Food, glorious food

Sorry to do this to you.  If your mouth is not watering after this.... well, that ain't my problem.  Muertos involves food both for the living and the departed and we sure were not gonna depart until we had our fill.

 Horchata with a scoop of tuna (cactus flower) sherbert.

 OMG!  This abuela from San Antonino made the most delicious empanadas.

 When finished, the inside was nice and firm, not liquid at all.

 Please, may I have another?  We came home with five.

Muertos in Atzompa

Atzompa is one of our favorite places to visit on the 31st.  Unfortunately, it has become a favorite for tour buses as Xoxo is now way too crowded to even contemplate visiting.  So we get there early.  Atzompa's thing is candles, velas, and the atmosphere is always ethereal.  People are friendly and of course, there is a band playing at 11.... and that is volume, not o'clock.  Still the scene is beautiful and challenging to shoot because it is so dark with only candlelight to work with.  That is the city in the distance in the shot above.  Beautiful, isn't it?  There are little pockets of light in which one can see family members huddled around graves.  They are quiet, but not sad.

I think this is my favorite shot of the night.  It says much.

 A little tighter shot.  I talked to this gentleman for a bit.  He was fine and happy to be waiting for the souls of his family to arrive.

Gotta go.  Off to San Antonino and Teotitlan del Valle for more......

Catrinas and more

Muertos is such a busy and festive time, it is hard to keep up.  Obviously, there is a much deeper meaning beneath all the activities, that being how this culture deals with death.  I will forever be indebted to Oaxaca and Mexico for helping me understand all of this so much better.  It is such a healthy and natural way of looking at the cycles in life and death.  That being said, last night was full of comparsas and craziness in the city.  Shooting at night is always a challenge, but here are some of the results.  One can never go wrong with Catrinas and these were exceptional.

Then there was this wonderful figure on stilts, who I caught up with after he had already walked a couple of kilometers with a couple to go.

More to come....

Altar preparations

Remember those fields of flowers? Well, all those flowers have been picked and are now in the many markets.

People buy them buy the armloads.

And there are truckloads from which to choose.

 These are in the market in Etla.

(h/t MVS)
The selection is wonderful.

 Then people rush home to start assembling their altars.

(h/t MVS)

Some of which are already finished.

Much more to come.....

Sand paintings

Sand paintings or tapetes de arena are always a part of Muertos.  For the last couple of years, they have been located in the Plaza de la Danza, which makes viewing difficult.  Really, the things are so big one would need a helicopter to see them best or admittance to the cathedral's steeple, which ain't gonna happen. Unfortunately, my chopper is in the shop

 The scope and scale are impressive.

 Take note of the dark and foreboding clouds beyond the cathedral.

 More photographers than workers while we were there.

 Many hours of work in assembling and coloring.

 It's an art.

 The results are pretty amazing.

 La Catrina comes in many guises.

 Three out of the five huge paintings were finished.

Thirty minutes later, rain came down in torrents.  We were lucky to see them when we did.  Maybe they are repairing the damage today.

Comparsa Faces

There are many comparsas this week as people get into the spirit of Muertos.  A comparsa is simply a procession of masked street dancers who, accompanied by numerous bands, stops all traffic as they dance up and down the streets.  It is a total blast.

We saw them preparing earlier and then tagged along as we all dodged raindrops and ended up going crazy in front of Santo Domingo.

It is just the beginning......

Do you have it in my size?

Comal

This is a sweet shot from Tlacolula of a woman using her newly purchased comal as a sun shield.  Comals are made of clay and are a fixture in most kitchens here.

Yesterday, in Atzompa, a village known for its ceramics, I saw a woman carrying about a dozen of them with six balanced on her head and three under each arm.  Neck muscles and balance off the charts.

Flowers for my dinner

Look at these beautiful flowers of a different sort.  These are fresh flor de calabasa, squash blossoms, and they are going to be stuffed with cheese and fried or put in quesadillas, tamales, empanadas, soups and all sorts of taste treats.  If you have ever grown squash you can recognize just what an amazing harvest this is and there are probably many more flowers replacing these as the sun comes up today.  You hardly ever see these in US markets, but they are a constant here.  The pile of cilantro next to them looks pretty good, too.

Perfect mole

We just go from one delectable feast to the next.  Today, it was mole negro in our favorite restaurant in all of Oaxaca, Comedor Colon, in nearby Etla.  It tasted even better than it looks and it looks fantastic.

Flowers for the altars - Muertos

Today was my annual visit to these fields which are not far my house.  It is always such a joy to see these huge splashes of color.

 

Unfortunately, the splashes were not as huge as in previous years as there was a huge housing development that had been built where flowers used to bloom. 

My guess is that next year I will be looking for other fields to visit.  Meanwhile back at the hacienda, we have marigolds or cempasuchil, which come in a wide variety of yellows reds and oranges.

And cockscomb, Terciopelo Rojo (Celosia cristata) the red flower which symbolizes the blood of Christ.

I don't know what the little purple flowers are.... anyone, anyone.... Pilar?

No matter what they are, it is always wonderful to be outstanding in the field;-)

 Much more to come all this week.