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Speaking of danzantes

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Politics, Protests, Travel & Tourism, tagged dancers, Danza de la Pluma, danzantes, demonstrations, Mexico, Oaxaca, penachos, photographs, photos, protests, San Bartolo Coyotepec on March 24, 2014| 8 Comments »

Reason number 579 why I love Oaxaca…

Today was the first day of a way-too-short first time visit to Oaxaca by a couple of California gal pals — an orientation walk through El Centro was the order of the day. And what did we stumble upon in front of the Government Palace? Danzantes waiting to perform a couple of the dances from the Danza de la Pluma.

They began dancing and I flashed on Saturdays’ blog post, Danzantes in training. However, these guys definitely weren’t apprentices — they had the steps and jumps down WITH those heavy and seemingly unwieldy penachos on their heads — and the crowd cheered.

The danzantes and most of their gathered audience were from San Bartolo Coyotepec, about 15 km south of the city. It’s a village known for the artisans who make black pottery. However, along with the band and dancers, there were banners and protestors.

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According to this article (in Spanish), “they arrived at the presidential palace in the main square of the city to demand the replacement of the elections because the process was considered seedy and does not represent the will of the community.”

Culture and politics… I couldn’t have arranged a more quintessential Oaxaca experience, if I had tried. And my friends, what did they think? They loved it all!

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Danzantes in training

Posted in Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged dancers, Danza de la Pluma, danzantes, Feather dance, folk dancing, Mexico, Oaxaca, video on March 22, 2014| 8 Comments »

This morning, as I was getting ready to go to my local mercado, I heard the unmistakable sounds of the Danza de la Pluma (feather dance). I’ve seen it often enough in Teotitlán del Valle to know the music. While it is performed throughout the valley and is always one of the big hits during July’s Guelaguetza, Teotitlán del Valle is one of only two villages where it is performed as a religious ritual during their three major yearly festivals.

As I approached the Plaza de la Danza, the music got louder and louder. Once there, I looked down to see 75 – 100 dancers in jeans and t-shirts practicing one of the (forty-one) dances of the Danza de la Pluma. They were danzantes in training from various folkloric groups in the valley of Oaxaca.

As you can see from the video, the footwork is complex and the steps require a lot of stamina. And, just wait until they put on the penachos (headdresses)!

I often wonder and worry that the traditional dances will eventually be lost. Today’s encounter with these young dancers gave me hope.

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Spring is nature’s way of saying…

Posted in Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged Cabellos de Ángel, cactus, Flor de mayo, flowers, May Flower, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Primavera, Pseudobombax ellipticum, quotations, sea, Shaving Brush Tree, Spring, trees on March 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming. –Pablo Neruda

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. –Rainer Maria Rilke

Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment. –Ellis Peters

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!‘ –Robin Williams

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A Sunday drive…

Posted in Animals, Buildings, Food, Geography, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave fields, cattle, Los Huamuches, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, restaurants, Teotitlán del Valle on March 18, 2014| 8 Comments »

Domingo’s escape from the city out into the countryside of Oaxaca brought back one of my fondest childhood memories: Sunday drives with my grandparents into the golden hills of northern California. Two-lane winding roads with only the occasional car or pickup truck; farms, fields, and roadside stands outside my rolled down window always brought a sense of adventure mixed with freedom and serenity. And, it still does…

Oaxaca city to Teotitlán del Valle, where we yielded to a herd of cattle.

Santiago Matalán past fields of agave to San Baltazar Chichicapam.

We continued on the mostly deserted road towards Octotlán de Morelos.

Onto Hwy. 175 and a lunch stop at the roadside restaurant, between Santo Tomás Jalieza and San Martín Tilcajete, from almost two weeks earlier.

And this time we noted the name: Los Huamuches. Another delicious comida… a perfect way to end our meandering and head for home.

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New gals in town

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged calacas, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, skeletons, street art, urban art, Virgin of Guadalupe, wall art on March 14, 2014| 2 Comments »

Meet the new gals in town…

Life and death in Oaxaca.

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Slow food, the Oaxaca way

Posted in Culture, Food, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged clayudas, food, Los Huamuches, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, restaurants, San Martín Tilcajete, slow food, tlayudas on March 7, 2014| 9 Comments »

Tuesday, not only brought the previously mentioned Carnaval, San Martín Tilcajete style, it also provided comida, muy sabrosa. No, not one of the 4 restaurants in Oaxaca recently listed in the 101 Best Restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean. I’m talking about al fresco dining in a roadside restaurant. Sitting under the branches of a large shade tree on plastic chairs, around a plastic table, with cars and trucks speeding by, it was surprisingly tranquil.

We had ringside seats as our lunch was prepared on a well seasoned comal. I couldn’t help thinking as we sat at this unpretentious restaurant, in the middle of the fields that yielded the ingredients for our lunch, prepared according to culinary traditions passed down through generations of Zapotecos, this is quintessential “slow food.”

That’s my tlayuda (sometimes spelled, clayuda) being lifted off the comal — and it was one of the best I’ve eaten! Fyi, tlayudas are one of the 10 Essential Things To Eat And Drink In Oaxaca.

For more on our yummy lunch, see Chris’s blog post, Fat Tuesday done right. Alas, neither one of us took note of the name of the restaurant — all I know is it’s on the east side of Hwy 175, between San Martín Tilcajete and San Tomás Jalieza.

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Carnaval, San Martín Tilcajete style

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged Carnaval, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, mascaras, masks, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Martín Tilcajete on March 5, 2014| 1 Comment »

Another day… another celebration… another adventure! Yesterday was Día de Carnaval (aka, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Carnival), a day to let the good times roll before the sacrifices of the Lenten season.

As you have probably surmised, the Spanish brought the tradition to Mexico. Like many other seasonal celebrations, it conveniently coincided with indigenous festivals celebrating the “lost days” of the Mesoamerican calendar, “when faces were covered to repel or confuse evil.” Apparently, it caught on “because it was one time when normal rules could be broken especially with the use of masks to hide identities from the authorities.”

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And so, off we went for Día de Carnaval in San Martín Tilcajete (28 km south of the city), a village known for its fancifully painted wood-carved alebrije and masks. We are still doing May weather in March and, thus, it was hot and shade was in short supply.

In the morning, a bride and groom were chosen, villagers gathered for a boisterous and hilarious ceremony in the courtyard, they danced, and then all processed through the streets of San Martín Tilcajete to a designated location where the happy “couple” knelt before a jolly looking “priest.” By the way, those beautiful “women” in gorgeous gowns aren’t what they seem!

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Young and old, the “guests” were a colorful crowd. Many of the diablos and diablillos covered their faces with colored pigments and their bodies with red or black oil — rumor has it, motor oil is sometimes used. Yuck!

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I’d been to San Martín Tilcajete many times — to go from one workshop to another in search of the perfect alebrije for a gift or to add to my collection — but never before for Carnaval. It was great fun and the photo ops were endless.

As they say in New Orleans, “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

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Excuse me while I kiss the sky

Posted in Culture, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged graffiti, jacaranda, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Primavera, Spring, street art, trees, urban art on February 28, 2014| 4 Comments »

I’m still in recovery and catching-up mode and a nagging cold (caught in el norte) hasn’t helped. While I’ve only ventured out of Casita Colibrí a few times, I’m loving being back in the land of color.

And, after my recent sojourn to points north, where Mother Nature is a drama queen when it comes to seasons, I’m savoring one of the subtle signs of spring in Oaxaca.

The jacarandas are beginning to bloom.

Purple haze all in my eyes…

Excuse me while I kiss the sky!

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A matter of degrees

Posted in Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged bougainvilla, Mexico, New York state, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, snow, weather on February 25, 2014| 3 Comments »

Last week near Saratoga Springs, NY it was 15º F, doors and windows were sealed shut, and the furnace was blasting.

Today, back in Oaxaca, it’s 90º F, doors and windows are wide open, and I’ve got the fan on.

What a difference one week and 2000+ miles makes. I’m definitely a warm weather person!

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Size doesn’t matter

Posted in Culture, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mexico, moto taxis, motorcycles, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, toy car, transportation, trucks on February 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

What are you driving these days? Size doesn’t matter when it comes to cool rides in Oaxaca…

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The question is, do you dance with wolves while driving?

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It’s all Greek to me

Posted in Culture, Immigration, People, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged Alekos Gatonas, El Griego, Makedonia, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Zorba El Griego on February 15, 2014| 7 Comments »

I’m SO done with this so-called, Polar Vortex! I was supposed to fly into Albany, NY on Thursday night. It’s now Saturday morning, I’ve gotten as far as Chicago, and killing time until tonight’s flight by sorting through sun-drenched, color-filled, warm-weather Oaxaca photos. Even if the weather gods and goddesses are not cooperating, at least their cyber siblings are on the job providing WiFi — thus a new blog post.

This watch-repair, jewelry, and gifts (large or small) shop on Calle 20 del Noviembre is owned by Alekos Gatonas, originally from Macedonia. He studied at the University of Chicago, met his Oaxaqueña wife, and eventually they moved to Oaxaca. He and his family also own the event venue, “Zorba El Griego” and a Greek restaurant on the way to El Tule, “El Griego.”

By the way, “EΛΛΔΣ” translates into the Spanish word, “ellas,” which can be translated into English as “including.”

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Day of love & friendship

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Día del Amor y la Amistad, holidays, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Valentine's Day on February 14, 2014| 8 Comments »

After a day’s delay (thanks to the big snow storm), I’ll be spending Valentine’s Day enroute to the US East Coast to visit family. However, I wanted to wish all my readers much love and friendship.

¡Feliz día del amor y la amistad!

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It’s a jungle out there

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Parks & Plazas, Travel & Tourism, tagged camouflage, culture, Mexico, monos, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Plaza de la Danza on February 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A mono in camo, seriously???

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I guess it really is a jungle out there. But, it isn’t easy to stay hidden when your buddy is laughing at you.

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Just another day crossing the Plaza de la Danza on my way to the market. As I keep saying, you just never know what you will uncover walking the streets of Oaxaca.

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Sitting on top of the world

Posted in Buildings, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged Cathedral of Oaxaca, La catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, religious statuary, statues on February 5, 2014| 5 Comments »

It’s amazing how sometimes light, shade, and a pristine backdrop can come together to highlight something you have looked at hundreds of times, but have never really seen.

Early last week, on a stunningly clear blue sky day, I passed the La Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) and stopped dead in my tracks.

The flag must have been what initially caught my attention — it’s not an everyday occurrence — but what held my gaze were the three gals atop the Cathedral.

I wondered, are they new?

Once home, I scrolled through old photos I’d taken and sure enough there they were in every photo of the Cathedral’s facade.

Hmmm… How could I have missed their imposing presence?

Now to find out who they represent. (You can take the librarian away from the reference desk, but you can’t take the reference questions away from the librarian!) Anybody out there have any answers???

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Niño Dios dressed and waiting

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged baby Jesus, Candlemas, Día de Candelaria, Mexico, Niño Dios, Oaxaca on February 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Today, Día de la Candelaria (aka, Candlemas, Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and Feast of the Purification of the Virgin), marking the end of the Christmas season, is being celebrated. Families dress their Niño Dios (baby Jesus) figurines in new clothes and bring them to church to be blessed.

Niño Dios dolls come in a variety of sizes and are sold throughout the year at the ubiquitous shops that sell religious articles. I spotted these across Independencia while dining on my previously mentioned nieves.

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