Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘urban art’

Second Sunday in Xochimilco

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2021| 14 Comments »

The second Sunday in 2021 walk took us to Xochimilco (“X” pronounced like “S”).

We never know where our feet will take us and who we will meet along the way.

Read Full Post »

Art of the Sunday walk

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2021| 4 Comments »

Last Sunday’s first Sunday of 2021 walk…

Going to and from Barrio de Jalatlaco, there is always something old and new to see.

Read Full Post »

A few of my favorite scenes…

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2020| 4 Comments »

Mountain biking in the city.
Benito (Juárez) knows best.
Riding with the queen (Frida Kahlo).
Masked, they’ll be dancing in the street (with the “Rubios” of Santiago Juxtlahuaca).

Read Full Post »

Shannon in wonderland

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2020| 2 Comments »

Today Oaxaca regressed to “If you are able, stay in your house” Covid-19 semáforo naranja, seemingly for the umpteenth time, not that it seems to make any difference. A morning walk to Mercado Benito Juárez revealed restaurants continuing to offer indoor dining; a zócalo teeming with people, street vendors, and the tents of a plantón (protest encampment); and a mercado bustling with people. These days I feel like I’m living in Alice in Wonderland’s world…

“Off with their heads!”

Papier-mâché mono de calenda artisan workshop in Oaxaca city — March 7, 2020.

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”

Mural on a wall in San Martín Tilcajete — February 25, 2020.

“Little Alice fell
d
o
w
n
the hOle,
bumped her head
and bruised her soul”

A little Christmas humor in Oaxaca city — December 13, 2020.

“What a strange world we live in… Said Alice to the Queen of hearts”

All quotes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Louis Carroll.

Read Full Post »

Jardín Conzatti fauna

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Parks & Plazas, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Real and imagined, fauna are alive and well in the city.

Hummingbirds, squirrels, and butterflies live, play, and love among the trees, dogs, humans, and on a utility box in Jardín Conzatti.

Read Full Post »

I love juxtaposition

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2020| 8 Comments »

I’m always trying to find ‘connections’ between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable. –Pat Metheny

The taste for quotations (and for the juxtaposition of incongruous quotations) is a Surrealist taste. –Susan Sontag

I get the same charge from juxtaposition of colors as I do from juxtaposition of chords. –Joni Mitchell

Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition. –Max Ernst

I love the juxtaposition of a sweet little blouse with a motocross look. –Melissa McCarthy

Cities are about juxtaposition. In Florence, classical buildings sit against medieval buildings. It’s that contrast we like. –Richard Rogers

Read Full Post »

Theme going on

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Politics, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , on November 20, 2020| 2 Comments »

The walls of Oaxaca have a theme going on…

I think they have been watching too much “el norte” news!

Read Full Post »

To women everywhere

Posted in Creativity, Culture, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2020| 2 Comments »

The stencil, seen on Sunday’s walk along Av. José María Morelos, may be of women from San Miguel del Valle, but the words speak to women everywhere.

We are the struggles won by our ancestors.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

Vicariously dancing

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

More dancing on the walls of Barrio de Jalatlaco from the artist Bouler (Uriel Barragán).

Oaxaca de Juárez, China Oaxaqueña dancer and Mazapán, the dancing dog.
Huautla de Jiménez dancer.
Danza de la Pluma dancer from Oaxaca’s central valley.

Living vicariously in these days of COVID-19 — be it through books, online concerts and museum tours, video events, and photos of people and places we are longing to see.

Read Full Post »

Colors of Sunday

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Flora, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2020| 8 Comments »

Another Sunday, another walk through Barrio de Jalatlaco…

Billar Jalatlaco pool hall.

Bougainvillea in Barrio de Jalatlaco.

Inside the door of El Tendajón, the work appears to be by Lapiztola.

Orange trumpet vine in Barrio de Jalatlaco.

Wear a mask and wash your hands with ZOTE soap — by Efedefroy.

Read Full Post »

Orange is the new…

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2020| 10 Comments »

Semáforo amarillo (yellow traffic light), we hardly knew ya. According to this article, due to the resistance and indiscipline of the citizens to maintain prevention measures, as of Monday, September 14, Oaxaca is back in the Covid-19 semáforo naranja (orange traffic light) — meaning a high risk of contagion. Alas, this does not come as a surprise.

As previously mentioned, the semáforo designation is based on ten criteria by the federal government. However, it’s my understanding the implementation is left up to states and municipalities, which means concrete answers as to what this entails is fuzzy — to say the least! Color me orange with big eyes and clenched teeth.

Read Full Post »

Familiar faces

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2020| 14 Comments »

Over these seemingly countless Covid-19 months, instead of frequently running into friends on the streets, these are the familiar faces that make me smile and help keep me feeling rooted to place.

They may not talk, but they do speak to me.

Read Full Post »

Letting the walls do the talking

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2020| 10 Comments »

What can I say?

I am so…

With…

From yesterday’s walk, the walls seemed to read my mind.

Read Full Post »

Missing mezcal

Posted in Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Flora, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2020| 14 Comments »

Conventional wisdom in Oaxaca: “For everything bad, drink mezcal; for everything good, you also should.”

Lest we forget, the walls of Oaxaca are always there to remind us.

My copitas (little cups) by maestro Vicente Hernandez are always ready for a gotita (a little drop) or two on good days, bad days, and especially days when friends stop by.

Day trips to my favorite mezcal making villages and their mezcaleros, like Berta Vásquez (above) in San Baltazar Chichicapam, were frequent enough to keep the liquor cabinet stocked with a variety of artisanal mezcal made from one or more kinds of maguey (AKA, agave) — arroqueño, barril, cuixe, espadín, jabalí, tepeztate, tobalá, and tobasiche, to name a few!

Alas, since Covid-19 hit the scene, many of the villages are closed to outsiders and, even if they were open, I wouldn’t go — for their health and safety and mine.

However, mezcal aficionado and tour guide Alvin Starkman came to the rescue. Through him, I was able to buy five bottles of mezcal from several different villages and he delivered!

In the event you are trying to read the labels, left to right: Tobalá, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotopec; Mezcal destilado con mota (yes, it’s a thing), Rodolfo López Sosa, San Juan del Río; Arroqueño, Fortunato Hernandez, San Baltazar, Chichicapam; Tepeztate, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotepec; Espadín, Celso Martinez, Santiago Matatlán.

¡Para todo mal, mezcal; y para todo bien, tambíen!

(ps) This just in! Mezcal Tour Supports Advancement of Indigenous Women — an article about the wonderful ongoing work the above mentioned Alvin Starkman, his wife Arlene, and Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca are doing.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »