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My cup runneth over…

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, tagged calenda, Children's Guelaguetza, Costa, costume, culture, Guelaguetza, Infantil Guelaguetza, Istmo, Mexico, Mixteca, Oaxaca, Papaloapan, parade, penachos, photographs, photos, traditional regional dances, traje, Tuxtepec, Valles Centrales de Oaxaca on April 21, 2012| 6 Comments »

Friday was a delightful day… a late morning and early afternoon spent in leisurely conversation with one of my closest friends over desayuno at Cocina Economica Isabel, a stop at the Merced mercado to pick up some pan dulce, and a stroll through the Zócalo, before returning home. I envisioned a late afternoon and evening of visiting with my neighbor before she is heads north for a USA visit, catching up on email, and watching a movie. Perfection, I thought! Who could ask for more?

“More” came via my email inbox; notice of the 10th Guelaguetza Infantil, with a calenda (parade) from Santo Domingo de Guzmán to the Zócalo beginning at 6 PM. This definitely called for a change of plans! And, sure enough, as I got closer to Santo Domingo, there they were; delegations of children representing the regions of Oaxaca.

Istmo de Tehuantepec couple (a young Frida Kahlo, perhaps?) posing for photos.

There were several bands playing and it got a little too loud for this girl from the Istmo.

However this girl, representing the Papaloapan, didn’t seem to mind and was ready to toss candy to the crowd. She wasn’t alone — once the calenda started, candy began flying fast and furious and the pockets of the kids watching on the sidelines began bulging!

Girls from the Costa region received last-minute instructions.

Costa boys were charged with holding up their school banner.

The girls representing the Papaloapan clutched plastic pineapples, ready for the always popular Flor de Piña dance from Tuxtepec.

A little cross cultural comparing of notes (actually, cell phone games) was happening between the Istmo and Papaloapan.

All the while, the dancers from the Mixteca danced their way down the Álcala.

And, the young Danza de la Pluma danzantes, representing the Valles Centrales, carefully balanced their penachos (headdresses).

Tonight at 5 pm, these 300 kids from 52 preschools, will perform traditional regional dances in the auditorium of the Universidad Regional del Sureste, Rosario campus in San Sebastián Tutla.

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Día de la Virgen de Dolores 2012

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, tagged altar, animal figurines, Chia Pets, Día de la Virgén de Dolores, Mexico, Oaxaca, Our Lady of Sorrows, photos, popular travel destinations, virgen de dolores, Virgin of Sorrows on March 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today, the 6th Friday of Lent, is El Día de la Virgen de Dolores, the Virgin of Sorrows.

Altars have been set-up in courtyards and businesses around town, including this one at Hotel Las Mariposas (butterflies).

It commemorates the pain suffered by the Virgin Mary on the death of her son.

By the way, note the “chia pets.” This is where the US entrepreneur originally got the idea in the late 1970s for the terracotta animal figurines planted with Salvia Hispanica.

Tonight, I’m headed to a special Día de la Virgen de Dolores program, including a concert of sacred music performed by the Coro de la Ciudad (chorus of the city of Oaxaca), at the Templo del Carmen Bajo.

(ps) Ooops! Apparently, the concert is tomorrow night.

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Touch and go

Posted in Buildings, Libraries, People, Places, Signs, tagged Biblioteca Infantil, blind, Braille, Francisco Toledo, Jorge Luis Borges, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street names, street signs, visually impaired 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…

… or that.

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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Frangipani, ahhh…

Posted in Gardens, tagged Casita Colibrí, flowers, frangipani, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plumeria on February 7, 2012| 4 Comments »

Full moon hiding; overcast tonight. Sheesh, I’ve been cold all day! However, my Frangipani is blooming…

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Going forth and multiplying

Posted in Animals, Gardens, Nature & Science, tagged Araneidae, Argiope, Casita Colibrí, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver, photographs, photos on January 13, 2012| 4 Comments »

Remember Argiope, from my September 20 and October 8 posts? She has continued to hang around, catch flies, and do all manner of spidery things. However, four days ago, her web was abandoned…

Apparently, my screen door is the perfect place, in her mind, to lay her eggs!

A friend asked, how do I feel about having hundreds of little Argiopes hatch practically INSIDE my apartment?

I’m trying not to think about it, says I.

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Magical and mystical…

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, tagged cemetery, Day of the Dead, Días de Muerto, Mexico, Oaxaca, panteón, photographs, photos, Santa María Atzompa on November 1, 2011| 2 Comments »

I don’t have words to express “being” last night in the Panteón of Santa María Atzompa…

Feeling so incredibly privileged.

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A shell of his former self

Posted in Animals, Gardens, Nature & Science, tagged Araneidae, Argiope, Casita Colibrí, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver, photographs, photos, spider on October 8, 2011| 4 Comments »

Remember Argiope from 2-1/2 weeks ago?

Turns out, she isn’t as sweet as she looks. Today, HE came, HE saw, and SHE conquered!

Leaving him a shell of his former self…

Within a half an hour, she had finished him off… leaving not a trace that he had ever existed.

And, she was alone again, naturally! Alone, that is, until their offspring hatch…

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She’s baaack…

Posted in Animals, Gardens, Language, Nature & Science, tagged Casita Colibrí, film, garden, language, Mexico, movies, Neoscona oaxacensis, Oaxaca, orb weaver, photographs, photos, spider on September 27, 2011| 3 Comments »

Argiope’s neighbor (of Orb Weavers blog post fame) has returned! Two days ago I spotted the Neoscona oaxacensis (Ms Oaxaca, to her nearest and dearest) nestled among the leaves of a succulent in the pot next to her original home. However, no large round insect catching web was seen.

Apparently, last night Ms Oaxaca must have stayed up pretty late. This morning, when I came out to say, “buenos días,” I found her happily sitting in the middle of a brand new web.

According to SpidCat, the range of the Neoscona oaxacensis runs from the USA, down to Peru and the Galapagos Islands. They are not only beautiful and harmless, they keep the flying insect population down. So, if you’re lucky enough to have one in your garden, leave her be. If you don’t want to take my word for it, there was the study published in the California Avocado Society Yearbook (1980) that concluded,

…the significance of the orb weaving Neoscona in avocado orchards is probably not that they prevent dramatic population increases in the pest population or control the pests through the year. Instead, the presence of spiders, even in years of low pest populations, may dampen the increases in pest species during the later months of the season and serve as stabilizing agents to restrain the pest outbreaks during the interval between pest population increases and the numerical response of more specific parasites.

Anything that is good for avocados, is okay by me!

(ps) And now for something completely different… The answers to the Name that film quiz are:

Birds of America = Vecinos y enemigos
Brokeback Mountain = Secreto en la montaña
Easy Virtue = Buenas costumbres
Midnight Sting = El golpe perfecto
People I know = Noche del crimen
Tenderness = Asesino intimo
That Evening Sun = Una historia de traicion
Up in the Air = Amor sin escalas

Sorry, no prizes… just this bonus bizarre title translation my Spanish teacher contributed: Mrs. Doubtfire = Papá por siempre. Definitely a case of, lost in translation!!!

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Orb weavers

Posted in Animals, Gardens, Nature & Science, tagged Araneidae, Argiope, Casita Colibrí, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver, photographs, photos, spider, Stalpelia gigantea on September 20, 2011| 8 Comments »

Clothing, tablecloths, and rugs aren’t the only things being woven in Oaxaca. The terrace has a new resident, an orb weaver spider (family Araneidae). I think, because of the stabilimentum (the white zigzags on the web), she is in the genus, Argiope.

She had a larger orb weaving neighbor in the pot next door…

Alas, after a couple of days, the neighbor disappeared and her carefully crafted web fell into disrepair. However, that left more food for Argiope.

Apparently, green bottle flies are a favorite, because this is one of several she caught in a single day. She’s chosen the perfect site for her home — in the garden’s previously blogged about, Stinky plant, attracting flies (aka, Stalpelia gigantea).

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Lush life update

Posted in Gardens, tagged cactus, Casita Colibrí, garden god, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants, succulents on August 27, 2011| 3 Comments »

Returned from the mercado this afternoon to find…

… a crack in the pot. Garden god bursting with pride???

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Lush life

Posted in Gardens, Weather, tagged cactus, Casita Colibrí, garden god, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants, succulents on August 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Torrential rain by night; brilliant blue sky by day…

This is the way the garden grows during the rainy season in Oaxaca.

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Crossing a riverbed for breakfast

Posted in Food, Neighborhoods, tagged El Biche Pobre, graffiti, Jalatlaco, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, wall art on July 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

No, I didn’t have to ford a raging river… just make a harrowing 5+ second dash, while dodging speeding cars in an effort to cross Calzada de la República, which used to be a river that formed the natural boundary between Oaxaca and the village of Jalatlaco.

Today, Jalatlaco (“sandy embankment” in the Aztec language of Nauhatl) is a barrio (neighborhood) of Oaxaca, but República and its traffic continue to provide a daunting barrier and some colorful street art.

However, once beyond República, the atmosphere changes. Cobblestones from the old riverbed line the streets and slow the pace;

color and foliage, not to mention crowns, add to the character;

and stone walls line the narrow streets, shielding the neighborhood from the bustle beyond.

By the way, my breakfast of huevos divorcíados at El Biche Pobre was colorful and delicious!

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Strolling along Constitución

Posted in Culture, Random associations, tagged calle Constitución, dancers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, posters on July 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Just strolling along Constitución en route to and from the Oaxaca Lending Library. First en la mañana…

and across Reforma, pasted on one of the previously mentioned Old and dangerous buildings.

And then, en la tarde… father, son, and daughter waiting to perform on a stage set up at the Jardin El Pañuelito.

Going from here to there is never just going from here to there!

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Old and dangerous!

Posted in Buildings, tagged abandoned buildings, buildings, dangerous, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on July 2, 2011| 2 Comments »

Viejas peligrosas was the headline of an article in yesterday’s Noticias, chronicling the dangerous old buildings in the 484-block historic center of Oaxaca. According to the article, 23 properties are at high risk of falling, are magnets for trash disposal, and are sources of disease.

Although en español, I encourage even non Spanish speakers to take a look at the revealing slideshow of some of the more egregious, but highly photogenic, properties at the end of the article.

In addition, I’d like to nominate this building:

And, what do you think about the roof???

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Ch-ch-ch-changes in the ‘hood

Posted in Random associations, tagged Guelaguetza Auditorium, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on June 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

After 35 days up in the USA (and yes, I was counting), I’m back in Oaxaca. The old stove still “decorates” the driveway of my apartment compound, apparently following in the footsteps of the two refrigerators which graced the driveway for almost a year.

However, there are a few changes in the ‘hood. I arrived home yesterday, to discover a delightful new neighbor moving into one of the apartments below me; the stump of a tree across the street that must have toppled during one of the recent storms;

and a new canopy atop the Guelaguetza Auditorium.

This is a “take two” attempt at this controversial sunshade; the first tore before it was even finished, causing last year’s Guelaguetza performances to be relocated to the university’s soccer stadium, across the city — making yours truly a very unhappy camper! With family visiting, it was the first time I had shelled out the big bucks to attend and, not only could we not just walk up the hill to the event, we weren’t able to enjoy the fabulous views of the city and the mountains to the east, that the Guelaguetza Auditorium provides.

FYI: Over the past week, Chris at Oaxaca-The-Year-After, has been blogging about the controversy.

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