More Murals: Saturday in the park, and persistence

The percentage of the Mexican population living in poverty has been declining this decade. In the southern states however, of which Oaxaca is one, poverty continues to exist at staggering rates for a country with the world’s 15th largest GDP. Oaxaca is one of those southern states that has traditionally struggled with poverty. Like the other states in the south, Oaxaca, has a large indigenous population. I have seen estimates of from 13 to 18 indigenous peoples/cultures in Oaxaca. Because many, if not all of theses cultures have distinctive and unique artisan skills it makes Oaxaca a great place for tourists to visit and buy Mexican goods. It does not typically provide most of the artisans with more than a meager living.

The poverty of these groups has contributed to Oaxaca being a location of much political activity. Political protests  here can be common. It is rare to hear of violence being associated with protest, but it also appears to be rare for the ethnic groups in Oaxaca to make appreciable political or economic gains. This is not to say everyone in Oaxaca is poor. In the middle of the city where we are staying there appear to be mostly people who are getting by sufficiently or better. It is the ethnic vendors on the streets, and on the outskirts of the city, that I believe are the underprivileged. I am not sure how much difference people like me can make, there are only so many items many of us can buy.

I bring this up because I am here. Part of traveling is understanding the culture. That is what allows me to be and stay respectful. I very much love the family oriented and open culture of Mexico and Oaxaca. I feel a sense of community here I do not feel at home. People are very kind and respectful and I want the best for them. The feature image you see for this post is symbolic of Mexican resilience. It is a flowering plant growing out of the road at the foundation of a house.

Perhaps I’m a bit obsessed with murals. They keep popping up in the blog. Today we went to the Xochimilco barrio of Oaxaca city. Some areas in Mexico appear to foster and encourage art work because it often exists in concentrated areas. We were in one of those today. Below you will see some of the best of them.

In between photographing murals we stopped to drink a rooftop beer. The beer was incredibly crisp and fresh, and flavored with cacao and pennyroyal. It was a stellar beer, but I still don’t know what pennyroyal tastes like.

There were more murals and pictures, but I figure that gives you a pretty good idea of the quality of work we saw today. Today is Saturday. There is a park Llano Park, about 200 feet up the street from us once you go out the door and turn left. We have probably been through it daily and it is a large and “nice” park.  We do not like it as much as our favorite park in San Miguel de Allende, Benito Juarez Park. Benito Juarez is a sinuous snaking mass of varying pathways. Llano is almost Victorian in its layout, very symmetrical, and also a lot of concrete. Tonight though the park came alive. It was inundated with people, and especially with kids. The concrete was put to good use, primarily with roller skaters.  There were some many children running and rolling around that parts of the park looked like an anthill. It was a wonderful atmosphere that reminded me of why I like Mexico so much.