La Noche del Rabanos cont.

La Noche del Rabanos was fantastic, as always.

Simply one of the best days one can spend in Oaxaca or anywhere in my opinion.

I arrived early to watch the the pieces being assembled.
La Catrina in Radishes?  Fantastica!

With the radishes, some arrive fully completed, but many are constructed and carved on the spot.  It is not like the work can be done a week ahead of time.  Once they are carved, people spray them with water just so they will make it through the day.

With the dried flowers and corn husk pieces, they are all made before hand and then arranged and assembled the day of the competition.

As much as I like the art, it is the people that make it, who always gets to me.


With my improved Spanish I was able to do a better job talking with the artists and learned plenty.  The dried flower and corn husk pieces took, on average, four months to create.
 
This woman spent one year working on her display, which must have been four meters long with hundreds of figures.

I have shot Rabanos a bunch of times now and I recognize people who participate every year.  This woman for San Antonio del Flores, one of my favorite villages, has participated for years.

  She must have won a couple of times.  Her work is always so beautiful.

A smile from the creator of the Mitla rendition.

Some piece are small, filled with delicate detail.
 

Amazing work, no?.

Others quite large.

How about this amazing rendition of Frida's famous work?

This post has been a rush job, but I have a Christmas dinner to attend and I'm hungry.  I have lots of shots and will post more later.

La Noche del Rabanos

Rabanos was fabulous.  Give me a day to process the shots.  In the meantime, here is La Noche from 2008.

The hits just keep comin'

This is normally one of the peak seasons for tourism here in Oaxaca.  Tourist's dollars, euros, yen, you-name-it, are the mother's milk of this place.  Occupancy rates at the hotel are at 20 percent!!!!
This is not good.  But this is.

There is still time to come.  Where else are you gonna see tree ornaments like this?
 
Incidentally, the pinata in the shot above is normally a large display of lights.

Austerity in action?

Oaxaca Tradition - Buñuelos & Chocolate

This video is getting quite a few hits.  Must be the time of year.

La Noche del Rabanos 3...2...1....

It is coming.  One of the best days of the year.  December 23rd.  La Noche del Rabanos.
It is an annual display and competition in three areas.
Rabanos or radishes.


Corn husks.


And dried flowers.


I plan on searching for radish harvesters tomorrow and then I will be there at 10 AM Thursday to watch and shoot the setup.
 
By sundown, the zocalo will be jammed with people to see the finished pieces.
Then it is all cleaned up for the Noche Buena celebrations the next day.

In the News

After months in the zocalo, the protesters and traveling vendors have moved out (or been moved out) just in time for the holiday celebrations.  Apparently the zocalo is now clean and fresh and the whole mass migration occurred without event. (Story in Spanish from Noticiasnet))

Not so just up the street where protesters from San Reyes Nopala were dispersed by city and state police using tear gas.  Several people were injured.  (Story in Spanish from El Imparcial)

Finally, I like to juxtapose events that happen here and imagine what it would be like in El Norte if the same thing happened there.

Just imagine if John McCain or John Kerry had been kidnapped and held for seven months by some nefarious and nebulous organization and was finally released.  Well, that is what just happened here.

(from The Latin American Herald Tribune)

Former Mexican presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos was released in the past few hours after spending seven months in captivity and is in good condition at his house in the central state of Queretaro, Televisa reported Monday.

“He was released a few hours ago. He is in good health, he is weak. He spent seven months and six days in captivity,” Televisa reporter Joaquin Lopez Doriga said on one of the network’s morning news shows.

“The news is that Diego Fernandez de Cevallos has returned to his home. He is weak but strong over having been released after this extremely long abduction, which is undoubtedly the longest registered in Mexico,” Lopez Doriga said.

The veteran politician “is at home, he is sound, he is safe and, most importantly, he is free,” the Televisa reporter said.

Street Art cont....

I thought this was an interesting combination.
What does this say?  You need graffiti eyes to read it.

I am not sure what either one is, but I like them.
 

¡Viva La Revolucion!

Taxes cuts for millionaires or the puppy gets it.

Misa para madre

One of my friend's mother turn eighty on Wednesday and her family, which is huge, threw her a surprise party which started with a special mass for her at Carmen Alto. 

It was a joyous affair and they were an exuberant group, a family of gregarious and extremely happy people. This is about a tenth of the family.
 
A good time was had by all.  Of course, the mass was followed by a meal, but I ate it and forgot to shoot it.

You want me to do what?

You want me to go where?

 Actually, after awhile it makes sense, but the additional art and graffiti make it even better.  Worthy of any world class city.

Return to Arrazola

I'll admit it.  There was a time when I was a alebrije addict.  The Oaxacan woodcarvings became an obsession, hence a house full of them, over 3000.  They led me to write two directorios, one of the carvers of La Union Tejalapam and one of San Martin Tilcajete.  I spent years in pursuit of these amazing pieces of art and made many friends as I repeatedly visited the villages.

So it was a wonderful time yesterday as we drove to Arrazola to see old friends.  My heart soared when one of the carvers, Narciso Ramirez, recognized my voice as I walked down the street and came out to greet me.  Imagine, just from my voice.  Crazy.

As we went from house to house, everyone was very gracious and we spent the afternoon basking in the warm sunshine and even warmer hospitality.

Eventually, we ended up at the house of Miguel Santiago, one of the most renown carvers.  His work is absolutely exceptional.  Here is one of my favorites.  The painting is flawless and the piece feel like it has been carved out of alabaster, it is so smooth.

Here he is a few years ago.

And now.

Miguel recalled that I had purchased two masks that were copies of ones his grandfather had carved that were very special to him.

He said he had no photos of them, so I came home and dug through the thousands of pictures on numerous hard drives and here they are.


Now to run into the city and get them printed and get them to him.  Like I needed a good excuse to return to Arrazola.

I love this place

This morning it was colder here than in Boston.  Somehow, I think that was an anomaly.  Of course, under sunny skies, it was in the high 70's by afternoon... here, not Boston.

This place can be a balm for the soul.  Yesterday, Henry and Rosa celebrated El Dia de la Virgen with a wonderful meal for twenty people.  It was held outside under a big tent with the most sublime mole and tamales.  What a good time.

As I walk around the city, once again I am struck by the beauty of this place and the kindness and vibrancy of the people.  This guy is oozing vibrancy.  Can't you feel it.

Oh, and as always, the graffiti is kick-ass.

I love this one.
 
Hmmm.... I definitely think I am evolving.  Don't start the revolution without me.

Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe

Another surprisingly cold night under clear star-filled skies, good sleeping weather.  However, all night there were fireworks and bands playing.  Why?  It is December 12, El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe.

from Mexonline

On this day people from all parts of Mexico make their way to Mexico's chief religious center at the Basilica of the Virgen of Guadalupe, located in Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo, a northern neighbourhood of Mexico City. There, they will celebrate the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) with a mass ceremony and a traditional fair in her honor. The Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe became an national holiday in 1859.......

Juan Diego was a young indigenous Indian walking toward the Hill of Tepeyac on December 12, 1531 when he was stopped by the appearence of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary appearing to Juan Diego was a young woman with black hair and dark skin which looked more like an indigenous person. She ordered Juan Diego to go to the Bishop and ask him to build a church at the Hill of Tepeyac. Juan Diego then ran to the Bishop to tell him what the Virgin Mary had told him. The Bishop didn't believe what this young men was telling him and decided to ignore the petition.

The Virgin Mary appeared again in front of Juan Diego and told him to collect flowers from the top of the hill, but because it was December Juan Diego knew that there was not going to be any flowers at the rocky hill. Upon reaching the top of the hill, Juan Diego was surprised to see that it was covered with colorful and beautiful flowers. Juan Diego, as he was asked to, collected the flowers using his overcoat and ran again to see the Bishop.

Juan Diego gave the coat full of flowers to the bishop, and here the bishop discovered the image of Virgin Mary's picture was miraculously traced on the coat. Seeing both the unseasonal flowers and the image of the Virgin, the Bishop realized Juan Diego had told him the truth and The Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe was built on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City.

I'm Back - Ya estoy de vuelta

It feels so great to be back.  The world may be crazy, but returning to Oaxaca is always a balm for the soul.
After waiting for a flock of turkeys to be herded by the end of my road, I made my way into the city.  My only checked bag never made it here and today was the day or so they said.  They were right.  It showed up and I lugged it up Alcala and into my car. 

Man, I love this place.  Just seeing these guys made me feel great.

However, if you can believe it, we had a frost last night or pretty close.  All the tender plants got nailed.  How cold was it?  It was 2 degrees celsius at the airport at 7 AM and we are much further out and the mountains may have trapped the cold.  But it ain't the cold of Beantown and it  made it to 80F today.

Still, lots of plants are toast.  Good! Time to plant new ones.

Happy Bodhi Day

 Rohatsu - Enlightenment Day
 

My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.

Beautiful

This brought such a rush or memories.
from the NYT
The Tea Maker

Ya basta! una mas vez

It is sunny and cold here in Boston, in the 20's.  I think I need a little of this

or this

and this

and this

and this

Mañana, baby.  I am headin' back where they don't how dumb I really am.... yet.

Do I look stupid?

What a country!  What a world!  I must be dumber than ever.  Let's see... hmmm..... we can let torture, lying, corruption, graft, starting unethical wars, billion dollar theft, all that stuff can slide.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.  But releasing embarrassing documents or data that proves all of the above, no, no, no, no..... we cannot have that.  Off with his head!  You are hereby sentenced to death for exposing the truth.  What's more, the press, whose job this really should be, acts like the fools they think we are.

I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.... or maybe I have that backwards.

Cué takes over!

An excellent article from Upside Down World

For the first time in its history Oaxaca witnessed a peaceful democratic transition to alternative political parties. The separation of powers has begun, and a clean state cabinet named. These changes take place in the national context of deadly drug wars, and a wobbly political transition still in process. An honest governor in Mexico is a rarity; eyes are on Oaxaca.

Companies to Build Huge Wind Farm In Oaxaca

From Latin American Herald Tribune:

Grupo Bimbo, the world’s biggest producer of baked goods, and Spain’s Renovalia Energy plan to build the largest wind farm operated by a food company in the world, meeting 100 percent of the company’s energy needs in Mexico.

The wind farm will cost around $200 million and is expected to begin operating in 2011, Grupo Bimbo said.

The Piedra Larga wind farm will have generating capacity of 90 MW and supply electricity to 65 plants and other facilities operated by the baking company, Grupo Bimbo said......

The wind farm will be located in Union Hidalgo, a town in the southern state of Oaxaca, and will be built under a strategic alliance whose partners include the federal government, private interests and banks, the company said.

“The construction of this wind farm is the cornerstone in our effort to continue growing with nature’s force; making us the first company in the food industry to make this great change to use renewable energy sources,” Bimbo CEO Daniel Servitje said.

I wish the US was doing more of this.  Think of it, this is Mexico building green energy plants and it has its own oil company, Pemex.  And in Oaxaca, no less.  ¡Viva!

Thousand words....

The picture from the Panteon General.
Perpetuity in action.

Really, I wonder what the story behind the damage is.

East is east.....

It is quite interesting to be back in the belly of the beast.  You know how it is.  You spend a part of your life, large or small, in a particular place and it helps shape you, becomes a part of you.  And you know there ain't no goin' back after you've gone.  Everything changes, the place, the time, you, all different.

I think going between Oaxaca and Massachusetts for so many years, I think it may be close to twenty, watching the changes unfold, has been a wonderful experience.  Sure, at times, it makes my head hurt, but that's because the educational aspects of life refine and intensify.

I returned to my old school to see a former colleague and got an excellent overdose of the place, which was a beautiful as ever.  Nothing like being in the midst of hundreds of kids.  Wonderful to see old friends and to better assess my own contributions to the place.  Just like in my gardening experiences, some things actually grew and..... OMG... look at the size of that tree! 

However, the place remains a Brigadoon, a bubble in a turbulent sea.  A comment I heard from several teachers was, "I have no idea how people can afford to send their kids here. Where to they come up with the money?"  Tuition is approaching 50K and there are families with multiple kids enrolled at the same time.

I felt like an outsider there, an alien observer and I think that's fine. I feel the same about being here in the States. In conversations with many people, I hear the same thing, "We got trouble here, right here in River City."  This country or empire is following the cycles of so many that preceded it.  Hello, we are all Mayans now.

Is it possible for such a polarized society to prosper?  Pick an issue.  Any issue.  Pick a side.  Hmmm.... something like pregnancy resulting from rape being God's plan.  I know where I stand and I don't think I could ever agree with the other side... ever.  Pick another issue.  War.  Torture. Taxes.

Now, I am ready to head back south, where I am an even more obvious alien.  Both places have incredible problems with which to deal and it will not be easy.  Who knows, it may not even be possible.  We do what we can.

Speaking of differences, I am looking out at the houses surrounding my light gray house. There's a white one, a gray one, light tan, white, white.... you get the picture.

Imagine this color on your house or your neighbor's.  In Oaxaca, it is totally normal, almost subtle.
Even for a final resting place.

Exclusive Interview: Gabino Cué, New Governor of Oaxaca, Mexico, on His State’s Power Shift

Interesting reading from the Americas Society

AS/COA Online: You are replacing Governor Ulises Ruiz, who has the lowest approval rating of all the governors in Mexico. As the first opposition governor of Oaxaca in more than 80 years, what will be the first action your government takes to set Oaxaca on a new path?

Cué: First of all, we are experiencing a historic moment in Oaxaca where, after more than 80 years, the opposition won. There are great expectations when power shifts take place. And what we’ve said is that, at first, we want to do all we can to transition power from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime. This means we have to dismantle the form in which practices have been carried out, which did little to support democracy. So, an important change will be the ways and style of relating to the electorate, the people, and those we govern.

Tom and Jerry

Eggs-actley.  Amazing performance by Hiromi Uehara, one of my new heroes.

Un dia nuevo.... quizás

from the Latin American Herald Tribune

For the first time in 82 years, the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has a governor who doesn’t belong to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which held power at the national level for seven decades.

Gabino Cue Monteagudo, who won July’s election as the standard-bearer of a four-party coalition, took the oath of office Wednesday in Oaxaca city....

In his inaugural address, Cue vowed to bring to justice “all those who have violated human rights or disregarded the law.”

He also stressed the need to avoid further school shutdowns by attending to the problems of Oaxaca’s poorly paid teachers, who fought many battles against the Ruiz administration.

WWJD?

Which one are we talking about?
This one who seems so in vogue these days?

or this one?

(a shot from the street leading into the Panteon General)

Cancun Climate Confab Collapse

Yes, there are climate talks going on in Cancun, not that you would know it from the US media.  They are not going well.  Gee, I wonder why.
from Agence France-presse

World climate talks struck a sour note on their third day Wednesday as Japan was accused of weakening the campaign for a post-2012 treaty by retreating from the landmark Kyoto Protocol.

With negotiators laboring to unblock a complex, interlinked two-track process, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meanwhile predicted the 12-day meeting "won't result in anything."

"No big leader is going, only environment ministers at best. We don't even know if foreign ministers are going. So there won't be any progress," Lula, who himself decided not to travel to Mexico, told reporters in Brazil.

Systems at work

In Oaxaca, Gabino Cué takes over the governorship. He will have his hands full. There are more protests and blockades. I think the teachers are planning a megamarch. Things don't just change because the politicians do. I guess we are seeing that in the US. As with Bush, it will take weeks/months/years to dig out from the last six years of URO.

Ulises will go down in the history books and I do not think the reviews will be glowing.... depending on who writes them. Like George, I am sure he will write one himself and come off as the hero, a decent sort of guy, a guy, you know, that you would like to sit down with and have a cerveza with.

I have always enjoyed studying systems and cycles. Gardening teaches one as surprising amount about them. There are harsh winters, drought, insects, bad luck to deal with. And then there are the times, albeit fleeting, when things are sublime, bountiful, beautiful.

I have spent the last few months working in the gardens in Oaxaca and it feels nice to be working in one up here. Two totally different environments, but common threads and problems connect them. This place is prepped for winter, leaves raked and put into a huge pile for composting. Everything is pruned and cleaned up.  Let it snow.

I am ready to return to San Sebastian and continue the work there, which is all in prep of the rainy season, some six months away.  Now I remember.  I was sore on the flight up here from all the weed-whacking and digging. I'll probably be sore on my flight back which is fine as long as it isn't from shoveling snow.

I did dig up lots of pachysandra and plant it in my neighbor's yards. That is one of the best things about gardening, the "Johnny Appleseed" aspect of planting things just to plant them, essentially to make the place you happen to be a little better. And then move on to do it all again.

Now what this has to do with Ulises or Cué or Obama or you, I'll let you figure out.  Maybe nothing.