Stranger in Oaxaca

The start of my adventure began this past November when I received my acceptance letter into the ProWorld Service Corps program. I will spend two months assisting members of the community in an Anthropology related project, most likely affiliated with the Union de Museos Comunitarios. Follow me through the entire ProWorld experience as I make my way from all of the preparations and finally embark on my journey to Oaxaca, Mexico!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Mi Casa


My house is located in the southern part of downtown Oaxaca. I live in colonia San Jose la Noria, which is a very quaint and friendly area that I´ve come to enjoy since my recent move. I´ve already befriended the girl in the lavanderia (laundermat). Her name is Judi. It´s very interesting. If you talk to people for long enough, you come to find they do numerous other forms of business on top of their regular jobs. Judi sells jewelry and I just found out today that my Spanish teacher Hector can make purses out of plastic table cloths. I´ve also gotten to know Lillian. She runs the local internet cafe and can speak English, which comes in handy when I´m having technical difficulties (which is often).

The photo above is the entrance and garden area. All of the house is very open and breezy. My Sra. works out of her home and has a large office that staffs about five. There are always people coming in and out. Last night a family friend came to visit and he recounted the entire history of the Aztecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Toltecs & Olmecs. This took a very long time as you can imagine. And he spoke in animated Spanish for about an hour. But I´d be happy to retell this le
sson in English if you´re interested. I doubt I´ll ever forget. He´s also promised to bring me a book that discusses the history of man in Mexico from an anthropological perspective. Apparently it´s three volumes. I doubt I´ll need to buy any other form of reading while I´m here.

This picture on the right is of the front of my house. My bedroom window (the large triangular one on the top floor) looks out over the street. I have rooftop access and an amazing view of the mountains and the city on clear days. I plan to take pictures of my homestay family very soon. I really like my Sra. and abuela a lot. Both of them go out of their way to help me when ever they can. It has certainly made my transition into life in Oaxaca a lot easier!

The Sounds of Oaxaca


After living in Oaxaca for shortly over a week, I´ve come to discover there are numerous sounds that indicate important opportunities or events that are going to take place in the very near future. For instance, people who drive in the city fail to use any of the signs or stop lights that still function perfectly well. Signs have absolutely no significance. And stop lights simply mean pause. When drivers beep their horn it means you have literally a split second to get out of the way before they run you over. At every intersection it´s very important to be cognizant of the sound of motor bikes. These guys don´t stop for anyone. And they tend to behave as if the entire "centro" was their race course. All of this leads to extremely exciting ventures every time I leave my house.


Virtually everyone buys water from the "water man" who peddles down the street every day on his tricycle hollering at the top of his lungs "Agua, agua, agua!" When I first arrived in the neighborhood, I had yet to understand the sounds of the city and could not for the life of me figure out why this person kept coming by my house every day yelling for someone. I was later informed that it´s simply the water man.

Aside from the numerous roof dwelling dogs that bark at me on my way to school every day, I am also fortunate enough to be graced by the presence of a very loud rooster who lives in San Jose la Noria (my colonia). This rooster never sleeps and can be heard at all hours of the day, like this morning at 6:00 am for instance. I guess it´s his job. On top
of the rooster, I also have my very own parakeet named Quicho. The first day I had moved in, I came to discover he likes to cat call passers by by whistling at them. He also has a very colorful vocabulary of swear words he likes to use. (I´m pretty sure my abuela taught him.)

All of these sounds have opened my eyes to the colorful culture that exists in Oaxaca. However, my very favorite sound by far is the gasoline truck that drives through the streets every day blaring a noise that sounds distinctly like a distressed cow. I´m sure I will come to recognize other sounds throughout my stay. Apparently the locals are able to recognize which people sell the best baked goods by the songs they play from their little vehicles as they pass through the neighborhood.