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.