They have to know

One sees so many people with the strangest t-shirts on, probably no different from the States. So you see campesinos with Wesleyan shirts or kids in the city with crazy stuff. I will have to consciously shoot some over the next few weeks. I always wonder if they know what's on the shirt, what it means. I followed this guy for a while just because his was so out there. It would be cruel to speculate if he knew. And no I haven't checked it out.... yet.

Tres Reyes

On the Feast Day of la Virgen de Guadalupe, I drove the back roads near my house and ended up just where I planned, in Tres Reyes, a small village just west of Etla. I had heard the church was special and it was. This is the palacio municipal, a handsome building, classic. The whole surrounding layout had a nice design and feel to it. These guys were having such a good time. They asked me how it looked. "Perfecto." The wide open plaza led to a shaded zocalo and the front of the church. Every church is different. This one is so beautifully painted, with none of the dark and tortured figures you so often see. It felt like a happy place. Or maybe that was just me. Some of the presentations celebrating the day. The virgin came in many forms. Even Christ looked happy.

Four in a row

On a quick trip to pick up a few fresh tortillas, chiles and avocados at the market in Etla yesterday, I shot these in quick succession. I noticed the shoe shine man on my way into the market. He was working on a higly detailed picture in a kid's coloring book while waiting for customers. I came around the corner and.....What a beautiful shoe shine box....I have to smile when I write "shoe shine box." Makes me think of Joe Pesci's line from "Goodfellas."

I did discover this hidden cloister area at the church, which is always empty whenever I am there and so serene.

It is beginning to look like

Where the heck are you?
The zocalo is filled with poinsettias and people.Your hotel is ready.Need flowers?Your table is waiting.I repeat. Where the heck are you?

Virgin of Gaudalupe Feast Day

All night long, there were fireworks and music bouncing off the mountains as the Feast day for the Virgin of Guadelupe, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, began. She is the iconic image of Mexico and there are many stories and beliefs.

From Wikipedia:

According to official Catholic accounts of the Guadalupan apparitions, during a walk from his home village to Mexico City early on the morning of December 9, 1531,^[5] Juan Diego saw a vision of a young girl of fifteen to sixteen, surrounded by light. This event occurred on the slopes of the Hill of Tepeyac. Speaking in the local language of Nahuatl, the Lady asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor. From her words, Juan Diego recognized her as the Virgin Mary. When he told his story to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the bishop asked him to return and ask the lady for a miraculous sign to prove her claim. The Virgin then asked Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, even though it was winter when no flowers bloomed. There, he found Castilian roses (which were of the Bishop's native home, but not indigenous to Tepeyac). He gathered them, and the Virgin herself re-arranged them in his tilma, or peasant cloak. When Juan Diego presented the roses to Zumárraga, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe miraculously appeared imprinted on the cloth of Diego's tilma.

La Virgen of Juquila

It all makes sense now, as once again, Henry Wangeman of Amate Books came through with the answer to what all the flowers and fireworks are about. Today is the day oaxaqueños celebrate La Virgen of Juquila, the unofficial patron saint of Oaxaca.
Hers is an interesting story:

The stories of the origins of the Virgin of Juquila are a bit convoluted, mysteriously clouded with the haze of time and myth. However, most accounts tell of a Dominican priest, Frey Juan Jordan, who brought the small figure with him from the Philippines. The exact date of their arrival is uncertain, but when he left in 1558 for another parish, he gave the figure to his young man servant who lived in the nearby town of Amialtepec. Word of her miracles spread and in 1630, a small shrine was built for her, affording all villagers a view. Three years later, the entire town of Amialtepec burned to the ground. From inside the inferno, they say, could be heard the wee voice of the tiny Virgin calling for help. While all around her fires blazed, destroying the entire town, the carved wooden figure survived, scorched a deep brown, the color of the Chatina people.

The state of the 4th estate

I am sitting here on a beautiful morning with the sun pouring over the mountains. There are more fire crackers than normal. Why? Is today something special? Coltrane is on the stereo blowing "Giants Steps." Now, there is a story, but really....

Sometimes one has to wonder what is going on in El Norte. I always like to transpose the problems the US faces onto a different country, say like, Russia, Honduras or France. Of course the media help spin how we might view the situation in each of those countries. Health care in France? Waging war by Russia? The democratic process in Honduras?

So what is the press fixated on? Global warming? Afghanistan? Unemployment? No, of course not. It is Tiger and Desiree.

If you don't know the Daily Howler by Bob Somerby or Digby's Hullabaloo, please check them out. Somerby is an unrelenting critic of the media and castigates both the right and left equally. Digby just calls them as she sees them. I enjoy reading both.

So here's what Somerby said today.

WHAT DIGBY SAID: Especially after Sunday’s New York Times, we’ll go with what Digby said last week about the Salahi blather:

DIGBY (12/2/09): The other day I mentioned that the Villagers were ginning up a scandal over this party crasher story that would eventually require the resignation of someone in the White House. It's not about security. They really can't be bothered with such trivia. But God help anyone who presumes to ignore the approved social pecking order. One simply does not presume to attend events which are confined to Very Important Villagers and someone must be sacrificed on the altar of Sally Quinn lest the entire social order be threatened.

“The Obama White House is finding out just how sharp their claws can be,” Digby wrote. That was before Maureen Dowd’s broken-souled Sunday column. To our ear, Dowd’s column suggests that a larger problem may be brewing than the one Digby foresaw.

Before we look at Dowd’s sorry piece—the Times should be ashamed for printing such drivel—let’s consider what a slightly more rational world would be like.

It is well worth the read. He even quotes Bob Zimmerman, I mean Dylan. He says it better than I could. So does Digby.

Because it's there

Easily one of the most photographed sites in Oaxaca, Santo Domingo draws the eye like a magnet. Construction for this magnificent baroque structure was begun in 1572 and completed over the next 200 years. A full restoration was undertaken in 1993 and completed six years later, but obviously it continues. This is from August and the finished project from just a few days ago.I never fail to be amazed by the amount of gold leaf and the opulence of the building. When one realizes that Mexico was divided up by three factions, the Dominicans, the Franciscans and the Assisians, one can see that Santo Domingo was at the heart of the Dominicans power base. During revolutionary times, the mid-19th century until almost 1940, it was turned over to the military. When I started coming here, the area that is now a well-established botanical garden was still filled with military. I remember looking out of the museums windows and watching them exercise their horses.

And of course there is always that late afternoon light.

Need these?

Every day, on many of the streets on which visitors stroll, you can see all sorts of crafts offered for sale. I don't think many women ever leave without out picking out several of these beautiful embroidered dresses or smocks.

Uh, there just happened to be a crane available for this shot, probably left over from the Oaxacan version of Chinatown. Actually, I was hanging over a balcony.

Peter Kuper - Diario de Oaxaca

Last evening, at Amate Books, there was a fascinating talk and presentation to a packed room by Peter Kuper about his recent book Diario de Oaxaca. You may know some of his work as he has been widely published by the NYT and the various news magazines, but perhaps most famously as the artist who continues Spy vs. Spy in Mad Magazine.You can see some of his work from Diario here. He is an engaging speaker and he pulled no punches when describing the tumultuous times in Oaxaca in 2006. But it was his drawings that were even more captivating. He captured the essence and flavor of Oaxaca, its history, culture, and people through a most tragic and difficult time.

It was an honor to hear him and to see his work, some of which is available for purchase at Amate. Kudos to Henry Wangeman for arranging the evening.

El coche

It has been an interesting few days as the car search culminated. It was a time to be uptight. It was a time to pray before altars on trucks.
Actually, this one was leading a long line of bicyclists.

One cultural difference is the ability of mexicanos to patiently wait and to go through the bureaucratic hoops that are just a part of life here. I pride myself in my patience, but baby, this was pushing it. I will have to do better. I promise I will never say anything bad about the DMV's in the States again...ever.

On Friday, I waited eight hours for the car to show up. The seller, the money (me) and the fixer all had to be in the same room at the same time - plus Henry and Rosa, who acted as translators and cheerleaders. Eventually, the deal went down. Then it was on to getting the plates. I accompanied Antonio, the fixer, as we jumped through those hoops. It would have been difficult to do without him. He knew the right people and a little under-the-table money helped grease the skids. So after four hours, ten different people, more paperwork than should be allowed, I had plates. Then a quick lunch and a new stereo with an ipod connection and I was cookin'.

So what did I get?I hope it is not too flashy for the neighborhood.
Actually, I got a Jetta.

Just curious

La curiosidad mató al gato - Curiosity killed the cat.

Now that Lonely Planet has put Oaxaca back on it's top ten list, I am just curious how people elsewhere view Mexico. So many times, we are the victims of the press or of stereotypes and it is hard to cut through all the inaccuracies.

So how is it with you and Mexico?

As I have said before, watching the US from the outside is unnerving. Unemployment, the sagging dollar, the polarized political scene, the gross ineptitude of those running the institutions - maybe it isn't ineptitude, but merely unfettered greed and to top it off, the terrible job that the media is doing in covering all of the above... well, it don't look good, but maybe that is just me. Am I in a bubble here? I follow lots of blogs and news sources, but maybe I am in an echo chamber, just hearing the same stuff over and over again.

So what is the word on Mexico that makes it into your bubble?

For those of us here, it is quiet and we are wondering when people are going to come and visit. Sure, there are problems, but where aren't there problems? Oaxaca continues to offer so much, culture, art, history, crafts, eco-tourism, food, beaches, mountains, its a long list.

What are you hearing about Mexico?

We're back!

Time for a visit!! Full story:

Lonely Planet is one of the world's leading travel media companies. Drawing on the knowledge, passion and miles traveled of Lonely Planet's global team of staff and authors, Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2010 showcases a year's worth of inspiration to take travelers out of the ordinary and into some unforgettable experiences.

Oaxaca provides travelers with a variety of activities, from surfing the legendary ‘Mexican pipeline' at one of the world's great surf beaches Playa Zicatela, sweating it out in a temazcal, a pre-Columbian herbal sauna in Puerto Escondido or surveying the vast valley of Oaxaca from atop the ancient Zapotec ruins of Monte Albán.

"It is an honor for Mexico to be recognized once again, by Lonely Planet as one of the Top 10 Regions in the world. Oaxaca is one of Mexico's richest cultural regions, and we are proud that visitors around the world feel the same," said Oscar Fitch, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board.

Market Day

More and more, I appreciate shopping at my local market in Etla on Wednesdays. The village is transformed and its normally quiet main drag is packed with vendors and shoppers. I am starting to do a better job of "seeing," meaning, I am not in sensory overload anymore. This all seems normal. I know I stick out like a sore thumb amongst these people, but at least I am a regular to some of them. Fresh garlic? Sweet fresh bananas. The produce varies from week to week depending on what is in season, but there are always great deals at good prices for all manner of fruits and vegetables.Good looking and great tasting turkeys and chickens. Doesn't get any fresher than that.Fresh fruit snacks.I like this shot with the father, in his hip pink shirt, a piecing no less, holding his son in his "Cars" outfit, while Christ overlooks the tomatoes.Fresh chiles and a winsome look.