Braided with love (and a little pain). Ahhh, I remember it well… Thinking of you, mom.
Triqui mother and daughter near Santo Domingo, Oaxaca city, 2014
3 generations on top of El Picacho, Teotitlán del Valle, 2014 Día de la Santa Cruz.
Queen and mother at 2nd Viernes del Llano, March 2014, Oaxaca city.
Feliz Día de la Madre to all the beautiful, hardworking mothers of Oaxaca and all over the world.
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays | Tagged Día de la Madre, Mexico, Mother's Day, mothers, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, women | 4 Comments »
Yippee!!! A new, and extremely colorful, species of grasshopper has been discovered in the pine-oak forest of the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range in Oaxaca. Liladownsia fraile has been named for Oaxaca’s favorite daughter and one of my favorite performers, Lila Downs, someone I’ve written about often.
(Photo Credit: UCF)
From Science Codex,
A newly discovered grasshopper by University of Central Florida scientists now bears the name of Grammy-award winning singer and activist Ana Lila Downs Sanchez.
The scientists named the new species discovered on the side of a mountain road near Oaxaca, Mexico, after the Mexican-American singer as a nod to her efforts to preserve indigenous culture and penchant for wearing colorful, local costumes as part of her performances.
“It was primarily Paolo’s idea to name the grasshopper after the singer” said Derek Woller, one of the authors of the paper referring to colleague Paolo Fontana. “He’s a big fan of Lila Downs (her stage name). The grasshopper is so beautiful, so vibrant and colorful. When he told us all about her, her work, her colorful clothes, and that she was born in the region where we found the specimens, we thought, yeah, that’s great, let’s do it.” Read full article HERE.
According to the Zootaxa article, Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Liladownsia fraile, a new genus and species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) and an updated molecular phylogeny of Melanoplinae (a mouthful, I know, but the photos are worth scrolling through the article), Liladownsia fraile had been sighted in San José del Pacifico, Suchixtepec, and Pochutla.
By the way, if you are in Oaxaca, Lila Downs is performing tonight at the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá — a benefit for Fondo Guadalupe Musalem, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of the young indigenous women of Oaxaca through education.
Posted in Animals, Culture, Environment, People, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Chapulines, Fondo Guadalupe Musalem, grasshoppers, Lila Downs, Liladownsia fraile, Mexico, Oaxaca, science discoveries, Sierra Madre del Sur, singers, Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Liladownsia fraile | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, a new visitor arrived on the rooftop garden. Naturally, I wanted to know the name of this tiny guest who seemed to love my sedum. After searching page by page through my Smithsonian Handbooks: Butterflies and Moths unsuccessfully, I spent hours this morning combing the web. I think my new friend is from the family Lycaenidae (Gossamer-winged); subfamily Theclinae (Hairstreaks); tribe Eumaeini; and genus Electrostrymon. However, for the life of me, I can’t figure out which species — while the markings match, the colors don’t. Any lepidopterists out there who can help?
As for what he (I’m pretty certain it is male) was doing on the sedum — he was rubbing his wings together. For this, I did find an answer. According to the Learn About Butterflies website:
Hairstreaks usually have a pattern of lines or stripes on the underside wings. These, in combination with ocelli ( false eye markings ) and short tails ( false antennae ) act to divert attention away from the head, and towards the outer edge of the hindwings. By oscillating the wings, the tails are made to wiggle like antennae, further increasing the illusion that the butterfly is ‘back to front’. Attacking birds will always aim at the head of a butterfly, but are tricked into aiming at the tail. The butterfly is thus able to escape in the opposite direction unharmed. Another reason for wing-rubbing is that male Hairstreaks have patches of specialised wing scales – ‘androconia’, located on their upperside forewings. Sacs at the base of these scales contain pheromones. Rubbing the wings together helps to disseminate the pheromones, which attract females and induce them to mate.
Maybe there will be some springtime courting on the terrace….
Posted in Animals, Gardens, Science & Nature | Tagged butterflies, Electrostrymon, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, sedum, succulents | 2 Comments »
Yesterday, we returned to Teotitlán del Valle to join in their annual Día de la Santa Cruz hike up El Picacho, the sacred mountain that watches over this incredibly special pueblo. This year, instead taking the route up the mountain directly from downtown like we did last year (and it kicked our a$$), we drove to the presa (dam) and headed up a surprisingly well-marked trail from there. A symphony of cicadas (cigarras or chicharras, en español), serenaded us as we climbed, young people passed us, and Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, off in the distance, got smaller. However, after more than an hour, we sighted our first pack burro (they bring up the food and drink) and knew we had almost reached our destination.
We were welcomed at the top by the family hosting the gathering and given cups of agua de jamaica — just what the doctor ordered! There were even more people than last year, music blared from large speakers the aforementioned burros must have carried up the mountain, a new cross had replaced the one that had been hit by lightning last year, and, of course, the views were breathtaking.
But, with spectacular views in all directions, why was most everyone looking down toward the road from the village to the presa?
A foot race! From what we could understand, there were 3 classes of runners; one that ran all the way from mercado in the center of Teotitlán and other two “only” ran up from the presa. Whichever route they took, as one of the runner’s t-shirt says, they were all “chingon!”
And so was this gal, who was on her way up as we were coming down.
Muchisimas gracias, yet again, to the people of Teotitlán del Valle for another unforgettable experience.
Posted in Animals, Celebrations, Culture, Religion, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism | Tagged athletes, cicadas, Día de la Santa Cruz, El Picacho, foot race, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, runners, Teotitlán del Valle | 4 Comments »
Many of you may not know that Oaxaca has a Minor League baseball team, the Guerreros de Oaxaca, a Triple-A team in the Mexican League. They play at Estadio de Béisbol Lic. Eduardo Vasconcelos, right off the Pan American Highway, and most seats look out onto the sierras to the east. Tickets are inexpensive (women, seniors, and children usually pay even less), a friend insists it’s a great place to learn local Spanish swear words, and it’s a mere 25 blocks from Casita Colibrí (definitely within walking distance).
However, until Tuesday night, I hadn’t been to a game in almost three years.
The Guerreros were playing the Vaqueros Laguna from Torreón, Coahuila AND women got in free! Besides the action by the players on the field, there were cheerleaders. What can I say??? They certainly know how to toss their hair!
Despite the free ticket promotion for women (and men only paid 25 pesos), the stands were about an eighth full. However, this guy and his drum walked up and down the main aisle, drumming up fan support.
Unfortunately, in the bottom on the second inning, the rain that had been threatening, finally came. The game was halted, the players headed into their respective dugouts, and the ground crew pulled out the tarp.
It was already 8:15 PM, and we succumbed to being “fair weather fans” and left. The game eventually resumed and the Guerreros lost, 2-5, BUT they won the next night, 12-5, and are currently in third place in the Mexican League Sur.
I will return… THIS season!
Posted in Culture, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism | Tagged baseball, beisbol, Guerreros de Oaxaca, Mexican League, Mexico, Minor League baseball, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Triple-A baseball | 6 Comments »
Even though the significance of May 1, as International Workers’ Day, had its origin in the USA, it is not celebrated there (for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here). However, like most countries in the world, Día del Trabajo is a national holiday in Mexico. To honor labor everywhere, here is Oaxaca’s favorite daughter singing her song, “Mother Jones.”
“Pray for the dead, but fight like Hell for the living.” — Mary Harris Jones (aka, Mother Jones, the miners’ angel)
Posted in Celebrations, Economics, History, Holidays, Labor, People, Politics | Tagged Día de los Trabajadores, Día del Trabajo, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores, holiday, International Workers' Day, labor, Lila Downs, Mary Harris Jones, May Day, Mexico, Mother Jones, Oaxaca, video, workers | Leave a Comment »
On Saturday, we drove to San Bartolo Coyotepec for the opening of the exhibition, Colorum, an exhibit of art by the children of Oaxaca, mounted as part of tomorrow’s el Día del Niño (Children’s Day) celebrations. We went primarily to support my friend Juan, as his son Allan was one of the young artists participating in the show. However, we stayed because it was a wonderfully inspiring and uplifting experience and I applaud the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular Oaxaca (MEAPO) for encouraging and showcasing the imagination and creativity of the children of Oaxaca.
What is given to children, the children will give to society.
Children are the most important resource in the world and the best hope for the future.
The free imagination transforms the world and makes things fly.
The Colorum exhibition lasts until May 20, 2014. It is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Tuesday through Sunday.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Holidays, Museums, Travel & Tourism | Tagged art, children, Children's Day, Colorum, Day of the Child, Día del Nino, exhibitions, MEAPO, Mexico, Museo Estatal de Arte Popular Oaxaca, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Bartolo Coyotepec | 4 Comments »
No, not a newly discovered mutant killer variety — only one of the sculptures currently hanging out along the Alcalá. It is part of a public art exhibit, “El migrante,” by Oaxaqueño artisit, Fernando Andriacci.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Andador Turístico, art, Calle Macedonio Alcalá, culture, dragonfly, exhibitions, Fernando Andriacci, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, public art, sculptures, street art, urban art | 2 Comments »
Today the City of Oaxaca celebrates 482 years as a colonial city. (*** See below for a little history.) The day began at 6 AM with the ringing of the Cathedral’s bells, the singing of Mañanitas Oaxaqueñas, and marimbas and tamales on the Alameda de León. Alas, that was a little early for me to be up, dressed, and downtown. However, all I had to do was step out on my terrace to watch the next event of the day.
Five Pilatus PC7 Mexican Air Force planes put on a show over the city.
They made several passes over the city.
For their finale, contrails displayed the green, white, and red of the Mexican flag.
And then they were gone. I love how Noticias concludes their report, “After 45 minutes, the ‘steel birds’ returned to their base, pending a new appeal to challenge gravity.”
Celebrations continue through May 8 and a schedule of events can be found HERE.
*** In 1532 Spanish settlers (their bloody way paved by Hernán Cortés and his conquistadores) successfully petitioned the Queen of Spain for a land grant of 1 square league. The colonists had already established their own town on the site of Huaxyacac, renamed it Antequera (after an old Roman city in Spain) and received a Royal Charter from King Charles I of Spain. However, Cortés had successfully gotten the entire Valley of Oaxaca (hundreds of thousands of acres) declared as his own private marquisate and, his greed knowing no bounds, kept trying to evict the colonial townspeople. By obtaining the queen’s charter, this end-run around Cortés insured the rights of the townspeople to the land.
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, Transportation, Travel & Tourism | Tagged airplanes, aviones, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Pilatus PC7, popular travel destinations | 2 Comments »
This librarian couldn’t let this go by without a mention… Today is World Book Day and, naturally, Oaxaca celebrates with music! Under the shade of 130+ year old Indian laurel trees on the zócalo, the State Marimba Band opened the festivities.
According to the SECULTA website, the celebrations also include storytelling and a marathon of reading aloud from works by Octavio Paz, José Emilio Pacheco, José Revueltas, Julio Cortázar, Efraín Huerta, Juan Gelman, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and by the recently deceased and much revered, Gabriel García Márquez.
While the zócalo and Alcalá are the settings for book fairs several times a year, most of the public libraries are inadequate to fulfill their designated tasks and the price of books (200 to 300 pesos) is way beyond the reach of most of the state’s residents. Thus, it should surprise no one that reports show Oaxaqueños read an average of only one book per year. The secretary of Cultures and Arts of Oaxaca ( SECULTA ), Francisco Martínez Neri, acknowledged, “A people with few economic opportunities read little, so it requires the creation of public policies to have books at affordable prices.” Programs like Libros Para Pueblos, try to fill the gap, but it’s only the proverbial drop in the bucket.
I’ve previously mentioned the controversial “education reform” program of Mexico’s current president, Peña Nieto. Perhaps, a massive nationwide literacy campaign modeled after the wildly successful, Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961 would be a good place to start. Maybe the education reformers should read, Latin lessons: What can we learn from the world’s most ambitious literacy campaign?
Posted in Books, Celebrations, Culture, Education, Libraries | Tagged Cuban Literacy Campaign, educational reforms, illiteracy, Libros Para Pueblos, literacy, marimbas, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos | 2 Comments »
Good Friday wasn’t all about Mary. Viernes Santo processions present larger-than-life images of Jesús in all his piety and suffering.
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ Superstar
Do you think you’re what they say you are?
— Superstar, lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Easter, Good Friday, Holy Week, Jesus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Procesión del Silencio, Procession of Silence, Semana Santa, Superstar lyrics, Viernes Santo | Leave a Comment »
Good Friday in Oaxaca… Jesús may be the one who they say was crucified and resurrected, but María is never far from his side.
From frequent traveler to Oaxaca, Liza Bakewell’s book, Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun:
One can travel all over Spain and its former viceroyalties and never see as many elaborately bedecked and bejeweled Virgins as one will see here in Mexico — neither in number, nor in glory. Yes, in Peru there are many famously ornate ones. In Colombia, too. Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador have their share. The Philippines is a runner-up. But Mexico has all of them beat. Marian devotion, the worship of the Virgin Mary in all her forms through song, prayer, writing painting, sculpture, and shrines, went wild in Mexico. (p. 169)
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Easter, Good Friday, Holy Week, La Virgen María, Liza Bakewell, Mexico, Oaxaca, Perilous Journeys, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Procesión del Silencio, Procession of Silence, Semana Santa, Viernes Santo, virgen de dolores, Virgen de La Soledad, Virgin Mary | Leave a Comment »
From the streets of Oaxaca today, wishing you happy Easter Sunday…
almost Earth Day…
And, though nothing seen around the streets of the city, a happy Passover!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Easter, holidays, Holy Week, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pascuas, photographs, photos, Semana Santa | 2 Comments »
Last night, fortified by tostadas, guacamole, and a little vino, a gal pal and I set out for the Jueves Santo (aka: Holy Thursday and Maundy Thursday) tradition of visiting seven churches. According to that fount of knowledge, Wikipedia, “The tradition of visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday is an ancient practice, probably originating in Rome.”
We purchased our bag of Pan Bendito (bread that had been blessed) and set off. As always, the sidewalks were teeming with people in a combination of a semi-solemn pilgrimage, street festival, family night at the fair, and date night. (Of course, there was canoodling.) And, despite the “Entrada” and “Salida” signs on the doors of many of the churches, foot traffic was often gridlocked. I didn’t help matters when I stopped short. Jesus wearing a blindfold?
At another church, another blindfolded Jesus…
And, another…
Holy Thursday, Batman, how could I have missed these blindfolded Jesus figures in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013???
(For those, like me, who are clueless where this blindfold business comes from: According to the Gospels of Luke (22:64) and Mark (14:65), Jesus was blindfolded, mocked, and beaten following his trial and before his crucifixion.)
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Easter, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Holy Week, Jesus, Jueves Santo, Maundy Thursday, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Semana Santa | 4 Comments »
And so, Viernes Santo began…
Processions from churches in the Historic District began at 7:00 AM.
They converged at the Alameda, on the south side of the Cathedral,
where “our Lord meets his most Holy Mother going towards Calvary.”
The faithful, now as one, then proceeded east on Independencia…
along with the images of Mary and Jesus…
stopping along the way at Stations of the Cross.
I left at 9:30 AM — they were still going. Early this evening, all will again gather for the Procession of Silence. No rest for the faithful or weary bloggers!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism | Tagged Christianity, Easter, Estaciones de la Cruz, Good Friday, Holy Mother, Holy Week, Jesus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Semana Santa, Via Cruces, Viernes Santo | 5 Comments »
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 