jetaway

When I come home and think back on a recent journey away, I can measure the value of that adventure in the contact I make with the people who live where I venture. That value is multiplied if I can travel in a way that supports the community I'm visiting and is sustainable to their way of life. While visiting the city of Oaxaca was politically rich and vibrant giving me a glimpse into one family's way of life (primarily taking in foreign students) and beach combing in Mazunte and Puerto Angel was relaxing, the highlight of my trip to Mexico this summer was contained in the last three days of travel in the mountains of the Sierra Norte. An ecologically rich area of the state of Oaxaca, the people of the Sierra Norte recognized the potential for outsiders to be captivated and educated by their way of life on the land. A grassroots effort to bring people to their villages in a sustainable way is the foundation of the mancomunados. Along the Sierran ridge there are villages, some w...

Every summer the teachers from the state of Oaxaca gather in the capital city of the same name. Their intention is to ask for more money and to raise awareness of some of the dire conditions they face in order to educate Oaxacan youth, especially in the more rural locations. They meet in the Zocalo, or the city square, because until last year all of the government offices were held there. The governor of the state could not miss their petitions, though he could and usually did dismiss those petitions. In the summer of 2006 the annual teacher's march and protest was backed by the Section 22 union, otherwise known SNTE (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion). In 2006 the teachers set up an encampment, blocking the usually busy tourist-commerce center of the city and decided to stay until their petitions were met. Throughout the state there was an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction with the governor Ulises Ruiz, contemptuously referred to by his first name only, who is...