Mexico Road Trip: Economic Base and the Internet Cafe
We are staying in a new hotel overlooking the zocalo or plaza. For some reason I just like looking down at the people; maybe it was from my travel days in Spain.
What we do see are women dressed in very colorful native dresses; more than we have seen anywhere else in Mexico. Supposedly each dress and its colors identify which village the women is from; but I did stop them and inquire.
We take a walk and do the obligatory stop at the local church,it is rather large, filled with the faithful and the tearful. The padre is conducting some sort of communion mass with the chalice and the assistants and the rest of the service. The sounds are mournful and sadness fills the air.
Outside the night is bustling and there are people walking everywhere. We walk past the church and wind our way down to the local market; it is even more crowded. It is clear Ocosingo is a commercial center for the entire region; it is the only town of any size for at least 75 miles in every direction. And there is only one highway; the one we took into town. We stop at some stands and have some corn; we aren't very hungry since we had the big lunch.
We sit and people watch and it is quite a show. A large Indian crowd has gathered around a blanket hawker working out of the back of his truck. We have seen these hawkers elsewhere in Mexico but it is less common than I remember back in the old days.
What strikes me are all the Internet cafes around and they are full. I stop into the one directly below our hotel and tell them that I can receive a strong signal on my laptop in the room above; but the employees don't know how wireless works. They say the owner will be in tomorrow; all the internet cafes are filled. All I need is the access code. Somewhere, somehow these young folks have learned all about technology and are hungry for the information world. Technology certainly may provide a way up for many of them or at least help.
It's clear we should spend tomorrow exploring; this crossroads town is vibrant and exciting. The stores are beginning to close and folks are going home or to wherever they spend the night. Even though we are running out of time, we decide to stay one extra day.
I get up early and look out from the balcony. I can see the high, surrounding mountains still covered in mist. Folks are scurrying below on their way to work; a good indication there is a local economic base. After yesterday's brush with poverty, I appreciate any economic base as a plus. There is no virtue in childhood malnutrition; not communist, capitalist or otherwise and the memory of that poverty is still with me.
Jack D. Deal
