Oaxaca Globializado: Mujeres, Turismo y Migracion

Oaxaca Globializado: Mujeres, Turismo y Migracion

We arrived in Oaxaca, Mexico at approximately 8 a.m. on December 26^th 2008, we had two hours to spare because our families were arranged to meet us at 10a.m. After an eight-hour plane ride, all we wanted to do was get home and sleep, but a walked around the city was well worth it. The first place we visited was the zocalo (town square), which is less than ten minutes away from the Instituto Becari. The authors Murphy and Stepick in the article, Social Inequality in Oaxaca mentions, “the Zocalo (town square) remains the city’s focal point every since the city’s founding…. It is charming and tranquil, filled with towering shade trees and tropical plants surrounding a bandstand and flanked with the state government office, cathedral, and sidewalk cafes.” This article was right on target with the description of the social arrangement of Oaxaca because walking around the city, especially the Zocalo you are able to experience the city of Oaxaca. It was early in the morning, but I was just in time to witness the vendors organizing their stands to display their beautiful products, ready to be purchase. There were booths in every corner, from beautifully hand made rugs to toys for children. This was a culture shock to me because the city was so busy despite the time of the morning. I am from Hartford, Connecticut and this kind of behavior was different for me.  I also saw the cathedrals like our readings describes which stand stands elegantly amongst hey are the trees and sidewalk cafes.   Most importantly, and I noticed it immediately, was the population of tourist in the city, tourist out numbered the vendors in the Zocalo, which makes sense because Mexico economic is base on tourism. It was also interesting to run into a Professor from a University in Iowa doing a similar program. 

What was even more interesting was visiting the Zapotecs of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. The moment I walked into the valley, I began to take pictures. The materials to make the dyes were all displayed for us to see. The house itself was so beautiful and very different from the ones we saw in area we are staying. In one of our article, Zapotec Women, Gender, Class and Ethnicity in Globalized Oaxaca by Lynn Stephen mentions that, “Teotitlan del Valle is an indigenous Zapotec community of approximately 5,000 …located in the foothills of the Sierra Juarez 29 kilometers from the state capital Oaxaca.” This author couldn’t be more specific; the valley is nicely situated in the mountains of Oaxaca. Driving up the mountains all the houses displayed home made rugs. The colors arranged from bright red to dull gray, nonetheless they were beautiful. The rugs are expensive especially in the valley of Teotitlan, but it’s worth it because of the amount of time and work that goes into making each rug. The owner of the home we visited, demonstrated to us the step-by-step techniques to make a rug. I never realize the amount of labor that goes into the making of one rug from Mexico. The article mentions the difference between artificial dying and hand made dying. But, it was mind baffling to see how the different home made dyes are made. Each color came from different kinds of plants and roots that are available right there in the mountains. I believe the weaver we visited would be considered an independent weaver and according to the article, “all weaver in this production unit are household members…they are not paid for their labor…such households own the means of production and provide their own wool, yarn and dyes.” However, the most important and the article spoke a lot about this, was women role in the making of these rugs. Women play a very important role, in this household, the owners’ grandmother is 90 years old and she still works. All the women in this household play a role in the making of each rug.  They are responsible for, brushing, dying, spinning, and washing the yarns. Throughout the owner’s presentation he continuously mentioned his grandmother, mother and wife’s role in his production. The house displayed a variety of homemade rugs, from original designs to requested designs. I read the article, but it was great to see how the  process of rug making unfolded right there in my eyes.

Danique Williams

12-27-08