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Archive for the ‘Travel & Tourism’ Category

The bells, bands, and booms have been soundtrack of the city for a week — the virgins are being celebrated!  First in line, on December 8, for chiming church bells, processions, and fireworks was the Virgen de Juquila and third will be Oaxaca’s patron saint, the Virgen de la Soledad on Dec. 18.  However, in between the eighth and eighteenth, all of Mexico honors the Virgin of Guadalupe.   Today, December 12 is her day but, like the others, the festivities began days in advance.

Scenes from last night in front of the Iglesia de Guadalupe in Oaxaca city…

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Now on to Teotitlán de Valle for this afternoon’s Día de Guadalupe performance of the Danza de la Pluma.  We have been told the festivities will last all night, as the community will also be saying “adios” to this group of dancers — their three-year commitment is at an end.  It will be a miracle of the Virgin if we can party hardy until even midnight, but we will give it the old college try!

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As I’ve previously written, two separate (and battling) French designers were exposed as plagiarizing the traditional embroidery designs of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, a village in the mountainous Mixe region of Oaxaca.

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However, at last there is a triumph for the embroiderers and the time-honored motifs handed down from their ancestors and inspired by the land — A Court Rules High-End French Label Doesn’t Own Rights to Indigenous Oaxacan Design.

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The people of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec may not be financially wealthy, but they and their community are rich in culture and pride in their history and traditions.  They are not angling for a monetary settlement — all they want is that their work and designs be recognized and respected.

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While we are on the topic of disrespect of indigenous peoples, we have the recent disgraceful Coca-Cola México advertisement, showing Hipsters Bringing Soda To Indigenous Mexicans — another Mixe village, Totontepec Villa de Morelos.  After an immediate social media campaign challenged the ad, Coca Cola pulled it.  As this teleSUR article details, This New Coca Cola Ad Shows Mexico’s White Savior Problem.  In addition, like the USA, obesity is growing problem here, thus a Reply to Coca-Cola comes in new video by the Alliance for Food Health featuring two Mixe students speaking about the health risks posed by these kinds of “soft drinks” that lack any nutritional value.

By the way, the English language Mexico News Daily is running a poll, asking if you “agree that the controversial Coca-Cola Christmas video was racist or offensive?”  And, I’m appalled that as I write, the results are:  32% yes and 68% no!!!

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Artist Fabián Calderón Sánchez (aka, Sanez) has changed the face of the building next to Hotel Azucenas again!

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Located on calle Martiniano Aranda, in the 6-1/2 years I’ve lived in the ‘hood, the front of this building has played host to two previous murals by Sanez.

I’ve been a big fan of his distinctive work and was again captivated by his  creative and powerful use of indigenous imagery.

The mural is signed,  Macuilxochitl Losdelaefe — MTY (Monterrey) – OAX (Oaxaca) – GDL (Guadalajara) – www.sanez.mx – 2015.

Let us hope this doesn’t meet the same fate as other murals in my neighborhood recently have.

 

 

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are in the rear view mirror,  December is upon us — only twenty-three more shopping days until Christmas — and the shopping frenzy in el norte continues.  Thanks, but no thanks, I say.   I prefer this…

Weaver from the Katyi Ya'a Taller Colectivo de Algodón Native (Collective workshop using native cottons)

Weaver from the Katyi Ya’a Taller Colectivo de Algodón Native (Collective workshop using native cottons)

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I took leisurely stroll down to the 2-day expo-venta (exposition and sale), sponsored by the Museo Textil de Oaxaca and held in the tranquility of the Centro Cultural San Pablo patio.  After much oohing and ahhing and talking with many of the artisans, I headed up 5 de mayo to one of my favorite pocket courtyards and the shops tucked in along its garden path…

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5 de mayo #408 – home to tapetes (rugs) at the Fe y Lola gallery and Seasons of My Heart retail store, among other small shops.

I won’t reveal where or if I bought anything — I wouldn’t want to spoil any Christmas surprises!  What I will say is… I prefer strolling to rushing; personally meeting and paying the artisans for their work to handing over a credit card at an impersonal department store; and, perhaps most of all, experiencing the pride radiated by an item’s creator when I admire their work.

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A year and a half ago, I cut off the top of a pineapple (piña, en español), stuck it in a ten inch pot in full sun, watered it very occasionally during the dry season, and it actually began to grow.  This member of the Bromeliaceae family is thought to have originated in the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay and spread throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.  Reaching Mexico, it was cultivated by the Mayas and Aztecs.  Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese conquerors took it across the pond, and the rest is history.  No surprise, as the fruit (which resembles a pine cone — hence the name) is sweet, succulent, and ridiculously easy to grow!

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A symbol of home: warmth, welcome, friendship and hospitality.  The Welcoming Pineapple

Grown in the Papaloapan region of Oaxaca, the pineapple has inspired elaborate embroidery designs and the crowd-pleasing Flor de Piña dance.   What’s not to love?!

 

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Ahhh… the joys of navigating Oaxaca’s sidewalks.

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And, this is nothing compared to manholes minus their covers!  I tell visitors they must ALWAYS watch where their feet are going; if they feel compelled to look up at the bell towers of a colonial church or at a gal balancing a basket of sweets on her head — STOP, then look!P1150492

However, in the absence of municipal action to remedy these hazards to one’s health and safety, Grupo Salvando Vidas Oaxaca (Saving Lives Oaxaca Group), an organization of concerned citizens, has come to the rescue.  According to this news report, the volunteer group was born last year after the founder of the group, Manuel Chávez Nuñez saw a disabled person fall into an uncovered sewer drain.P1150489

Yesterday, the group, which numbers around 15, set up a display of the wooden covers they use to replace gaps and holes in sidewalks around the city.  In addition to showcasing their work and recruiting volunteers, they were collecting donations for materials and giving away free books.  What’s not to like?!!!

P1150496“Everything that is done is for love… We put ourselves in the place of the other person and get down to work.”  (translated from article in today’s Noticias)  Grupo Salvando Vidas Oaxaca, those of us negotiating the sidewalks of Oaxaca offer you our very grateful muchisimas gracias!

Now if only someone could do something about vehicles making right and left turns without stopping or signaling.  Sigh…

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Yesterday, 20 de noviembre, was el Día de la Revolución (Revolution Day), but you wouldn’t know it in Oaxaca.  For the second year in a row, the parade was canceled — last year it was due to protest threats by Sección 22 of the teachers union and this year because the governor declared that it was a work and school day, so there should be no desfile to distract students and their maestros.

Besides, in 2005, Article 74 of Mexican labor law established the third Monday of November as the “official” holiday — thus following the USA’s “time-honored tradition” of creating 3-day holiday weekends and setting the stage for 3-day shopping frenzies.  Mexico is following the latter also — we got caught up in the crowds of “Buen Fin” shoppers in Guadalajara last Sunday.  However, Monday, I was en route from the Guadalajara to Oaxaca aboard the new non-stop flight by TAR airlines.  Upon my return in the afternoon, I didn’t see or hear of anything special happening in Oaxaca city and there weren’t even any fireworks from the zócalo or Plaza de la Danza that night.

So, in lieu of a revolution-related blog post, I’m returning to the above mentioned visit to the state of Jalisco for a few super-saturated scenes from my seven hours in Guadalajara.

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View from a courtyard at the Instituto Cultural de Cabañas

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Cathedral of Guadalajara

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View from the old bus terminal in Guadalajara

It’s great to be back under Oaxaca’s spell!  However, though not enchanted with Guadalajara (hence the desire to add pixie dust to the photos), it has some spectacular Orozco murals at the Palacio de Gobierno and the Instituto Cultural Cabañas.

 

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Monday, I returned to Oaxaca following a mini-vacation to the state of Jalisco to visit mi amiga J in Ajijic and to attend the annual Feria Maestros del Arte in Chapala.  It’s a nice place to visit, but I must admit, its appeal escapes me.  I guess I’m spoiled by Oaxaca’s countless charms, like today’s “music to shop by” at Mercado Sánchez Pascuas.

Muzak, it most definitely is not!

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“Telephones” on the street in Oaxaca.  Call me, maybe.   😉

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Pretty in pink on the streets of Oaxaca…P1140835

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And, this doesn’t even include the pink and lime green of Correos de México (Mexican post office).

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Young and old, male and female…

it’s a family affair, labor of love…

as the tombs of San Antonino Castillo Velasco are painstakingly decorated on November 3.

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This year, around and about Oaxaca during Día de Muertos, especially for my skeleton loving grandson.  (Click on images to enlarge)

Besos y abrazos, Abue. 😉

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Today I ventured down to Calle de Ignacio Rayón (the block between the Benito Juárez and 20 de Noviembre mercados) to purchase flowers for my Día de Muertos ofrenda (an altar of offerings).  On the list was cockscomb (cresta de gallo or borla de Santa Teresa), marigolds (cempasúchitl), and veruche (also known as flor de muertos).  I wasn’t alone, the sidewalks were crowded with other shoppers in search of the same traditional flowers, fruits, nuts, copal, and other items to place on their ofrendas.

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Veruche is a tiny relative of the marigold that grows wild in the valley of Oaxaca at this time of year.  Yellow was the color of death in southern Mexico, long before the Spanish set foot on the continent and, along with the scent of the flowers and smoke from the candles and copal, it is thought to attract the difuntos (spirits of the dead) to bring them to the ofrendas prepared for them.

Muchisimas gracias to Shawn D. Haley for his informative presentation at the Oaxaca Lending Library on the Zapotec celebration of Día de Muertos.  Needless to say, I also purchased the book he coauthored with photographer Curt Fukuda, The Day of the Dead: When Two Worlds Meet in Oaxaca.

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To borrow from Meredith Willson, it’s beginning to look a lot like Muertos…P1150004

Everywhere you go.

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No “five and tens” here…

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Just a street stall set up in Tlacolula de Matamoros.

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Beginning to shop for my Día de Muertos ofrenda.

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The difuntos (departed) will be returning on November 1 and 2, but it’s the impending arrival of my very-much-alive friends from el norte who have inspired last minute painting and decorating.IMG_0044New outside entrance color to highlight wall hanging from Colima, gifted by my neighbor.

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