Oaxaca, Mexico July 20-24, 2011

Fried grasshoppers, a Oaxacan specialty

Enjoying lunch on a balcony overlooking the Zocalo

Beautiful views from the Santo Domingo monastery

Practicing for Monday's Guelaguetza (reciprocity)

festival in Santo Domingo's square

http://youtu.be/hyXY8Cph7iI 

Universidad de la Tierra 
“Oaxaca: Alternatives to Education” lecture by Oliver Froehling, Academic Director
http://unitierra.org/09/index.php

Universidad de la Tierra offers a different type of learning environment for indigenous communities and urban neighborhoods. Learn new skills, get hands-on practice, make a living and give back to your community. Tierra uses Internships, seminars and workshops rather than formal semester courses. Ex: urban agriculture, human rights how to maneuver legalities

#1 – communications – new media
#2 - environmental management – eco techniques, latrines, water capture, reclaiming land w/ small dams.

Tierra's rooftop urban garden classroom

Compost toilet

Not Tierra’s agenda to prepare students for global marketplace – rather prepare students for a local way of life – not necessarily in opposition but very different perspective

Goal is to go back to their own community, build community networks

Sergio  Beltran worked for Tierra and is still connected with their work and maintains his relationships. Sergio is thoughtful and passionate about his work and shared some of his innovative concepts with Linda and I.
'Upcycling' – being responsible for your waste and have to  make it more durable, more useful and more beautiful than it was before. Garbage is most abandoned resource in the world.

'Co-motion' not promotion – work together as equals rather than exploit and be superior.
'From Scaling Up to Scaling Across'

Goal of projects are independent sustainability, conversations – everyone can learn from each other/ figure it out together -  not just one way conversation and learning, find and nurture local partnerships, figure out together how to pay – how do you get $ to get what they need, not what you have to offer. Look for Tierra's work in Oaxaca and Chiapas in the new book, Walk Out Walk On.
http://www.walkoutwalkon.net/

Tierra in action w/ Sergio Beltran in  Teotitlan del Valle.

An amazing group of Zapotec women from this village have created Vida Nueva, a collective based on their traditional cargo system, that is 'creating economic and artistic opportunities'. Every year the women choose a project that enriches and empowers their community. 

Oven project to increase efficiency in order to reduce quantity of wood used as well as negative health effects.

Waste management, recycling and composting to increase cleanliness of community and be responsible for waste. Every Sunday, every family in the community cleans the street in fornt of their home.

Tree replanting– 30 trees that Sergio promised to deliver
Mother’s day gifts and toys for children

Revive use of natural dyes

Violet demonstrates the natural dyes used to create textiles.

Indigo - fermentation of root from coastal Oaxaca
Blue - Zacatincan plant from the indigo family. It is a green plant changes water to red and when used for dying changes to blue.

Cochinel red is a white parasite/bug on a cactus, carefully removed, dried for 3 days or oven, ground by hand w/ volcanic rock. Cochinel is a symbol of blood and was more valuable than gold.
Ginda is del Valle's original dark red color
   + lime = orange
   + ash= purple
   + limestone, vinegar, leaves
11 different shades and 5 natural colors of wool – over 100 different colors, shades, tones

Brown - bark, pecan, walnuts – shell of nut fermented
Yellow – marigold

Camino de la vida is an original design that reflects the peaks of life’s journey, birth, youth, reproduction, old age, death, roadblocks. I bought the Camino de la vida rug, 3rd from the left.

Another original design inspired by the Zapotec designs on the community's church and colored with different amounts of cochinel and ash.

“Indigenous Organizations and Social Conflicts in Oaxaca”
Why is Oaxaca  a center for protest? –
After colonization, refugees retreated to mountains to be left alone. Oaxaca has the largest diversity of cultural life, 80% surface area of the state of Oaxaca is not private but social/communal property.
Oaxaca has the largest # of municipalities in Mexico - 2,300 – 570 of Mexico’s 2300 are in Oaxaca Indigenous communities maintain a 2-tier electoral system referred to as Usos y Costumbres where they elect authorities to the community assembly in their own way.
   
Many communities in Chiapas, such as Chamula, also use the Usos y Costumbres system. The system requires the assembly to designate people for a position /cargo of unpaid service to community for a period of time. In some villages, you must be male and over 45 years old to participate in the assembly. Due to the large number of men working temporarily in the United States and an increase in women’s cooperative, more communities are selecting women for the assembly. Cargo is a requirement for assembly members and can often be a hardship for women who may also be raising children, maintaining and enriching their textile traditions.

Shopping in Oaxaca

Oaxaca's very own festival
¡ Guelaguetza !

A Zapotec word indicating an offering 

The Guelaguetza is a commitment to sharing and the practice of contributing for the betterment of the community – often referred to as 'usos y costumbres'. The mason may build a brick oven for the baker with the understanding that the baker will provide cakes for the weddings of the mason’s three daughters (though at the time of the building they may be ages 8, 10 and 14). The town upholsterer might re-do the undertaker's furniture, thereby guaranteeing that his funeral will be take care of. The community might also come together to see that people in unfortunate circumstances are looked after.

Since 1932 (Oaxaca’s 400th anniversary) groups from the seven regions of the valley of Oaxaca have presented carefully chosen dances with local characteristics and regional dress at this annual festival. During the dances, to symbolize the commitment to sharing, local gifts are tossed to the crowd.

 In preparation of Monday's festival, there was a parade to the zocalo this afternoon welcoming the seven regions to the city of Oaxaca. During the parade, I received a red kerchief and multiple offers of homemade alcohol. 

The amazing cathedral light and music show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-QXK_vlbU

 Lisa and I with our new blouses

Puebla, Mexico July16 - 19, 2011

Cantona, on a windy volcanic plateau where the state of Puebla meets the Veracruz border.
Wonderfully situated on a fortified basalt bluff called the Cerro de las Aguilas, the Pizarro volcano and Cofre de Perote in the distance developed based on predictable weather and harvest patterns and established trade lanes, between 600 and 1000 A.D. 

Given its altitude, around 7500 feet, the plateau, known as the Plains of St. John, is cold and dry. The winds bounce off the Zacapoaxtla range and the Atlitzin and Citlaltepetl, Pico de Orizaba, volcanoes. Once a river system fed the fields but now rain water is collected in cisterns on the bluffs, then drained into the valley.

The neighborhood  ball court

 Benito was born 10 km away. Look for the blue Astro Bus to his right

21-year-old Alejandro is eager to form a cooperative, take courses, give talks, and see Cantona prosper beyond that finite time, not so long ago, when after nearly ten centuries, money and men came and went and the site flourished. "With such a prospect our uncles and brothers and fathers would have
no need to emigrate to the cities in search of work and our sisters would learn more than planting."

Cuetzalan - Avocados, Los Volatores and a Mold Migraine
http://youtu.be/gYeJ-aR3uQI

'Talavera de Uriarte' workshop

Dating to 16th Century Mexico, the term Talavera Pottery describes the faithful reproductions of ceramic pottery first created in the Spanish Village of Talavera de la Reina. A form of Majolica, today's Mexican Talavera reflects a diverse blend of cultural heritage from China, Renaissance Italy, the Moorish Empire, Spain and the indigenous peoples of Mexico. 

The city of Puebla is home to some of the oldest and most notable of Mexico's Talavera fabricas. Of these, Uriarte Talavera is perhaps the most renowned. First established in 1824, it is one of only 14 "certified" talavera fabricas in Mexico and is still operated by the Uriarte family in the original location.

Talavera has designed this amazing work of art for the Vatican to be displayed this Christmas in the Holy See. Below artists are using paper mache to make a life-size model of Mary.

Huajotal with Dr. Hector Pelaez - The whole community welcomed us!
In the community Santiago Huajota,  Monica and Brenda have supported the construction of family gardens, 54 of the 80 families participate in a children's poultry farm project "Huevos de Ranchero", a recycling program, two beautiful book projects and are currently building a children's library.

Playing rock, paper, scissors

Playing Tag with Alex and Kate

Leaving Puebla

Veracruz, Mexico July 12-15, 2011

Veracruz, Veracruz
Felt urban and gritty, like a city on the decline. There were many soldiers stationed on rooftops and hidden around corners by our hotel near the port. It is a major port city with important oil and gas industries as well a regional headquarters for PEMEX, the nationalized gas company. The soldiers were fully protected with face masks.

Notice the masked sniper in the upper left corner

Veracruz has built-in social structures even in a big city. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday there is dancing, Danson, with a band in the main square – multi-generational but mainly old and young.

Two older bachelors dressed in white with hats invited different women from the audience for each dance.

Gran Café del Portale – best hot chocolate I have ever had and very good cheesecake.
The hot chocolate had cinnamon and nutmeg added and was called chocolate Espanola.
The English language menu labeled the cheesecake as ‘cheese ice pie’.

Amparo and her girls
Kind, devoted and fiercely loyal to her students and family. Amparo and her family all go to school together where she works as an English teacher, her husband worked in the office and this year as a security guard and her two daughters attend secondary school. Kenya wants to be a chef and her older daughter wants to be a fashion designer.

Que te gusta hacer los fines de semana? Click link below for a video response
http://youtu.be/FBH-fAqCqGQ


Xalapa,  the capital city of Veracruz
Thursday, July 14th was a wonderful evening of unexpected and exciting events and encounters. Linda, Trina and I took a taxi to cathedral where a wedding was taking place inside and a protest outside.

Our taxi driver thought the protest might be because many people lost their homes in the rain and floods and the state promised to help them and it has not. As the rain started to fall, we crossed to the green municipal building to read the protesters signs. The protest was about jobs that had been promised but not fulfilled. Some signs told Duarte, the Governor, that they will remember this next year during the election. Duarte was in the municipal building that evening for an event, but did not make an appearance at the protest.

Next we crossed Parque Juarez in search of the Pinoteca Diego Rivera. To our surprise, we found ourselves at the opening night of a new contemporary art exhibit. Complete with press, dignitaries, artists, a flautist, food and drink.

While walking through the studios, a reporter from the Diario Xalapa asked to take our photos and write down our names, we definitely stood out. There was an interesting and complex canvas with text about the Amistad which we were unable to translate and a fun diptych video of  photos of old VWs in Mexico.

Crossing back through Parque Juarez about 8:00 pm we experienced a large group of high school aged boys and girls in their uniforms running through the park and signing like military recruits. A women I asked said it was nothing and that they were just exercising.

One of our colleagues told us about a restaurant that had poetry readings so we continued on our way through the rain. Our trusty map, a few streetlights and several people on the street helped arrive 30 minutes later. We were very pleasantly surprised by a fantastic jazz-blues trio of a female singer a male flamenco guitar and alto sax, Codigo Postale, Zip Code.

It was beautiful, rich and personal music. the women’s whole family was there about 20 people supporting her and celebrating her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The best part was watching her family interact with each other.

Our photo did not make the newspaper the next day, but we did find articles about the Pinoteca Diego Rivera opening and Codigo Postale.

http://www.oem.com.mx/diariodexalapa/notas/n2145178.htm

 El Café-Tal Coffee Hacienda - Fernando gave us a tour and a private piano concert

El Cafe-Tal is very environmentally friendly and waste conscious. This is a water system designed to clean the water and balance the pH to neutral before irrigating the coffee. The water flows over the falls and meandering through papyrus and other plants to clean and reduce the pH level. 

http://youtu.be/jP1NypK1urE

Xico - Patron Saint festival of Mary Magdalene
We arrived just before mass with many boys and men in the square setting off bottle rockets, running around, singing and making noise with cow bells. I stayed in the church for the mass and then waited inside for the group of teenage girls dressed in black tops and gray skirts to lift Mary and carry her out of church. The girls started the procession, then the Mariachi musicians followed with the congregants, including me, bringing up the rear.

The story and history of Saint Mary Magdalene. Mary was born in a town called Magdale, in northern Galilee. She met Jesus at the house of Simon where she wept at His feet as a repentant sinner and then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Mary Magdalene became a follower of Jesus and was present at his crucifixion and at his ascension. Mary Magdalene is honored as one of the first witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. She is believed to have moved to France after the crucifixion where she died in 68AD.  

We moved slowly though the streets as a large group with neighborhood floats filled with fireworks swinging in circles leading the way to a chapel up the hill decorated and waiting for the Patron Saint to arrive.

 Once inside the chapel, the girls take a break to check their make-up, cell phones and have a snack.

 

Hernan Cortes landed in Antigua in 1519 and forever changed the people and culture of Mexico. 

Trees have overgrown his trading post.