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Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

We’ve only just begun

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2013| 10 Comments »

Yesterday, we began the marathon than is Guelaguetza in Oaxaca.  First on the day’s agenda was a morning trip to Reyes Etla.

The Señor de las Peñas church sits atop at hill and views of the lush green fields (gracias, rainy season) and the mountains were breathtaking.

Cactus, farmland, mountains

Impossibly adorable children danced and shared, in the spirit of Guelaguetza.

Boy and girl in traje throwing candy to audience

We were in the heartland of Oaxaca cheese country for the crowning of  Jimena Santiago Vasquez, as queen of the third Expo Feria de Queso y Quesillo.

Girl with crown and red sash

Did I say cheese?  Oh, yes — stalls and stalls of yummy cheese.  The fair runs through Monday and we will be back!

Woman selling cheese

Next on our itinerary was a return to the city for a little (?) gluttony — the Festival de los 7 Moles opening banquet on the grounds of the Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca.  Botanas Oaxaqueña (cheese, chicharrón, chiles rellenos), followed by Sopa de Fandango, 15 (not 7) Moles, 4 Tipos de Arroz, followed by a platter of pastries and scoops of Leche Quemada and Tuna nieves (sorbets).  Oh, and did I mention, cervesas and mezcal?

Lines of serving platters and people

We even got a little culture, as author, Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate) spoke, though it was a little hard to hear her, with all the eating, drinking, and related conversations!

Profile of Laura Esquivel

Moving rather slowly, we pushed back from the table and headed down to the Alameda (oh, it felt good to walk!) to take in the last stage of the Diosa Centéotl competition — the chosen “Goddess” presides over Guelaguetza.  However, the area surrounding the tented stage was a mass of people by the time we arrived and the best I could do was see the backs of the magnificent traje.  (See Chris’s blog for close-ups from the stage one competition.)  And, the winner is…  Dulce Yanet Grijalba Martínez, from the Zapotec community of San Pablo Villa de Mitla.

Backs of women sitting in traditional dress

After a brief siesta, I rendezvoused with some young friends and we walked over to the Plaza de la Danza for a free performance by Alejandra Robles, one of my favorite Oaxaqueña singers.  (For video from the last time I saw her, click HERE.)

Alejandra Robles

The night was still young for my young friends and they were off to get a nieve at Jardín Socrates.  I was off to bed, because I’d already had my day’s allowance of nieve AND we’ve only just begun!

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Out of the street, into the museum!

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2013| 4 Comments »

Oaxaca is alive with street art these days — even more than usual and that’s saying a lot!  As part of their Hecho en Oaxaca (Made in Oaxaca) exhibition, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca) invited a dozen well-known and accomplished urban artists to transform the walls of the museum and the Historic District of the city.

A lifetime ago, prior to becoming a librarian, I was a registered nurse, first working in a hospital and then as a visiting nurse.  The current MACO exhibit reminded me of one of the primary reasons why I much preferred the latter — it was the creativity needed in creating treatment plans to provide care in a patient’s often-times challenging home environment.

The imagination and inventiveness required to create art on crumbling walls with windows, doors, meters, and electrical boxes, never ceases to amaze me.  As you can see below, even in MACO, that same vision is evident in the use of the museum’s many rooms and courtyards — including incorporating doorways, window sills, and colonial era frescos.

 Yescka…

Wall in Oaxaca’s Historic District
MACO

Retna…

Pan Am restaurant on Matamoros
MACO

Dr Lakra…

Porfirio Díaz at corner of Jesús Carranza
MACO

Swoon…

Calle Tinoco y Palacios
MACO

Saner…

Mercado IV Centenario
MACO

If you love Oaxaca’s street art, get yourself to MACO.  The exhibition runs through the first week of October 2013.

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It’s a Colibrí galaxy

Posted in Animals, Creativity, Culture, Science & Nature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Colibríes?  I can’t resist!

Hummingbird from a wall in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas…

Hummingbird painted on wall

Hummingbird from a NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope photo…

Hubble image looks like the profile of a hummingbird

Separated at birth?  Cool article from Slate about this photo…

The Hummingbird Galaxy

I was pondering writing a longish post about the picture above, talking about what galaxies are, how they can physically collide, how their gravity can twist and distort their shapes into all sorts of weird things …

But seriously. That galaxy looks like a hummingbird.* What more do you need?

OK, you need a little more. For one, I’ve written quite a bit about how galaxy collisions happen, so you can read about how these work here and here. The two galaxies in this collision are called NGC 2936 (the blue birdie one) and NGC 2937 (the smaller cottonball one). Together they are known as Arp 142, named for an astronomer who observed weird, distorted galaxy pairs.They’re located about 300 million light-years from Earth.

Two things really stand out to me in this picture (besides a galaxy that looks like a flippin’ hummingbird). One is the long, delicate tendril of dark reddish dust exhumed from the previously spiral-shaped galaxy NGC 2936, flung into a long arc across tens of thousands of light-years of space. I wish we had more three-dimensional data here; I’d love to know what this structure really looks like from different angles. Since dust is very dark, it blocks light coming from behind it, so this tendril is in front of the hummingbird galaxy, or perhaps embedded in it.

The other thing is that the smaller galaxy seems to have survived this collision pretty well. The shape is only mildly distorted; you can see a bit of off-centered nature to the glow of stars around the core. I suspect its more compact nature has a lot to do with that; the stars are closer together, perhaps, and the overall gravity of all those stars helped it retain its shape.

And there is one other thing. These are two very different galaxies colliding! The ex-spiral galaxy is very blue, indicating lots of star formation happened recently. Young, massive stars are blue, and when galaxies collide, the gravitational interaction can cause huge clouds of gas to collapse and furiously form stars.

The other galaxy is yellower, indicating an older, more stable population—blue stars don’t live long, so a galaxy this color must not have formed stars in a long, long time. Billions of years, for sure. You can tell by looking that it doesn’t have much gas and dust in it, which fits; if it had, the collision would have stirred them up, and we’d see more blue stars there as well.

Note too that you can see a handful of far more distant galaxies in the picture. The ones to the lower right are red, which is most likely due to having their light absorbed and reddened by the dust in the hummingbird galaxy; that’s another thing interstellar dust does, much like dust and haze in the air can make a sunset look red.

All in all, there’s a lot going on in this image! The hummingbird shape makes me smile, and don’t get me wrong, it’s cool. But what you’re seeing here is far more than just a shape in the clouds; you are seeing a massive collision on a cosmic scale, the collective might of 100 billion suns, their gravity reaching out and twisting the shapes of these galaxies, stretching them like taffy, molding them like clay.

The Universe operates on the grandest of all scales, manipulating forces and energies far too large for us to grasp in our puny brains. Yet when it does so, it generates beauty and perhaps even amusement in those same brains. It helps us appreciate it and gives us another reason to want to. And, after a while, we really can begin to grasp what the Universe is telling us.

Maybe our brains aren’t so puny after all.

*Some folks say it looks like a penguin. I can see that, but it’s silly. I mean, c’mon, a galaxy shaped like a penguin? Ridiculous.

h/t Chris

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Cast of characters

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

We returned to Teotitlán del Valle on Tuesday and Wednesday for performances of the Danza de la Pluma, a ritual re-enactment of the battles between the Aztec and Spanish.  According to OaxacaWiki:

The origin of this dance goes back to the spiritual and physical conquest of Mexico by the Spanish – La Guerra de Conquista. The dance originated in the town of Cuilpam de Guerrero where Martin Cortes (son of Cortes) celebrated the first baptism of his child. Martin played the role of his father and the locals played the roles of the conquered indigenous peoples.

The story is told in 41 bailes (dances) and lasts from early afternoon into the night.  Selected years in advance, it is an honor to be a dancer and they perform their roles for 3 years.  This week, during the multi-day fiesta honoring Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, we saw the first performances by the new cast and they looked great!

Presenting the Cast of Characters

Montezuma

Doña Marina (hat) and Malinche (headdress)

2 Subalternos

16 Danzantes:  Teotiles (2), Capitánes (2), Reyes (4), and Vasallos (8)

They are going to be fun to watch during the next 3 years.   (By the way, the costumes may change from day-to-day, but the cast remains the same.)

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Let the festivities begin!

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2013| 9 Comments »

Monday, we returned to Teotitlán del Valle for the Fiesta titular a la Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo — the pueblo’s most important festival of the year.  While special masses have been celebrated at the Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo (the village church) since June 30, Monday’s convite (procession) by the unmarried women in the village, kicked off the more public events.

Lovingly decorated canastas (baskets) waited in the church to be reclaimed by their owners, placed on their heads, and carried through the streets.

Crowds gathered in the plaza in front of the church and sidewalks and streets along the route.

And then it began — with solemn drum beats, fireworks, church bells, marmotas (cloth balloons on a pole), and a band.

Little boys (and a few girls) carrying model airplanes (don’t ask me why), paper mache lambs, and turkeys followed.

And then came the neatly organized rows of girls and young women.

For over an hour they wound their way up and down and around the streets of Teotitlán del Valle.  The weather was perfect, no late afternoon thunder showers this year, and it was glorious.

Stay tuned, the festivities continue all week.  And, check out Oaxaca-The Year After this week for blogger buddy Chris’s photos and commentary.

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Sunday in Tlacolula

Posted in Culture, Food, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2013| 13 Comments »

Sunday is market day in Tlacolula.  The sounds and sights…

piles of gourds

The smells and tastes…

Chicken on a grill

And, most of all, the people…

Woman carrying tlayudas on head

Much needed chicken soup for my soul.

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Technicolor

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2013| 3 Comments »

Ahhh…  I’m back in my new and improved Casita Colibrí.  Friday night, with lightning flashing all around the Embraer, my fellow passengers and I bounced our way across Mexico and back to Oaxaca.  Gracias, Hurricane Erick for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!  With appreciation and relief, spontaneous applause erupted when the little plane landed.

There have been many changes in the 7 weeks I’d been gone…  Juan finished the screens on my doors and windows; they are beautifully made and not a single mosquito has been seen or heard!  I left at the end of the dry season; golden-brown hills and fields and a constant coating of dust dulled nature’s and human-applied colors.  I returned to the lush green hills and fields of the rainy season and the lustrous green leaves and red-orange blossoms of my African tulip trees.

And, new street art gleamed…

New art in courtyard of MACO.
New mural on Tinoco y Palacios.
New restaurant at 400 Matamoros.

Oaxaca in technicolor!

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B-ball, Oaxaca style

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Basketball is big in Oaxaca and  was big news to me!

In Teotitlán del Valle, located in the valley Oaxaca, there is a tradition of climbing El Picacho on Día de la Santa Cruz (May 3).  I’d also heard celebrations also included an annual basketball tournament.  Sure enough, the sound of a play-by-play announcer, ref’s whistle, and buzzer occasionally floated up to our perch on the top of the mountain.  When we descended El Picacho via a different route, we came to a basketball court a few blocks from the village center, and an intense game in progress, with other teams waiting in the wings — in this case, the road!

Basketball game with mountain in background

Eight days later, we drove up into the Mixe in Oaxaca’s Sierre Norte for the Fiesta de Mayo in Santa María Tlahuitoltepec.  Once there, we were directed to a basketball court (did we hear correctly?) at the center of town — the mercado off to one side; church on another side; municipal buildings off to another.  We had expected folkloric dancers or ceremonial presentations, but were surprised to find a basketball tournament in progress.  It eventually ended and the expected dancing began.

Partially covered basket ball court.

According to Hoop Dreams in Oaxaca:

Any proper town in Latin America has a church facing a plaza — except the towns of the Sierra Norte region of Mexico, where Jorge Santiago is from.

“In my part of the Sierra, the basketball courts are like the zócalo in the colonial city,” Mr. Santiago said, using a Mexican word for “plaza.” “It’s really the most important part of the town. A respectable town has a church, and a basketball court in front of the church.”

Read full article HERE.

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Guelaguetza, here and there

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2013| 8 Comments »

Oaxaca’s annual Guelaguetza festival honoring the traditions of costume, dance, and sharing of the eight regions of the state of Oaxaca is less than a month away.  There will be competitions leading up to the choosing of Goddess Centeotl to preside over the festival and parades by the delegations through the city on the two Saturdays that precede the July 22 and 29 programs at the Guelaguetza Auditorium on Cerro Fortín.

There will official and alternative celebrations in the city and surrounding villages.  According to yesterday’s press conference, more than 70 events are scheduled and Lila Downs will be the official Guelaguetza 2013 ambassador.  Hmmm… I wonder what that means?  Surprise Lila Downs performances?  It’s Oaxaca, so you just never know!

To get everyone in the spirit, here’s a few photos from another of Oaxaca’s wonderful urban art covered walls.  It celebrates the heritage of Oaxaca and can be found at José López Alavez 1406, in the Xochimilco neighborhood of the city.

By the way, this past Sunday, San Francisco’s North Bay residents got an early and small flavor of Guelaguetza.  Oaxacan dances, dishes and costumes in Santa Rosa entertained over 1,000 spectators and, no doubt, the hearts of the Oaxaqueños participating and in the audience swelled with pride.  If I’d only known about it in advance, I would have gladly extricated myself from the complexities and minutiae of getting my grandparents’ house ready to sell and driven up there for a taste of Oaxaca.  They were even serving tlayudas!

Oh well, this time next month I will be happily back in Oaxaca and, no doubt, be exhausted, exhilarated, and pouring through hundreds of photos from the first week of Guelaguetza activities.

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Tempest tossed

Posted in Creativity, Culture, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2013| 1 Comment »

This wall in Oaxaca says it all.  Have I mentioned, I’m counting the days until my return?!!

Small at top of big wave.

Here’s hoping Cameron Conaway is right and this is, “The storm before the calm.” (Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet)

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Fathers of Oaxaca, 2013

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2013| 6 Comments »

It’s the annual fathers (and a couple of grandfathers) of Oaxaca slideshow…  I never tire of seeing these guys with their hijas and hijos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

To loving and responsible fathers everywhere, may you continue to do what you do.   And a special shout-out to my son!

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Sanez, street rolling man

Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2013| 4 Comments »

One can see his art all over the city.  I’d first been wowed by the scale, symbolism, and style of his work early last year, when walking up Matamoros to meet a friend who was staying at Hotel Azucenas.  At Calle Prof. M. Aranda, I was stopped dead in my tracks — the entire front of the building next to the hotel had been transformed. Using a roller, not brush or spray can, the artist known as Sanez turned it into a work of art.

In September 2012, Sanez again worked his magic on this tired old building — this time creating “El Canto del Agua” (The Song of Water).  According to the article, Mesoamerican Peoples Express their Solidarity by Jonathan Treat, using “symbols of the Aztec god of rain, fertility and water—Tláloc, and corn, forests, animals, campesinos and campesinos and traditional Oaxaca fiestas… Sánez honors indigenous peoples struggling to defend their territories:  [The mural is] ‘Dedicated to the peoples who organize to defend their commons and the common good—Mexico and Canada.’”

Another close encounter with the work of Sanez occurred last month when I ventured across Republica into Barrio de Jalatlaco.  Besides its un-city-like tranquility and quaint tree-lined, but treacherous, cobblestone streets, this bucolic neighborhood always has great street art.  However, I didn’t expect to find the restaurant, Fuego y Sazón, playing host to the unmistakeable style of Sanez.  Wow!

And then…  Just a few days before this current trip to California, I was at Gorilla Gallery (Crespo 213) talking to Jason Pfohl (glass artist and guiding spirit behind Gorilla Glass) when Sanez came in.  He came to discuss plans for his live painting on glass event at the gallery.  Alas, I was already in the US on May 31, when it occurred.  However, if you are currently in Oaxaca, you can see the finished piece at the gallery on Thursdays between 2 and 8 PM.  Besides the immense glass canvas, the gallery is featuring prints by Sanez — and I’m sure Jason would be happy to discuss the distinctive tattoo work of Sanez.

In addition, you might want to slow down when driving along Constituyentes behind Mercado de Abastos — that giant billboard mural towering above the weeds and refuse is another of Sanez’s masterpieces.

 

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Almost like being there

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Food, Markets, People, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| 12 Comments »

I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area for a lengthy stay — a necessary trip to el norte to sell my grandparents house.  I’ve only been here for three weeks but I’m missing Oaxaca, already!  However, driving up Solano Ave. on my way to Berkeley, a storefront caught my eye.  Skeletons, tapetes, a riot of color…

P1080660

Where am I???

P1080659

Casa Oaxaca is a gift shop featuring arts and crafts from Southern Mexico.  Artesanía from Chiapas, Guerrero, Puebla, and (of course) Oaxaca cram every nook and cranny of the store.

Casa Oaxaca’s delightful owner, Guillermo (“Memo”) Robles, was born and raised in the city of Oaxaca and he returns frequently on buying trips.  All items are carefully (and lovingly, I think) bought directly from crafts people and artisan collectives.

P1080651

I stood talking with Memo for almost 30 minutes and, surrounded by the artesanía I have come to know and love, it was almost like being back in my adopted city.  Ahhh…  If you go, don’t forget to look up!

P1080649

I’ve also discovered Mi Pueblo Food Center in San Rafael, one of a small, privately owned, chain of supermarkets in Northern California.  I came home with Tajin seasoning, a bag of still warm tortillas, a whole roast chicken, quesillo, along with fruit, fresh herbs, vegetables, and a case of Modelo Especial (the latter especially for my son, in whose home I’m staying) — all for a better price than the unnamed, but well-known, big chains.  On my next visit, I’ve got to try their tamales.

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Anywhere you hang your hat

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

3 straw hats on concrete wall

Still life at Matria, Jardín Arterapéutico.

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That open door

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2013| 1 Comment »

Cars in Oaxaca?  They range from decrepit VW Beetles held together with duct tape to the latest shiny black tinted windowed SUVs.  Most lean toward the former — the cobblestones, potholes, and dirt roads can rapidly speed-up the aging process.

However, like young men worldwide are wont to do, no matter the make and model, Oaxaqueños love to customize their rides.  This one caught my eye in San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula:

Green Nissan with a Lambo door

The doors are known as Lambo (after Lamborghini), scissor, butterfly, switchblade, jack-knife and beetle-wing doors.  Take your pick!  R Kelly song lyrics came to mind:

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly

By the way, should you too want to install Lambo doors on your car, you can find instructions here.  Who knew???

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