People of the Mercado

Paula Martínez grew up in San Bartolomé Quialana, in  Oaxaca, México, where she and her siblings experienced extreme poverty, often having very little food and unable to purchase new clothing or shoes.  Their situation only worsened when Paula’s father passed away unexpectedly, and at just seven years old, Paula was tasked with raising her one-month-old brother while her mother sold tortillas in the neighboring towns. The lack of financial stability and the responsibility of raising her siblings deprived Paula of the opportunity to receive an education.

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Once Paula turned thirteen, she learned the family trade of making handmade tortillas using nixtamal and by age fifteen, she considered herself a professional, traveling on the bus to the different towns in Oaxaca to sell tortillas. Paula relished in the fact that she could now afford to purchase fruit for her siblings, whose meals frequently consisted of solely black beans and tortillas. However, at 16 years old, Paula’s life would be altered when a passerby she never met took a keen interest in her and asked her mother for her hand in marriage. Although her mother agreed, Paula refused to acquiesce to the forced marriage; despite her protests, she married, and six years into the relationship, Paula fell in love with her husband who proved to be a supportive partner.

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The couple eventually had four children and with a growing family, Paula now more than ever saw the need to improve her family’s living situation. After much consideration and their parents’ approval, Paula and her husband decided to leave San Bartolomé for Los Angeles with three of their four children. While she immediately began looking for work, being an indigenous woman who only spoke Zapotec, Paula struggled to communicate with people in Los Angeles. To transcend the language barrier, Paula’s eldest daughter wrote on a piece of paper her mother’s name, contact information and that she was looking for employment. Paula was soon hired as a dishwasher at a Chinese food restaurant where she would level up as a cook and learn to speak Spanish with the owner’s help. Grateful for the opportunity, Paula worked at this establishment for a couple of years before transitioning to a cook position at Oaxacalifornia, located at Mercado La Paloma.

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After almost two decades of living and working in the United States, Paula intends to return to San Bartolomé Quialana in the near future to reunite with one of her daughters and visit her mother’s gravesite. Paula plans to make handmade tortillas once again, just like her mother taught her, and enjoy the tranquility of small-town life in the home that she and her husband worked hard to build.