Oaxaca Melody



Oaxaca is a small city. You can walk from one end to the other in less than an hour.
Friday
He stood erect, almost rigid, amid the colorful stalls of Pochote Organic Market, and played the violin. His technique was good, and his interpretation of familiar tunes was modern enough to be interesting, but not so atonal as to be distracting. We often come to this tree-lined garden in front of the neighborhood church, and we found his music a welcome addition to the pleasant atmosphere. Gya, Adi's Korean friend, who sells here baked goods and Korean delicacies, told us that she found him playing in the noisy downtown market and invited him to Pochote. Young, tall, and slender, he had his eyebrows trimmed and put on makeup. The dark suit he wore was tailored a bit too tight around his legs and butt. He did not make eye contact with the happy crowd milling around the market, almost belying the donation box in front of his feet.
'Do the other shoppers notice his melancholy expression?'
Saturday
It's a big night in Teatro Alcala. This majestic, multilevel concert hall was built during the prosperous days of the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship, and recently, has been beautifully restored. Well-dressed Oaxacans came to attend a performance of the State Philharmonic Orchestra. When we entered, the musicians were already seated tuning their instruments. Immediately, Adi noticed him sitting in the violin section, right next to the stage. He wore the same dark suit, though tonight, his hair was held down by copious amounts of gel. He fiddled with his violin, wiping perspiration off his delicate face, and continuously scanned the auditorium.
'Who is he searching for?'
He did not stop his search until the invited German conductor came on stage. The orchestra presented a well played program of Mozart, and a world premier of an Oaxacan composition, inspired by a stone statute.
Sunday
Every Sunday noon at the Zocalo, the State Band presents a free popular music concert. We like to sit in the shade of the large laurel tree, sipping cold cappuccino, and listen to the wind-instrument adaptation of classical works. The enjoyable music may be attributed to the fact (which Adi noticed) that the conductor, is one and the same as the permanent conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra.
Thursday
Tonight, Teatro Alcala is the venue for the Oaxaca Jazz Band. The large band is getting ready to jam.
Adi nudges me: "Look, look at the trumpet player."
Sure enough, the trumpet player also played during Sunday's band concert. Another familiar face in the band is Stan. Stan is a hippie refugee, grey pony tail and beard. He is a Sax player in a Jazz quartet. In contrast to the other musicians in the band, he is wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt. He plays till the intermission, than he is gone.
"It's Thursday. He has a gig at Nueva Babel, remember?"
Later that night
Nueva Babel is a cozy bar with live music almost every night. On Thursday it's Miguel's quartet. The quartet's mellow sound blends well with the aged Mezcal we usually order.
Stan joins his quartet, and they start playing. In a corner table, two men are engaged in a hushed conversation. An almost untouched wine bottle sits on the table. The older man takes his partner's hand and holds it gently. The violinist smiles. Now he can enjoy the music.






Freedom


I was perplexed. On leaving California, I was sorely disappointed because my beloved motorcycle would not fit on the truck, and had to remain behind. Soon after arriving in Oaxaca, I found a good used bike, yet I observed myself delaying the purchase. I did not understand myself. I loved riding; then why the hesitation? The surprising answer came in chapter two of "The consolations of philosophy", a book I was reading at the time.

Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, is famous for his devotion to pleasure. Almost nothing remains of his vast writings, and our knowledge of his philosophy is based on second, or third, hand testimony. Therefore, I feel free to offer my own interpretation, even if I make a mistake, or two.

Epicurus believed that our goal is to be happy, and that happiness comes largely through sensual pleasure. (So far so good.) Pleasure is the result of eliminating pain. Since unfulfilled needs are the cause of pain, he placed all needs in one of three categories.

1. Natural and necessary
2. Natural but not necessary
3. Neither natural nor necessary.

Natural and necessary needs which are not met, cause pain. After eliminating the pain by fulfilling these needs we experience pleasure. Among those needs are the following

1.1 Food
1.2 Shelter
1.3 Sex (He was ambivalent about this one. I am not)

Yet these needs can be met with minimal and simple resources. After the pain is gone (stomach full) increasing the quantity of these items does very little to increase pleasure. He added three more needs that he felt were necessary, and here came my first surprise.

1.4 Friends (He was vague about family)
1.5 Freedom (Even a "boss" represents repression.)
1.6 Thought (to relieve us of the main sources of anxiety such as death, illness, and poverty.)

The list of natural but unnecessary needs can be long and personal. Among them you could list such needs as

2.1 Gourmet meals and fine wine (at fancy restaurants)
2.2 A grand house
2.3 Wild orgies
2.4 Korean Sauna

The fulfillment of these needs results in variations of pleasure, but since they do not relieve pain, they are not essential to happiness. (That was my second surprise, given Epicurus bad reputation through the ages)

Among the neither natural nor necessary needs he listed such items as

3.1 Power
3.2 Fame
3.3 Money

He asserted that we mistakenly seek such items in order to fulfill a lack for an essential need such as friends, freedom, or peace of mind. (Isn't that what advertising is all about?) Reading this section I reached enlightenment, and added my own item to the third category.

3.4 Motorcycle

Now it all made sense. Riding a motorcycle may once have substituted for my unfulfilled need of freedom. However, now I feel free enough, and riding is no longer important. In fact, I realized that all my first-category needs are fulfilled, and I have enough time and money to satisfy some in the second category. Both in Epicurus' definition, as well as my own, I am happy.

Post Script

I may still buy that bike. I moved it to the second category. Why not enjoy the sensual pleasure of fast motion in the company of a good friend?

To my friends: It would be interesting to read your additions or deletions to Epicurus lists.