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Archive for the ‘Celebrations’ Category

Guelaguetza 2016

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2016| 2 Comments »

The program of delegations for Guelaguetza 2016 is out and, according to all reports, the show will go on!  And, at long last, this year the Danzantes de Promesa from Teotitlán del Valle have been invited to perform.  It was the talk of the village this past weekend; the pride in their history and traditions and in this new group of dancers was palpable.

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As you can see above, they will be performing on Monday evening, July 25.  Though I won’t be there in person, I will be rushing home from the Guelaguetza celebration in Reyes Etla to watch the live TV broadcast.  Hopefully, as in past years, both the morning and evening performances on both Mondays will be live-streamed.  I will post the link, once I know.

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To whet your appetite, here is my short video of the Guelaguetza 2014 performance I attended at the Guelaguetza Auditorium on Cerro del Fortín.

If this tempts you to come, please do!  Hotels have experienced a 32% cancellation rate, so you should have no trouble reserving a room.  And, the restaurants and artisans could really use your support.  While there are only a few reserved seats available through Ticketmaster at the performances up on Cerro del Fortín, local communities in the valley host their own Guelaguezas that are small, free, and provide an up-close and personal view.  In addition, the delegations dance their way through the streets of Oaxaca on the two Saturdays prior the performances, there are artisan ferias and food festivals in the city and surrounding villages to experience and enjoy.

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Dancers of promise

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, History, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2016| 3 Comments »

One of the much anticipated features of this year’s Fiesta Titlular a la Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo in Teotitlán del Valle was the debut of the new Grupo de Danza de Pluma Promesa.

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Danzantes

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Danzantes

Unlike in many of the other villages, where the Danza de la Pluma is danced by folkloric dance troupes, in Teotitlán del Valle nineteen young men and two little girls make a promise to their god and, thus, their community to learn and perform the dance at each of the four annual major religious festivals in the village for three years.

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Moctezuma with Malinche and Doña Marina

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Danzantes woven wool leggings

This is not a commitment to be taken lightly, as there are 40+ dances that comprise this Zapotec retelling of the story of Moctezuma and the Aztecs battle with Cortes and the Conquistadors.  The entire telling of the story takes almost eight hours to perform in the church plaza — in conditions that can vary from brilliant sun with sweltering temperatures to gusty winds to drizzling rain.

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Subalterno offering water

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Subalterno imitating the danzantes

It’s been almost six months since we first saw the new group at one of their early practice sessions.  In jeans, t-shirts, and gym shoes, the guys were at the beginning stages of learning the steps.

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Moctezuma, a danzante, and Doña Marina

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Moctezuma and the danzantes

They have learned well and it’s going to be an outstanding three years!

 

 

 

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You are invited…

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 5, 2016| 7 Comments »

Late yesterday afternoon, under a dark and threatening sky, we gathered in front of Teotitlán del Valle’s church for the first *convite of the Fiesta Titular a la Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, the village’s patron saint festival.

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Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo

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Peeking out from the canastas

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Danzante and daughter

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Subalterno entertaining the crowd

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Kids in the ‘hood patiently waiting and posing

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Leaving the church

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Through the streets with one of several marmotas

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Hundreds of unmarried girls and women parade through the streets

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Balancing canastas with dignity and pride

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The debut of the new Grupo de Danza de Pluma Promesa (2016-18)

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The rain held off, as the procession returned to the church

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And, the banda played on…

Major festivities of the Fiesta Titular a la Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo continue through Sunday.  We shall return!

* Convite:  According to Harrap’s Spanish and English Pocket Dictionary, convite means reception.  However, if I drag my weighty Larousse Standard Diccionario down from the shelf, convite translates to “invitation” or “banquet.”  And, if one turns to Google or Bing translation programs, a convite is a “treat.”  To me, it is all of the above!

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Under construction

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Renovation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2016| 4 Comments »

I usually don’t spend much time walking along Crespo — the bus fumes and traffic noise are enough to have one holding one’s nose, covering one’s ears, and detouring to another street, as soon as possible!  However, a (not-so-little) birdie told me to check out the stairs up to the Guelaguetza Auditorium.

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Yikes!!!   An improvement project has been underway from Crespo all the way up to the Auditorium since the end of April.  Runners, walkers, and residents need to use an alternative route.  As the sign says, “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

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I spoke to one of the workmen and asked, if the project is going to be finished in time for the Guelaguetza.  After all, the first performance of Donají la Leyenda is scheduled for the night of July 24 and la Guelaguetza begins the following morning — that’s less than a month away.  He assured me the work would be completed.

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Speaking of the Guelaguetza…  Vive Oaxaca has a notice (in red, no less!) essentially saying, that because of the number of messages they have received regarding information about the current conflicts in Oaxaca, they feel compelled to announce that they have no information about the cancellation of Guelaguetza.  As far as they know, everything is continuing as planned, but advise visitors to monitor official information from the Ministry of Tourism and Economic Development of the State of Oaxaca.

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Color him father

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Happy Father’s Day (Día del Padre) to the loving fathers (biological, adoptive, and step), grandfathers, and father figures everywhere.

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Color Him Father
 (click on link for Keb Mo performing The Winstons old song)

There’s a man at my house he’s so big and strong

He goes to work each day, stays all day long

He comes home each night looking tired and beat

He sits down at the dinner table and has a bite to eat

Never a frown always a smile

When he says to me how’s my child

I’ve been studying hard all day in school

Tryin’ to understand the golden rule

Think I’ll color this man father

I think I’ll color him love

Said I’m gonna color him father

I think I’ll color the man love, yes I will

He says education is the thing if you wanna compete

Because without it son, life ain’t very sweet

I love this man I don’t know why

Except I’ll need his strength till the day that I die

My mother loves him and I can tell

By the way she looks at him when he holds my little sister Nell

I heard her say just the other day

That if it hadn’t been for him she wouldn’t have found her way

My real old man he got killed in the war

And she knows she and seven kids couldn’t of got very far

She said she thought that she could never love again

And then there he stood with that big wide grin

He married my mother and he took us in

And now we belong to the man with that big wide grin

Think I’ll color this man father

I think I’ll color him love

Said I’m gonna color him father

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Crosses & construction

Posted in Casita Colibrí, Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2016| 1 Comment »

This morning, I awoke to the familiar, if startling, sounds of cohetes (rockets).  Oh right, it’s Día de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross).  Alas, no pilgrimage hike up Cerro Picacho for us this year; we are still in recovery from our island adventure AND, more importantly, even at 7:30 AM, it is too darn hot!  Have I mentioned Oaxaca has been experiencing 90º – 96º F temperatures for the past month?  That’s 10º F above average.  Exhausting it is and sweltering we are.

However, before the sun was directly overhead, I returned to Benito Juárez mercado hoping my coffee guy would be there.  He wasn’t, but many of the stalls had beautifully decorated alters, fragrant with the sweet scent of flor de mayo (plumeria) blossoms.

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In Mexico, it is also Día del Albañil, the feast day of the stonemason/bricklayer/builder because, according to this article (en español):

Before the Conquest, the indigenous Mesoamerican related to the cross with the cardinal directions of the Indian cosmography north, south, east, west and central graphically formed the cross.

With the arrival of the Spaniards, this evocation was eradicated and replaced by religious symbolism of the Holy Cross.

Since then the celebration of this feast with the construction of houses, churches, monasteries, and other buildings with Indian labor was established.

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However, Sebastián and Leonardo continued working on my new counter.  And, yes, there will be tile!

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Behind the scenes with abuelas

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2016| 7 Comments »

The poster announces, Lanii xh’tee búul (La fiesta de los abuelos)  — the annual Festival of the Grandparents in Teotitlán del Valle that occurs five days immediately following Easter.  Pre-Hispanic in origin, masked “ancients,” in ritualistic, lively, and hilarious fashion, impart their “wisdom” to the village leaders at a grand “Danza de los Abuelos” on the municipal plaza.  (If only I could “get” the jokes!)

However, prior to each evening’s merriment, a home in one of the five sections of the village hosts a feast with enough food and drink to feed an army.  And, like the world over…

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…we know who are the behind-the-scenes heroes of fiestas like this.

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It is the abuelas with their hands, hearts, and mouthwatering recipes (like the mole amarillo, above) handed down from their grandmothers.

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Even while bouncing nietos (grandchildren) on their knees, with good humor, grace, and their elaborately embroidered aprons, they make certain everyone is fed.

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And, they keep a strict accounting of all that is spent!

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Procession of Silence

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2016| 8 Comments »

Late afternoon on Good Friday (Viernes Santo), the people began gathering along the sidewalks of the Andador Turístico (aka, the Alcalá), Allende, and Garcia Vigil, staking out a favored spot to watch the Procession of Silence.  Not to worry, the Girl and Boy Scouts were there to keep everything and everybody in order and to remind one and all to “please, keep silent.”

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And, lest you misbehave, there were a couple of drones hovering above the fray to record the action, both good and bad, and offering an interesting juxtaposition against Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán’s colonial architecture — the old and new of Oaxaca.IMG_1083

Daylight Savings Time hasn’t yet begun in Mexico and the setting sun offered dramatic light as Señor de La Columna emerged from Santo Domingo to take his place in the procession.IMG_1074

However, the light was fading fast as the high-pitched tones of the chirimía and the rhythmic beat of the tambor at last heralded the start of the procession and Señor de la Humildad y Paciencia made his way from Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.IMG_1110

As darkness fell, the street lights proved challenging and my photos of the 50+ religious banners, as they slowly passed my vantage point on Allende, left a lot to be desired, except for this littlest of standard bearers.IMG_1156

This year the faces of Jesús and María seemed to be lit from underneath and that helped a bit.IMG_1172

However, perhaps the darkness was whispering to me to stop making photos and just “be” with the experience.IMG_1189

This was the thirtieth year of Oaxaca’s Procesión del Silencio and so I suspect there will many more to come.

 

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Jesús y María

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Jesus and Mary up close and in color from their Viernes Santo (Good Friday) morning meeting in front of Oaxaca’s Cathedral.

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I know, some photos just beg for a caption.  Once all the Marys and Jesuses had gathered, prayers had been recited, and rituals performed, they all processed back to their home churches to rest up for the evening’s Procession of Silence.

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… including Soledad.  Since she was going my way, I walked her home.

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And, yes, she made it back to the Basilica safe and sound.

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Good Friday faces in B&W

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2016| 2 Comments »

A few Viernes Santo (Good Friday) favorites from the morning’s encounter between Jesús and María in front of the Cathedral.

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Faces that have become familiar.

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Lord of the Redemption

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lunes Santo (Holy Monday), at least here in Oaxaca, brings the Festividad del Señor del Rescate (Festival of the Lord of the Redemption).  I was clueless, until I ran into my neighbor Juan as he was returning from work.  He recommended that I and my camera check out the action in the vicinity of the Basílica de la Soledad.  I grabbed my keys and little Lumix and off I went.

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I heard the rhythmic beat of the tambor and chanted prayers before I saw El Señor and his followers paused in front of the bunker at the entrance to the Comisión de Seguridad Pública, Vialidad y Protección Civil headquarters on Av. Morelos.  An ironic or fitting (?) site for the handcuffed Jesus to stop on the Víacrucis por la Reconciliación y la Paz (Way of the Cross for Reconciliation and Peace).

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On this Lunes Santo, the (almost) full moon watched standard bearers navigate the maze of overhead wires as the procession continued to wind its way through the city’s streets.  As for me, I returned home to eat dinner — there is so much going on, one has to pace oneself.

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Semana Santa begins

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

While technically Semana Santa (Holy Week) doesn’t begin until Sunday, the six weeks of Lent has gently ushered us toward it.  Tourists, a majority from other parts of Mexico, have begun filling the streets, purple and white papel picado flutters from on high, and an artisan market has been set up on the Alcala, above Santo Domingo.

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Salvia Hispanica (aka, chia) sprouting from terracotta clay animals decorates altars — seeds which were blessed on February 2 (Feast of Candelaria).  According to an article in MexConnect, “Growing greens remind the viewer of the resurrection and renewal of life.” By the way, this is where the US entrepreneur who borrowed (stole) the idea and, in the late 1970s, gave the world “chia pets.”

P1170511And yesterday, the 6th Friday of Lent, El Día de la Virgen de Dolores (the Virgin of the Sorrows) was celebrated.  Her tearful eyes looking to the heavens in anguished sorrow.P1170513

Tomorrow is Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and El Señor del Burrito in San Antonino Castillo Velasco beckons.

FYI:  Vive Oaxaca is posting Semana Santa events on their website.

 

 

 

 

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Team Litzy

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Education, Parks & Plazas, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2016| 2 Comments »

Friday morning I returned to Llano Park for this year’s fifth and final Viernes del Llano, an only in Oaxaca Lenten tradition sponsored by the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca.  A few weeks ago, when I arrived at 8:30 AM, the crowds were already four deep and, initially, I couldn’t get anywhere close to the action.  Not wanting a repeat, this week I got there at 8:00 AM to discover not many people and preparations just beginning.  Looking for something to find, I came across Litzy, one of the 18 contestants having her makeup applied.

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Like most of the young women, Litzy wasn’t alone.  A team of industrious and enthusiastic supporters were there before, during, and after to help, wave banners and balloons, and cheer as she passed by.

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Like the other contestants, she was presented with bouquets upon bouquets of flowers — way too many for one person to carry.  Thus, a team of her admirers was required to follow along to assist.IMG_0755

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The time came for the winners to be announced:  Five young women were recognized for their efforts and dedication, two for their truncheon(?) and organization of their groups, another for her eloquence, and another was named Miss Photogenic.  But, what about Litzy?  The suspense continued to build as the announcer spoke and paused and spoke and paused and then the name, Litzy Guadalupe González Montes was announced as the Madrina del Quinto Viernes del Llano!P1170423

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Felicidades to a lovely and very gracious young woman.  It was a pleasure to briefly tag along on her journey.

(ps)  Chris has more photos from this week at Viernes del Llano – Beauty abounds.

 

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Bougainvilleas, aguas & Good Samaritans

Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Culture, Food, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2016| 4 Comments »

If it’s the fourth Friday of Lent and you are in Oaxaca, it must be Día de la Samaritana — a wonderful “only in Oaxaca” celebration.  From bougainvillea decorated stands in doorways throughout the city and banquet tables lining the Alcalá in front of Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo…

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… divinely flavored aguas frescas made with fresh fruits and flowers — jamaica, horchata, chilacayota, tamarindo, among other colorful and refreshing beverages — were offered.

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Día de la Samaritana is inspired by the Gospel of John story in the New Testament:  At noon, a tired and, apparently, thirsty Jesus, on his way to Galilee, asks a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in Sychar for some water.  His request was highly unusual because, according to the Old Testament, “Jews regarded the Samaritans as foreigners and their attitude was often hostile.”  The woman complied with his request and the rest is history.

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For me, the day embodies the warm, welcoming, and generous spirit of the people of Oaxaca.  It’s just another reason why I love living in Oaxaca.

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Young and hip in Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Parks & Plazas, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2016| 6 Comments »

Viernes del Llano, where young hip Oaxaqueños and flowers, music, and tradition meet.

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The five Friday mornings following Ash Wednesday, Llano Park is the place to be.  For early risers, only — by 9:30 AM, it’s all over but the clean-up.

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