Paul Gillingham: evaluation

Transcript context

…Do you think that helps account for why, to this day, Oaxaca State is so interesting to visit because there’s so much local autonomy? I love that. I would say, in part, because one of the traditional tourist attractions of Mexico is precisely indigenous culture, and because of this autonomy, Oaxaca has preserved a multitude of very strong indigenous cultures. I think, yes, I’d add to that, that it’s comparatively safe, a key consideration. That’s a recent thing. Tourism in Oaxaca goes back a long time. I think it’s also because you have this stunning colonial city. Oaxaca City is really beautiful, and we have in the US nothing at all, or Canada, we’ve got nothing like that. Finally, and I actually believe this, Mexican cuisine is very, very diverse. People think Mexican cooking, tacos, well, yes. Oaxacan cooking is really a superb cuisine. One of the best. I would say Oaxacan and Yucateco cuisines are head and shoulders above the rest of Mexico. I don’t know how much that draws. Well, I do, actually. There’s quite a lot of culinary tourism, which tends to be rich tourism in Oaxaca these days. I think that’s another draw. It’s extraordinary, in fact, how many people have realized that over the last 15 or so years and formed these sort of expatriate, almost colonies in Oaxaca. It’s a fantastic place to live. A mere two weeks ago, I was eating barbacoa in Tlacolula. Have you ever been there?…

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