Venturing Out

Got up today to check out the news about last night. I was exhausted and went to bed around 7pm. When I woke up at 1am, I could still hear the helicopters. Last night, the protestors were battling the police, trying to keep them from advancing, so we stayed in the hotel for the night. This morning's news, an excerpt below, describes the events of last night. Some guests from the hotel went out this morning and bought a paper, walked down to the police lines. We all huddled around in the courtyard, reading the news, looking online to get a grip on the situation. Wasn't sure what to expect today. Tamara, my friend I made here at the hotel, is taking classes at the same place where I took classes in December...Amigos del Sol. I waited for her to return from morning classes, and we set out to the city. Finding anything open was a chore, but somehow I did manage to get us to a nearby mercado, and she was able to get food for cena at the hotel. Staying in a hotel with a common kitchen area is excellent. My room has a kitchenette, so I was able to cook up some tortillas, quesillo and vegetables last night. But Tamara had nothing. So we were quite pleased, well, ecstatic, really, that I remembered how to get us there. While there, I asked the vegetable vendor if he knew of any open mezcalarias. Can't be holed up in a hotel at night without Mezcal. He said his wife makes it, and if we wait, she will run to their home to get it. So she did, we bought it, and we are now very happy. :) The cool thing about all this....I managed to have this entire conversation, make this entire purchase, in spanish! I'm actually using my spanish a lot, and am feeling quite competent. The downside is that I think I'm at the point where people understand me, so if I make a mistake, they don't correct me. But I'm doing well and feeling really empowered. Thanks Eva!!!!

After that, we went to my favorite cafe, Cafe los Cuiles. They have the best tlayudas and wireless internet. When we arrived, all the doors were locked and closed. After knocking on the window, we finally got in. Service was abnormally slow...the owner said that most workers can't get to the cafe and they are running out of food because many of the highways are closed off. After tlayudas sola (large tortillas with vegetables and quesillo)and cervezas, we headed out again. We decided to be adventurous and head down to the police lines. The police have overtaken the zocalo and at each street they were present. Think of the zocalo as a square with many streets leading to it. At each point of entrance, a line of police stood. Protestors were burning tires right in front of them to irritate them. They were also yelling insults. We stood and watched for a while, but had to take off running when the police had had enough and fired something. I don't know what it was. It wasn't bullets, it wasn't tear gas or the water cannons, but a loud explosive noise. After that, we skirted the area once more. We walked for hours, really. At many intersections, fires were burning. Tires, garbage, what have you. Burning buses and cars. I'm not really sure what is going to happen. Everything sort of seems at a standstill. I haven't heard anything about future negotiations. Right now, everyone involved is in reaction mode. Not talking mode. For the last few months, you read lots of stories about APPO, and emerging leaders made statements. I've looked at tons of sites, and haven't really seen any statements about this use of force from those people. So I'm not sure what's going on. There have been several daily protests, marches, to speak out against this use of force. The whole thing is strange. In many ways, when I'm walking around the city, amongst everyone else, there's a small sense of normalcy. But when you look around at all the closed shops, you feel the lack of "the feel" of Oaxaca. There's no vendors on the street. There's no parades. Nothing. It's safe really. But it's not. It all depends on where you go. It's hard to explain. In no way, shape or form do I regret this trip. And I definitely still hope to return in the spring for an internship. But whether I will be able to meet with any of the agencies I planned to meet with, and whether I will be able to go on any Dia de Los Muertos excursions is up in the air. Hell, I don't even know if the airport will be open in a week for my return trip to the states. Before the arrival of the police, lots of people were doing nightly sit-ins, etc. I had hoped that I could sit down and chat with them about the situation and learn more about the oppression they are fighting. But, that's not possible now. Too much going on. It's not just a nightly manning of the barricades, business as usual. It's fighting for survival. With these new events, it's not possible for me to engage with people for these discussions. Anyway, it is all hard to explain. I just hope that this situation resolves with few lives ended, that some level of corruption is defeated, and that Oaxaca someday returns to its normal self....actually, I hope Oaxaca returns better....that this sacrifice will be worth it.