My Oaxaca—City under siege? NOT!

Slideshow of Oaxaca

I’ve been reading the US newspapers in regards to Oaxaca and while some of their reporting is accurate, I have to say that I consider most of it either overblown or just wrong.

I was at the zocolo (square) this weekend and today and I saw no one with sticks or rocks. I was never threatened and have never been asked for my identification. I was here at the height of the protests and only once was I worried, and that was when I ended up on the wrong side of the barricade and people did have sticks and machetes.

Of course, they’d been tear-gassed and burned out of their tents just a few days earlier so who can blame them. It was also over a month ago and things have calmed down considerably.

But even then, their anger was never directed at tourists, and while I was nervous since mob mentalities can overwhelm common sense, I was safe then and I am safe now.

And figure I am a single, American woman wondering around by herself EVERY FREAKING DAY.

So, what I did today was take pictures of the zocolo--to show you MY Oaxaca. It's not too crowed as it was a weekday but there were stills some tourists. Not as many as there should be—that much is true.

The cancellation of the Guelaguetza has definitely hurt, but otherwise, it is business as usual and the indigenous are selling their wares in the zocolo and tourists are trying to strike a bargain.

There are also still teachers present, but not as many and not as vocal as far as I can tell.

On a side note: I was visiting Basilica de la Soledad (the Solitude) today because I 1) really like the architecture of churches and 2) they sell the BEST sherbet in the small courtyard. In the big stone courtyard, I was lucky enough to catch some dancers (Aztec I think). The costumes were impressive but what I took away was that when I asked to take their pictures, they were very gracious--like most of the people in Oaxaca.

I think that’s what irks me most about the American newspapers. They paint Oaxaca to be a city under siege with a everyone running around fearing for their lives.

They couldn’t be more wrong.