Gray gloom continues to hang over the San Francisco Bay Area and I’m dreaming of a beach vacation…
Playa San Agustinillo on Oaxaca’s Pacific Coast, October 2009.
Posted in Nature & Science, Weather | Tagged beach, Mexico, Oaxaca, San Agustinillo | Leave a Comment »
The Marcha del Color de la Sangre (Caravan of the Color of Blood), by the Triqui of San Juan Copala and their supporters, mentioned in my May 23 post, was prevented from entering the village.
According to Angry White Kid, a National and International Day of Action in Solidarity with the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, Mexico has been called for June 3.
These banners graced the portales of the Government Palace during the encampment.
Beautiful and poignant, I could never pass by without pausing…
Posted in Politics, Protests | Tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, San Juan Copala, Triqui | 1 Comment »
Propping up fallen trees isn’t the only activity on the Alameda… 
Today, Sección 22 del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (the teachers’ union) is beginning an occupation of Oaxaca’s zócalo, Alameda, and several side streets.
According to a report in the Latin American Herald Tribune, Teachers Call for Strike in Southern Mexican State, the teachers are not demanding wage increases, instead focusing on social issues, including “better uniform allowances for students, computers in all of the state’s elementary schools and electricity in all schools.” Privatization is also an issue.
This annual activity by the teachers’ union is extremely contentious. Adding bold-face to the lines above will be my only comment on the subject.
However, the teachers aren’t the only people converging on the zócalo today…
The displaced Triqui, who were driven out of their village of San Juan Copala after several years of political violence, have decided to return home, leading a march/caravan from Oaxaca to Mexico City and finally back to San Juan Copala.
For more information, see the blog posting by Angry White Kid, The displaced decide to return to our community: Caravan of the Color of Blood and for background on their struggle for autonomy, see Repression, Impunity and Resistance in Oaxaca: One Year After the Copala Caravan Ambush.
Posted in Buildings, Education, Labor, Parks & Plazas, Politics, Protests | Tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, San Juan Copala, Seccion 22, Teachers union | 4 Comments »
With a little help from its friends, the Indian Laurel has risen — albeit with a Marine-style haircut.
Let’s hope it can, indeed, be saved!
Posted in Weather | Tagged Indian Laurel tree, Mexico, Oaxaca | 2 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.
Posted in Environment, Parks & Plazas, People, Science & Nature, Weather | Tagged Francisco Verástegui, Indian Laurel tree, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos | 3 Comments »
Are you…
Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Oaxaca
Guerreros de Oaxaca vs. Los Olmecas de Tabasco
Giant Swallowtail Butterfly in Oaxaca.
…inside or outside?
Posted in Random associations | Tagged baseball, beisbol, butterfly, Giant Swallowtail, Guerreros de Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Santo Domingo de Guzmán | 2 Comments »
This review just popped up on my Google Mexico News: Straight-shooting documentary details history of U.S.-Mexico relations, should be required viewing for two distinct American audiences: U.S.-born Latinos who came to know the stoic faces of Mexican revolutionary icons solely from seeing them painted on the sides of Mexican-oriented grocery stores, and anyone who wants a peek at the roots of 100 years’ worth of U.S.-Mexico relations.
Iconic stencil of Emiliano Zapata on a building wall in Oaxaca
The 2-hour PBS documentary, “The Storm That Swept Mexico,” premieres on May 15, 2011 in the USA. I’ve got to get a friend to DVR it for me!
Posted in History | Tagged Mexico, PBS, The Storm That Swept Mexico | Leave a Comment »
Twenty-four hours in the life of one of the more bizarre, and almost prehistoric-looking, residents of the terrace garden, a Stapelia gigantea…
Trying to identify this plant I did a Google search using the terms: cactus, stinky, flies, star flower… because it definitely smells gross, has incredibly large zebra striped star-shaped flowers, and is a favorite of green bottle flies!Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Nature & Science | Tagged carrion plant, Casita Colibrí, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Stapelia gigantia, succulents | 5 Comments »
Today in Oaxaca…
As Irving Berlin wrote, “Nothin’ but blue skies do I see.”
Posted in Weather | Tagged Las Nieves iglesia, Llano Park, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pino Suarez | 1 Comment »
In my attempt to begin to understand the people and culture of my new home, my reading has focused on all things Mexican… history, novels, cookbooks, travel writing, you name it!
Right now, I’m finishing Barbara Kingsolver’s historical novel, The Lacuna. The story begins in 1929 Mexico, moves back and forth between Mexico and the USA, and ends in 1959. It follows the protagonist, Harrison Shepherd, as he grows into adulthood, all the while navigating the turbulent political waters of these two countries.
Shepherd’s employment with artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo brings him into Leon Trotsky’s household in Coyoacan, Mexico City, where lively debates, as Trotsky answers Stalin’s slanders and formulates a transitional program to move from capitalism to socialism, help inform Shepherd’s own political development — and all in the household work tirelessly day and night (eventually unsuccessfully) to protect Trotsky from Stalin’s assassins. It is “a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption.”
And so, I was brought up short when I encountered yesterday’s demonstration by the Partido de los Comunistas Mexicanos…
Yes, that’s Josef Stalin’s portrait (far right) the demonstrators strung from the portales of Oaxaca’s Government Palace. Hmmm… has word of Khrushchev’s revelations in 1956, at the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, not yet reached Oaxaca? Or, do we have a perfect illustration of a lacuna between truth and public perception?
Of course, I didn’t need to come down here to see unspeakable breaches…
Posted in Politics | Tagged Barbara Kingsolver, Mexico, Oaxaca, Stalin, The Lacuna, Trotsky | 2 Comments »
… what you will find around the corner.
Today’s drive up into the mountains and pine forests of Cuajimoloyas and Benito Júarez revealed…
a burned out car…
a cow and her calf. And, down the mountain in Teotitlán del Valle…
a brass band leading a wedding parade.
Posted in Serendipity | Tagged brass band, Mexico, Oaxaca, Teotitlán del Valle | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been watching these guys from my terrace for well over a month…
… and dodging the debris on the sidewalk, below.
Late this afternoon, they were still up there as thunder began rumbling and rain began falling. Finally, they packed up shop… and I was relieved!
Posted in Labor | Tagged ex-convento San José, Mexico, Oaxaca, School of Fine Arts, workers | Leave a Comment »
More than one norte americano has asked, “What’s up with the KKK-like hoods?” Ahh… a reference question for the librarian!
They date back to 15th or 16th century Europe. Members of lay religious charitable organizations (cofradías) would don the masks and hoods to guarantee anonymity and promote humility in their service. The Spanish brought the tradition to Mexico.
References:
Posted in Celebrations, Holidays | Tagged Cofradía, Confraternity, Procesión del Silencio, Viernes Santo | Leave a Comment »
The Procesión del Silencio departed from the Iglesia de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo and proceeded up the Alcalá to Gómez Farias, where it turned left and left again and down García Vigil to Independencia and then back up the Alcalá. Once the procession began, fellow blogger Chris (Oaxaca-The Year After) and I left the masses on the Alcalá and positioned ourselves on a wall overlooking García Vigil, for an unobstructed view.
Out of respect for what is being commemorated, tradition calls for participants and spectators to remain silent, save for the solemn drum beat and haunting sounds of a chirimia that herald the procession’s arrival and continue to play as the faithful from various neighborhoods and churches carry banners, crosses, and images of the crucified Jesus and his grieving mother through the streets of the city.
Posted in Celebrations, Holidays | Tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, Procession of Silence, Semana Santa, video, Viernes Santo | Leave a Comment »
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