Monday was a holiday here and we started our week on Tuesday. We are adjusting well to this new fascinating culture and our classes. Spanish classes are great fun. In Gustavo Esteva’s class this week we discussed the concept of communality and friendship. We learned the importance of the concept of friendship when forming community or a commons. What Gustavo conveyed is that friendship provides a base of relationships which provides a base for communality and common interests. It is through friendship that we begin to understand common interests and our own responsibility within our own community be it your town, organization, or your student compadres in Oaxaca.
On Thursday, we took a field trip to San Andres in Huyapan. In this small Zapotec community and growing bedroom community, we explored an area of land where the Zapotec owners are using techniques to reestablishing grown water into the aquifers down below. Amazingly, several men in the village have hand built long foot deep terraces (looks like topographic lines) all along the mountainside to slow down the torrential rains when they come which allows the water to seep in. They have also planted reed-like vegetation along some of the deeper earthen culverts that prevent erosion and again slow the pace of water runoff. Some of the water is captured in small ponds and is pumped into a green house in order to grow both tomatoes and native tree saplings of the area for reforestation. This center is a demonstration site where people from other villages come to learn different ways for restoring and sustaining sources of precious water in their communities.
Back in town, some of us visited an art opening on Friday. ASARO, a local graffiti collective, displayed a series of silk-screened t-shirts about Palestinian resistance. Their main idea is to pass on political messages to the community through their artwork.
Part of Gustavo’s syllabus includes a small group project. This week we broke off into groups and began the process of research. The five topics of the small groups include Oaxacan art, education, mobilization, food systems, and healthcare. As of now every group is defining their thesis and research methods. In the next month, groups will explore their questions through hands-on studies within the State of Oaxaca.
Tonight, Sunday, we are gathering for dinner at Mary Lou’s apartment to celebrate Jess’s and Ariel’s birthdays. Jess’s birthday was the 5th and Ariel’s is the 9th. Dinner gatherings are a good time to catch up and spend some quality with the community we are creating in Oaxaca.
Peace and warmth from south of the border. Hope everyone staying warm in the north!
Meg and Jordan
