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Showing 1—25 of 118 results

Diana Ricci Diana Ricci

The Photographer Talks About Herself I guess it could be said that I am a Mexico-phile. In my teens in Arden, Delaware I listened excitedly to tales of travel told by a family in the community... read more

author Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Summer in Oaxaca Stan Gotlieb

Like "The Hidden Places", this article is about the play of light and shadows on the eye of the observer; of the offered and the hidden; of peace in the midst of struggle. (The picture is of the Guelag... read more

culture-customs perspectives Oaxaca

Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci in Oaxaca Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci

Diana and Stan's Biography Photography by Diana Ricci Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci have been together for about six years. This is a story about their time together. The picture at the r... read more

author Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Mexico's indigenous peoples Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci

These kids are Tarahumara indians who live in the Copper Canyon area. The Tarahumara are among the most marginalized of Mexico's indigenous peoples, and suffer from severe drought in the summer and nea... read more

indigenous-groups social-issues

Classical concert in Oaxaca's Macedonio Alcala Theater Stan Gotlieb

Inside the main chapel at Santo Domingo Church, one of many highly decorated colonial and post colonial buildings in Oaxaca in which music is presented. The Teatro Macedonio Alcala exists because of t... read more

music perspectives Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Greyhound bus connection in the Otay Mesa Stan Gotlieb

When you're a famous traveler and adventurer such as myself, you get exposed to a lot of weird things, either first hand, or because people write to you telling you of their own experiences. You get to... read more

border-crossings perspectives Tijuana, Baja California

My search for a doctor in Oaxaca Stan Gotlieb

This drawing of a latrine is painted on a wall next to the main square in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca. It was paid for by the National Health, as a preventative medicine strategy. There are fou... read more

health perspectives Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Questions and answers on life in Oaxaca, Mexico Stan Gotlieb

Below are some archives of letters to the editor that Stan has chosen to answer with open responses.December 20, 1995 Victor Salas writes that, having been born and raised in Mexico, and having come t... read more

perspectives question Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The foreign enclave in San Miguel de Allende Stan Gotlieb

I don't remember where this picture was taken, but I thought it a nice little color splash to brighten your day. Photography by Dan McWethy [This article, as many I have written, says at least as much... read more

perspectives San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato

Handcrafted puzzles for sale: The rompecabeza man in Oaxaca Stan Gotlieb

Maestro Ignacio Cervantes plies his trade in the Alameda, in front of the Cathedral in Oaxaca. Photography by Diana Ricci [" Rompe - Cabeza " (ROM-pe ca -BAY-sa, literally "head b... read more

perspectives Oaxaca, Oaxaca

What's today's rate? Mexico's floating peso Stan Gotlieb

I wrote this in early 1995, when the peso was on a slide. For many, especially the Mexican people, the "devaluation" was no laughing matter. "It's 5.0 at the Caseta de Cambio (money changer) in Cinco ... read more

finance-economics perspectives Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Fear and uncertainty in Chiapas Stan Gotlieb

A monument to the 45 refugee victims of the massacre on December 22, 1997 in Acteal, Chiapas, at the hands of a paramilitary death squad. The child's shoe is a symbol of the many children who died that... read more

indigenous-groups social-issues Chiapas

No tengo cambio: Paying with coins in Mexico Stan Gotlieb

This clown is plying his trade in the Oaxaca Zócalo. He probably needs change. Photography by Diana Ricci There is a deep, dark, secret hole where all the change goes, and nobody k... read more

finance-economics social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

On the border between Mexico and Guatemala Stan Gotlieb

Some days are better than others. Visa days are hardly ever good, filled as they are with anxiety and uncertainty. All this visa business seems so silly to me, and so costly, and so inconvenient. Why c... read more

border-crossings perspectives Chiapas

A writer in Oaxaca: On being an old extranjero Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci

This is our patio. We can seat 26 in a pinch, but we like to hold it down to 20. This is not as much work as it may seem, since all our large parties are pot-luck, and everyone we know either cooks lik... read more

perspectives Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The EZLN: Mexico's President Zedillo changes his mind Stan Gotlieb

During the more than three years since the Zapatistas walked out of the jungle, and into history, El Sub has consistently predicted that he will not live to see victory. When I wrote this article, a li... read more

indigenous-groups social-issues Chiapas

Flying to Oaxaca at Christmas time Stan Gotlieb

A latecomer brought by TV and consumerism from El Norte, this Santa, with his reindeer made from local tree branches, was greeted with a mixture of awe and nervousness by the children on the plaza in f... read more

health perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Billionaires in Mexico: Where did they all come from? Stan Gotlieb

This piece was written in the summer of 1995. The number of Mexican billionaires has diminished, but the kidnappings have increased. The photo is of the inlet to Santa Cruz Huatulco. Photography by D... read more

perspectives social-issues

Sharing the wealth in Mexico Stan Gotlieb

If you hang out in the Zocalo (town square) as much as I do, the beggars get to know you. Depending on how you handle yourself, the nightly encounters can be easy or annoying. The reactions of the othe... read more

perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Please stop rocking the bus: Protests in Oaxaca Stan Gotlieb

All roads in Oaxaca state lead to the south side of the Zócalo, facing the state Government Palace. On most days, there is a march and demonstration there by one disaffected group or other. This... read more

perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Mexico's National Erosion Project Stan Gotlieb

While traveling through the mountains to Tehuantepec, I noticed a large bald patch, obviously man made, on a very steep slope. At the time I thought "ah, someone must want to create erosion". The rest ... read more

indigenous-groups perspectives social-issues Oaxaca

Quien sabe? Stan Gotlieb

I read somewhere that there are three stages to many occurrences in Mexico: the event; the contradictory rumors that are told about the event; and the decision that, given all the preposterous rumors, ... read more

indigenous-groups perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Shopping on Sunday Stan Gotlieb

Made by art students from sand and other materials, this sculpture in front of the Oaxaca Cathedral was created for Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Photography by Diana Ricci ... read more

indigenous-groups perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Nobody expects the Protestant Inquisition Stan Gotlieb

First written in the spring of 1994, this story has been revised several times as dictated by subsequent events. It has generated more responses than any other. Most of them have been at least somewhat... read more

indigenous-groups perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Plenty too much everything Stan Gotlieb

Figures made from cornhusks on display at Radish Festival, held on December 24 in the zocalo, Oaxaca. Photography by Diana Ricci In Oaxaca, having "bastante" (too much) is not consid... read more

indigenous-groups perspectives social-issues Oaxaca, Oaxaca

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Showing 1—25 of 118 results

Stan Gotlieb

I am a traveler. Some people are drunks and some play Bingo. I like to pack a suitcase and boogie. I get restless when I have been too long in the same place, the same job, the same social scene. That's why I travel: for stimulation. So far, I have lived in 15 cities, in four countries, on three continents.

On the other hand, I like my comforts, the more so the older I get. I am not a loner, so I look for places with the possibility of community. And, having been born and raised in Minnesota, I like warm places.

With all this, I had no immediate intention of going anywhere when, in 1993, an aunt died and left me a few thousand dollars (I didn't know she was rich, and I wasn't sure she liked me). At the time I was working in a legal aid office dealing with domestic issues, and the combination of overwork and icky cases was burning me out. So, in the fall of 1993, I gave notice, and in January of 1994 I packed my bags, rented out my house, and headed south. I had visited in many places in Mexico over the previous 20 years, but chose Oaxaca because since first coming here in 1973 it had remained in my mind. Mexico, I told my friends, is the ideal place: very close to here, but very far away.

In some ways, all the cultures I have lived in, including the many that exist in the U.S., were bizarre structures through which I moved as invisibly as I (the "real me", whoever that is) could manage. I guess that aspect of me is part of what makes any creative person: the need to figure out what the hell is happening, and what significance to give to events and people who on the face of it might just as well be happening on Mars.

Nothing about Oaxaca was difficult for me (however much I pretend to complain in my writing). I love the "vamos a ver" (let's go and see how it works out) attitude. I accept the fact that I will always be an outsider to the local folks: people from the next State are so viewed, so why not me? I have my "family" here among the extranjero (foreigner) community, and like all families, I like some better than others and some not at all. The climate (5,100 feet) suits me.

Of course, I miss my old friends, most of whom could not for various internal and external reasons share in my expatriate wanderings. It takes a long time for new friends to become old friends -- although I have observed that the process is speeded up in small town atmospheres such as we have in the expatriate community of Oaxaca.

The day to day reality is not much different than it was "back there": work, sleep, eat, socialize, make love (and occasional war) with Diana, scratch for the rent, and go to the beach whenever the time and money permit. Also, I have to admit, it's fun being a medium sized frog in a very small pond. I like the notoriety, such as it is, and it makes me feel good when I can give others information (power) that they didn't have before, like how to get to x and where to find y and have you seen z. Because aside from writing, which is fun, I am really a "matchmaker" by nature: a living walking connection between here and there, so-and-so and such-and-such.

In the final analysis, I am just trying to keep my grip and have some fun and talk to other folks in hope that they will talk back to me. I enjoy my role (and I often think of it as just that: a sort of persona that time and circumstances invented for me) of "Mr. Internet Oaxaca". It tickles me that a whole lot of people find something that I say worth reading, even if a lot of it is free: with five million or more information providers on the Internet also giving it away, I take pride from that.

Carl Franz says "everywhere you go, there you are". He's not the first person to say that, but he made it the central empowering notion of a valued travel guide, and that is why I give him the quote. To me, the notion that you can "transplant" yourself is an erroneous simile. It's like saying you can grow a cranberry bush in the Sahara. The successful process is more like grafting, where you join your developed personality to roots that are already viable.

However, the problem does not end there. You can graft almost anything to almost anything else, and get a viable hybrid, but what will it do, and how pleasing will the result be? My guess is that a pleasing graft occurs when the cutting and the root share some common characteristics.

This means that if you value punctuality above everything else, you would find life here very frustrating, but if you know how to be punctual but don't value it more than reading a good book, you could probably adjust. Relaxed cultural values regarding punctuality compose one of the roots of plants that grow well in this soil. Among the many others are patience, tolerance, a sense of humor and a nonjudgemental attitude.

The Mexicans reciprocate in kind: they accept us as they find us. Sure, we scandalize them some times, but most often they just shrug their shoulders and assume that our craziness is just the way "we" behave. And don't forget that Mexicans differ even more from one part of the country to another than do we: what you need to bring with you changes, depending on where you go and what you are doing.

There is no-one alive who should never think to move to Mexico. There is no perfect profile for making the move. The best indication of being able to make it here is having made it here, and even that isn't sure. Circumstances change. Things happen. Life's a cabaret. For me, Oaxaca is happy hour.