Today is Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) in Mexico. A stroll around town revealed…
Like almost everyday in Oaxaca, La Raza are working incredibly hard!
Archive for the ‘People’ Category
Día de la Raza in Oaxaca
Posted in History, Holidays, People, tagged Día de la Raza, Mexico, Oaxaca, workers on October 12, 2011| 3 Comments »
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Posted in People, tagged Apple, iShop Mixup, Mexico, Oaxaca, Steve Jobs on October 6, 2011| 2 Comments »
I’m an Apple person… from the Apple II days… even before I worked at a library funded by Apple employee #5, Rod Holt. I’m writing this on my MacBook Pro and I just upgraded from my ancient (by computer carbon dating) iPod Shuffle (max 100 tunes) to a new 64 GB iPod Touch.
Like most of the world, I’m incredibly saddened by the loss of creative genius, Steve Jobs. So, when my neighbor proposed going up to the newly opened iShop Mixup (it’s what the official Apple stores are called in Mexico) in Colonia Reforma, to see what was happening, I enthusiastically agreed. I’d been watching CNN International and their coverage of iPad virtual flames and real flower memorials in front of Apple Stores from Cupertino, California to China. With camera in hand, I thought there would be a great photo-op, blog material, and a chance to pay tribute to the person who had eased my non-techie brain’s entry into computer being, who put the end-user at the forefront, and who encouraged new grads to “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
Alas, there was nothing… no flowers… no black ribbon over the doorway… no photos of Steve Jobs… no virtual candles flickering on the iPads, MacBook Airs, and iPhones… not even a tribute posted on the Oaxaca iShop Mixup Facebook page. When I returned home a couple of hours ago, I posted the Spanish language version of Steve’s 2005 commencement speech at Stanford and the front page article (en español) from CNN México on their Facebook page.
Why nothing? Perhaps it’s because the store is new and hasn’t become a center for Apple users. But, I think it’s also because… according to The Oaxaca Fund Initiative, “Over 76% of its residents live in extreme poverty, lacking basic necessities such as food, water, education and healthcare.” Staying hungry isn’t a just metaphor.
Paz on independence movement
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, People, Politics, tagged El Grito, Grito de Dolores, José Clemente Orozco, Labyrinth of Solitude, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Oaxaca, Octavio Paz on September 15, 2011| 2 Comments »
Octavio Paz, writing about the Mexican independence movement in The Labyrinth of Solitude:
The eighteenth century prepared the way for the Independence movement. In fact, the science and philosophy of the epoch… were necessary intellectual antecedents of the Grito de Dolores. [p. 118]
…the insurgents vacillated between Independence (Morelos) and modern forms of autonomy (Hidalgo). The war began as a protest against the abuses of the metropolis and the Spanish bureaucracy, but it was also, and primarily, a protest against the great native landholders. It was not a rebellion of the local aristocracy against the metropolis but of the people against the former. Therefore the revolutionaries gave greater importance to certain social reforms than to Independence itself: Hidalgo proclaimed the abolition of slavery and Morelos broke up the great estates.
Banner on Oaxaca's Municipal Building; reproduction of mural by José Clemente Orozco of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.
The Revolution of Independence was a class war, and its nature cannot be understood correctly unless we recognize the fact that unlike what happened in South America, it was an agrarian revolt in gestation. This is why the army (with its criollos like Iturbide), the Church and the great landowners supported the Spanish crown… [p. 123]
Paz, Octavio. The labyrinth of solitude, the other Mexico; Return of the labyrinth of solitude; Mexico and the United States; The philanthropic ogre. New York: Grove Press, 1985
Heroines & Heroes of Independence
Posted in Buildings, History, Holidays, Parks & Plazas, People, tagged El Grito, Grito de Dolores, José María Morelos y Pavón, Josefa Ortiz Domínguez, Leona Vicario, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Miguel Hidalgo de Costilla, Municipal Building, Oaxaca, Plaza de la Danza on September 13, 2011| 3 Comments »
In Mexico, from small pueblos (villages) to large ciudades (cities), most all have calles (streets) named Morelos and Hidalgo — some, like Oaxaca, have more than one, which can be very confusing when trying to find an address, to say the least! The names Vicario and Ortiz de Domínguez aren’t nearly so commonplace.
However, two of the women (among countless unsung heroines) who played a major role in the struggle for independence from Spain were Leona Vicario and Josefa Ortiz Domínguez. In a fitting tribute to their importance to the Independence movement, their giant portraits currently hang on the outside wall of the Municipal Building overlooking the Plaza de la Danza, along with those of Miguel Hidalgo de Costilla and José María Morelos y Pavón.
Leona Vicario, 1789-1842
Leona Vicario provided money and medical support, helped fugitives, and served as a messenger. After escaping from prison, she helped her husband, Andrés Quintana Roo, plan strategies on the battle field.
Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, 1773-1829
Confined to house arrest after a co-conspirator betrayed the upcoming plans for revolt by the Independence movement, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez was able to smuggle a message out, warning of the betrayal.
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, 1753-1811
As a result, in the early morning of September 16, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells in Dolores, rallying the rebels, and issuing, what has come to be known as Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores), the signal to begin the War of Independence from Spain. It is an event that is recreated all over Mexico at 11 PM on September 15. (See the link re why it isn’t done in the early morning of September 16.)
José María Morelos y Pavón, 1765-1815
The last portrait on the wall is that of José María Morelos y Pavón, of Afro-mestizo heritage, and, like Hidalgo, also a priest. He was a capable military commander who assumed leadership of the independence movement after Hidalgo was executed. For a local connection, on November 25, 1812, in what is thought of as a brilliant victory, Morelos, along with the support of Mariano Matamoros and Miguel Bravo, took the city of Oaxaca. Fittingly, the streets Morelos and Matamoros run parallel and M. Bravo intersects them just a few blocks from the Municipal Building and the Plaza de la Danza.
(ps) These portraits are painted directly on fine mesh screen… thus, the window bars showing through.
Adios, mosquitos
Posted in Home, Nature & Science, People, tagged Mexico, mosquitos, Oaxaca on August 22, 2011| 7 Comments »
It’s the rainy season; that means it’s also mosquito season… and they love me and my ankles! This year, I surrendered to the adage, the best offense is a good defense. Using plastic mesh, duct tape, and velcro, I fabricated an ugly, and somewhat difficult to navigate through, screen for my door.
Defense exhibit 1
It helped, I even got used to the green color, though the center opening was problematic. However, heat and dry air followed by heat and humidity were not kind to the glue on the back of the velcro that secured the screen to the doorway nor to the duct tape holding the coins weighing down the screen. After two months it began coming unglued, as did I!
So, I relented, loosened my purse-strings, and called master carpenter Juan, who has so ably come to my rescue on previous occasions. He took measurements last week, drew up a plan, built the doors, and arrived yesterday to install them.
My hero, Juan
What a difference a real screen door makes! Looking in…
Defense exhibit 2
And, looking out…
Defense exhibit 3
With my new door, stash of citronella candles, and repelente natural, it’s adios mosquitos!
¡Un milagro!
Posted in Food, People, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, vendors on August 13, 2011| 2 Comments »
It’s a Saturday miracle; my favorite vendor is back!!!
She and her little crate-and-basket stand, usually positioned at the foot of the two stairs outside Pan y Co on García Vigil, have been missing in action for the past two weeks and I was worried. I kept asking the clerks at Pan y Co if they knew what had happened to her, but they merely shrugged. However, today there she was…
I came away with sliced mango, papaya, jicama, a bag of roasted peanuts with dried chiles, and, best of all, kisses and hugs!!!
(ps) Apparently, she has been sick, but she assured me that she is okay now.
¡Feliz Cumpleaños Cantinflas!
Posted in Culture, People, tagged actor, Cantinflas, Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes, Mexico on August 11, 2011| 3 Comments »
Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of comedian, actor, writer, and producer, Cantinflas.
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes was born in the Santa María la Redonda neighbourhood of Mexico City, and grew up in the tough neighborhood of Tepito. [4] He made it through difficult situations with the quick wit and street smarts that he would later apply in his films. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the United States through California, he became a prizefighter in his teens as a source of income.[5] His comic personality led him to a circus tent show, and from there to legitimate theatre and film. [Read full Wikipedia entry]
Reading the following article recalled fond memories of watching Cantinflas on the big screen in the films, Pepe and Around the World in Eighty Days and, on our black and white TV, in old Mexican-made movies. Like Charlie Chaplin’s little tramp character, even as a child, I “got” and identified with the everyman characters Cantinflas portrayed and understood he was often the smartest character in the story.
Mexico Marks Century Of Comic Cantinflas’ Birth
MEXICO CITY August 11, 2011, 05:23 am ET
It is hard to think of a Mexican Everyman without turning to Cantinflas, the tattered, droopy-pants character created by comic Mario Moreno in the “tent theaters” of Mexico’s slums in the 1930s.
With the approach of Friday’s centenary of his birth, he has been celebrated as a touchstone of Mexican national identity, fondly remembered for his convoluted doublespeak and clever underdog persona he portrayed for nearly six decades until his death in 1993.
He is best known in the rest of the world for his turn as David Niven’s resourceful valet in “Around the World in Eighty Days,” but the pencil-mustached Cantinflas contributed something much deeper in Mexico… Cantinflas reflected the poorer side of Mexico that gets by on its wits… Wise behind his seeming illiteracy, able to snowball the pompous with a stream of clever but meaningless verbiage, Cantinflas was able to make the transition to movies, where he can still be seen winning out over snobs, bureaucrats and corrupt politicos…. [Read full article]
(ps) Update: from the NPR program, All Things Considered: The Chaos And Comedy Of Mexico’s Cantinflas. h/t gg
RIP…
Posted in People, Tragedy, tagged memorials, Mexico, Oaxaca, photo, photographs, sidewalk memorial on July 1, 2011| 1 Comment »
Sadly, the tree mentioned in my last post didn’t fall as a result of wind and rain. According to newspaper reports, it was slammed into by a Chevy Silverado; the driver apparently had fallen asleep at the wheel.
And the tree came tumbling down…
Posted in Environment, Parks & Plazas, People, Science & Nature, Weather, tagged Francisco Verástegui, Indian Laurel tree, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on May 18, 2011| 3 Comments »
Oaxaca has been trapped in a low pressure trough that, according to Conagua, stretches from Chihuahua to Oaxaca and is bringing moisture from both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s made for dramatic sunsets!
And, for the past three nights it’s brought spectacular sound and light shows… lightning streaking across the night sky in a 360 degree circle around the city; the rumbling of thunder in the distance and loud cracks when it hits close to home; torrential downpours and hail, even though it’s 80 degrees F (what’s up with that?); and hurricane force winds.
It was all too much for one of the massive 130+ year old Indian Laurel trees on the Alameda…
El Instituto Estatal de Protección Civil was on the job, roping off the surrounding area with yellow and red caution tape.
Workers gathered to receive their instructions,
environmentalist and artist Francisco Verástegui was interviewed by TV Azteca Oaxaca,
a rope was placed around one of the limbs,
chain saws revved-up, as scavengers went about their work gathering twigs and small branches…
and a truckload of the precious firewood departed the Alameda with a youthful escort.
According to today’s news, this laurel tree wasn’t the only victim of these storms; other fallen trees crushed cars, power went out, and flooding occurred. However, as they say, “ojala,” no human casualties have been reported.
The Talented Women of Oaxaca
Posted in Culture, Parks & Plazas, People, tagged Alejandra Robles, Lila Downs, music, Natalia Cruz, Oaxaca, singers, Susana Harp on January 30, 2011| 4 Comments »
A musician friend recently told of hearing a young Oaxaqueña singer with a breathtakingly beautiful voice. And, the current front page of the Oaxaca Times announces, Alejandra Robles: the new oaxacan voice. I don’t know if this is who he was referring to, but in the words of the article, “her powerful voice reflects her training in Opera but her style is traditional Mexican with a rhythmic flare.”
Alejandra Robles - photo from Oaxaca Times
Alejandra Robles is following in the immensely talented and extremely popular steps of Oaxaqueña vocalists, Lila Downs
Lila Downs - photo from Wikipedia
and Susana Harp, who have carved out successful careers celebrating their Oaxacan roots.
Susana Harp - photo from Wikipedia
I haven’t knowingly heard Alejandra Robles sing; I say “knowingly” because music is everywhere and often free… you just never know when and where you will round a corner to find it. This past November, from the comfort of my terrace, I had a ringside seat for a free Lila Downs concert a block away at the Plaza de la Danza. And, the previous May, I wandered down to the zócalo to hear Susana Harp performing (for free) with the Oaxaca State Band under the shade of the laurel trees.
And then there was this unknown singer…
In September, her beautiful clear and powerful voice drew me off the rooftop and over to the Plaza de la Danza where she and her talented band were performing to an audience of less than 100 people… part of events celebrating the Bicentennial. Regretfully, I was too shy to try out my limited Spanish and ask, “¿Quién es?” I searched the local newspapers and cultural calendars, but never was able to figure out who she was. Anyone know?
Update: She is Natalia Cruz, a proud Zapoteca from Ixtaltepec in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Muchisimas gracias to one of my readers!
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