Yesterday, we were honored and lucky to be invited to Casa Cruz in Teotitlan del Valle, the home of Fidel and Maria Luisa, the mayordomos for the Virgin of Guadalupe. Actually, there are two mayordomos, the other being Bulmaro Perez Mendoza, whose house is just across the road. Being a mayordomo is a big deal, full of responsibilities and obligations, a tradition going back centuries. It is also a lot of work and expense. They maintain the altar in the church and give numerous celebrations like yesterday. It is a way to give back to the church and to the village.
Really, there are so many aspects to the event, it all seems a blur, but a very organized, formal and wonderful blur. Here, bread for breakfast and the velas, candles that will be carried to the church. They are hand-crafted all from pure wax.
Everyone works! It takes days of prep. For the Cruz family, months of work. It's a year long commitment. The women prepare and cook the food. Here they are making hundreds of tlayudas, the large crisp tortillas.
The men set up, serve and, for this celebration, killed 200 chickens, four steer, and six large pigs. This morning's fare was sopa de oregano, made from beef stock, onions and oregano and big chunks of meat. Notice, no utensils, only tlayudas and fingers. Incidentally, the food was made by many of the best and most famous cooks in all of Oaxaca and Mexico... all in the family. More on them later.
The danzantes arrived with their band.
The unmarried girls and women of the village were present as they woud process two kilometers to the church and then the convite, the traditional procession through the streets of the village, and then back to Casa Cruz, a total of seven kilometers!
Fidel and Maria Luisa were flat out, running around and directing much of the action. They must be exhausted and I did not get a good shot of them, but I will. However, I did get this nice shot of Fidel's proud parents.
More in a bit....
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