strong passionate grafitti all along the street because in the center area of town (tourist area) most markings of that time have been erased. As we were walking that street a couple of old ladies started talking to our teacher. Of course they knew of Brad and explained to our teacher how on the day of the dead celebration every novemember Brad and the others killed during that time are recoginzed. We even headed to a the hardware store across the street from where the alters are placed for the day of the dead celebrations and very kind people told us they would leave anything at the alter next November that we wanted to leave in memory of brad. I was very touched by the intimate neighborhood and how everyone seemed to know and care about Brad. He was a stranger in a strange land and every year he will be remembered and his spirit cared for and it made me think that that is a fortunate part about the whole bad situation.

We are taking a week now to travel. The bus ride into Veracruz was long and dramatic. Just when I think I have seen enough beautiful landscape I catch a Volcano or steep rocky mountain and incredible cactus and I am ooooing and ahhhhing again outloud.

We also got to a couple great markets on Friday. One is famous for all the wooden painted animals. It was great because we got to see the artists in action and get some deals on wooden painted animals.

I hope its starting to warm up for you all,
March: Comes in like a lion out like a lamb??
I sure hope thats true this year!
hugs
dawn