November 23, 2006

For being occupied by thousands of federal police, the city seems to function better and definitely is a bit quieter. Last Monday was an exception, however. It was a national holiday celebrating el Dia de Revolucion and of course that was a good reason to kick around the bees’ nest. It had been a few weeks since much has happened in the way of public conflict and it was kinda feeling like a normal city again. But on Monday the APPO (the organization opposing the local government) started protesting again and there was an exchange of the usual projectiles as police lines were challenged. The most eventful thing I got to witness was the burning of a hijacked city bus. It was quite a dramatic site. If you want to see some more new pics, check out my webshots page at http://travel.webshots.com/album/555115808aluNum. I’m sure few of you are really following the situation down here, so I won’t go on about it other than to say that it’s far from being resolved. If you want to know more, another really good source of info about it all in English is at http://www.elenemigocomun.net/ They have good articles, great pictures, and interviews with reporters in mp3 format. Listen to the one by Jill Freidberg from November 19th for a great synopsis on what’s been happening down here.

So enough about revolutions already… What about work? Well, I’m taking a great teaching position at a prestigious private junior high/high school next week. I found it through idealist.org and thought I was shooting a bit high as I don’t really have much formal classroom teaching experience or a MA. But there was some good chemistry between the director and I that turned into a job offer. They had a prospective teacher lined up in the States, but they would much prefer hiring someone locally. I’ll be starting part-time as I’m still working at Cambridge Academy in the evenings and Saturdays and would feel really bad suddenly quitting after telling them I plan on being here for some time. Another teacher just up and quit a couple days ago and the director is scrambling to find a replacement. Then in January, I will finish at Cambridge and work full-time at Blaise Pascale (the private school). After I’m comfortably teaching there Monday thru Friday, 8am to 2pm, I may start teaching a couple classes in the afternoons at a private university I’ve been interviewing with named the Universidad Regional del Sur Este (aka URSE). I’ve already had a couple initial interviews that went very well and have the chance to observe some classes. So far, so good. I’m scheduled to teach a demonstration class (on the grammar point of my choice) next week to complete the hiring process. Unfortunately they cannot offer me as many classes in the near future and are located much farther away then Blaise Pascale. So I plan to work at B.P. for a while and gradually merge over to URSE. Many of their professors that don’t yet have a MA are working towards one there and the facuty encourage and support them. I’d actually considering doing so myself depending on if it will carry much weight in the States. More on that later…
Well, unfortunately Alder is in Mexico City for a conference and I had to observe classes at URSE today and then teach in the evening. So we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend with some American friends. I hope everyone up north had way too much turkey and stuffing. I doubt that will be on our menu down here, but I did buy a can of cranberry sauce at a big local supermarket. I’ve been eating well but have lost over 15 pounds from all the walking around and sweating. I might be putting some of that back on now that it’s cold here. It’s regularly getting down into the 40s at night and rarely breaking 80 in the day. That’s colder than I expected and kinda wish I had brought more winter clothes. Alder had a bad flu (possibly even dengue) for almost a week, but I’ve managed to stay healthy so far. It needs to get a bit colder for me to get too worried. The mountains of the great NW (and of Utah, Guatemala, and Chile) have conditioned me quite well and I’m actually welcoming the cold. I say bring it on!

November 5, 2006

The situation down here is pretty crazy, although I still don’t really feel like our personal safety is at risk mainly because we are not actively involving ourselves in the conflict. I know Americans down here that are a bit too involved and think there are a little insane. To each their own. In case you haven’t been following the news down here, 4000+ federal police in full riot gear with their barricade buster trucks equipped with water cannons and tear gas shooting helicopters, have taken over the city in an attempt to restore the peace and sanity. Well, it’s been a week now and that hasn’t happened. The places they “clean up” are simply retaken by the opposition as soon as they move to another area. It’s kind of a cat and mouse game at this point.

The good news is that there hasn’t been any real armed fighting. The opposition uses sticks and stones and is matched with tear gas and water cannons. The scary part is the rumor that there are undercover people working for the governor (who the opposition is trying to remove) that will side with the opposition and use excessive force (i.e. shoot guns at the police) in order to ignite very dangerous fumes. That’s why we’re avoiding these areas of conflict, which are mainly on the major roads on the outskirts of town. In our daily routines (as much as we really have them) that’s not hard to do. Alder’s university has closed and my classes are only half full. Luckily for me, I don’t get paid per student. The rest of the city is running at half speed. Many of the major businesses and agencies are closed which makes daily life a bit more complicated. The most difficult part for most people is that the busses have stopped running. Luckily for me, I don’t need to take busses to get to work as the school is only about a 20 minute walk from the house.

As far as my work situation goes, I’m now working at the Cambridge Academy teaching four classes of between three and ten pre-intermediate to advanced level teenagers and mainly adults. They have some of the best facilities I’ve seen in Oaxaca and by far the best resources and materials available to their teachers. They are even helping me get my FM3 work visa. My supervisor is an American guy in his late 20s who is actively involved in the movement. His name James Daria and you can read several good articles he’s written recently about the situation here at http://www.narconews.com/. He’s a pretty interesting guy to be working for. The last time I saw him, he had a big gash on his forearm and was limping from getting too close to the action. But, don’t worry – we don’t hang out together outside of work.

October 29, 2006

Since I wrote the letter above, the situation here has gotten a bit exciting. Last Friday there was a big strike, which meant the roadblocks (that normally are only in place at night) were in place and guarded all day. This was in response to the teachers backing out of the conflict as the government granted their labor rights demands the day before. The remaining opposition was upset by this lack of support and decided they needed to put the pressure on. That afternoon the local police force attempted to clear several roadblocks guarded by the revolutionaries. Four people were shot and killed in the ensuing confrontations. What put this event in the global news was that an American journalist who was taking pictures of it all was one of those who were killed. In response, large numbers of federal police/marines have been sent here from the capital to take over where the local police left off. The opposition says they are not backing down and the tension is about as high as I’ve seen it so far. Most businesses have closed and the town seems eerily quiet except for occasional helicopters circling the city. We live up on a hill about a mile northwest of downtown and have a great view of the city. The compound we live in has a big gated fence and is safely away from all the action. Don’t worry about me – I know how to stay out of (too much) trouble.

For more info and pics of the craziness down here, check out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6096960.stm
http://www.narconews.com/en.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6095946.stm

October 26, 2006

Yep, I really made it down here and life is good. I’ve been here for three weeks now and have already explored some huge caves, gone swimming in a beautiful river, spent a three-day weekend at an incredible beach, and have also been teaching at two different schools. The weather here is pretty much like Portland in July. Like Guatemala, there are really only two seasons here – rainy and dry. It’s rained here once since I’ve been here as dry season is just beginning.

Alder has shown me all around town. We’ve gone to the best markets, great cafes, hoppin bars, big stores, nice restaurants, etc. While she’s busy, I’ve been making my rounds visiting all the English schools in town. There are over 10 schools that I know about and I’ve checked most of them out by now. Most of the smaller schools are having a hard time keeping classes full due to the current political situation, but the bigger schools continue to keep busy. Several schools have offered what classes they could and I’m working at two schools that have offered me the most. As soon as I decide to get a cell phone, I’ll start teaching private classes as well. It’s nice not to have a leash for now.

As far as the current political situation, it’s not as bad as I imagined. There are many roadblocks of which most are cleared during the day as well as anti-mayor graffiti everywhere – even on churches! Lots of teachers and protesters are camped in the central plaza and are making quite a mess, but I haven’t seen any violence whatsoever. People here are a little tense, but mostly just sick and tired of the mess and inconvenience. The protesters are trying to show that Oaxaca is not governable so the current mayor will be removed from office. The sooner this happens the better. I did see an army truck full of soldiers pass through town last week and it was a bit unsettling. Everyone really hopes that this will be resolved peacefully.

A couple weeks ago, Alder and another couple and I went to some big caves and a beautiful river about 1.5 hours south in car. We had fun exploring the caves before having a picnic and taking a dip in the river. Last weekend we went to a beach town called Zipolite and stayed in an awesome bungalow on the beach. It’s much hotter on the coast, so we spent lots of time in the water. It kinda reminded me of Maui, but a bit more primitive. Check out the pics I uploaded on Webshots at

http://travel.webshots.com/album/555115808aluNum

Well that’s it for now. I’m considering starting a blog but haven’t yet. You’ll know when/if that happens. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be heading back to the NW in June for a visit. But hopefully you can come down before that and help me soak up some of this sun.