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Posts Tagged ‘Mexico’

Thunder (and lightening) dome

Posted in Buildings, Weather, tagged , , , , , , on March 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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.

Dome of Templo de San José

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.

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Spring break in Oaxaca for Malia

Posted in People, tagged , , , on March 18, 2012| 1 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.

Malia Obama and friends

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!!!

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St. Patrick’s Battalion

Posted in History, Music, tagged , , , , on March 17, 2012| 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?

h/t  Dave W.

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Water, water, everwhere…

Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Culture, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2012| Leave a 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.

Palm fronds hanging above; purple and multicolored garlands.

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.

Clay pots and palm fronds on top of purple tablecloth

These “water stations” are decorated in purple, the color of Lent, symbolizing penance and royalty.

Women serving aguas from clay pots

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.

Women in long huipil standing next to her table of aguas.

By early afternoon the Alcalá was a sea of people.

Crowd of heads and cups

This is definitely NOT a made for the tourist event.

Woman in indigenous dress serving an agua, man in foreground holding cup

This is Oaxaqueños practicing the sharing and hospitality that informs much of their culture.

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If it’s Tuesday…

Posted in Protests, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

it must have been another bloqueo (blockade).

Banner on back of truck

On Morelos, traffic was rerouted.

Municipal traffic cop directing traffic

Gotta say, I love her backpack!

Female traffic officer with pink backback standing next to motorcycle

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Left hanging…

Posted in Buildings, tagged , , , on March 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

From today’s walk…

Side view of missing wing of Guelaguetza Auditorium

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!

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Now you see it, now you don’t!

Posted in Buildings, tagged , , , on March 12, 2012| 2 Comments »

Remember the Guelaguetza Auditorium?   July 25, 2011…

Guelaguetza Auditorium with full cover

After moderate winds Friday night,  Guelaguetza Auditorium, March 11, 2012…

Guelaguetza Auditorium with missing wing.

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).

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Touch and go

Posted in Buildings, Libraries, People, Places, Signs, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2012| 3 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…

Mariano Matamoros; esq. M. Garcia Vigil; circulacion -->

… or that.

M. Garcia Vigil; Esq. Mariano Matamoros; Circulacion <--

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.

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Women on the Alcalá

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, tagged , , , , on March 9, 2012| 5 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.

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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!

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Celebrating the women of Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, Labor, People, tagged , , , , on March 8, 2012| 6 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!

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¡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:


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A family business

Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2012| 5 Comments »

Samuel Bautista Lazo is one of the smartest, joyous, and Zen-like people I know.

Sam sitting cross-legged in a natural alcove in the mountain

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.

El Picacho

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.

Sam and his family pose in their yard

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.

Tapete on floor: geometric patterns in rust, beige, agua

A friend and I returned six months later and had the privilege of climbing to the top of El Picacho with Sam.

Sam on top of El Picacho

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.

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Marimba in the mercado

Posted in Culture, Markets, Music, tagged , , , , on March 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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…

Man, teenage boy, and young boy playing marimba

I suspect this is a father and his two sons.  Marimba playing seems to be a (masculine) family affair.

Close up of young boy

It isn’t unusual to see these beautiful instruments being carried through the streets and sidewalks of Oaxaca…

Parquetry detail on marimba

… 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:

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Parts or sum?

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, tagged , , , , , , on March 2, 2012| 4 Comments »

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.

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Grandes maestros y maestras

Posted in Books, Creativity, Culture, People, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2012| 1 Comment »

Last night I joined a standing-room-only crowd for the book launch of Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular de Oaxaca (Grand Masters of Folk Art of Oaxaca) at the Centro Académico y Cultural San Pablo, in Oaxaca city.  This beautiful 340+ page book was the joint effort of the Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú, Fomento Cultural Banamex, the State of Oaxaca, and CONACULTA (National Council for Culture and the Arts).

Cover of the book

The press was there in full force, as was governor Gabino Cue, benefactor Alfredo Harp Helu, and a number of other movers and shakers on Oaxaca’s cultural scene.  Many of the artisans were also in attendance and several posed for photographs holding their copy of the book at the reception that followed.

One of the artisans who was not there was the late potter, Dolores Porras from Santa María Atzompa, as Parkinson’s disease had claimed her on November 1, 2010.  Four pages in the book are devoted to this maestra of pottery and her pioneering work with glazes.  Examples of her work can be seen all around Oaxaca, including these scattered in the garden at the hotel, Las Golondrinas.

Vase in the shape of a woman's face and rounded body

Her work has inspired imitation, but as is evident in these pieces, her whimsy, creativity, and sense of proportion would be difficult to match.

Urn with the face of a woman.

I want to thank potter Michael Peed for pointing out these hidden treasures…

Tall vase in the shape of a woman.

following a showing of his loving documentary, Dolores Porras: Artista Artesana de Barro Santa María Atzompa.  (Click here for an excerpt on YouTube.)

DVD front and back covers

And then there is this one, I discovered on my own, the very next day — on a bathroom shelf, no less — at Casa Linda…

Vase with image of a woman, with pointy breasts.

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Southern exposure

Posted in Nature & Science, Weather, tagged , , on February 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Sunset last night…

as it unfolded.

Sometimes, looking south is the best!

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