With all the excitement about yesterday’s earthquake, I didn’t even notice the south wing of the infamous Guelaguetza auditorium velaria (cover) had been removed.
According to an article in yesterday’s Noticias, the central cover will be reinforced and remain through July’s annual Guelaguetza performances. After that??? The fate of the velaria is up in the air. 😉
And, yes, the sky is that blue today!
Posted in Buildings | Tagged Guelaguetza Auditorium, Mexico, Oaxaca, velaria | Leave a Comment »
…under my feet. Well, actually I didn’t feel the 7.4 terremoto (earthquake) about noon today. I heard it! I was walking up the Álcala and the windows on one of the university buildings started rattling and people began pouring into the streets, murmuring “un terremoto, un terremoto!”
The above photo was taken from above the Plaza de la Danza, outside the Palacio Municipal, about a half an hour after the initial shake and shortly before sirens went off and a 5.0 aftershock struck — which I also didn’t feel!
I continued on with my shopping and when I passed by the Palacio Municipal again, the media was all over the place, and more press conferences out on the sidewalk were being conducted. The fellow above is from the Proteccíon Civil Municipal of Oaxaca. The fellow below was speaking about the schools.
Though there is concern for the rural villages closer to the epicenter, currently all is well in the city. And one of the members of the municipal police force assured me the daughter of “my” president was fine.
Posted in Buildings, Nature & Science, Parks & Plazas, Weather | Tagged earthquake, Mexico, Oaxaca, press conferences, terremoto | 4 Comments »
Last night, if she is still in town, Malia got to experience one of Oaxaca’s dramatic rain storms. The circulation of high pressure over the Southeast of the country, interacting with moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, resulted in a 1-2 hour (I lost track of time) torrential downpour and Mother Nature’s own spectacular sound and light show.
Glowing Templo de San José last night, as sheets of rain bounced off the dome.
This was a welcome relief, as we are in the middle of the dry season, and my rooftop garden is extremely happy. However, along with the usual flooding and sporadic power outages, newspapers are reporting 10 homes were damaged by the heavy winds and rain in Ocotlán and a Jacaranda tree fell on an unoccupied parked car in the city.
Posted in Buildings, Weather | Tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, rain, rain storms, Templo de San José, thunderstorm, weather | Leave a Comment »
Sheesh, what is it about my friend, L??? Last year she arrived for her first visit to Oaxaca on the same day Mexican president Felipe Calderón was in town. This year, she is arriving Tuesday night and… guess who is in town?
Malia Obama, older daughter of U.S. president Barack Obama, is spending spring break here! Along with 12 friends and a 25 person security detail, she arrived Friday night, on the regular United/Continental Houston to Oaxaca flight, that most of the gringos who live here are very familiar with.
photo from Zócalo Saltillo
So that’s why all the federales, various other police forces, and people with cameras on the Álcala, yesterday…
According to reports, in addition to sights around the city, the group will see the famous El Tule (tree), the archaeological sites of Mitla and Monte Alban, the black pottery village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, and the wood carving village of San Martín Tilcajete.
This is exceptionally good news for Oaxaca and I’m not the only gringo blogger living here to be posting this news; most of us are doing it for the same reason — to let our readers know, Oaxaca is SAFE. So, come on down!!!
Posted in People | Tagged Malia Obama, Mexico, Oaxaca, spring break | 1 Comment »
David Rovics singing “Saint Patrick’s Battalion,” a song celebrating the Irish who deserted and fought alongside the Mexican army against the United States during the Mexican American War, 1846-1848.
Want to learn more?
Posted in History, Music | Tagged Batallón de San Patricio, Mexican American War, Mexico, St. Patrick's Battalion, St. Patrick's Day | 1 Comment »
…and, Agua de Jamaica, Horchata, and Chilacayota to drink! Yesterday, the 4th Friday of Lent, was Día de la Samaritana (Good Samaritan Day), an only in Oaxaca tradition.
Inspired by the Biblical story, in the Book of John, of the woman at the well who offered water to Jesus, long tables and small stands laden with massive containers and plastic cups are set up on sidewalks throughout the city by schools, churches, and businesses.
These “water stations” are decorated in purple, the color of Lent, symbolizing penance and royalty.
Crowds rapidly gather and wait to be served the agua of their choice and, despite hours of standing, ladling, and replenishing, all are served with a gracious smile and genuine joy.
By early afternoon the Alcalá was a sea of people.
This is definitely NOT a made for the tourist event.
This is Oaxaqueños practicing the sharing and hospitality that informs much of their culture.
Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Culture, Holidays | Tagged Agua de Jamaica, agua fresca, Chilacayota, Día de la Samaritana, Día de las Aguas, Good Samaritan day, Horchata, Lent, Mexico, Oaxaca | Leave a Comment »
it must have been another bloqueo (blockade).
On Morelos, traffic was rerouted.
Gotta say, I love her backpack!
Posted in Protests | Tagged backpack, blockade, bloqueo, Mexico, Oaxaca, traffic, traffic police | Leave a Comment »
From today’s walk…
Just a sliver of canvas (or whatever the stingray is made of) left hanging from the missing wing of the Guelaguetza Auditorium.
Chris, over a Oaxaca-The Year After, also has photos. This is big news!
Posted in Buildings | Tagged Guelaguetza Auditorium, Mexico, Oaxaca, velaria | Leave a Comment »
Remember the Guelaguetza Auditorium? July 25, 2011…
After moderate winds Friday night, Guelaguetza Auditorium, March 11, 2012…
Something missing here? “Stingray” missing a flap???
According to reports in Sunday’s Noticias, experts at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) will conduct an analysis re what happened to cause a part of this controversial and (seemingly) cursed covering to collapse. The report further states, there is a possibility that the warranty will “cover” a replacement and, no matter what the result, the annual July Guelaguetza shows will go on!
A poll on the Vive Oaxaca Facebook page is currently running about 2:1 against replacing the velaria (cover).
Posted in Buildings | Tagged Guelaguetza Auditorium, Mexico, Oaxaca, velaria | 2 Comments »
About two months ago, new street signs began appearing in Oaxaca on each side of each street corner. Eight signs per each 4-way intersection, in Spanish and Braille, are at hand touch and wheelchair eye level, and provide arrows to make it clear if the traffic flows this way…
… or that.
By the way, Oaxaca has a library for the blind and visually impaired — the Biblioteca Jorge Luis Borges, housed in the Biblioteca Infantil in the Barrio de Xochimilco. Named after the blind Argentine writer, the library was founded in 1996 by world-renowned Oaxacan artist, Francisco Toledo. It houses his collection of books in Braille, a permanent workshop teaching Braille, computers with special programs for the blind, and scholarships to outstanding visually impaired students.
Posted in Buildings, Libraries, People, Places, Signs | Tagged Biblioteca Infantil, blind, Braille, Francisco Toledo, Jorge Luis Borges, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street names, street signs, visually impaired | 3 Comments »
Yesterday, having just posted Celebrating the Women of Oaxaca, I set off for my cataloging shift at the Oaxaca Lending Library. As I turned up the Alcalá, I was greeted by bevy of beautiful and colorful women in all shapes, sizes, and lifestyles — Oaxaca’s tribute to women on International Women’s Day. By the way, you can see in the distance in one of the photos, the Migrantes are still here.
Meanwhile, down at the Government Palace, the City Council recognized the history and contribution of 10 women conferring upon each a Distinguished Citizen award; Zapotec women demanded justice for the disappeared and prisoners; and several city workers dismissed over a year ago (according to them, without cause) held a protest demanding reinstatement.
Thus was International Women’s Day in Oaxaca!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays | Tagged Día de las Mujeres, International Women's Day, Mexico, Oaxaca, public art | 5 Comments »
Today is International Women’s Day, established by V. I. Lenin in 1922, revived by women in the USA in 1968, and recognized by the United Nations in 1975. Here’s to the beautiful, strong, and all around amazing women of Oaxaca!
¡Feliz, Día de la mujer!
The librarian in me can’t help but include a few resources, I put together a few years ago, chronicling the history of International Women’s Day:
Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, Labor, People | Tagged history, International Women's Day, Mexico, Oaxaca, triangle shirtwaist factory | 6 Comments »
Samuel Bautista Lazo is one of the smartest, joyous, and Zen-like people I know.
Sam is my young, previously mentioned, Zapotec friend who is getting his Ph.D. in Sustainable Manufacturing at the University of Liverpool. Sam is from Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca, a village watched over by El Picacho, the sacred mountain — whose presence is unmistakable and palpable.
The village is known for its traditional performances of the Danza de la Pluma (about which I’ve posted on numerous occasions) and their skillful and creative weavings with wool. Like a majority of its Zapotec residents, Sam and his family weave — father, Mario Bautista Martínez; mother, Leonor Lazo González; and brother, Celestino Bautista Lazo.
The family was featured last year in an article, The Crafts of Oaxaca, posted on the Lark Crafts website. Like many others, on my first visit in 2007, I couldn’t resist buying a couple of tapetes (rugs), including this one, which now serves as a welcome to all who enter my little casita.
A friend and I returned six months later and had the privilege of climbing to the top of El Picacho with Sam.
And no, I did not join Sam in leaping from one rocky peak to the other!
Looking forward to your return, Sam!
(ps) Here is a Dixza video of Sam from 2008, where he discusses the interpretation of the symbols and patterns woven into Zapotec rugs. You might also want to check out others in his Dixza series from Teotitlán del Valle.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People | Tagged Celestino Bautista Lazo, Dixza Rugs, El Picacho, Lark Crafts, Leonor Lazo González, Mario Bautista Martínez, Mexico, Oaxaca, rugs, Samuel Bautista Lazo, tapetes, Teotitlán del Valle, The Crafts of Oaxaca, weaving | 5 Comments »
I love going to my little local mercado on Sunday mornings. Steps leading up to it from Independencia are lined with vendors of street food, flowers, religious trinkets, herbs, you name it! Inside, the cavernous building is teeming with more activity than on weekdays. And, these guys are there to entertain diners and shoppers…
I suspect this is a father and his two sons. Marimba playing seems to be a (masculine) family affair.
It isn’t unusual to see these beautiful instruments being carried through the streets and sidewalks of Oaxaca…
… on their way to set up and play traditional “sones” from Oaxaca and/or old pop standards at a fiesta, in front of a shop, or inside a mercado. Muchisimas gracias for a delightful soundtrack!
One of these days, I’m going to shoot video of some of them, but in the meantime, here are a couple from YouTube:
Posted in Culture, Markets, Music | Tagged marimbas, Mercado IV Centenario, mercados, Mexico, Oaxaca | Leave a Comment »
Strolling along Calle Prof. M. Aranda several days ago, I wondered…
maybe this was a case of…
the parts…
being greater…
than their sum.
What do you think?
Urban art by sanez.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity | Tagged Calle Prof. M. Aranda, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, Sanez, street art, wall art | 4 Comments »
Mexican Peso Converter
