The 43

"43 missing. It was the the State."

A lot of people expressed concern to us about moving to Mexico and I understand why. Mexico has a pretty bad reputation for crime. Part of this reputation is fueled by the media but part of it is earned. What many people don't realize is that the most serious crime is perpetuated not by banditos anxious to rob gringos, but by political corruption intertwined with the drug cartels.

"I will fight today because I don't want
to see you die tomorrow."

Photos of the 43 missing students.

"Punish those responsible for the massacre in Ayotzinapa."

Shortly after we arrived I started seeing signs in the Zocalo (main square) about Ayotzinapa - "Tu dolor es nuestro dolor," "Nos faltan 43," "Todos somos Ayotzinapa." We hadn't been keeping up on the news but little by little the news came to us, through peaceful protests around the city, the images of 43 serious-looking young men posted to walls, and messages delivered via ink, paint and sand.

"Your struggle is my struggle, Your pain is my pain,
They were taken alive, We want them back alive."

Written in sand on the Andador (pedestrian street): We don't
want a "buen fin" we want justice. El buen fin is similar
to Black Friday in the U.S., the start of holiday shopping.

In the town of Ayotzinapa, in the neighboring state of Guerrero, there is a school for teachers known as a Normal school. These schools train teachers to work with poor rural populations. Students are called Normalistas. On Sept. 26 many Normalistas were protesting in Iguala, Guerrero. Two were shot outright, and 43 were taken away by police and have not been seen since.

"43 missing."

There is a history of antagonism between the students of Ayotzinapa and Iguala's elite. The students are portrayed by business and political leaders as trouble-makers for frequent protests against corruption, poverty and lack of funds for education. Meanwhile, the wife of Iguala's mayor is part of a well-known drug cartel family. It is believed that she ordered that the students (who were protesting a speech she was giving) be handed over to the drug gang Guerroros Unidos. She and her husband fled and were recently arrested in Mexico City.

Last week Mexico's attorney general released videotaped confessions of several drug gang members telling how they carried out the executions of the 43. The remains have yet to be identified. Mexico officially lists 22,322 people missing since the start of the country's drug war in 2006.

As Americans we feel very safe here in Oaxaca. I realize that I could have my purse stolen but I also know that could happen (and has) in Minneapolis. And I know worse things could happen. But the people who have the most to fear in Mexico are the Mexicans trying to improve their situations who have the misfortune to cross paths with drug gangs - or those who are supposed to protect and serve the people: the politicians and police.

History of Oaxaca (for Dummies like me)

I have been trying to learn a little bit about the history of Oaxaca, and Mexico generally, while I am here - and it's really confusing. I would like to blame the US education system, but it's much more likely that I was not paying attention when we covered Mexican History.

So, here is my "Cliffs Notes" version:

Archaic Period (30,000 BC - 1500 BC)  the first human hunter-gatherers came from Asia across a land bridge to Alaska. Sarah Palin would have seen them coming from her kitchen window.

Olmec stone head.

Pre-classic Period (1500 BC - 200 AD) the Olmecs, the mother-culture of all of meso-american cultures, appeared in Veracruz, the state to the north of Oaxaca. The Olmecs invented agriculture, towns, pyramids, calendars and human sacrifice (I guess no society is perfect). In the Oaxaca Valley, the Zapatecs basically copied everything the Olmecs did.

Zapotec bat-god urn

Classic Period (200 AD - 900 AD)- the Zapotecs set up their headquarters at Monte Alban (and left spectacular ruins, a "must see" when you visit Oaxaca), with a commanding view (literally) of the Oaxaca Valley. Being an agriculture-based society, all of their gods were all about sustenance and fertility, and the priests pretty much ran the show.

Zapotec jade war mask

Post-classic Period (900 AD - 1521 AD) - As population pressures increased, war with the Mixtecs from the north brought new gods of war and victory, and the priest leaders were replaced by military leaders. The Zapotec peasants paid "tribute" (in-kind taxes) to finance the wars. Around 1350 the Aztecs (AKA Mexicas, from modern Mexico City) took control of the valley. They used Zapotec puppet leaders to collect and forward the tribute, and occasionally made an example of a town by sacking it.

Conquistador and Aztec

Colonial Period (1521- 1821) The Spanish, having beaten the Aztecs in Mexico City in 1519, took a couple of years to reach the Oaxaca Valley (fun fact: the Spanish word for Columbus is "Colón", which is NOT where we got our term "Colonial"). When the Spanish arrived in "Guaxaca" (Oaxaca), they assumed the top of the food chain, replacing the Aztecs in receiving tribute. The Zapotec religion was very similar to Catholicism, so the transition was not too hard - it was just a matter of replacing the Zapotec gods with the Catholic saints, and all the rest was detail.

Hidalgo, Father of Mexico

Independence (1821 - 1858) Hidalgo, Morelos and Guerrero led the rebellion against Spain starting around 1810. Spain finally gave up control in 1821, ending 300 years of occupation, and leaving behind them a hugh power vacuum ultimately resulting in the Second Mexican Empire (meet the new boss, same as the old boss), the rule of the military despot Santa Anna, and the Mexican American War (in 1845 our President James Polk offered Mexico forgiveness of $25 million in loans in exchange for the Texas Territory. When Mexico declined the offer, the US invaded, taking from Mexico two thirds of its territory, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Fun fact: remember the Alamo? Well the Mexicans have their own mirror-image story about the Niños Héroes who defended the Chapultepec castle to their deaths as US forces invaded Mexico City to end the war).

President Benito Juarez

La Reforma (1858 - 1876) - Benito Juarez, a liberal Zapotec, led the country in "La Reforma" from 1858 until his death in 1872. Juarez struggled to hold power against internal and external enemies, but implemented many liberal reforms, some of which backfired. In 1861 Juarez had suspended interest payments to Mexico's foreign creditors, which resulted in an interruption of Juarez's term as president in 1864 by the Second French Intervention in Mexico which resulted in the Second Mexican Empire (1864-1867). Napoleon III of France invaded while the US was otherwise occupied with the their own Civil War. Once the US war was resolved the newly coined Monroe Doctrine was used to justify pressuring France into withdrawal. Juarez was restored to power and La Reforma continued until the death of Juarez, and a few years beyond under his vice president, Lerdo.

Porfirio Diaz

Porfiriato (1876 - 1910) After the death of Juarez, Porfirio Diaz, half Zapotec and half Mixtec, took power in a coup. Diaz stabilized the country by doing things like eliminating elections, centralizing power, and repressing his opponents. The resulting peace encouraged foreign investment, resulting in great infrastructure improvements (communications, roads, railroads) and resumption of mining operations, but ultimately ignited the Mexican Revolution.

Poncho Villa

Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1929) - Francisco Madero kicked off the Revolution in 1910 in reaction to the policies of Porfirio Diaz, but the more famous Poncho Villa and Emiliano Zapata began the long, bloody armed rebellion.  In 1917, amid the Revolution, the current constitution was written generally favoring the poor and disenfranchised; restoring indigenous land rights privatized under the well-meaning Reforma legislation, nationalizing Mexico's oil and mineral reserves, and reining in the power of the Catholic Church. Although armed conflict ended in 1920, political chaos continued until the PRI (Institutional Revolution Party) took power in 1929 and began relaxing enforcement of the new constitution.

PRI Period (1929 - 1982) The Institutional Revolution Party won every election by overwhelming majorities using the strategy of only counting the votes they agreed with. This brought about stability at the cost of democracy.

Current Period (1982 - Present) Since I don't keep up with current affairs (and the book I got most of this from was written in 1977) you'll have to do the rest of the research yourself. But there are a couple of bits of modern Mexican history I would like to pass on.

• In 1992, President Carlos Salinas revoked article 26 of the constitution (which protected indigenous land rights) and signed the very unpopular NAFTA agreement (whereby the US can subsidize corn, but Mexico cannot). This ignited the Zapatista Revolt in Chiapas, Mexico because farmers who had made their living there growing corn for centuries could continue to grow corn, but could no longer make a living at it. 
• Later in the 1990's the national telephone company was privatized, helping create the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. 
• Since 2006 Mexico has experienced an increase in the influence of the drug cartels, which are said to keep many people employed on their payroll, including many government officials. 
• In 2014 nationalized oil and mineral rights are being opened up to private and foreign investment.  What could go wrong? 

Carlos Salinas

Carlos Slim

Zapatista musician

Moving - again

Our casita.

We have moved more in the past 3 months than we have in the past 23 years. We were lucky to find fabulous renters for our house in Linden Hills - the only catch was that they wanted to move in before we were planning to move out. Then we got lucky again, when a friend offered us his duplex on 50th and Lyndale for the 6 weeks that we would be homeless in Minneapolis.

We were planning to rent the "perfect" place in Oaxaca - 4 bedrooms, right by the aquaduct in El Centro, for a reasonable price. It was too good to be true - seriously! In July, we found out the house had sold and was no longer available. We found another great place but it wasn't available until November, so we made arrangements to stay with Maria and Manuel, whom we'd stayed with before, for the month of October.

The bedroom at M&M's served as an office, too.

With all the fabulous tiles in Mexico,
why this?

Room with a view - the kitchen looked
onto the common patio.

"Lechuga" used to wait outside our door
when she was hungry!

Enrique, María, and Randy before the race.

Maria and Manuel's place had some issues: bedroom+bathroom+kitchen = a lot of togetherness :); our bedroom was directly on a street that didn't seem particulary busy until you were lying in bed, listening to the cars, motorcycles, passers-by, etc.; the guest renting the unit across the patio who coughed chronically and whose smoke drifted into our place. But it was in a great location and Maria and Manuel had us doing things we may not have done otherwise, like participating in a 5K that their son organized, visiting their event center, and learning how to get a water tank on to the azotea (roof terrace).

Our new place is a little further away from the action but offers the amenities that come with a neighborhood - the shopkeepers ask your name, you recognize your neighbors and things are a bit quieter. Wait, scratch that last part. We are next door to a dance studio (remember, no zoning laws in this truly free country) and if you've ever taken a dance class you will remember that a few bars of a song are played, then repeated...repeated...repeated...Drowned out only by the dogs barking. And the birds. And the guy in the tamale truck (thank God 10:00 p.m. is last call). Someone commented to us that Mexicans have a "different relationship with noise" than Americans do. So, as part of the immersion, we're embracing the music and the dogs and we're considering running out for a tamale next time he comes down our street.

We can seat more than 2 people now.

We have a living room.

The kitchen.

Happy to have an oven - even if the only temperature setting is 400.

A bathroom with a separate shower.

While Sarah was searching for a place to rent on various websites, she found that the places advertised on English-speaking sites (and offered, usually, by North Americans) looked so "Mexican" with bright colors, lots of artwork, beautiful tiles, while the places on Spanish-speaking sites were very sparsely furnished, typically with a big, black sofa set and TV in the living room and very little else. The prices reflected the difference and in the end we went with a Casa Gringa. We have to admit, we're quite happy to have the ameneties (like a bathroom that doesn't become the shower) and to be surrounded by the beauty of our new casita. Yup, quite happy.

Garden Quick Tour

OK, so this one is REALLY not for everyone, but if you are interested in a quick tour of our home garden here in Oaxaca, read on...

Our house comes with a gardener, Rigo. He comes twice a month to attend our patio shade garden. Much of what he does is remove the clutter that falls from the trees and bushes. I asked him if it would not be better to leave the mulch on the ground, and his eyes lit up. He knows that the organic material, if left on the soil, would be beneficial to the soil and all of the plants in it. But he says everyone here considers it "basura" (trash), so they pay him to clean it up. I asked him to bag it up and let me add it to my compost pile.

Rigo on his first visit was kind enough to share with me the names of all of the plants. From my conversation with him (in Spanish), and my rough notes from that meeting, I was miraculously able to find information on some of the plants on our patio to share with you here (the single-plant photos are NOT from our patio, but I think they are better for identifying the plants).

"ficus"

Ficus Tree (Ficus benjamina) 

Back in Minnesota, this is grown as a houseplant. In this climate, it grows into a 100 foot tree, ripping up sidewalks with it's powerful roots. We have one just outside our front gate, which provides shade for everything else that grows in our front patio area.
Fun fact: Ficus benjamina has been shown to effectively remove gaseous formaldehyde from indoor air.

"pochote"

Pochote Tree (Pachira quinata)
Once inside our courtyard, the centerpiece is the Pochote tree. It is easy to identify by the protective thorns on it's trunk. I have a couple of times forgotten about the sharp tips and drawn blood! Both organic markets here are named "Mercado de Pochote", and although the two markets emerged from the same organization over the years, it is not clear to us whether the markets are named after the tree (which can be found at both markets) or if there is some greater significance to the name.

"duranta"

Golden Dewdrops (Duranta erecta)
Ringing the Pochote in a neat hedge is what Rigo called "Duranta". The leaves and berries of the plant are toxic, and are confirmed to have killed children, dogs and cats! However, songbirds eat the fruit without ill effects. And it is said to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Rigo suggested that I water these them most heavily of all the plants in the garden.

Pasto Liriope

Lilyturf (Liriope muscari)
Outside the Duranta ring around the Pochote is what Rigo called "Pasto Liriope". "Pasto", I know from working in the fields at El Pedregal, means "grass". It looks like a nice ground-cover which produces a pretty purple grape hyacinth-like flower in late summer, so I guess we missed it. It is said to be "deer resistant", and grows in zone 6, for those of you fighting that battle. Roots are apparently used in traditional Chinese medicine.

"Lirio"

Creeping lilyturf  (Liriope spicata),
What Rigo called "Lirio", this shorter cousin of the Liriope Grass (above) is a ground cover that is good down to Zone 4. Finally something that I can grow in Minnesota! But it spreads aggressively, so apparently it needs to be bordered by concrete (which makes me wonder if I have not misidentified this one).  Liriope spicata filters formaldehyde, ammonia, xylene and toluene from the air. And it's good for holding the soil on a steep slope.

"Cingonia"

Syngonium (syngonium podophyllum), Arrowhead vine, Goosefoot
Rigo sent me on a wild goose(foot) chase when he called this "Cingonia". This climber is normally considered a houseplant, but here at our place it is a vining perennial out in the garden.

Espada de Angel

Snake Plant, (Sansevieria trifasciata)

This is what Rigo called "Espada de Angel",  Spanish for "Angel's Sword. Needs very little light, and almost no water in winter. Rigo told me I don't need to water this one. Fun fact: A study by NASA found that it is one of the best plants for improving indoor air quality by passively absorbing toxins such as nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde. 

Yerba Santa (Piper auritum)

"Yerba Santa"

Also known as hoja santa, hierba santa, Mexican pepper leaf, acuyo, tlanepa, anisillo, root beer plant, and sacred pepper. I figured any plant with that many names must be important. And sure enough, the leaves are used in cooking with chicken, in making tamales and mole verde, flavoring soups, chocolate drinks, liquors, teas and cheese. Not bad for a shade loving perennial! Note the distinctive white pencil-like flowers.



Rigo also identified for me a few potted plants, including…

"mala made",
spider plant

"Pata de Elefante",
Elephant Foot 

…and a few that Sarah helped identify...

Jade Plant

Croton

potted palm

Geranium

Putting it all together, here is the mistress of the property enjoying her garden:

Watch your fingers, Dear!

lots of shady characters lurk in the garden.

But don't you believe for a minute that this is the last you'll hear from me about plants, no, far from it. In addition to collecting more information about the local trees and other plants, I started a veggie and herb garden (ok, so far it's just an herb garden) on the roof, so you will probably see pictures of that soon. So for those of you who gave me encouragement after posting about the "Guage" Tree, look out!

Fundación En Vía

Silva starts making tortillas at 4:00 a.m. to
avoid the heat of the day.

Karen is an 18-year-old
euntreprenuer.

Mole negro at The Jaguar Café.

When Randy and I were in Oaxaca 3 years ago, we took a tour with the organization Fundación En Vía  http://www.envia.org/. Their mission is: to support the creation and growth of income-generating businesses that promote the well-being of families, and the strengthening of communites by using microfinance, responsible tourism, and educational programs.

The main idea behind microfinance is that many people living in poverty have the skills, motivation, work ethic and ideas to operate successful businesses but they lack things like affordable loans, a place for savings, insurance, etc. Microloans are readily available in Mexico - with average interest rates of 70%!

The view from the churchyard in Teotitlan.

The tour took us to 2 pueblos outside of the city of Oaxaca where we met 6 women who had received interest-free microloans from En Vía (obtained through tour fees, the responsible tourism piece). We had lunch at the restaurant of one woman; we visited the homes of 2 weavers and a shoe seller; we ended by visiting a mother who sold garlic and her daughter who sold a Mary Kay-like line of cosmetics - to her high school friends! They were all able to start or expand their businesses thanks to En Vía. Although some of the lives - and certainly living conditions - still seemed incredibly harsh to us, it was clear that all these women were so grateful for the improvements and hope that these loans made possible. And as I found with "my refugees" when I was teaching in MN, the focus is mostly on insuring a better life for their children. A lot of the women proudly announce that their kids are attending high school (which, in many towns, is not free, or at least has costs attached).

Some of the elders in the communities
speak only Zapotec.

Andrea provides payment plans for her customers.

This artist draws the design, then weaves it into a tapete.

I had planned on teaching English while I was here - and En Via's education arm offers English classes in two of the pueblos - but when they asked if I'd lead the tours I jumped on the chance to do something different. And it's been great! I've met really interesting people (co-workers, tourists, and the borrowers) and seen and learned a lot about the 6 communities where we work.

María demonstrates spinning her own wool.

A town we go to often is Teotitlan de Valle, which is famous for its weavers. Some of the women card, spin and dye their own wool. Many use natural dye made from ingredients that they find in nature, such as insects, flowers, and tree bark. They all use the traditional peddle-looms. En Vía has helped these women buy materials in bulk, which saves money and allows them to buy during the slow sale times and prepare for the busy ones. Many of the weavers are now able to sell their "tapetes" or rugs, directly instead of going through one of the "Casas Grandes" or Big Houses that take a large percentage of the sales.

Veronica sells desserts around Santa Domingo
by bicycle.

My commute. It sure beats I-94!

Other businesses include a woman selling desserts from her bicycle, a pig famer, a chocolate maker, tortilla makers, and an 18-year-old with her own beauty salon (I'm sending Randy there for a haircut!). The tour is a great way to get to know a bit about these women, their businesses and the lives they lead. It's so inspiring to see what people can do when they are offered the opportunity!

Common colors for yarn, made with natural products, such as...

...the white on these nopal paddles are insects
called cochinea and are used to make red dyes.

Rafaela grinds the cochinea, the first step in the dying process.