A slideshow from yesterday’s Guelaguetza Parade of Delegations.
There is so much going on!
Archive for the ‘Celebrations’ Category
Going Guelaguetza, 1
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, tagged desfile, Desfile de Delegaciones, Guelaguetza, Mexico, Oaxaca, Parade of Delegations, photographs, photos on July 22, 2012| 4 Comments »
A perfect day, part 1
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged baskets, canastas, exhibition, exhibits, flor inmortal, Guelaguetza, Las Chinas Oaxaqueñas, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Antonino Castillo Velasco, San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, San Mateo Macuilxóchitl, Zimatlán de Álvarez on July 20, 2012| 4 Comments »
It didn’t start that way; I awoke to horrifying news from Colorado. Thank goodness blogger buddy Chris called and the heart that beats in Oaxaca beckoned.
First stop was the “Al Son del Valle,” an exhibition of canastas from 17 villages in the central valleys of Oaxaca. These are baskets that are carried on the heads of women during calendas (parades); you may remember them from previous posts on the convites in Teotitlán del Valle. The art of crafting canastas and the traditions and culture they represent have been proudly and lovingly passed down through the generations.
San Antonino Castillo Velasco canasta decorated with Flor Inmortal, the flower that never dies.
Canasta from San Mateo Macuilxóchitl
From San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, these canastas are lit and become pinwheels of fireworks at the end of a calenda.
Canasta of Las Chinas Oaxaqueñas of the city of Oaxaca
Canasta from Tlacolula de Matamoros.
Canasta from Zimatlán de Álvarez made of crepe paper.
Muchas gracias, Oaxaca, I needed that!
Let the festivities begin!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged costumes, festivals, Government Palace, Guelaguetza, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxaca Xaba Lulá, photographs, photos, traje on July 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the modern Guelaguetza festival in Oaxaca. The calendar is filled with official Guelaguetza activities and other events that take advantage of the massive annual influx of tourists (especially from other parts of Mexico). The colorful and distinctive costumes worn by the Guelaguetza delegations from each of the 8 regions of the state of Oaxaca play a major role in wowing visitors and residents — including, me!
Huipil de San Andrés Chicahuaxtla, Putla Villa de Guerrero, Oax.
As a result, the “Oaxaca Xaba Lulá” exhibition has been mounted in the Government Palace.
Traje de la Villa Sola de Vega, Oax.
These are only a fraction of the items on exhibit and the photos were chosen primarily because they showed the least amount of reflection on the plexiglass display cases. It is a beautiful, but challenging to photograph, setting!
Huipil de San Bartolomé, Ayautla, Teotitlán, Oax.
The collection of trajes típicos (typical costumes) representing the 8 regions of Oaxaca runs through the end of the month.
Rebozo de San Juan Colorado, Jamiltepec, Oax.
The dresses, hats and accessories were donated by Oaxacan citizens from different regions of the state and were made in the traditional way, with many using natural dyes.
Huipil de Gala de San Lucas Ojitlán, Tuxtepec, Oax.
At the July 6 opening, José Zorrilla de San Martin Diego (Minister of Tourism and Economic Development), explained that they reflect a cultural essence that has prevailed for centuries in customs and traditions of the people of Oaxaca.
Funda de San Jerónimo Tecoátl, Teotitlán. Oax.
He observed that the Oaxacan costumes are a reflection of the depth of the culture, traditions, and ancestral weaving techniques that have been passed from generation to generation of Oaxacan hands.
Traje de Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Mixe, Oax.
“The huipiles display in all their splendor the details that form a labyrinth of colors, a tiny universe that reflects the vastness of fertile nature and the symbolism that characterizes our native land and which graces the greatest festival of Oaxacaños,” Zorrilla de San Martin Diego very poetically suggested.
Huipil de Jalapa de Díaz, Tuxtepec, Oax.
Needless to say, during the next two weeks, I’m going to try to hit as many of the fairs, parades, dances, and exhibitions as possible. Stay tuned…
Respect and ritual
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged cargo system, cargosMexico, danzantes, Doña Marina, festivals, fiestas, La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Malinche, Oaxaca, patronal festividad, photographs, photos, soldados, Teotitlán del Valle, travel on July 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The convite (covered in the Uplifting post) is only one of the traditions of the patronal festival of La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo. During the five days of the celebration, the church is filled with floral arrangements and believers stream in and out clutching flowers; the Danza de la Pluma (with Moctezuma, Cortez, Malinche, Doña Marina, danzantes, and soldados) is performed several times; and the cargo holders of the community preside, are honored, and presented with fresh fruits, vegetables, sacred herbs, and beverages.
Sunday was another amazing day in Teotitlán del Valle. And I haven’t even mentioned the tacos and tamales we devoured during our three visits this past week!
Uplifting…
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Religion, tagged convite, danzantes, El Picacho, festivals, fiestas, La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Mexico, Oaxaca, parade, patronal festividad, photographs, photos, sacred mountain, soldados, Teotitlán del Valle, travel on July 7, 2012| 10 Comments »
Late yesterday afternoon, we returned to Teotitlán del Valle for the convite (parade) of unmarried young women and girls, a part of the annual patronal festival of La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo. The sun was shining, the rains of two days before were nowhere to be seen, and the sacred mountain, El Picacho, gracefully, but commandingly, presided as the soldados and danzantes entered the church courtyard.
Bands also arrived to take part…
Canastas (baskets) were lined up, ready to be carried…
The young men of the village gathered…
Family and friends awaited…
And then the young unmarried women and girls, the stars of the evening, raised the canastas over their heads…
Balancing the canastas, they processed from the courtyard, down several long and cobblestone blocks, turned left, and headed back up another street to where they had begun, to be greeted by proud family and friends, who had gathered to acknowledge and celebrate the young women and girls of Teotitlán del Valle.
For some inexplicable reason, we never cease to feel moved and uplifted by this ritual.
Food for the soul
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged festivals, fiestas, La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Mexico, Oaxaca, patronal festividad, photographs, photos, Teotitlán del Valle, travel on July 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, fellow blogger, Chris, and I drove out to Teotitlán del Valle for their yearly patronal festividad de La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo. The rains came and we didn’t stay long. But, as we almost always find, just being out there provides much appreciated food for the soul.
¡Feliz día del padre!
Posted in Celebrations, tagged Día del Padre, Father's Day, fathers and children, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on June 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The fathers of Oaxaca…
Let’s hear it for the mothers!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, tagged Día de la Madre, Liza Bakewell, Madre: Perilous Journeys With a Spanish Noun, Mexico, Mother's Day, mothers, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, women on May 10, 2012| 3 Comments »
Today, May 10, is Día de la Madre in Mexico and it is celebrated in much the same way as in el norte.
The celebration migrated south from the USA in the early 20th century and was embraced and promoted by the Catholic Church AND the anticlerical Revolutionaries. As for their reasons, I will quote from Liza Bakewell’s book, Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun.
… around the 1850s the Liberals… were nervous about women’s growing participation in the public sphere. Establishing motherhood as venerable and the home as sanctified… would give women a sphere of their own where they could be boss. Also, it would keep them off the streets and out of the workplace where they had begun to compete with men for jobs.
Under their watch, everyday motherhood became an exalted madre-hood…. The twentieth-century Revolutionaries who succeeded them took the idea and ran with it, adding in 1922 a ritual, Mother’s Day… [p. 84]
Needless to say, the women of Mexico have not stayed home! As I write, hundreds of women are marching on Mexico City, participating in the March of National Dignity: Mothers Looking for their Sons and Daughters and Searching for Justice. And, as for the workforce, according to a report citing the 2010 census, 33.3% of women work and this doesn’t even include those working in family operated enterprises.
However distasteful the reasons behind the establishment of Mother’s Day in Mexico, it does nothing to diminish the need to honor these beautiful, hardworking, formidable, and loving women.
¡Feliz Día de la Madre mis compañeras!
Feliz cumpleaños MACO
Posted in Buildings, Celebrations, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged Contemporary Art Museum of Oaxaca, MACO, Mexico, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, numbers, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on May 4, 2012| 2 Comments »
A belated Happy 20th Birthday, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca!
As the theme of the birthday celebration on February 28th said, Say ‘Coma’ Twenty Times,
COMA, COMA, CO-MACO, MACO, MACO…
Come say, Feliz Cumpleaños MACO, in person!
May Day in Oaxaca
Posted in Celebrations, Economics, Holidays, Labor, Protests, tagged Confederación de Trabajadores de México, CTM, Día de los Trabajadores, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores, demonstrations, holiday, International Workers' Day, labor, May Day, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, workers on May 1, 2012| 4 Comments »
Like 80+ countries in the world, International Workers’ Day is a national holiday in Mexico. Early this morning in Oaxaca, streets were closed as contingents began gathering and then marching toward the city center. And for hours, they poured into the Zócalo and Alameda for speeches, music, and bottle rockets, all of which will, no doubt, continue for hours more.
FYI: CTM stand for the Confederación de Trabajadores de México, the largest confederation of Mexican labor unions. Think, AFL-CIO in El Norte (though with some significant differences).
¡Feliz Día Internacional de los Trabajadores!
Update: For a more nuanced view of yesterday’s march, see the report by longtime resident, Nancy Davies.
Children’s Day
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, tagged children, Children's Day, costumes, Día del Nino, kids, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, traje on April 30, 2012| 2 Comments »
When I was a child and asked, “If there is a Mother’s Day and a Father’s day, why isn’t there a Children’s Day?” My mother’s usual reply was, “Everyday is children’s day!” Hmmm… I never did buy her explanation, until I had kids of my own. However, here in Mexico, there is a day to celebrate children and today is that day — Día del Niño, a day when children are made to feel special.
Schools organize parties with games and treats instead of lessons, parents may give their niños y niñas gifts, and special community activities for kids are organized. Yesterday, here in the city, the Service Workers Union threw an all day party for 5,000 children in the annex of the Eduardo Vasconcelos baseball stadium. There were box lunches, candy (of course), a petty zoo, games, shows, and even a raffle for new bicycles.
So, here’s to the girls and boys of Oaxaca…
To their good humor.
Their pride in celebrating their communities…
Their beauty…
Their amazing patience…
Even when they are shy and tired.
And, especially to the street children, who, despite the challenges of their lives, seem to find ways to “just be kids.”
And, then there were fireworks!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, tagged 480th anniversary, birthday, celebrations, fireworks, fuegos artificiales, Happy Birthday Oaxaca, history, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Tonight, instead of candles…
Fuegos artificiales exploded from the Alameda de León…
As Oaxaca celebrated her 480th birthday!
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Oaxaca!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, tagged 480th anniversary, calendas, celebrations, Happy Birthday Oaxaca, history, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Today is Oaxaca’s 480th birthday as a colonial city . Of course, among other events, a calenda (parade) marked the date.
In 1532 Spanish settlers (their bloody way paved by Hernán Cortés and his conquistadores) successfully petitioned the Queen of Spain for a land grant of 1 square league. The colonists had already established their own town on the site of Huaxyacac, renamed it Antequera (after an old Roman city in Spain) and received a Royal Charter from King Charles I of Spain.
However, Cortés had successfully gotten the entire Valley of Oaxaca (hundreds of thousands of acres) declared as his own private marquisate and, his greed knowing no bounds, kept trying to evict the colonial townspeople. By obtaining the queen’s charter, this end-run around Cortés insured the rights of the townspeople to the land.
Thus, April 25th continues to be celebrated as Oaxaca’s birthday. ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!
My cup runneth over…
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, tagged calenda, Children's Guelaguetza, Costa, costume, culture, Guelaguetza, Infantil Guelaguetza, Istmo, Mexico, Mixteca, Oaxaca, Papaloapan, parade, penachos, photographs, photos, traditional regional dances, traje, Tuxtepec, Valles Centrales de Oaxaca on April 21, 2012| 6 Comments »
Friday was a delightful day… a late morning and early afternoon spent in leisurely conversation with one of my closest friends over desayuno at Cocina Economica Isabel, a stop at the Merced mercado to pick up some pan dulce, and a stroll through the Zócalo, before returning home. I envisioned a late afternoon and evening of visiting with my neighbor before she is heads north for a USA visit, catching up on email, and watching a movie. Perfection, I thought! Who could ask for more?
“More” came via my email inbox; notice of the 10th Guelaguetza Infantil, with a calenda (parade) from Santo Domingo de Guzmán to the Zócalo beginning at 6 PM. This definitely called for a change of plans! And, sure enough, as I got closer to Santo Domingo, there they were; delegations of children representing the regions of Oaxaca.
Istmo de Tehuantepec couple (a young Frida Kahlo, perhaps?) posing for photos.
There were several bands playing and it got a little too loud for this girl from the Istmo.
However this girl, representing the Papaloapan, didn’t seem to mind and was ready to toss candy to the crowd. She wasn’t alone — once the calenda started, candy began flying fast and furious and the pockets of the kids watching on the sidelines began bulging!
Girls from the Costa region received last-minute instructions.
Costa boys were charged with holding up their school banner.
The girls representing the Papaloapan clutched plastic pineapples, ready for the always popular Flor de Piña dance from Tuxtepec.
A little cross cultural comparing of notes (actually, cell phone games) was happening between the Istmo and Papaloapan.
All the while, the dancers from the Mixteca danced their way down the Álcala.
And, the young Danza de la Pluma danzantes, representing the Valles Centrales, carefully balanced their penachos (headdresses).
Tonight at 5 pm, these 300 kids from 52 preschools, will perform traditional regional dances in the auditorium of the Universidad Regional del Sureste, Rosario campus in San Sebastián Tutla.
Beyond bunnies and thinking
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Culture, Holidays, Music, Religion, tagged Carmen Alto, castillo, culture, Danza de la Pluma, Easter, fireworks, fuegos artificiales, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pascuas, photo, photographs, Semana Santa, toritos, travel, video on April 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »
It’s been a week since the end of Semana Santa and I’m still sorting through photos and videos and reflecting on impressions and feelings. However, I’m finding that, with too much thinking, the experience slips through the fingers and the magic vanishes.
Thus, I give you the night of Pascuas (Easter) at Carmen Alto…
And then, the hisses, bangs, and brilliant explosions of a castillo…
brought Semana Santa to a spectacular close.
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