January | 2016 | View From Casita Colibrí

Archive for January, 2016

Game of drones

Posted in Politics, Sports & Recreation, Technology, Travel & Tourism, tagged drones, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pasión por Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on January 30, 2016| 10 Comments »

Drones have arrived in Oaxaca; their hummy-buzzy sound is unmistakable. My first “close encounter” of the drone kind down here was 2+ years ago at the Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos (baseball stadium) when a drone made an appearance at the Lluvia de Estrellas charity home run derby and softball game.

However, two weeks ago as I walked onto the Alameda, that telltale sound caught my ear and a low flying drone caught my eye. Apparently, it was being used by the Pasión por Oaxaca to draw attention to their (political) organization’s booth. “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!”

Then early yesterday morning, there was that sound again. Looking out the window I could see a drone in the distance. Of course, I grabbed my camera and went out to investigate. I guess the operator/pilot saw me, because soon the drone was flying toward my terrace, then stopped to pose for several seconds, before flying off.

Sheesh, Señor DeMille, I was still in my pajamas and definitely NOT ready for my close-up!

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Details that surprise at CASA

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Museums, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, CASA, Centro de las Artes de San Agustín, design, Francisco Toledo, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Agustín Etla on January 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ahhh… a return visit to Centro de las Artes de San Agustín in early December still resonates. The CASA, a former spinning and weaving factory, was re-imagined by artist Francisco Toledo and architect Claudina Morales Lopez. Now it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing spaces I’ve ever experienced. But, why have I never before noticied this?

Inside and outside, seen in black and white or color, wherever one looks, the attention to detail and design strikes, delights, and often surprises.

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Worms in Oaxaca?

Posted in Animals, Environment, Gardens, Science & Nature, tagged earthworm farming, earthworms, gardening, lombrisas, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, soil, vermicompost, worm castings, worm humus, worm manure on January 25, 2016| 12 Comments »

Have I mentioned most of the potting soil here leaves much to be desired? As a result, over the past 6+ years, I’ve been experimenting with ways to enhance the soil I’ve been dealt to help my rooftop garden grow. Besides, freezing (to speed up the fiber break down) and then adding green kitchen scraps, augmenting the soil with sawdust and sand, I’ve added worm farming to my arsenal.

Back in early August, blogger buddy and gardening guru Chris and I, armed with our new red bins, headed out to Sikanda (just outside Santa María del Tule) to purchase and be schooled in earthworm (lombriz, en español) farming.

Our goal was to provide a nurturing environment for earthworms to go forth and multiply and to produce worm casting (aka: vermicompost, worm humus, worm manure) to enrich our soil. Since then, I’ve spent the last five months keeping their home moist and feeding my worms more green kitchen waste, coffee grounds and tea leaves, and garden clippings. Saturday, I finally harvested my first castings.

There are several ways to separate the worms from their castings. I chose the photosensitivity filter method — laying cheesecloth over another bin filled with compost and placing it in the sun, I transferred a thin layer of my worms and their castings onto the cheesecloth.

Earthworms hate the sun and most quickly started burrowing down through the cheesecloth in search of cool moist darkness.. Once the worms had made their way into the moist compost of their new home (stragglers received hand-picked assistance), I removed the cheesecloth, now filled with worm-free castings, and dumped it onto my sifter, where I sifted the nutrient rich castings into my soil bin.

It’s rather time-consuming, but what else did I have to do on a Saturday? It was well worth it and I get to do it all again in three to five months!

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Women of the street

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, Tlacolula de Matamoros, urban art, women's faces on January 21, 2016| 8 Comments »

In Oaxaca city…

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In Tlacolula de Matamoros…

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They are seen and they are watching.

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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes in Teoti

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Museums, Travel & Tourism, tagged community museum, cultural center, Danza de la Pluma, danzantes, El Picacho, Mexico, museums, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Teotitlán del Valle on January 18, 2016| 4 Comments »

As with all of life, there are changes going on in Teotitlán del Valle. A large new Cultural Center is nearing completion. It’s courtesy of the federal government and, according to the sign at the construction site, not a peso is coming from the state or village. From what I’ve been told, it will house the museum, a library, and a performance space.

And, with their final Danza de la Pluma performance on Día de Guadalupe (Dec. 12), the three-year commitment of the last Danzantes de Promesa group was at close. The new group has already begun the demanding work of learning the steps of the 40+ dances that make up the Danza de la Pluma.

Under the watchful eye of El Picacho, Moctezuma, Malinche, Doña Marina, Teotitles, Capitánes, Reyes, and Vasallos practice from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Saturday through Monday to be ready for their debut the first Wednesday in July 2016 during the festival of the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo. A major and meaningful commitment, it is.

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Changes by David Bowie (descansa en paz)

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Drivers’ ed Oaxaca style

Posted in Exhibitions, Signs, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged drivers' education, driving regulations, exhibitions, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxaca motor vehicle code, photographs, photos, reglamento de vialidad del municipio de oaxaca, road safety posters, rules of the road on January 16, 2016| 2 Comments »

If you drive in Oaxaca, you might want to take a stroll down the Alcalá today. In front of MACO, there is an exhibition of rules of the road for the municipality of Oaxaca.

Who knew Oaxaca has an actual motor vehicle code???

If you have ever walked, biked, driven, or ridden, this comes as a pleasant surprise — *surprise* being the operative word!

However, I’m not sure how many drivers stroll the Alcalá… Something tells me that those who need these lessons the most, probably don’t spend their Saturdays promenading along the capital city’s Andador Turístico.

Just so you know… Licensing drivers is up to each state in Mexico and, according to Alvin Starkman, Oaxaca “has done away with virtually all licensing requirements relating to safety: no written test, no road test, no eye test.” Consider yourself forewarned. 😉

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Brooms in waiting

Posted in Culture, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, otate, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on January 14, 2016| 6 Comments »

Back in Oaxaca and it’s scenes like this that make me smile…

At the Tinoco y Palacios entrance to the Mercado Sanchez Pascuas. Otate waiting to be made into escobas (brooms)?

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Hoops with a view

Posted in Culture, Parks & Plazas, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism, tagged basketball, basketball courts, cancha de baloncesto, El Picacho, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Teotitlán del Valle on January 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Basketball is big right now in the San Francisco Bay Area; as I write the Golden State Warriors are 35 and 2 and a new, albeit controversial, 18,000 seat arena is in the works. But, I’ll bet it won’t have views like these…

Unlike in wider mestizo Mexico, where soccer reigns supreme, in the Sierra basketball is king. The sport was introduced in the 1930s by president Lazaro Cardenas as a way to bring Oaxaca’s disparate and historically rebellious indigenous groups into the national fold.

Cardenas’ dream of a unified national identity didn’t take root in the Sierra, which has historically been isolated and impoverished, but basketball soon became tied to the region’s most significan traditions, and to indigenous identity itself. — Jorge Santiago

One of several canchas de baloncesto (basketball courts) in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.

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Masked and anonymous

Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged Apolinar Sosa, devil mask, mascaras, masks, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Martín Tilcajete, wood carving on January 9, 2016| 3 Comments »

A friend (who shall remain anonymous) was persuaded to model the mask I gave one of my sons for Christmas.

It is the work of Apolinar Sosa, the son of distinguished carver Jesus Sosa Calvo and Juana Vicente Ortega Fuentes of San Martín Tilcajete.

This mask won a prize and had actually been worn during the unique Carnaval celebration in the village.

Don’t you love the tongue of dried chiles?

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Gifts of nature & talent

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Music, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged Carlos Reyes, Crystalline Thrilled, El Día De Los Reyes Magos, Greg Johnson and Glass Brick Boulevard, music, photos, rugs, Sergio Ruiz Gonzalez, tapetes, Teotitlán del Valle, weavers on January 6, 2016| 7 Comments »

I’m still in el norte, now on the west coast in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s grey, raining, and cold. The rain is a much needed gift in drought stricken California, but the ground has rapidly become supersaturated and this morning’s news reported a giant ficus falling across Mission St. in San Francisco, taking down streetcar lines. I immediately flashed on Oaxaca’s ubiquitous, often topiaried, ficus trees.

However, I headed out into the storm and tuned into a Spanish language music station (I must be missing the soundtrack of my Mexican life) and was reminded today, January 6, is El Día De Los Reyes Magos (aka, Epiphany), when the Three Kings bring gifts to the children of Mexico.

My (grown) children received their gifts on December 25, not January 6, and last year each received a tapete woven by the talented Sergio Ruiz Gonzalez — brother of Antonio, who wove my new rug. In the photo, that’s Sergio, his beautiful wife Virginia, and his lovely mother Emilia (of Lila Downs’ El Palomo del Comalito video fame).

However, I did receive an (unexpected) gift today — my former piano teacher (and forever friend) Greg Johnson stopped by to catch up. And, besides his always upbeat and delightful company, he brought me his new CD, Crystalline Thrilled. The guys of Glass Brick Boulevard are fabulous (as always) and guest artist Carlos Reyes shreds it on violin. Check out Carlos playing with Glass Brick Boulevard at the CD release party. What a great regalo I received!

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Murals of Callejón Hidalgo

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Callejón Hidalgo, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, street art, urban art on January 4, 2016| 12 Comments »

In the category of “your just never know,” the two-block long Callejón Hidalgo is a treasure-trove of murals.

And, there are more! Located between Tinoco y Palacios and Porfirio Diaz above Calle Jesus Carranza, it’s well worth the trek up the hill.

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Scenes from 2015

Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Celebrations, Culture, Exhibitions, Flora, Travel & Tourism, tagged African Tulip trees, Casa Colonial, cattle, Cochineal, flowers, globos, hot air balloons, MACO, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Police riot shields, Primavera, San Juan Guelavia, San Mateo Macuilxóchitl, water lilies on January 1, 2016| 16 Comments »

Muchisimas gracias to all my wonderful blog readers — for reading, for commenting, for sharing, for the opportunity to meet some of you, and for inspiring me to continue. A look back at Oaxaca scenes that never made it into the blog…

January – Although spring was a couple of months away, the Primavera (Tabebuia chrysotricha) was already in bloom.