In San Francisco, I always knew what time it was. There were clocks everywhere. On the computer, on the microwave, on the wall. When I was out, it was just a matter of looking at a cell phone. Oaxaca, at least for us, is a land without time. There are only two clocks in our entire apartment. One is the clock on our laptop which, of course, we can only check when the laptop is on. The other is the internal clock on our camera. That has become our default timepiece. If we want to know what time it is, we just snap a shot of any old thing and then the time shows up on the viewfinder in association with the new picture. It's not that we have anywhere to be, at least not until we start language classes on Monday. It's just incredibly disorienting to wake up in the middle of the night and have absolutely no idea what time it is. And I really can't be bothered to get out of bed, turn on the camera, turn off the flash, and take a picture just to know for sure.
So we're off to el Mercado de Abastos, the giant Saturday market. From what I recall, they have absolutely everything there -- shoes, table linens, food, clothes, electronics, souvenirs, goats. Even if it takes hours of wandering and holding our noses as we run past the meat stands, we will find a clock.
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Yes, where are the clocks? We too have no clocks in our rented house. Fortunately I have a wrist watch. My cell phone (Blackberry Storm) has an alarm clock feature so I keep that by the bed. So why are there no house clocks? Do you think they take too much electricity to run? Do renters steal them? Surely the people of Oaxaca use clocks to tell the time of day and night. Do they depend upon the roosters to get them up in the morning? Curious!
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