Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Notes from abroad: an aside on street names


Whereas in Oaxaca the street names appear to be a heady mix of dictators and liberators, down in San Cristóbal the heroes of the lucha social hold sway: Insurgentes, Madero, Zapata etc.

Rather bizarrely the avenues of Playa del Carmen increment in units of five. (5,10, 15 etc.).

There, Mamita's beach club (pictured) could easily be deployed as a synecdoche for the whole of the sprall behind, because it flaunts the same tendency towards unfettered expansion in microcosm.

Back in 2003 there were just a couple of novelty beach beds. Nowadays, if you want to tell a friend which one you are occupying, you have little alternative but to resport to the terminology of calles and avenidas.


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