geri
Jul 29, 2006, 7:46 AM
Post #12 of 17
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I'm not in Oaxaca at the moment but the emails I receive from friends living there say that media reports are highly exaggerated, slanted toward the dark and dramatic. Some say that in some ways the zocalo area is getting back to "the way it was." The Indian vendors have returned. It's circus-like and of course the tarps and tents are a nuisance, but they are also "temporary." Hopefully. I watched the zocalo, poco a poco, become gentrified during the past 5 years or so, until ALL the vendors had been chased away. I have to admit that the new trim, flowery, neatly paved, civilized zocalo sort of sucked me in, but the tablecloths and menu prices at the outdoor cafes now cater to a more upscale traveler. Part of me misses the off-key trumpet player, the rag tag kids building a human pyramid for pesos, the mentally-challenged "terrorist" who used to hold up diners with his cardboard machine gun and the table-to-table vendors selling everything from trinkets made in China to fine handmade textiles. There's no simple answer or solution to what is happening in Oaxaca. Reporters who report that vendors are suffering are probably talking to high-end vendors (boutiques, etc.) I personally know that one vendor selling handwoven table runners has been suffering for more than a year now, since she got booted out of the zocalo. My opinion (and it's only an opinion) is that the tourist dollars of the last few years haven't trickled down to the individuals who need it most, but probably stay in the pockets of the big hotel and fancy restaurant owners, thus actually increasing the gap between rich and poor. I could, of course, be wrong! Wait staff is hurting because some restaurants have had to close. I will return to my Oaxacan home at the end of August. It's certainly a roughly-hewn area (the 3 valleys, not my house) and has traditionally appealed to the roughly-hewn, adventure traveler more than the upscale I-need-a/c type. That is, until recent years.
I can't imagine that Oaxaca will become "dangerous," unless outside forces/interests move in and stir the pot (which is why, as I understand it, IDs were being checked for a few days.) I expect a robust winter season for the rooms I rent away from the zocalo a bit, but still within peaceful, picturesque centro Oaxaca.
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