Blog 2: Miguel's first impressions of oaxaca

It was roughly nine in the morning, when the sun pierced through the windows of the cabin of our small passenger airplane. The mountains were ubiquitous, highlighted in a perennial silhouette of the morning clouds. When we touched down at the Oaxaca airport, and ventured to the city, what could be seen as a casual ride through the country, to me, was an enlightened introduction to what this visit would eventually be defined as: timeless.  As we made our way through the streets, you could see the socioeconomic stratifications highlighted in the eloquent, yet intellectual text of Arthur Murray and Alex Stepick, “Social Inequality of Oaxaca”. Their study represents a micro perspective that describes the embattled colonial/pre-hispanic history, the gradual but often conflicted progression of racial hierarchy, the disenfranchisement of Oaxacans of forces beyond the colonial borders, and the ostentatious display the local government provides for the tourists, yet in doing so, overshadowing the marginalized livelihoods of the people of Oaxaca.

As we drove through the streets on the outskirts of Oaxaca, there was a pervasive, but unusually picturesque landscape of tin, and thatched roofs, disregarded stucco fixtures and walls, poorly irrigated farmland, the soiled attire of pedestrians, but despite the overall disparity that was in blatant view, the disposition of the people walking the sidewalks was perpetually stoic. As the inequality is a depiction of the region (Oaxaca being the poorest state in Mexico), the Zócalo is iconic of the city’s identity.

In an article by New York Time’s Tim Weiner, “McTaco vs. Fried Crickets: A Duel in the Oaxaca Sun”, he characterizes the increasing debate of local values, versus international monopoly interests. It is difficult to have empathy when reading a text in black and white, but once the text is lifted off the page and seen with your eyes, it is inspiring to be able to understand the issue from the perspective of those who are involved. The Zócalo is effortlessly, perhaps one of the most recognizable public areas in the world, the affluence of the Catholic church, the brilliance of colonial architecture dominating the overall landscape, and the comfort of the shade of the surrounding trees and gardens , are all aspects of the significance of its cultural heritage. Therefore, to place a McDonalds would be to perpetually blemish the image of a city whose renaissance is predicated in the arts, cultural pride, and proud reluctance of foreign interests. ''Oaxaca was so isolated from the world for so long that any change feels like an onslaught,'' said Iliana de la Vega. The article was written in 2002, six years later I am visiting the city, and the only vestiges of fast-food conglomerates can be found on the outskirts of the center of the city, far from the confines of the Zócalo, and the spirit of Oaxaca.

- Miguel Ramirez Jr. -