Sidewalks of Oaxaca

I’m considering a theme for some posts…a theme which struck me the other day when walking past one of the many mangy dogs that line the streets of Oaxaca City. Though I’m sure canines here are better off than in certain cities in Viet Nam, I wonder what they would say, if they could meet up with a hound north of the border and compare notes. I have the feeling, they would howl , whimper and be aghast at the difference in lifestyles.

This isn’t the theme, of course…but the inspiration for a theme which I will call: Calendars you won’t see at Barnes and Noble this Christmas

There are a few calendars of Oaxacan persuasion that you might find at Barnes and Noble. I’ll try to highlight these as well.

Much of this is an exercise at observation, a wonderful aspect of living abroad. Potentially, the senses are more open to the marvelous and the horrible when we enter a new culture. We become attentive to realities that might eventually become part of the scenery , but when encountered new, stand out. We confront our own ideas about what is “normal”, or what “ought to be”…and sometimes what is “comfortable”. We entertain the possibility that someone else, another people group for example, might actually have something to teach us.

If all else fails, and the philosophical and moral learning cannot inch forward, then at least, we can have a good laugh at ourselves and our discomfort. So, I hope you can learn and laugh with me.

The first of these posts, I call:

Sidewalks of Oaxaca

I, and hundreds of others use the sidewalks of Oaxaca City. Actually, I am thankful there are sidewalks at all and that they are, for the most part, sufficiently wide. That is, they are wide enough for our family, usually walking two by two. Without sidewalks, we would be in mortal danger of being run over by a taxi or a moped, or bus.

With that said…the sidewalks here are atrocious. Our neighbor has a disabled son in a wheel chair and I often think of him when walking to the kids’ school.

I could post a hundred pictures, of mud-covered walkways, washed away cement, cracked up concrete, a car parked across the path, or what Gabe and I encountered today…piles of rock and sand…which were dumped across the sidewalk because someone was doing a construction project and needed them today. They might be gone by tomorrow, or they might remain for 3 weeks, like the scaffolding that jutted out from a building under construction. Those piles of rock and sand prevented anyone from passing safely on what is a very busy street. A mother with her baby in a stroller, a young couple walking hand in hand, Gabe and I all had to walk into traffic to get around the mess.

These photos I’ve included might be two to put on the calendar (a calendar that would be sent to the civil authorities in order to bring about some kind of change…ah, now there’s an American ideal…shame them into fixing the sidewalks).

Photo 1 captures a common problem for sidewalks all over the world…tree roots! What to do about tree roots. I truthfully don’t know the answer to that, but I’m sure somebody anal, probably in one of the Scandinavian countries (It's okay for me to call them anal, since I'm a Swede) has worked on this issue. There is a way to make peace with that tree and create a level path for walking.

Photo 2 This particular hole in the sidewalk is so large, you could lose a small child in it. The photo does not do it justice, and since we’ve been in Oaxaca, individuals have started to stuff trash in it. Earlier last week, you could still see rebar sticking up out of the hole.

I know that many Oaxacans have given up trying to bring attention to these problems…they ignore them because convincing their government officials to put money toward infrastructure is extremely difficult. I cannot say with authority, but have heard from friends, that the issue of corruption is the problem. Money that should go to infrastructure, lines the pockets of politicians. It's also true that there are other problems which are more urgent than fixing holes in the sidewalk.

All the same, I feel for my disabled neighbor who cannot roll two blocks to the supermarket to buy a carton of milk.