Daily Life Part II

Mayates



Mayates are enormous beetles that live underground, eat shit, and come out from under the ground to die. They are EVERYWHERE in Oaxaca and they are huge. I took the photo above for scale...you can see they are about the size of your big toe. It's kind of sad and poetic that they only see the light of day when the are going to die, and finding them everywhere is kind of a daily reminder of the cycle of life.

Taxis



Taxis in Oaxaca are kind of weird...there are taxis that drive you to places withing the city limits, and then other taxis that take you from city to city, so if you want to leave town, you have to take a taxi to the taxi stand so you can get in another taxi. None of the taxis have meters...usually you just hop in and the guy tells you how much you owe him at the end of the ride . Typically it's about 30 pesos in town, so split amongst several people it is really cheap. The taxis that take you from city to city are sold by the seat, so you pay about 20 pesos for your seat and they cram a bunch of people in there to make the drive worth it. It's best to get in the back because they sit 3 people in the back and 3 people (including the driver) in the front and if you are the person caught in the middle of the front seat, it's a tight squeeze. I had a man pretty much crawl on my lap on the way back from the market in Tlacolula. Also, the taxis drive really, really fast and there are no seat belts. Lindsey, one of the gals in our leather group, is usually very tense on the ride home from San Dionisio Ocotepec.

Dogs on the Roof





In Oaxaca, nobody walks their dog. Instead, dogs are kept on the roof to "protect" the house (i.e., bark at you). They are usually very mean, and that was the case with these two guys above. It's kind of interesting when you take Walter (Raul's dog) for a walk, as people are very afraid of him, and they think he is kept on a leash because he is dangerous. Also, everyone thinks Walter is very fat. If you've ever traveled in Central or South America, you know that the dogs are pretty much emaciated down here, so a healthy dog like Walter looks like a fatty. I always wonder if the Oaxacan dogs look at Walter and think, "fat, rich American dog!"