Waking Up in Oaxaca

I am in the Zocalo, sitting at a table at one of the cafes lining the square. I am unbelievably pissed off about being in Oaxaca. I hadn't wanted to come, but a friend badgered me into the trip to take pictures during Oaxaca's famous celebrations of El Dia de los Muertos. The trip will cost me two thousand bucks, and I am doubting that I will be able to sink as I wish to into local society; I am simply part of a touristy maelstrom taking the images and memories out of Mexico without caring a whit about the context and complexes of the country's troubles and distinctions. Everyone wants a picture of the costumes and masks on Halloween night, or of the candles flickering in the cemeteries as families gather overnight to welcome back the spirits of the dead, and I am gritting my tteth at the prospects of eight days in the wrong place, surrounded by tourists and accosted by locals who wish to sell me junk for whatever cash I can spare. Worse, the novel I've been working on every day for two months comes to a shuddering stop: the only thing I can add is a flourish I write on the airplane flying down. I cannot believe I am here. Agreeing to come and unable to tell a friend "No" when I needed to will cost me dearly, I am thinking, as I sit at my table in the zocalo.

And then the waiter is there, wondering what I would like. It's not his fault. So I smile and order a juice and fruit. And I ask him his name. He asks if I am in town for the celebration, and I groan. No, man, I say, I've come to mexico for the only reason I would ever come to Mexico, for the magic. The waiter smiles and says: "If you've come for magic, you've come at the right time." He leaves to fetch my order. I am suffused with hope, suddenly, that something magical is bound to happen. I am in Mexico. Magic cannot be very far away.

Comments

["Badgering Friend"]

........???? The fact of the matter is, that I asked for help with a project I had been working on in mexico, well in advance of the trip, even before the writing of the novel had begun, and repeatedly offered to pay for trip. I did not feel i was out of line in asking for help, i have always helped your projects when asked. You agreed most willingly to help and go and originally intended to stay much longer and and travel on, our stay in mexico scheduled accordingly. Then at the 11th hour you decide to bail on the trip and provided me with a name of a guide i could hire. I never "badgered " anyone. I expressed my disappointment in your not coming and that it was really crappy to treat a friend who is counting on you that way. You waited until the very last minute to make a decision and then chose to go. Your participation during the trip was extremely limited as per your choice............... I don't care for the picture you have painted, its untrue and a very selfish characterization of events transpired. You use the term "friend" twice....... try being one....... Once........