Jueves Santo...cont

The city is packed.  At least it is in el centro, but it is strangely quiet once you get out of that area.  There was very little traffic and I had no problem parking.  The streets were empty, but I was early.  It was about 3 PM, so I just walked the city for the next fours hours.

However, you can see that Alacala, the pedestrian walkway, was very crowded with lots of vendors and tourists.  It looks like most are mexicanos, with some Europeans, but not many gringos.   And some from other regions.

Stalls line the streets, with plenty to take in, like street food

or flowers.

Early in the evening, after "the washing of the feet" ceremonies, comes "la visita a las siete casas," the visit to seven churches.  Bread is purchased, often at the entrance to the church and carried to each church, where it is blessed.

Lots of different varieties.

Some from a bit  closer to the source.

People take the bread to each church and then home to keep it in the hopes that it will insure that there will be enough food throughout the coming year.  It is also given to anyone who is ill as a curative.

I started on my path at a leisurely pace, but then noticed very dark clouds moving in, so my trip to the seven churches sped up considerably.  And here they are.










I think I added an eighth.  The last one was Carmen Alto.

Not the best shot, but these two can attest I was there.

We have had rains the last few days, which is early in the season, but every drop is a blessing.  I was a long way from my car, but made it and the skies opened up with a extra blessing to end the day, Jueves Santo.

Jueves Santo

Holy Thursday!  A busy day.  More later.

One Ten

The Shadow knows. 

What time is it?

Matter of perspective

I guess it is just how you choose to see things.  Simplicity works for me.  It helps explain the complexities in everything that surround us. 

For instance, with music, I always told my students, they only want you think that it is difficult and hard to understand, but really there are only two tunes you need to understand, "Heart and Soul" and "Louie, Louie."  Most music can be analyzed in relation to those two songs, Bach, Beethoven, Bjork and Bird.  It works and is all pretty basic.

In trying to explain how music is made up simple elements, I would use architecture or the analogy of making bread. 

What are the ingredients of bread?  Water, flour, a little salt, yeast, maybe one or two other ingredients.  Now, imagine that French bakery with all those types of bread.  Of course, it just keeps going from there as there are many, many kinds of bread, the point being there is a simplicity in what goes into all of them.

Or in architecture, look around you, how many shapes can you see in the room or the buildings outside?  Really, I suspect not too many.  A quadrilateral, a triangle, a circle, maybe if you are lucky a rhombus and yes, I know a rectangle or square is really two triangles.  Simple basics, that's how it all works.... for me. 

Now that explains everything, doesn't it?  Where's my Pulitzer?  Lost in the mail again this year?

¡Qué diferencia!

There are always kids playing in the zocalo and these two were fun to watch as they flew their "birds." 3..2..1..

However, somehow I could not shake the image of this little boy living a very different life.

¡Qué diferencia!

What a difference a week makes. The zocalo a few days ago.

And yesterday.

Palm Sunday - Domingo del Ramos

On this Palm Sunday or Day of the Branches, Domingo del Ramos,

the city was abuzz with lots of people and lots of interesting action.

Outside of all the churches people were selling pieces made of palm fronds or straw.


 

People paraded into the churches

and streamed out after the masses, all clutching their newly blessed fronds.

 
The zocalo was packed and there was a wonderful concert under the towering laurels.  They played Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" and it was spectacular.

Famed artist unveils mural at COM

photo by Kevin M. Cox
from The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Maestro Shinzaburo Takeda, an internationally known artist who lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, watched as a mural was unveiled Friday at College of the Mainland.

The mural, based on one of his paintings, was executed by art students under his direction.

The mural is a symbol of the close relations between Mexico and Texas — and between Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca and College of the Mainland......

Takeda went to Mexico in 1963, fascinated by the tradition of the great muralists.

“There were no murals in Japan 50 years ago,” he said.

While Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco were dead, David Alfaro Siqueiros became a friend and mentor.

“If you sell a painting, a rich person puts it in his home and it is gone,” said Takeda, who had trained as a painter in Japan. “A mural on a wall is for everyone.”

The same applies to print making, he said. “The murals and prints are a way to communicate with society.”

Takeda traveled throughout Mexico, fascinated with the cultures, especially those of the indigenous peoples.

He settled in Oaxaca and has studied its cultures for 30 years. The region is home to 17 groups, each with its own environment, customs and cultures, he said. 

Ventanas de púrpura y blanca

Window decorations for semana santa.

Semana Santa approaches

A beautiful, but hot day in the city as Semana Santa approaches and the place fills with tourists.  Purple and white decorations can be seen everywhere.

Today the streets were filled with altars to the Virgin Doloroso.

The clay pots filled with fresh greens are signs of spring.  The cream colored pieces look like they are made of plastic, but they are pieces of palm.  
The Virgin is weeping for the son she will soon lose.  

People are making and selling lots of pieces made from palm.  

Here is a intricate and beautiful piece.