Job Discussion Forums

[sarliz]

Hi everybody-
I just finished up the ITTO course and am figuring out what my plan is, job-wise. I�ve gotten an offer from a school in Oaxaca that I was initially very excited about, but now I�m having seconds thoughts because of the unclear state of the city right now. I�m reading all of the articles I can find online about what�s going on, but can anyone tell me what it�s actually like there? I�ve heard all sorts of random things, but all from people in Guadalajara. Advice? Facts? Anything? Mil gracias.

Sara

[J Sevigny]

If you've managed to get a good-paying, legitimate job in Oaxaca, I'm jealous. There's not exactly a lot of teaching work in the capital. Especially not work which will allow paying Oaxaca rents, which tend to be on the high side.

Feel free to share the name of the school as I think it would be of interest to a lot of people if it pays competitively.

The city itself is a lovely place, often filled with tourists. Yet surprisingly, its own culture -- predominantly indegenous and far more diverse than that word imples -- remains intact. Fantastic food, good music, a lot to see and do.
7
I can't tell you much about the security situation there right now as I haven't been down that way in a while. But there are a couple of regular posters here who are on the Oaxacan coast who may have up-to-date information.

[MELEE]

I saw this post Friday evening and was hoping you'd get a good answer over the weekend and save me from having to be wishy washy.

I'd say take the job. Saftey wise, there is an extremely small chance of anything happening to you, if it were, it would be a case of "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and the people living in Oaxaca can tell you the places that are likely to be the wrong ones.
I wouldn't recomend a vacation in Oaxaca right now, but a chance to move here is a different thing.

I live in the state of Oaxaca, two and a half hours from the capital. I was there in early September and it is sad, dirty, and vandalized in the center, traffic is a night mare (do to all the blocked streets). A co-worker was there last week (to visit immigracion, which is not in the center) and said the same thing. I love the state of Oaxaca and there is a good chance I will live here most of the rest of my life (and I'm only 33! ) it is a very interesting, but slightly stressfull time to be here. Oaxaca is on teetering on a cusp, on one side is real social change, the other side is the status quo. The questions are, On which side will we end up? and what will be the force that pushes us there?