Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Mexico’

Serendipity on Viernes Santo…

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I opened the front gate this morning to find the sidewalk had morphed into an Estación de la Cruz.

Station of the cross on the sidewalk with Jesus and Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

Worshipers prayed, recited the appropriate devotions, and then slowly moved on.

Read Full Post »

Faces of Jueves Santo

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on April 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Today was Jueves Santo (aka: Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday).

Believers gathered to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus.  Tables are set up in church doorways selling pan bendito (3 buns for 5 pesos of blessed bread).  And, where there are more than ten people, vendors gather….

Woman dulce vendor outside Sangre de Cristo

Outside Iglesia de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo — I suspect her life hasn’t been half as sweet as the dulces she was selling.

Angelic looking altar boy

A little sweetheart on his best behavior and waiting to process.

Seated nun

Would you buy pickled carrots or peppers from this woman?

Plastic rain capes vendor

The rains came and the capas del agua vendors miraculously appeared outside Santo Domingo.

Vendor making empanadas, memelas, tortas, and tlayudas on a comal.

After visiting the prescribed 7 churches, I rewarded myself with my (hopefully, not last) supper — a flor de calabaza and quesillo empanada, cooked to order.  Yummm….

Read Full Post »

Taxi! Taxi!

Posted in Labor, Protests, tagged , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

I sure hope no one needs a taxi in el centro today.

Taxis double-parked on Indenpendencia

Double-parked on Independencia and lined up for blocks on side streets, empty taxis sit…

Taxis line up on side street

A protest against “pirate” taxis.

Fuera taxis piratas del centro

By the way, pink taxis, lavender taxis, and green taxis were lined up on other streets, which would have added more color to this entry.  But, alas, I violated the first rule of photography:  Always carry an extra battery!   I know, my feeble excuse of, I’d only gone out to buy velcro adhesive for my mosquito screen door project, is no excuse.

Read Full Post »

Good Samaritans and Litter Bugs!

Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2011| 4 Comments »

Today, the fourth Friday of Lent, is Día de la Samaritana, also known as el Día de las Aguas, and a uniquely Oaxacan celebration.  It is inspired by the Biblical story of the woman at the well who offered water to Jesus.  And so, here in Oaxaca churches, schools, and businesses offer passersby free cups of  horchata, aguas frescas, and some, even ice cream.

Decorations began going up around town yesterday…

window decoration: purple tule, tin heart, and flowers

Sidewalk stands are set up,  some more elaborate…

Purple decorations hanging from lona

than others…Small agua fresca stand

And, what does one do with the empty (and not-so-empty) cups?

Empty cups on window sill

Decorate a window sill, of course!

Read Full Post »

Full moon rising over Oaxaca

Posted in Nature & Science, tagged , , , , , , on March 20, 2011| 3 Comments »

Last night’s Supermoon from Casita Colibrí’s terrace…

Full moon rising

And, happy Vernal Equinox to all!

Read Full Post »

Love and balloons are in the air!

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on February 14, 2011| 1 Comment »

Oaxaca loves Valentine’s Day! Rojo is the color of the day… red tablecloths cover the tables of restaurants under the portales… red shirts, sweaters, skirts, and shoes capture the eye. The Zócalo is teeming with people… young men carefully carrying cone wrapped roses for their sweethearts, girls clutching their regalos… stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers, and balloons.

And speaking of balloons…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

Read Full Post »

478 and counting…

Posted in History, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on April 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Oaxaca is old!   As a cursory glance at Mixtec and Zapotec history and their descendants will tell, this valley has been settled for thousands of years.

Dancers

However, yesterday the city celebrated its founding as a colonial city, marking the 478 years since 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.   Thus, April 25th continues to be celebrated as Oaxaca’s birthday.

City elite

Saturday night I had a ringside seat on my terrace for fuegos artificiales (fireworks) — first emanating from the vicinity of the ex-convento of Santo Domingo (6 blocks to the NE), followed by those sent up into the night sky from La Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (AKA:  my backyard).  Sunday morning, I was awakened at 6:05 to the sounds of Lady Soledad’s bells chiming — more musical than the usual clang-clang-clang — for a full 5 minutes, along with the rat-ta-tat-tat of firecrackers, adding exclamation points!

Bungee contraption -- ready for lift off.

I went down to the Zócalo a little before 6pm — the calenda (parade) hadn’t yet arrived, but the place was teeming with people (mostly all Mexican).  Payasos (clowns) were in abundance, but the big hit was a bungee cord contraption suspended above a trampoline.  A guy would harness a kid to the cord, jump up and down on the trampoline with his arms around said kid and once momentum was achieved, let go and send the kid sling-shot-like up into the sky.  Yikes, the way several of the kids were flaying around, I thought someone was going to break a back.

Marmota leading the way

For the 3rd day in a row, temperatures continued to be in the high 90s, unseasonably hot even for Oaxaca so, for the second day in a row, I hit the ice cream shop — this time for a scoop each of peach and banana (in a cup, no cone this time… less messy as it melted) — a great combination!  The calenda eventually arrived with all the usual suspects — several brass bands, municipal honchos, dancers in costume, monos (giant puppets — see above photo), etc.  Did I mention, it was really hot?  There I was, dripping wet, confining myself to the shade of the Zócalo’s 135+ year old towering Indian laurel trees, and eating ice cream when these participants (of all ages, I might add) had walked, played, and danced their way under the blazing sun for 13 blocks from Llano Park!

Little girl dancer

After 13 blocks, she didn't look any worse for wear!

Participants unmasked

Guys unmasked.

Couple drinking water

Feeling the heat... the pause that refreshes!

Disassembling balloons.

That's all folks!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts