Monthly Archives: January 2012

The New York Times 36 Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico Back-story

Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2012 | 4 comments

Freda Moon, travel writer for The New York Times, contacted me on July 29, 2011 to say she was working on a feature about Oaxaca. Travel information about the city hadn’t been updated at the NY Times since 2007 and Freda thought it was about time. Her editor agreed! Freda was leaving for Oaxaca the next week, found this website/blog during her research, liked our in depth coverage, and asked me to offer suggestions for new favorite places on the city scene.

During her time in Oaxaca, Freda discovered spots I hadn’t even heard about (including those mescal venues that become lively long after my bedtime). At my suggestion, she connected with Brown University linguistic anthropologist Liza Bakewell, author of Madre: Perilous Journey with a Spanish Noun and they talked about city life.

Now, it’s nearly impossible, as many of the commenters to the article have said, to cover all that is wonderful in Oaxaca and village environs in 36 hours. The two Puertos on the coast (Escondido, Angel), Juchitan, the Sierra Mixteca (and more) all offer unique and extraordinary experiences. Three weeks would be more like it. Or even 36 weeks! Freda could not have included everything in her short article — either all my suggestions or those made by others!

So in a series of posts to come, I’m going to share with you what I shared with Freda Moon, starting with my favorite restaurants.

Disfruta! Enjoy!

And, if you love Oaxaca, please share The New York Times 36 Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico on your Facebook page and via email. The indigenous people and artisans of Oaxaca will love and appreciate you for it! They depend upon tourism for their major source of income.

Oaxaca Safety: It’s also important to read the COMMENTS section on Freda’s article to hear first hand about how Oaxaca is SAFE and inviting — heard from visitors who have come back here many times and those of us who live here.

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Posted in Books & Resources, Clothing Design, Cultural Commentary, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving

Tagged 36 Hours, art, blogsherpa, culture, Freda Moon, Mexico, Oaxaca, The New York Times, travel

Tlacolula Shopping List: Oaxaca’s Sunday Market

Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 | 11 comments

The Sunday Tlacolula regional tianguis (indigenous market) is where locals go to buy everything imaginable: furniture, cookware, light bulbs, plants, vegetables, fruits, meats, rebozos, live animals, jewelry, aprons, CDs and DVDs, clothing and plumbing supplies, just to list a few!

Portable stalls, covered with blue plastic tarp, line the streets for blocks on end. Interspersed are some interesting tourist collectibles: finely woven baskets, lacquered gourds, Mitla tablecloths, embroidered blouses, carved wood figures, fancy shawls, and more.

I love Tlacolula. The colorful indigenous dress, women carrying babes to their breasts wrapped in shawls securely tied around their necks and midriffs, wheelbarrows filled with honey dripping from hives, pushcarts with piles of fresh strawberries and guayaba so ripe that the air is like breathing a smoothie. Men pull goats by coarse ropes. Old women cradle turkeys under their arms. Hawkers call out the daily specials at improvised street cafes where rotisserie chicken spins as diners eat at makeshift tables.

Petate weaver

This Sunday I had a shopping list. No tourist dawdling for me.

I started out late, hopped on a 3 p.m. bus from Teotitlan del Valle (TDV) to Tlacolula. The 10-minute ride is 7 pesos (that’s about 50 cents). On Sundays, that’s the only destination for the TDV bus that makes numerous round trips all day ending with the last one returning at 3:30 p.m..

Tlacolula Shopping List:

Clothes hangers. The basic necessities are not what tourists are looking for, but Tlacolula has everything. 10 for 25 pesos.
Oil cloth. This is not for the dining room table! I lit upon this solution to cover a window to keep the light out. Hopefully making for better sleeping. 2 meters for 60 pesos.
Masking tape and picture wire. The tape to hang the oilcloth and the picture wire to hang a beautiful clay sirena (mermaid) wall plaque I bought in Santa Maria Atzompa last week. The potter made the platter with only one hole (a mistake) so no way to thread a wire to hang. So I found a button at the market, too. (My plan, fit the button into the hole, thread the wire through the button holes, hang–it worked.) Tape and wire at the hardware store for 35 pesos. Button from a street vendor for one peso.
Hand-woven petate floor mat. Not on my shopping list, but who could resist the woman sitting on the curb weaving these mats from palm fronds. Indigenous people slept on these. Now, they make a perfect natural floor covering. A steal at 40 pesos.

La Dueña de Comedor Mary

5. Late lunch at Comedor Mary. The most delicious food in the cleanest restaurant you’ve ever seen – anywhere. I could write a whole post about Comedor Mary. Located on the street between the church and the permanent market. Chicken soup, chile relleno, accompanying plate of avocado, radishes, guaje, with a Coke Light for 90 pesos.

By the time I left the market, the TDV buses were kaput (last return trip at 3:30 p.m.). So I walked to the Tlacolula crucero (crossroads) and picked up a collectivo (10 pesos) that dropped me off at the TDV crucero. I sat next to the cutest 2-year old with her mom in the back seat and we made goo-goo eyes. From there, I took a local collectivo (5 pesos each and sharing the cab with 6 people, 3 adult men in the front seat) into town. My bundles went into the trunk, fortunately. From there I walked home.

Overall, a great day I’d say. Shopping list accomplished.

11 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, markets, Mexico, New York Times 36 Hours:Oaxaca, Oaxaca, shopping, tianguis, Tlacolula, travel

Return to San Pablo: Oaxaca’s Indigenous Cultural and Academic Center

Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2012 | 1 comment

At Centro Academico y Cultural San Pablo we discover secrets, surprises and ancient stones.

An 18^th century rosary chapel with contemporary stained glass window designed by Francisco Toledo, the imposing green stone façade mingled with original 16^th century adobe, and a gold-leaf altar are only a few of the architectural delights of San Pablo de los Indios, the first Dominican convent in Oaxaca.

Our guide, Janet Chavez Santiago, coordinator of educational programs, described the features and history of this glorious structure. She said there were important surprises found during the excavation for the foundation:

Two female skeletons were uncovered that date from 500 B.C. These are the oldest found in Oaxaca, older than those from Monte Alban I. The women were buried with ceramics of the same style found at Monte Alban, though older.

Every convent has a fountain, Janet says. The location was evident but the design of the original fountain was illusive, so architect Mauricio Rocha created a symbolic water feature out of obsidian, a native Mexican stone.

In the main patio, the outline of a doorway framed by ruffled stone, was the opening to Benito Juarez University, which was known as Instituto des Artes de Oaxaca.

Later, Janet would show us where Benito Juarez, director of the institute, later president of Mexico and leader of the reformation, had his offices. At the entrance, there are two layers of painting: 17^th century frescoes and grafitti and 19^th century wallpaper.

The main patio area, called the sala capitula, is where the Dominicans assembled to govern the convent. Architects wanted to go down to the original floor and as they did, they found a large rock and river stones. As they kept excavating they uncovered a Zapotec temple foundation that was the same age as the bone discoveries. Archeologists who were brought in to examine the materials believe the city was an indigenous religious center that pre-dates the famed mountaintop site.

The beauty of San Pablo is more than skin deep. It takes us back to the origins of Oaxaca and it is not too difficult to imagine life as it might have been then. The convent is dedicated to the cultural and linguistic diversity of the state and preserving the traditions and language of its indigenous people. Originally, it was the only convent to serve the indigenous population.

As Janet explains the language of the stones used in the original structure (flat and hand hewn) and the later restorations, she also tells us that one of her primary goals is to teach Zapotec (Tlacolula valley dialect) to anyone who is interested. She hopes the courses will begin in May 2012.

As we leave, we take one last glimpse at the imposing green glass wall that surrounds and protects the library archives. We marvel at this architectural masterpiece that so consciously and sensitively blends past with present and future to keep the dream of cultural continuity alive.

Footnote: Originally, the entrance to San Pablo faced toward the Zocalo and was framed by a large patio. There were three alleyways open to access it. Over the years, these alleyways were closed off and the patio disappeared as the Dominicans sold off property to pay to restore the church bell tower and other damage during a major 18^th century earthquake. That’s when private homes and the Macedonio Alcala Theatre were built. San Pablo was last used as a hotel when the Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation purchased it in 2005. The restoration began in 2006, totally supported by the Foundation.

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism

Tagged blogsherpa, culture, Francisco Toldeo, indigenous, language, Mexico, museum, Oaxaca, Zapotec

Cows, Pigs, Calaveras: Carved Wood Figures of Placido Santiago Cruz

Posted on Friday, January 13, 2012 | Comments Off

This week I was in Oaxaca city for two days visiting with silversmiths Brigitte Huet and Ivan Campant! I went with them to present their work at Susanna Trilling’s Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in San Lorenzo Cacaotepec. This mecca of the culinary arts is located about 40 minutes from the city in the lush countryside where farmers continue to plow their fields with wood plows harnessed to hefty oxen. (This is also the same village where Irma Paula Garcia Blanco from Atzompa gets her black clay.)

Here I met Placido Santiago Cruz who was also invited to show his work to the class participants. It is a blessing to independent local artists and artisans to be able to do this because there are limited opportunities to meet a group of visitors who may be interested in collecting their work.

Señor Santiago Cruz is one of the earliest and original folk artists from the village of La Union Tejalapam. There is joy, color and humor in his copal wood figures that capture the essential commentary of pueblo life. His style is indicative of alebrijes as they were first carved, much different from the highly stylized and ornamental figures of most carvers today. His repertoire includes barnyard animals such as cows, pigs, horses and goats, as well as Nativity scenes, and the Virgin of Guadalupe praying over a fallen angel. Señor Santiago Cruz does the carving and his wife, Señora Alfonsa Cruz López, finishes each piece by sanding it smooth and then painting it. This is a team effort between husband and wife that is typical in small, independent carving families in this village as well as in Arrazola and San Martin Tilcajete.

Señor Santiago Cruz has carved for 40 years. He began carving at the side of an older brother who taught him how to work with the machete, knife, and the copal wood that had been softened in water to make it more malleable. Over the years, he has gained recognition as one of the outstanding carvers of the region. His work is featured in Arden Rothstein’s bible, Oaxaca Folk Art. He is in collected by Henry Wegeman and Rosa Blum, owners of Amate Books on Macedonio Alcala, and his work is offered for sale in El Nahual Gallery on Av. 5 de Mayo in Oaxaca City.

Prices are incredibly reasonable for these lovely pieces that are quintessentially Oaxaca. Owls are 100 pesos. The small animal heads, perfect for wall adornment, are 150 pesos. Animal musicians are 200 pesos. The Virgin of Guadalupe is 350 pesos as is the Calavera (whimsical skeleton) with pineapple head-dress. The entire nativity scene is 2,000 pesos and it includes 10 pieces. As of this writing, the exchange rate is about 13.5 pesos to the dollar. Great folk art is still a bargain in Oaxaca!

If you want to ride out to La Union to visit el maestro (about a 50 minute taxi ride from the city), call ahead and make an appointment. Connecting with the artist directly is an extraordinary experience. And the artisans here depend upon selling their carved wood figures as their primary source of cash income, since La Union is not a farming community. Placido Santiago Cruz, La Union Tejalapam, Etla, Oaxaca, cellular 044 951 106 0983.

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Posted in Books & Resources, Clothing Design, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Travel & Tourism

Tagged alebrijes, blogsherpa, Carved Figures, copal wood, Mexico, Oaxaca

In The New York Times: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator

Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2012 | 3 comments

Que milagro! The New York Times features Oaxaca Cultural Navigator in its 36 Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico article written by travel writer Freda Moon. The Travel section story on Oaxaca, the first to be published about the city since 2007, appeared in today’s online New York Times. It will appear in print this Sunday, January 15, 2012.

Forgive me if I have to pinch myself — again and once more. When I showed the article this afternoon to Federico (Fe) Chavez Sosa, who with his wife Dolores Santiago Arrellanas (Lola) and family, run Galeria Fe y Lola, also noted in Freda’s story, he could hardly believe it. He was beaming!

Needless to say, we are trying to keep our composure. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime event for a little-known Zapotec weaving family from a pueblo outside the city to be recognized for their work in this way. Never mind that their work is extraordinary. Many people go through life creating something exceptional and rarely get this kind of attention.

So, a big thank you, un beso y abrazo fuerte to Freda for loving Oaxaca and wanting to bring this lovely city back into the limelight after it was tarnished so badly in the APPO wars of 2006. The city thanks you and so do we.

I’ve written this blog for over four years now. During this time, I have faithfully tried to write something meaningful at least weekly, so there is a huge compendium of information and photos here for you to sift through, if you are interested. I don’t propose to know everything about Oaxaca. In relative terms, I’m a newcomer. I’ve traveled here regularly during the past seven years, coming three or four times a year for a couple of weeks at a time while I was employed full-time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now, at this moment, I get to call this home and stay a while!

Many expatriates have lived here longer and know much more than I do. We are all here because we love this place, want to support the culture, and find solace in the beauty of the natural world, insight through the artistic endeavors, and connection through the generosity of the people. Each of us has something valuable to give and each of us wants to offer support in whatever way we are able to bring our varied talents to bear, individually or collectively.

And, there’s always room for more people to come, explore, and discover the creative energy that makes Oaxaca vibrant, satisfying, and stimulating. Perhaps you will decide to come, then return, and then return again, as I did. All of us hope that you do. You won’t be sorry.

In gratitude,

Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC, January 12, 2012