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Posts Tagged ‘hearts’

Valentine’s love from Oaxaca

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2025| 2 Comments »

¡Feliz día del amor y la amistad!

Happy day of love and friendship to all my wonderful readers from the front of a plastics recycling bin!

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Hearts of Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

On this gray Valentine’s Day in the “City By the Bay,” I left my heart in Oaxaca…

Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo
Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo
Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo – Homage to Paulina Solís Ocampo, creator and choreographer of the Flor de Piña dance.

¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad! Happy Day of Love and Friendship!

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Day for lovers and friends

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2023| 1 Comment »

This morning I woke to the sound of music — a live trio singing traditional Mexican boleros drifted through an open window. Though it was 6:15 AM, I couldn’t help smiling at being awakened to romantic songs like these sung by Trio Los Panchos.

On this Valentine’s Day, known in Mexico as Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship), some much loved person was being serenaded.

Once the calendar turned to February, hearts, flowers, balloons, candy, and stuffed animals have been featured in windows and sidewalk vendor displays.

¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad! And, because International Mother Language Day is coming up on February 21, learn to say “I love you” to lovers and friends in 7 of the 69 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico — including Zapoteco, Mixteco, and a couple of other languages spoken in Oaxaca.

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From my heart…

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2022| 4 Comments »

In Mexico, Valentine’s Day is known as Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship) — a sentiment that honors and celebrates more than just romantic love.

Recyclying heart by Noel Gómez Lorenzo — in front of Oaxaca’s Cathedral during the summer of 2021.

From my heart and home to yours, I wish all my blog readers, ¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

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Filling the hearts

Posted in Creativity, Environment, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 3, 2021| 6 Comments »

Recycling in Oaxaca continues — slowly but surely. But, honestly, who can resist filling these hearts around Parque El Llano/Paseo Juarez?

Here in Jalatlaco, we are not asked to separate our trash, but I think I will begin taking my plastic agua mineral (mineral water) bottles down to this heart next to the Templo de San Matías Jalatlaco.

This is a program, begun in 2019, by the city’s Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, a governmental agency charged with strengthening and developing the welfare of the Mexican families.

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Days of love and friendship

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

February 14th isn’t just a day for lovers. In Mexico, Valentine’s Day is known as the Día del Amor y la Amistad — Day of Love and Friendship.

By the artist known as ARCH

Decorations have gone up and I have no doubt kilos of chocolate, bouquets of flowers, and heart shaped balloons with confessions of amor will be purchased.

Unfortunately, with the virus continuing to rapidly spread and Oaxaca still under semáforo naranja/orange traffic light (though many think it should be rojo/red), I’m not sure restaurants will or should be filled to capacity with friends, sweethearts, and families.

By the artist known as Efedefroy

Given the trauma and uncertainty the world has experienced over the past year, I hope we have learned to cherish our friends and family and to let them know how much they mean to us every day. Let us celebrate days of love and friendship and not just limit it to one day a year.

And, if you would like to say I love you (te amo) in 7 of the 69 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico — including several spoken in the state of Oaxaca — click HERE.

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Hearts and flowers of Muertos

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2020| 2 Comments »

Even the recycling bins in Oaxaca are getting into the spirit of Day of the Dead.

Calle Independencia side of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
In front of the Iglesia de Guadalupe
Zócalo side of the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

And cempasúchil (marigolds) to beckon the difuntos (departed), plastic bottles, and tin cans.

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Recycling with heart

Posted in Creativity, Environment, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 18, 2019| 7 Comments »

In late October 2019, I stumbled on this installation on the Alcalá in front of Santo Domingo. The message on the heart to the left, in English read, “Knowledge of degradable and biodegradable garbage. I think and therefore recycle.” – Sandra Zárate Garcia

The message on the heart to the right declared, “Care of rivers and seas, ‘Caring for water with a heart.'” – Marcos Raúl Moreno Félix


And, it wasn’t just there. Hearts, enhanced by fifteen artists and waiting to be filled with recyclables, began cropping up in parks and public spaces throughout the city.

Yikes, could it be? Oaxaca is finally joining the world of recycling. ¡Qué milagro!

It is a project of the DIF, a governmental agency charged with strengthening and developing the welfare of the Mexican families

According to mayor Oswaldo García Jarquín, “this campaign is the beginning to truly become aware of the importance of caring for our environment; not because of a fashion, not because of a political vocation or sensitivity issue, but because it is an already indispensable issue and Oaxaca must be an example at the national level and worldwide.”

The President of the Consultative Council of the Municipal DIF, Patricia Benfield López, “recalled that, with this initiative, it helps reduce the amount of solid waste and encourage its use, since the resources obtained from the sale of waste will be invested in the manufacture and installation of more structures. While PET caps will be destined to associations dedicated to care for girls and boys with cancer.”

My favorite, by the painter, Noel Gómez Lorenzo, is in a very prominent spot on the zócalo. May the hearts of Oaxaca be filled each and every day!

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Love and Friendship

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , on February 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

The signs of Valentine’s Day are everywhere…

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Ready for the fiesta on the patio of my apartment complex.

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Tin hearts on display at the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca (MEAPO) shop in San San Bartolo Coyotepec.

While it may be a holiday imported from Europe, Mexico embraces the celebration.

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Dining room ceiling of Los Huamuches, between Santo Tomás Jalieza and San Martín Tilcajete.

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Balloons on the zócalo in Oaxaca de Juárez.

Wishing you ¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

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Bougainvillea on a cross at the palenque of Faustino García Vásquez, San Baltazar Chichicápam.

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Ready for the fiesta on the patio of my apartment complex.

Happy Day of Love and Friendship to all!

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That was the year that was…

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2016| 11 Comments »

It was a year I’m sure many would like to forget; it was disastrous for the planet AND her inhabitants.  For me, on this last day of the year, I choose to reflect on the beauty, joy, love, and new adventures that I was fortunate to experience.

I welcomed 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area at my childhood home, now my younger son’s domicile.  Thus on New Year’s Day, I made æbleskiver (Danish pancakes) using my great grandmother’s recipe and her, well over 100 year old, cast iron pan.

Æbleskiver on New Year's Day 2016; a family tradition

Æbleskiver on New Year’s Day 2016; a family tradition.

Back in Oaxaca, February brought a community Día de Amor y Amistad fiesta in my apartment complex.  Have I mentioned?  I have wonderful neighbors!

Valentine's Day party

Valentine’s Day party decorations in the patio.

March was unseasonably hot, but the blue skies and flamboyant trees beginning to bloom made it bearable.

Flamboyant trees, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, and agave

Flamboyant trees, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, and agave.

April took me to Cuba, a lifelong dream finally realized.  It was more fascinating, confounding, and fabulous than I had ever expected.

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View from the Hotel Habana Riviera.

By May, the flamboyant trees had leafed out and were in full bloom — and we needed it, as the hot-hot-hot temperatures continued.

Flamboyant trees and Santo Domingo de Guzmán looking picture perfect.

Flamboyant trees and Santo Domingo de Guzmán looking picture perfect.

A calavera on the streets of Oaxaca in June?  Absolutely!  She knows no season.

Sad calavera standing on the sidewalk.

Sad calavera standing on the sidewalk.

And, then there was July!  So much to see and do, this month warrants three images.

Indigenous pipe and drums lead off the first, and stormy, Guelaguetza desfile.

Indigenous pipe and drums lead off the first, and stormy, Guelaguetza desfile.

El Jardín Etnobotánico was again the site of the Mole Festival. So beautiful!

El Jardín Etnobotánico was again the site of the Mole Festival. So beautiful!

Vela Vinnii Gaxheé parade float, waiting.

Vela Vinnii Gaxheé parade float waiting for the Intrepidas to board.

The rainy season was in full force in August and I loved standing on my terrace watching the storms approach, though sometimes they didn’t make it all the way to Casita Colibrí.  Microclimates!

Storm approaching the city from the south.

Storm approaching the city from the south.

September brought the second major feast day in Teotitlán del Valle:  Fiesta a la Natividad de la Virgen María.

Bringing the canastas to the church for the unmarried women and girls to carry in the convite.

Bringing canastas to the church for the unmarried women and girls to carry in the convite.

I was in California from late September to early October, and when I returned there was a new exhibition in the courtyard of the Museo de Arte Prehispánico de México Rufino Tamayo.

Some of the 2501 migrant sculptures by Alejandro Santiago.

Some of the 2501 migrant sculptures by the late Alejandro Santiago.

For the past couple of years, one of my destinations on November 1 has been the panteón in Tlacolula de Matamoros; its beauty and tranquility always take my breath away.

Under the shade of the daughters of the tule tree, the chapel in the panteón.

Light and shadows cast by the daughters of the Tule tree, play off the colors of the chapel in the panteón.

Later in November, I spent a delightful Thanksgiving with family and friends on the east coast of the USA, but returned to spend Christmas in Oaxaca for the first time in three years.  It was just as joyous and colorful as I remembered!

Nochebuena angels on a float in the zócalo.

Nochebuena angels on a float in the zócalo.

These three are the future; let’s vow to do all we can to give them a better world than the 2016 one that is departing.

Many thanks to you all; I am constantly amazed and gratified that you choose to stop by.  Wishing all the best for you, your loved ones, and your communities in 2017.  ¡Feliz año nuevo a tod@s!

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Love and language

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

Because today is Valentine’s Day and International Mother Language Day is coming up on February 21, learn to say “I love you” in 7 of the 69 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico — including Zapoteco, Mixteco, and a couple of other languages of Oaxaca.

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¡Feliz Día del Amor y Amistad!  Happy Day of Love and Friendship!

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Love and friendship

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2015| 2 Comments »

February 14th isn’t just a day for lovers.  In Mexico, it is known as the Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship).  Oaxaca’s balloon, chocolate, and flower vendors do a booming business and restaurants are usually filled to capacity with friends, sweethearts, and families.

Heart decorations hanging on tree

I fell in love with Oaxaca the first time I saw her when visiting a friend in 2007.  Who wouldn’t when the guitars and harmonies of Trio Santo Domingo drew us to the zócalo on a balmy August evening!  Thus, my gift to you on this day of love and friendship:

“La amistad es lluvia de flores preciosas”  (Friendship is like a shower of precious flowers) —  line from a Nahuatl poem.

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