The Guelaguetza has arrived

The last two Mondays in July are always filled with dance and people are here in droves. It is a joyous time, when people from the seven regions of the state show up to strut their stuff. There are day long shows in el Cerro del Fortin, the amphitheater overlooking the city. It is a long day for both dancers and audience. There are shows in the evening as well. The streets are filled and let's hope they give Oaxaca a shot of much needed dinero. Restaurantes, cantinas and various stores should benefit.

The Guelaguetza in its current form has been taking place since 1932 and it is always spectacular as the traditional outfits and dances are breath-taking. It starts with as desfile or parade with each region dancing by accompanied by a band. You should be able to identify each region by their look.It is important to note that Oaxaca has the Guelaguetza for themselves, to show their pride and traditions. It is not for tourists, although many show up. There are similar smaller celebrations in many villages at the same time with absolutely no tourists, just for themselves.While this desfile was going on I wandered up to see APPO and the teacher's alternative "Guelaguetza" which was in a courtyard across form Santo Domingo. It was relatively small, maybe 1000 people, with dancers and a band. Everyone in good spirits.It was a bit unnerving, as everyone was carrying thick sticks or dowels about four feet long. Just the sound of them hitting the ground made me nervous. I hasten to add, I have no idea what they were for and maybe my reaction was just based on my ignorance.

Thanks to Henry Wangeman and his wife, Rosa Blum for sharing their photos with me for this posting. In an effort to prevent protesters from disrupting the desfile, the government put out a false schedule and it worked. It fooled not only the protesters, but lots of other folks as well. And the desfile moved by very quickly. By the time I saw it was happening, I ran back just in time to see the end. So all the shots from above are Henry and Rosa's. Muchas gracias!

2501 Migrantes

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to see an art exhibition I had read about years ago. And it was just up the road at the Centro de las Artes de San Agustin (CaSo). The building itself is a work of art, an old textile factory that was restored and transformed into an exhibition space by artist, Francisco Toledo, who is patron to many important cultural and civic projects here in Oaxaca.

2501 Migrantes, by Alejandro Santiago, is a massive installation that is incredibly thought provoking.Difficult to document the scale and scope of the work. Just imagine walking into a room and finding 2501 people in it.

Alejandro Santiago, one of Oaxaca’s leading artists who as received critical acclaim in Mexico, the United States, and Europe, was born in Teococuilco in 1964. His family moved to Oaxaca City in 1972, where he eventually made painting his career. Santiago, however, has never forgotten his hometown and he returns there on a regular basis.
When he last returned to Teococuilco, he was shocked to find that 2,500 souls – more than half the population – had left the community for other parts of Mexico or the United States. Such mass migrations had become common in the region due to acute poverty and chronic unemployment. In fact, villages throughout Mexico have been emptying out for sometime now, for the same reasons. Entire male populations of villages have left in search of work. Women, children, and the elderly were left behind and awaited the migrant’s funds.
In the midst of this desolation, a fortuitous event happened. In a dream, a vision of re-populating his community arose. When Alejandro awoke, a plan for re-population took hold. He would embark on the monumental task of inhabiting Teococuilco with 2,500 ceramic figures representing 2,500 of the absent villagers. One additional sculpture would be of Santiago, himself, at testament to his return. The project would be called “2,501 Migrants.”

An honor and a blessing to see this work.

One of the figures watching his hometown on the video.Every one an individual.Some of whom died, abandoned in the desert.Peoples views on immigration are all over the place, there are many different aspects to it. I am always sympathetic to the migrantes' stories. After all, my family came from somewhere else at some point, as did most of us.

Watch "El Norte" (again) and then we can talk. At the heart of the problem is poverty. If you were making $5 or $10 a day and could make that per hour, what would you do? Things cost the same here, sometimes more.

Viewed from Above

I was just hanging on the balcony in Amate's upstairs office with this famous senoritawaiting for the desfile or parade to begin. Love the different looks. People watching, a world-wide enjoyment.Marco?Clown?This look brings back memories of former students. Fangs! Vampires will rule the world some day - not like the bloodsuckers that do now.Some people always know when the camera is on them.Moving faster than the speed of light to get this shot....

Grafitti

It's a big day in the city as the Guelaguezta, the big dance festival is about to begin. The place is hoppin' with lots of tourists from Mexico and a few from the States and Europe. There is a desfile or parade late this afternoon. There is also a heavy police presence in case there are any attempt to disrupt any events.
But first... a little graffiti. June 14, 2006 was the day that Gov. Ulises Ruis sent in riot police to break up protests. It was a critical day and it led to the economic disaster that has befallen this cultural treasure of a place.

La calenda - Teotitlan del Valle

Hongos with Sra Lucia

Even though Oaxaca is in one of the sub-tropical regions of the world, because of of its altitude, over 5000 feet, the weather is almost always mild and very pleasant. The city lies in a huge valley surrounded by rugged mountains. This morning I was lucky to accompany Henry, his wife, Rosa and a Czech family of artists/world travelers into the mountains above Teotitlan. Oaxaca city dwellers for some reason never go there, maybe it is too cold for them, but there are villages up there that are more than worth the visit.

The village of Benito Juarez is at almost 10,000 feet and we went well beyond it and its neighboring village Cuajimoloyas in search of mushrooms, the edible kind, not the magical ones.
This area is one of the mushroom meccas and has annual fiestas celebrating the fungus among us. The place is like an alpine village, filled with pine, agave, rolling meadows and spectacular vistas.Our goal was to find Senora Lucia, a renown cook, and we first stopped at her house in Caujimoloyas, but folks told us she was at her restaurant in deep in the woods, a place known for it trout or truchas.Talk about a place in the middle of nowhere or everywhere, this was it. After driving further into the mountains and asking several people along the way, we found her. It may be in the middle of nowhere, but there were other people eating there when we arrived.Doña Lucia was happy to see Henry and Rosa and she proceeded to cook up a storm of fresh hongos (mushrooms). She and her niece, Agustina, made a wonderful rich stew with hongos, tomatoes, onions, garlic and fresh herbs. We also had fried mushrooms and these beauties. Looks like it could have come out of Gourmet magazine or Saveur.

Here's a video from a couple of years ago of Doña Lucia at her place in Cuajimoloyas cooking some sopa de hongos and making an incredible salsa with walnuts and chiles. Muy rico!

Patience - Videos

Videos are very slow to upload from here. I am exercising patience as I hit hour 14 for the HD gem of the calenda. When I hit 24 hours, I will probably wake up and realize it ain't gonna happen. I will just compress them more and try again.

Out my window

Shots of the day - Plumas Dos

Today was the last day of the fiesta in Teotitlan del Valle. I wanted to stop by and take Emelia Ruiz some flowers in thanks for the wonderful meal last week. She greeted me at the door, thanked me and gave me a plateful of her molé negro with pavo (turkey,) some rice and homemade tortillas. As I said before, she makes the best molé I ever tasted and today just reinforced that opinion. It is a rich, shiney purple/black with an incredibly smooth texture. Mmmmm... muy rico!
Then it was off to shoot the danza de las plumas. A picture perfect day with mostly townspeople there. I learned from being a reporter that you try to put yourself in a position to always get the shot. Today that meant geting inside the ring of folks watching and kneeling down so as to not block anyone's view.
I knew this was coming. The two guys controlling the whole scene are part clown, part ringmaster. They make sure everyone is happy, that things are going smoothly, that the dancers get water, mescal or sodas, they work the crowd.

I was too easy a target. What a riot! Everyone was laughing at me, make that with me, because I was laughing pretty hysterically, all the while shooting. I have no idea if he was actually shooting me. I hope so. I will have to check the tape.

La calenda - Teotitlan del Valle

People were very proud and excited about the calenda for this year's fiesta celebrating La Preciosa Sangre de Nuestra Señor Jesucristo, the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, because there were over seventy young women in it. This parade or desfile de mujeres, occurs twice in the weeklong fiesta, as does the danza de las plumas. The women carry baskets or canastas, each one adorned with a saint, the Virgin or Christ.There is much preparation that goes into these events and I showed up early to watch the girls get ready.There were some very young girls who would be marching.It is an honor to march in the calenda and all the women were dressed in traditional outfits of enredos, skirts woven on the village looms and fajas or sashes. These are all dyed with cochineal, the vibrant red dye for which Oaxaca is so famous.The calenda on Friday was building up and just getting ready to start when the skies opened up. Hey, it's the rainy season and all rains are a blessing. So we huddled on the porch to the side of the church and waited for the weather to break. It didn't, but it did let up and it was on. Led by a band, they headed out, a marvelous sight. At the tail end of the parade was another band and the dancers from the danza de las plumas. Notice that the plumas are covered with plastic as were many of the canastas and women. The things are heavy enough without all the added weight from the rain.Once again I was up in the bell tower watching this guy ring the chimes. It was a glorious and deafening sound. The calenda left the church to parade though the now muddy and water logged streets of the village. By the time I got down from the steeple they were long gone. I made a mad dash trying to find them. "They went thatta way," numerous people told me, but after a few minutes of searching to no avail, I wised up and went back to where people were patiently waiting and hung under a balcony trying to keep the cameras dry.Eventually, I spotted them way down the street headed our way. They walk through most of the village and it is a long way. The canastas are heavy and the rain added to the weight. These women march with both arms up holding these baskets for what may be a mile or two. I wondered if I could do it.After an hour they all returned to the church where they had started. It was time to eat and continue the celebration.As I mentioned it is an honor to march and these two young women from Santa Maria, CA were in Teotitlan for the first time. Their names are Brycé and Ixel Lopez and their family was so excited. Actually, it was their first time in Mexico, but they have many relatives living in Teotitlan, a huge extended family. They looked right at home. Man, I was envious. First time in Mexico and there they were, right in the middle of such and ancient and special ceremony.