Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Signs’ Category

No parking

Posted in Signs, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2016| 4 Comments »

P1160672 part col

Street sweepers and their escobas (brooms) de otate, excepted.

Read Full Post »

Drivers’ ed Oaxaca style

Posted in Exhibitions, Signs, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2016| 2 Comments »

If you drive in Oaxaca, you might want to take a stroll down the Alcalá today.  In front of MACO, there is an exhibition of rules of the road for the municipality of Oaxaca.

Who knew Oaxaca has an actual motor vehicle code???

 

If you have ever walked, biked, driven, or ridden, this comes as a pleasant surprise — *surprise* being the operative word!

However, I’m not sure how many drivers stroll the Alcalá…  Something tells me that those who need these lessons the most, probably don’t spend their Saturdays promenading along the capital city’s Andador Turístico.

Just so you know…  Licensing drivers is up to each state in Mexico and, according to Alvin Starkman, Oaxaca “has done away with virtually all licensing requirements relating to safety: no written test, no road test, no eye test.”  Consider yourself forewarned. 😉

Read Full Post »

Stick-to-itiveness

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2015| 4 Comments »

Situated metaphorically at the busy intersection of imagery and content—and informed by history, mass media, commerce, and pop culture—stickers address both the personal and the political.  — Street Art Graphics, The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University.

P1090439 copy

Stick-to-itiveness:  the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult or unpleasant.

P1090440 copy

Street art stickers — a metaphor for Mexico, methinks.

Read Full Post »

Men at work

Posted in Labor, Renovation, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2015| 3 Comments »

Lots of street action around the city these days, and I don’t just mean marches and blockades!  They’ve been hard at work on an Andador Semipeatonal (semi-walking street) since ground was broken on November 24, 2014.

P1060580

Garcia Vigil has been a construction zone from Templo del Carmen Alto up to the Cruz de Piedra.  No cars and trucks allowed, but we pedestrians can walk right on through.

P1060586

The work on this and the four other downtown streets that have been earmarked for “rescue” and “beautification” is mostly done the old-fashioned way.  What can I say?  I love the sound of hammer and chisel!

P1060583

According to news reports, the street will be spiffed up with garbage bins, benches, and planters.  Ramps for people with limited mobility and signs for the visually impaired are in the plan, though a bike lane is only contemplated.

P1060712

Oaxaqueñ@s work really hard!

 

Read Full Post »

Handwriting on the wall

Posted in Economics, Education, Labor, Politics, Protests, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2014| 6 Comments »

I walked down to the zócalo today.  Not exactly big news, I know, but the truth is, I’ve been avoiding it.  However, I was out of dried cranberries and pecans and had to go to the Mercado Benito Juárez to restock the larder.

New posters have gone up on building walls, this one calling for justice for the victims of the previous governor (Ulises Ruiz Ortiz) and preparations for a general political strike against the structural reforms (education and the state-owned oil industry, of which I’ve previously written) recently passed by the federal government.

Posters on wall

The zócalo and surrounding streets continue to be filled with teachers, tents, and al fresco kitchens.  No surprise, this is causing a traffic nightmare and parking is at even more of a premium than usual.  However, if you are in need of a pit stop for you or your car, this one is on Trujano at 20 de noviembre.

P1010841

The restaurants under the portales on the zócalo have been especially impacted — some had patrons sipping their morning coffee and hot chocolate while looking out over the sea of tents, tarps, and banners and some were empty.

Restaurant tables and chairs and teachers union banner

If you are tired of reading the newspaper accounts, D-II-218 of the Telesecundarias (rural distance education programs) from Miahuatlán has provided a poster so you can read up on the issues in dispute from the teachers’ point of view.

Banner with news clippings, photos, and informational notes

However, if you are tired of it all, you can always stop by the local newsstand to catch up on what’s really important — the opening of Home Depot (an OMG! OMG! OMG! event for some) or, if you are so inclined, graphic images of crime and violence.  By the way, regarding the latter, I stumbled on a website that gives A Vague History of La Nota Roja.

Newspapers clipped to a sandwich board

What can I say?  Good news is in short supply, no matter where one looks.  The handwriting seems to be on the wall here, there, and everywhere…

Read Full Post »

Transitioning from here to there

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2014| 9 Comments »

It’s been a great visit to Mill Valley, California, the town where I grew up and lived most of my life.   But, I’m ready to return to Oaxaca.  However, besides differences in latitude and attitude, there is much they have in common.

There are sculptures in public places (click on each to enlarge image)…

Shoreline Highway, Mill Valley
On the Alcalá in Oaxaca.

There are murals…

Tunnel leading to the Guelaguetza Auditorium, Oaxaca
Side of a building on Shoreline Hwy, Mill Valley by Zio Ziegler.

There are depictions of aquatic animals…

Side of building on Shoreline Hwy, Mill Valley by Zio Ziegler.
Tunnel leading to Guelaguetza Auditorium, Oaxaca.

AND, there are signs reminding drivers to wait and take turns.  Remember my What’s easy??? post from last week?  Look what just went up in Mill Valley.  Discourteous drivers know no boundaries!

Street sign in Oaxaca.
Street sign in Mill Valley.

Rather than dwelling on the differences — which I did when I first began living this dual-country life — I now choose to appreciate the similarities.  Of course it doesn’t hurt that both places are situated in beautiful settings, fresh fruits and vegetables abound, have relatively mild climates, and an appreciation for the arts.

And so… I bid a fond “adiós” to Mill Valley and “hola” to Oaxaca.

Read Full Post »

What’s easy???

Posted in Culture, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , on June 19, 2014| 9 Comments »

One by one…

Street signs: uno x uno; es más fácil.

These signs cropped up last month on a number of streets in Oaxaca.  I saw this one on Calle Berriozábal near the Alcalá.  But, I’m confused…  What’s easy???  Certainly not dealing with the health insurance industry in the US.  I am SO ready to return to Oaxaca!

Read Full Post »

This is a good spot

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2014| 6 Comments »

The “buildings in a bad state” in Oaxaca continue to multiply.

crumbling adobe wall with sign "precaución! inmueble en mal estado"

Where some see unsightly decay, others see opportunity…

Crumbling adoble & brick wall with graffiti, "This is a good spot"

including urban artist, SCOM.

Crumbling adobe wall with graffiti creature by SCOM

Read Full Post »

What’s in a name?

Posted in Buildings, Food, Language, Parks & Plazas, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

In Oaxaca, a molino is an indispensable business in every village.  Dried corn, cacao beans, chiles, herbs, spices, nuts, and seeds are brought to the molino to be ground so they can be turned into the staples found on Oaxaca’s tables — tamales, tortillas, tlayudas, tejate, mole, Oaxacan chocolate, and much mouth-watering more!  Below is a miller of corn in Tamazulápam del Espíritu Santo, in the Mixe region of Oaxaca.

Sign painted on side of building "Molino de Nixtamal"

In Mill Valley, Molino is a colorful place-name, a street and a park, that recalls California’s Spanish and Mexican past.

Wooden sign: "Welcome to Molino Park"

“Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. ”  —Bill Vaughan

Read Full Post »

Walking a mile

Posted in Education, Parks & Plazas, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2013| 1 Comment »

… in their shoes.  A couple of weeks ago, as I crossed the Alameda, I came across the following scene.

Blindfolded Municipal Police

According to this article in Noticias, this is part of the Blind Accessible Tourism 2013 project of the Municipal Tourism Office.  “During the tour, the participants experience the uncertainty that visually impaired people feel when walk the streets, and reflect on the importance of signs with street names written in Braille and audio traffic lights,” said Vladimir Martinez Lopez, who has been blind since age 11 and is the instructor for the course.

I blogged about the Braille street signs and the library for the blind and visually impaired soon after the signs began appearing at the beginning of 2012.  Since then, I’ve seen them used by the sightless and intrigue and stimulate conversation among the sighted.

Blindfolded police walking with white canes

Now if they could just do something about the hazards of crossing the street at the intersections.  Be they cars, buses, trucks, or motorcycles, they do not stop before turning a corner.  Visually impaired or sighted, it’s like playing Russian Roulette!

Read Full Post »

A picture is worth 1000 words

Posted in Education, Environment, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2013| 1 Comment »

Wall art demonstrating "reduce, separa, recicla"

Sign "deposita solo botes reciclables with 3 plastic bottles nailed to it

Sign "deposita solo botes reciclables" and basket 1/3 filled with plastic bottles underneath

Chicken wire bin 1/3 full of plastic bottles

Educating the public in Teotitlán del Valle.

 

Read Full Post »

Without words…

Posted in Environment, Protests, Science & Nature, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Sign in tree "Los arboles son vida cuidalos

Life goes on within you and without you.  – George Harrison

Read Full Post »

Shadows on the wall

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2013| 4 Comments »

Wall art with painted shadow of stoplight

Can be found at…

Street signs: Call de Melchor Ocampo and Calle de La Noria

Read Full Post »

Stuck on you

Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Pop culture stickers are, “ubiquitous in urban centers around the world. Often seen at eye level or just beyond reach, stickers grace most every imaginable surface of the built environment.”  [Digital Collections Street Art Graphics]

As you can see, Oaxaca is no exception.

P1040657

Jimmy and María Sabina, I know. — even got to see Hendrix perform twice, back in the day.

Stickers on window panes behind iron grating

But, that qualifies me as being “certain age” and so most of the references escape me.Stickers on the back of sign on lamp post

And, what’s with the skull and cross-bones?  Rebellion?  Symbol of a toxic culture??  Perhaps.  But, like Che, one now sees them everywhere — even on toddler clothes.  Co-opted, again!

Read Full Post »

Heavy lifting

Posted in Culture, Health, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 27, 2013| 1 Comment »

In the city and in the villages, the signs are everywhere…

Sign for Neuroticos Anónimos

The recent article, Native neuroses: Sharing their emotional struggles in Spanish by Marisa Gerber, gives a little background on the popularity of Neuróticos Anónimos, south of the Río Bravo del Norte (aka, Rio Grande).

After two days spent cleaning the new apartment and schlepping the small stuff (boxes, plants, furniture, etc.) down two flights of stairs, across the driveway and up one flight (with a lot of help from my friends), today the moving crew is coming to do the heavy lifting.  For some reason the above topic resonates!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »