El Dia de La Soledad

This is a special day for Oaxaca as it is the city's patron saint's day. And no better place to visit to see how people celebrated the Virgin of the Soledad than at the huge church that bears her name.

Inside there was a long line of people waiting to get near her statue and to receive blessings under her resplendent form.

And you have to admit, that's resplendent.

She was also available in the plaza in from the church.

People came and went, each paying penance.

Behind the Virgin in the plaza, people reached up and rubbed their hands or the flowers they carried on her robe, which was draped like a canopy just so they could receive her blessing that way.  They then rubbed their heads or the heads of those with them with the newly blessed flowers.

A powerful and meaning experience for many.

The outer streets were filled food and flowers stalls... along with everything else under the sun.

Big wheel keeps on spinnin'

Lots of stories from around the globe, but the issue that just will not go away here and throughout all of Mexico may well be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back. 

The disappearance and murder of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa remains on the front burner, here in Oaxaca, nationally and internationally.  One sees sign of it everywhere.

 

 A school on Reforma.

 The iconic statue in Llano park.

 The zocalo.

Let's hope all these protests make a difference.... and I am not just talkin' about these local protests.  As they like to say, "Think globally, act locally."

Plumas characters

Once again, back in Teotitlan del Valle for the danza de la pluma. I am struck by all the different threads and spheres of activity that are a part of the whole.  One of the most important aspects is the role of the subalternos or caras negras, who are Jorge Jimenez Mendoza and Pedro Hernandez Lazo for this group of dancers.  I managed to catch one of them with a penacho, headdress, which is not his normal head wear.

They have various duties, most importantly to see to the needs of the dancers.  One takes care of Monctezuma, Malinche and Doña Marina and the other, the rest of the dancers.  That is Monctezuma's penacho.  You can tell by the colors and design.

Their duties include tending injuries, providing water, doing repairs and acting as a bridge between audience and the dancers.

They are often very funny as they engage with people.  And they can really dance!

More importantly, they represent the two sides of the dialogue, the indigenous and the Spanish and they perform the last dance of the whole performance.  It is a little mini battle.  Guess who wins?

Now that's chicken

I hardly ever buy meat here, mostly because the cheese and produce are so good.  And, all the wonderful tamales and rellenos lovingly prepared by the aubuelas in the markets, often filled with chicken or pork, are too good to not get.  So really there is not much need to do serious cooking, but every now and then....  This is the lady from whom I buy my chicken and she has the reputation of having the finest in all of the Etla.  You can see how fresh it is.  I, of course, made the mistake of asking for two breasts, thinking like a gringo, where we think of those nice packaged half a breast as a whole breast.  So when she began expertly chopping of the bird, I realize I was really going to get two full breasts and each one was big enough to feed a family of four.  Look at the size of one (or two?) of them.

So it was back to make broth with one of them and to stir fry the other.  I am all set for a few days. And the flavor.... so good and rich... wow.  The chicken is so tasty here, I never buy it in the States, where it is pallid and nowhere near as flavorful.

Images of Guadelupe

Yesterday, the day on which the Virgin of Guadelupe was celebrated, was filled with various happy events, lots of music and of course, cohetes, firecrackers.  After our presentation on Wednesday, we just had to go to Teotitlan del Valle to see the danzantes.  Most of them wore beautiful hand made capes, each with an image of the Virgin.

 Beautiful work.

 Lots of time goes into each piece.

More shots of the dance coming...

This is where we are

And where exactly is this? In front of Santo Domingo.

And where are you?

If you are in town...

There's this...

Buenos Dias!

Hi there.... see how nice the garden looks.  If you have been following the progress, this is pretty amazing.

This time I returned to house problems.  First, a leak in the water system, where water was mysteriously disappearing.  That one has been solved, sorta... the leak is slower... I think.  Thanks to two of the three Juans, Don Juan and his son, Don Juanito, age seven.  It was fun to watch the boy work so professionally helping is father.  Hmmm... how much would he make as a plumber's helper in Boston?.... $90 US an hour! 

Secondly, la luz, the electricity in this area simply sucks.  I have no idea why, maybe a faulty transformer.  Yesterday, it was out for a while, a rarity, but now that it is back, it fluctuates, pulses like crazy, which none of the electronics and appliances appreciates.  However, that the way it is and we deal.  I have large voltage regulators in most of the rooms.  Actually, yesterday, there was power, but only enough to dimly light the smallest of bulbs and I think that does damage, too, so I unplug what I can.

At any rate, I have had lots of exercise climbing up to the roof to check the water and noticed this fine shot this morning.

Closer to.... ahhhh

Not quite there yet, as reentry is always different and this time I returned to a leaking water system and not your normal leak, a hidden leak behind or beneath concrete.  Ah well, I called the two Don Juans and they assured me, they could fix it.  They return with jackhammers mañana.

However, today, the sun is shining, it is warm and there are sheep outside doing a nice pruning job on the overhanging growth on the street-side fence.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the gardens fared.  It was dry, but all the mulch helped and lots of them adapt well to the dry season.  Everything looks nice, happy and healthy.  Lots of fresh dill, rosemary, thyme and cilantro.

Update:  The wind is howling and there is a fine band playing quite nearby.  Real music, you know, with tubas.

Update 2:  Oh, glorious food.... yes, real tortillas, tasajo, quesillo, avocados, tomatoes and OMG, fruit... I missed the quality and quality so much.  I have a bowl filled with watermelon, melon, pineapple, banana and oranges, all so fresh and tasty... heaven.

Tope! Tope! Tope!

Ah yes, these are the words that occasionally get screamed as one approaches some unforeseen tope or speed bump, which are everywhere in Mexico.  They can be smooth or bone jarring, not to mention what they do to the car.  So I find it humorous that there are many more of them here now, especially in the wealthiest suburbs.

Of course, they are much less bone jarring, barely a blip, but they still work,  One has to slow down.  And many are flashing little LED's powered by solar panels.  However, I'm back to the real thing mañana.  Here's hoping all the protests, blockades and vandalism at the airport left my humble car intact.

Pit stop in Chinatown

Before shopping in the huge Asian supermarket downtown for supplies to bring back, I had to stop in for some quick dim sum at the China Pearl.

 Spare ribs with black beans

 Sticky rice in lotus leaves.

 Now, I am ready for some quesadillas and mole.

Bi-polar weather

Black Friday was white.

This was yesterday.

I am so ready to return to cool nightly temperatures and warmer days.... the six months of no rain, not so much.  However, I do enjoy the changes here.  They ranged from the low 20's to near 70.

La Zandunga - Teotitlan del Valle - 2014

Here are Alani Ruiz Ruiz and Juana Lizbeth Contreras Vincente, Malinche and Doña Marina, respectively, dancing La Zandunga.  This dance is just one small part of the whole Danza de la Pluma, which can have over forty parts.  These two young ladies were all of six years old when they started with the group and will dance through 2015.  You can see how they are changing over time and... they are just too beautiful.

Danza de la Pluma - Teotitlan del Valle 2014

I have promised the dancers in Teotitlan del Valle a video and at long last, here it is.  It certainly helps to have new software and fast internet, but really the key was taking the time to list and categorize the many video clips I've shot since this group started in 2013.  They will dance for another year to finish out their three year commitment.  You will notice the changing outfits, as I think I have seen them maybe six or seven times at least.  I love seeing how much the little girls have changed since they started.

Sounds good on paper, but....

From the LAHT

Peña Nieto committed himself to doing everything necessary to free the country “from criminality, (and) combat corruption and impunity,” calling on Mexicans not to become pessimistic and not to resort to violence or vandalism to demand justice.

Peña Nieto also announced that on Monday he will present to Congress three constitutional reforms, one to create single police forces in the country’s 32 states, another to combat the infiltration of organized crime in the municipalities and the third to define the responsibilities and jurisdictions of all authorities in the fight against crime.

The first reform is aimed at “going from more than 1,800 weak municipal police forces, which easily can be corrupted by crime, to 32 solid state security bodies that will be more trustworthy, more professional and more efficient,” he said, adding that the focus will be in the four states in question.

The second reform will result in “dissolving” a city hall “when sufficient indications exist that the local authorities are involved with organized crime,” as happened with Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca, who is under arrest as the intellectual author of the attacks on the teaching students.

Regarding the third initiative, Peña Nieto explained that it will redefine the responsibilities of the authorities in the anti-crime fight, “taking into account the institutional strengths of the different levels of government,” federal, state and municipal.

“When everybody has responsibility, in reality nobody has it,” said the president, complaining that the “complex system of penal responsibilities” in Mexico “creates dispersed responsibilities, confusion in enforcing the law and, the most serious thing, impunity.”

The president also revealed the creation of three special economic zones including Guerrero, Michoacan, Chiapas and Oaxaca, the country’s poorest states, via a legal initiative to spur development, trade and infrastructure that will be sent to Congress in February 2015.

Spelling doesn't count... shirt shots

How about this typo from a gentleman from Tlacolula?  Not a biggie.  What's a "k" or "que" between friends?

However, with this young lady from Atzompa, the truth is less obvious. "Away smile?"

Ah, yes.... Always smile.  Good advice.

Food for thought

 

So much of Thanksgiving here in El Norte is about food.... and shopping... and football.  Lord knows, I am into the whole gastronomic thing as demonstrated by all the succulent food shots on this blog, but not so much this year.  I will have a taste of turkey, but none of the fixins'. I just don't like that bloated stupor.  I prefer my stupor to be lighter;-) Saludos and be thankful for what you've got.  It is all just temporary.

And maybe there is just too much on our collective plates these days to overindulge in eating or in consuming.  Let there be an overabundance of food for thought. 

And that brings me to these shots from the panteon in Tlacolula for the recent celebration of Muertos. 

These simple offerings are left so that the returning spirits will have something to eat and drink and to know that they are welcome, not forgotten.

Bread, water, fruit, nuts,

All left with love for the loved.

So be thankful, you are not forgotten.

Quién es mas macho?

Remember those old skits?  Well, I don't, but somehow the phrase keeps going through my mind these days.  Maybe it should be "Que es mas macho?" but really it should be "¿Donde está más loco?"

I mean I thought Mexico was pretty messed up with all the killings and disappearances, overt acts done with impunity and no accountability for nada.  People do get arrested, but they are never the right ones, but what are you gonna do?  "Call the cops?'

And here I sit in the "greatest country God ever put on the face of the earth"  and the same shit is happening here.  Uh... the whole world is watching.  Injustice?  Nothing to see here... move right along.

At least in Mexico everything seems more visceral, more in your face, more real.  Politics, corruption and death are all up front players in the game.  But in El Norte... I dunno... it is all covered with a facade of glitz.  Yes, there are riots, with the flames fanned by the police and the media, but wait... Black Friday.... which, incidentally, is now a couple of weeks long.  Yes, the invented day of massive consumerism, designed to get a leg up on Xmas shopping and, at the same time, making Thanksgiving an also ran, but hey, gotta get out there and shop.  Now back to the riots....

I will say the police in Oaxaca never appear to be as psycho as those in the States, but in truth, I have not had much interaction with them.  But the police here... damn, they be downright scary.  And it ain't like we did not see it coming.  Our taxes at work.  They look like something out of the future, Star wars robocops, but while we were watching "Dancing with the Stars" and thinking about the Kardashians, the future done come and went.  Now what?

Chanting with the Wind - Teotitlan del Valle

I'm just taking advantage of fast internet and fast computers to learn and practice on the latest versions of music and video programs.  It is quite amazing what one can do quite easily... uh, after a somewhat rocky learning curve.  However, there are tutorials on virtually everything out there, so when in doubt, just ask.  And of course, I have to use the material I have at hand.... and thus...

Conch Shell Master

Here is a wonderful demonstration of how to play the conch shell and circular breathing.... that's where you breathe in through your nose while keeping the air flowing out of your mouth.  This gentleman is a master of both.

Love it or leaf it

It's been a whirlwind week.  I arrived to find the trees still with leaves. 

Then I was blessed to see that special morning, just after a heavy frost.  As the sun rises and hits the tops of the trees, that frozen bond between leaf and branch warms just enough to break and the leaves, almost en masses, fall.  As the sun climbs. its light descends further down each tree and the leaves continue to fall.  There was very little wind and the leaves cascaded in greater numbers, seemingly never ending.... until.

It has been quite cold in Boston, in the 20's, a touch of snow and one absolutely ghastly day of torrential rains and low 40's, a perfect day to stay inside and hibernate. I have been raking and cleaning the gutters.  Fortunately, my fair city collects everything and it all goes into a communal compost pile..... something that every village in Oaxaca should do, but won't.

The burro has arrived...

I am on a quick jaunt to El Norte and as always, I am laden with lots of Oaxacan goodies for friends up here.  I brought about ten kilos of stuff including mole negro, real hand made tortillas, agave syrup and of course, the finest quesillo from Etla.  I always buy mine from Doña Vicki.  She has the best reputation and has the freshest butter, cheeses, salsas, moles, and veggies pickled in vinegar.  I get my mole and cheeses from her and she knows I buy her things for gifts. 

It always makes her happy.... almost as happy as the folks who receive them.

The hits just keep on comin'

¡Ay!  You can't make this stuff up.

From the LA Time

Who lives in this palace of pricey if questionable taste, dubbed the White House?

According to a new report, none other than President Enrique Peña Nieto and his soap-star wife, Angelica Rivera.

He never paid for it, however. It belongs to a wealthy entrepreneur who was recently awarded one of the most lucrative public-works contracts in recent Mexican history, according to a months-long investigation published Sunday by a team of reporters led by prominent journalist Carmen Aristegui.

Quid pro quo? That is the suggestion from Aristegui’s report.

Aware the investigation was in the works, Peña Nieto’s government abruptly canceled the contract — a $4-billion deal to build a bullet train — on Friday. Yanking an already awarded bid was an unheard of move, commentators said.

"We are not sheep to be killed whenever they feel like it"

This is about the best summary of the tragic events in Ayotzinapa that I have seen.  It is by Alma Guillermoprieto at the NY Review of Books and clearly spells out much of what transpired leading up to today's arrests.  It is a long and graphic read, but  at the same time, succinct.  Please take the time to read it.  It is very important to get the facts out as Mexico tries to deal with a horrible situation, a national crisis.

Emiliano Navarrete, a slight man in a baseball cap who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was the last relative to speak.

“I am the father of a boy who, for me, is not disappeared,” he began. “For me, he was kidnapped by men in uniform who are municipal police of Iguala, Guerrero.” His face was stretched taut against his skull from tension and the stress of speaking in public, and his stumbling Spanish revealed his Indian origins. “Why does this government act like this?” he went on, searching for words. “We are not sheep to be killed whenever they feel like it.”

The hits just keep comin'

If one wants to buy paint here, the general way to ask is, "Where is the nearest Comex?"  Like Xerox, Comex almost supplants the original word.  The stores are everywhere, in every village.  You need paint, you go to Comex.

So this is kinda big news.  From the LAHT. (emphasis added)

U.S. paint and coating maker PPG Industries said it has “successfully” completed its purchase of Mexican paint manufacturer Consorcio Comex for $2.3 billion.

The deal is the second-largest acquisition in the company’s history, PPG Chairman and CEO Charles E. Bunch was quoted as saying in a company press release on Wednesday.

“We look forward to working with the Comex team as we integrate the business into PPG,” Bunch said after noting that Comex is a leading architectural coatings business in Mexico and Central America.

The deal was signed in June after Mexican anti-trust authorities refused to authorize a similar agreement between Comex and U.S. building materials giant Sherwin-Williams.

Founded in 1952, Mexico City-based Comex makes paint and coating for use in industry and construction and has 3,900 employees, eight factories and six distribution centers. In 2013, the company posted $1 billion in revenue.

Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries was founded in 1883 and has operations in nearly 70 countries.

Hmmm.... there are some interesting threads to follow.  But really, nothing to look at here, move along.

Signs of the Times

The End of the Drug War—Or a New Cartel of Cartels?

Very interesting read on the state of Mexico by Benjamin T. Smith at Dissent.  A bit long, but worth it.

The much quieter release of the Piedras Negras story has been suspiciously convenient for the Peña Nieto government, and hints at the increasing power Mexican authorities have asserted over the press under the PRI. On the one hand, by allowing the story to get out, Mexican authorities flagged to both Mexican voters and potential U.S. investors that peace is being restored. On the other hand, the story has not circulated widely enough to invite more penetrating and potentially critical discussion of Peña Nieto’s anti-drug strategy. The official narrative is the only one on offer.

Media spin has a long history in Mexico. But now, combined with historical amnesia, it threatens to cover up the return to a policy of state–cartel cooperation. Will U.S. authorities just stand by and watch—or are they quietly writing their own script for the next phase of the drug war?

Addendum:

Angry people are angry. They have a right to be. And they're going to get angrier. Eventually this will reach a breaking point. It has to. It'll break when some sufficiently large crisis occurs, and one side is fully prepared to use that seething rage for constructive outcomes.

What country is David Atkins from Hullabaloo writing about?  Could be Mexico, but it isn't. A pretty good analysis of the current state of affairs in El Norte.

The party that is more ready for that moment will be the one that makes real policy changes. Until then, we'll just keep surfing waves, watching each side crow that Americans have finally "woken up" and "put the adults back in charge" every two years while not a whole lot actually gets done for anybody but the rich.