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Archive for April, 2013

Today is Día de los Niños (Children’s Day) and it’s a big deal here.  Oaxaca began her celebrations days ago.  The 6th Festival of Children’s Story Telling opened on Saturday, yesterday an exibition of traditional toys (Colección Hanni Sager Juguete tradicional) had its inauguration at the Museo del Palacio, and Friday, the Guelaguetza Infantil calenda filled the streets from Santo Domingo to the Basilica de la Soledad.

As several bands played, the children from Oaxaca’s preschools wearing the traditional costumes from the 8 regions of the state of Oaxaca waited, posed, walked, danced, and threw candy to the appreciative crowds gathered on the sidewalks along the ten-block long route.  (Note, some of the little girls already practicing holding canastas (baskets) on their heads!)

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Parents and teachers, many also wearing traje from the Cañada, Costa, Istmo, Mixteca, Papaloapan, Sierra Norte, Sierra Sur, and the Valles Centrales regions, proudly walked alongside the children.  Vive Oaxaca concluded their article,

With such events from the early years of life are taught to love our Oaxacan culture, traditions, music and preserve the best legacy we have: our roots. Congratulations to the teachers and parent to correctly perform with great momentum this holiday culture.  [Google translation]

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Plaza de la Danza…

Microphone

Microphone, speakers, and pigeon…

2 speakers on stands

We are all here…

P1080017

Where is everyone???

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Wednesday in the Mixteca

cement block building "Fabrica Marmol" "El Colibrí"

How could I resist?  Photo, yes.  Dining, no.  We had already eaten and so were not tempted to try Restaurant El Colibrí, across the street.  However, still scratching my head about the relationship between marble (marmol) and hummingbird (colibrí).

Concrete block building with sign, Fabrica Marmol, El Colibrí

This librarian couldn’t resist doing a little research.  According to Wikipedia, the hummingbird in Aztec culture was, “emblematic for their vigor, energy, and propensity to do work along with their sharp beaks that mimic instruments of weaponry, bloodletting, penetration, and intimacy.”  Hmmm…  the tools and strength needed by a marble mason.  Now, it’s beginning to make sense.

(Thanks Chris for stopping so I could take the above photos.)

And now a song from the Mixteca, “Chikirriyó’i” (“El Colibrí”) (The Hummingbird):

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A meal named for the 3 parts of a bullfight?  Yes, the origin of the name of Mexico’s ubiquitous 3-course, fixed price, midday meal, Comida Corrida, is derived from the “Tres tiempos” of a “Corrida de toros.”

Ordinarily, simple and substantial, chef Jean Michel Thomas of Gío (aka, Dondé está el Chef?) has taken it to a French infused gourmet level — all for only 80 pesos.  My lunch on Monday…

Crema de Flor de Calabaza al Aji Panca

Crema de Flor de Calabaza al Aji Panca accompanied by Agua de Jamaica

Tartare de Atún Fresco con Tomate y Arroz a la Mostaza de Dijon

Tartare de Atún Fresco con Tomate y Arroz a la Mostaza de Dijon

Pastel de Chocolate Oaxaca con Coulis de Mango

Pastel de Chocolate Oaxaca con Coulis de Mango

Gío currently can be found at Eucaliptos 407A, Colonia Reforma, in the city of Oaxaca.  It is open Monday through Friday, from 2:00 – 5:00 PM.

¡Buen provecho!

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On this Earth Day, I thought I’d post photos of the Matria, Jardín Arterapéutico project.  These were taken 3 weeks after my previous visit.  Despite 90+° (F) temperatures since the garden was planted, it is thriving and very few plants have been lost.

The key to the garden’s success?  Megan Glore and her team of volunteers are listening to what the plants are telling them and responding accordingly — just as we should all be doing with Mother Earth.

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Listening to the rhythm of the falling rain.

Wet patio with water in buckets

Ahhh…  At long last, relief from weeks of energy sapping heat and a long very dry winter.

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Sign in tree "Los arboles son vida cuidalos

Life goes on within you and without you.  – George Harrison

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… go out in the midday sun!

For more than a week, most afternoons have found me holed up inside my apartment with curtains drawn against an unrelenting sun — a semi-successful attempt to retain the cool air I’d ushered in when doors and windows were thrown open first thing in the morning.

Empty sidewalk with sliver of shade

These May-like temperatures, in the mid to high 90s F during the day, have been THE major topic of conversation amongst Oaxaqueños, ex-pats, and visitors, alike.   If you must venture out, as I did yesterday, you hug that sliver of shadow.  Umbrellas come in handy too!

Woman walking in a sliver of shadow

The multiplex theaters on the outskirts of the city are some of the very few buildings with air-conditioning.  However, to get there, one must take a sweltering bus or taxi ride through traffic clogged streets, never knowing when a bloqueo or road construction will bring your retreat to a scorching halt.  A better alternative is to follow the lead of these priests processing into the Basilica and head to the nearest church.  Mil gracias to the architectural gods for their thick stone walls and soaring ceilings!

Procession of priests entering the Basilica

¡Hace mucho calor!  Time for a siesta…

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More from the wall art at Calle Melchor Ocampo and La Noria.  I can’t help thinking of Leonard Cohen’s, Bird on a Wire.

Wall with painting of birds sitting on a wire

Like a bird on a wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

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This post is especially for other WordPress bloggers.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve had problems with WordPress in the last 24+ hours, including not receiving any Daily Digests since April 12.  So, who knows if this will reach you…

According to a post at ars technica, “Huge attack on WordPress sites could spawn never-before-seen super botnet.  Ongoing attack from >90,000 computers is creating a strain on Web hosts, too.”  Forbes has a good article on “How To Avoid The Coming Botnet.”

artist:  sanez

artist: sanez

Wall art from mural on Calle Prof. M. Aranda, next to Hotel Azucenas.

h/t Chris re the WordPress attack.

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Several days ago, my previously mentioned, indomitable, and always adventurous neighbor Marga brought me a bag of small reddish-orange flowers.  She waxed lyrical about their flavor (somewhat peppery) and crunchy texture, never mind the color they add to any dish.  The street vendor from whom she had purchased these delectable delights even hinted at their medicinal qualities.  Marga, what’s the name of the plant?  (The librarian planning to do a little research before consuming.)  Alas, she didn’t catch the name.

Small red flowers in a clay bowl

Anyone have an answer?  By the way, even without a name, they were a delicious addition to 3-days worth of salads.  I think I’ll show the photo to some of the chefs-in-training at today’s Feria Gastronómica…

Feria Gastronómica poster

Yummm….

Breaking news:   They are black bean blossoms (flor de frijol).  Mil gracias to Margie Barclay of the invaluable Oaxaca Calendar fame.  That was fast.  I love my readers!

Update, this just in:  They are scarlet runner bean flowers, according to another longtime Oaxaca resident.

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Sometimes color seems like a distraction, so an experiment in de-saturation from the last day of Carnaval in Teotitlán del Valle.

For some outstanding up-close and full color photos, head over to Oaxaca-The Year After.

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Friday we returned for another extraordinary day — the last day of Carnival.

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Again, muchisimas gracias to the gracious and generous people of Teotitlán del Valle.

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Sparrow came by for a late breakfast on the bougainvilla this morning.  Guess, like my neighbor, (s)he didn’t realize Mexico “sprung ahead” last night to Daylight Saving Time.

Sparrow sitting on bougainvilla branch

Or, should I say, most of Mexico.  Teotitlán del Valle follows the sun and doesn’t set their clocks back.  Let the confusion begin!

Close-up of sparrow sitting in bougainvilla

So, maybe Sparrow is…

Living on Teo Time.
Living on Teo Time.
Gonna set my watch back to it
‘Cause you know that I’ve been through it.
Living on Teo Time.

(With apologies to Daniel W. Flowers, songwriter of Tulsa Time.)

Save

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I’m playing catch-up with blog posts.  After the Good Friday Procession of Silence, I thought life would slow down a little.  That’s what’s happened in years past — I caught up on the “to do” list on the home-front, leisurely plowed through the hundreds and hundreds of photos from Semana Santa, did a little research and a lot of thinking about what I’d just seen and experienced, and then crafted a few blog posts.

That was before we found out that Teotitlán del Valle celebrates 5-days of Carnival after Easter, not before Lent!  A little levity after the solemnity of Semana Santa and in one of our favorite places was not to be resisted.  And so, blogger buddy Chris and I set out on Monday afternoon in search of the house in Sección 1 (the village is divided into 5 geographic areas) that was hosting the daytime fiesta that precedes the evening festivities in the Municipal Plaza.

We returned yesterday for the Sección 5 fiesta, so more to come.  Now it’s off to Tlacolula for the Nieve, Mezcal y Gastronomia Festival.

FYI:  For a more detailed explanation of this Carnival celebration and photos from last year by a professional photographer, check out Ann Murdy’s website.

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