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LIVING & TRAVEL by andrew dean nystrom Eighth in a Series Index WEB TOOLS Mexico's Indigenous Homepage Mexico Map Pacific Coast Map Huatulco Coast Map Puerto Angel Map Oaxaca Oaxaca City Huatulco Puerto Angel San Cristobal

Entry 8: Saturday, April 27, 1996: Transportation Strike in Chiapas Since today marks the beginning of a statewide (Chiapas) transportation strike for an unspecified number of days, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the contradictions and inconsistencies of life in Mexico. Beer costs the same as bottle water, a little less than a dollar per liter. Alcohol ads on television suggest that the viewer/consumer avoid excess; cigarette ads blatantly say that smoking kills; and cola and junk food ads carry a disclaimer that you should always eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Granted, many of these paradoxes exist in the US, but in Mexico, contradictions are woven into the fabric of daily life. In most rural areas, it is said that if you don't beat your wife, you must not truly love her, yet the proponents of such machismo are, in contrast, most tender and dedicated to their children. Any posting, sign or edict prohibiting some behavior (with the notable exception of the universal prohibition against throwing toilet paper down the toilet -- it goes in the waste basket) seem to provoke said behavior, especially by those who are supposed to enforce said regulations. "No littering" signs are seemingly erected after the fact, in front of the town dump; there is no smoking allowed on buses, yet the conductor petitions passengers for cigarettes. When it comes to traffic signs, Mexicans, like Texans, seem to believe that YIELD is a sign of weakness. Stuck here in San Cristobal, due to a strike protesting rising costs of basic goods, I am still struggling to appreciate these contradictions. Andrew Nystrom is a 21 year-old Geography-Linguistics student at the University of California at Berkeley. Currently on sabbatical, he has been working as a freelance editor/travel correspondent. Previous travels have taken him to Indonesia, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Guatemala. He was most recently the editor of the Berkeley Guide to Central America for 1996.