Una Punta de Vista en Cambio....

Hola mis amigos. Yes I have survived my weekend in La Mixteca. I am back home in Oaxaca, showered and smelling better and happy. I had an amazing weekend. We were in a small Pueblo call San Juan Sosola...here's a picture story of my weekend.....

This is the center of the pueblo, where we were greeted after and harrowing, cliff-hugging van ride, by approximately 20 people, half of the pueblo's population. They were extremely happy to meet us and were very welcoming....they introduced themselves in order of their cargos (Indigenous pueblos use a form of self government call El Sistema de Cargos...it's really interesting...google it!). First the men, then the women. The gender discrimination that we've learned about within this sistema was evident, but everyone was very happy.

This is the room where we slept/didn't sleep all weekend. I definitely have bruises on my hip bones from the concrete....I need to learn to sleep not laying on my side! The bathroom was a normal toilet but without running water. So we only flushed when we "did the dirty dirty/no. 2" and we used a bucket to flush. No showers. Hot during the day, but cold in the mornings and at night....we were in the mountains. Thank you Carl for the sleeping bag.

This picture shows a "hat press." About two weeks ago the Pueblo was provided with 10 Singer sewing machines and this machine to have a "taller" or project. Their project is to make Sombreros to sell. In theory it's a good idea, but it's not going to work. We bought some sombreros....45 pesos for one that takes 2 days to make. But San Juan is so isolated that no one will buy them. They have no way of advertising or selling them. And yes....they have the materials...the plants called palmas that the women dry and braid before the men sew the hats together....but what will they do with the hats? And how many other pueblos have been given this same taller?

This is a foto of the church. Catholic of course, but there aren't services every week. Only when the Padre comes about once a month. One of the town's cargos is for someone to care for the church: cleaning and such. Another is for someone to ring the bell. Etc. Cargos can kind of be described as social services or required volunteer jobs. Buts its a lot more complicated than that...

This is a burro. They make very VERY strange noises lol. He is standing outside a house. One that I think is deserted. There are many deserted houses in San Juan. The population used to be bigger than 50 people. But throughout the years many people have left....migrating to Oaxaca, other places in the Mexico, or the US. There are any jobs in the Pueblo. They grow their own food to live....corn/maiz, beans/frijoles, fruits, squash/calabeza, etc. However they have no sistema de irrigation. So when there is no rain, like this year, they suffer, and their is nothing they can do. They are a pueblo of extreme poverty. And there aren't opportunities for the young people. They have an elementary school with 5 children. The "secondaria" / middle school is in a town that takes about 90 minutes to walk to. And to go to high school, or "la prepa" you have to walk that same 90 minutes and THEN take a bus. The craziest thing about their school (the elementary school).....is that the government gave them a smartboard. Seriously. BE highschool has what? 2 or something? They are expensive and technologically advanced. No one knows how to use it and they don't have sufficient electricity or internet. So what do they do with the smart board? Nothing. What about books for the kids? What about more than one teacher? What about better transportation or access to high schools so they can finish their education?

The man below is 87 years old. He hiked with us to this point, where their were undeveloped ruins and the remnants of a pyramid, and told us about his story. In the 50's he traveled to the US as a and, consequently, was part of the group of there workers who never received the money they earned. He is the father of another man in the pueblo who played basketbal with us (they play bball there not soccer?) and offered Mezcal as a universal cure to

the people in my group who got sick....or were cold....or had to get up early....what? haha. And is also the Grandfather of our guide we took us hiking earlier that day in the mountains. The scenery was breathtaking. It was gorgeous. Our guide...Richy....spent 10 years in the US working in California where he lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 13 other people. He described it as "fun." He told us about crossing the border illegally and saving t

o pay the coyote 20 thousand pesos...about 2000 dollars....in 1995. He told us about the helicopter and running then waiting...how much water and food they got. Everything.

Every meal the women of the village cooked. We brought them supplies from Oaxaca to cook with. But we were served homemade tortillas (yum!), frijoles/beans, arroz/rice, huevos/eggs in a broth, flor de calabeza/squash flower in a broth, cafe, tons of fruits that were delicious and unheard of to me.....they were SO generous. Overly generous. When we left they sent us off with more fruit and sweet bread/pan dulce and a huge bag full of corn on the cob.

The people in San Juan were incredible. Probably the most generous I've ever met in my life. They were kind and open. And their environment....the views and mountains and nature is amazing in that area. It's so sad that their pueblo is basically slowly disappearing because of lack of resources and jobs.

In all....I had an amazing weekend. And after a shower and a heavenly night of sleep in a real bed...I was back to new with only a moderate amount of extra mosquito bites and about a hundred new photos to show for my weekend away. But I'll never forget it.