Monthly Archives: August 2018

Party for the Animals: Fundraiser for Teotitlan Spay-Neuter Clinic, Sunday, August 19, 2018

PLEASE SHARE. CAR POOL TO TEOTITLAN. GIVE. 

I will provide the famous Teotitlan del Valle mole amarillo con pollo tamales made by my neighbor Ernestina. She will also make delicious black bean tamales for the vegetarians among us. You bring the beverages.

We want to raise 5,000 pesos. 

  • It costs 400 pesos total to spay or neuter one animal.
  • We pay 200 pesos to the Tlacolula vets for each animal.
  • It costs 200 pesos per animal for medicines and surgical supplies.
  • Our goal is to help keep the animal population under control, cut the number of unwanted animals, and provide education for families and the community.
  • Usually, there are two clinics a month, every other Thursday, fixing from six to a dozen dogs or a few cats.
  • This is a privately funded endeavor organized by Merry Foss based on donations.
  • The village calls her “Maria de los Perros”
  • Sometimes, when she runs out of funds, she pays out-of-pocket.
  • She is on a mission and we have a long way to go!

Just a bit too young for surgery … later!

HOW TO GIVE!

We can accept funds through PayPal sent to my account: oaxacaculture@me.com  Open PayPal. Choose Send Money to Family and Friends. Click. It will open to a page. Enter send money to oaxacaculture@me.com and the amount. Please be sure it is sent in US dollars. I will then convert to pesos and give your donation to Merry.

Or, use choose the amount you’d like to give below. PayPal will take 3% fee to use these links:

Scenes from the clinic.

Veterinarian Erwin from Tlacolula de Matamoros

Time for anesthesia, Veterinarian Alma, Erwin’s wife, and her cousin, also a Vet

Merry Foss doing in-take, pink tag = rabies shot given

Medicine and supplies

Rounding up the big dogs

The recovery room

Many of you know that over a year ago, I rescued three dogs living wild in the fields near my house. I took them to Merry to have them spayed (two females) and neutered (one male). Starving Beezy, our poster dog, was taken in by Janie during her visit here. Kalisa snatched him about six months ago, to neuter him, but he had another “home.” But, he showed up to Janie starving and in need. The owner got himself another dog he keeps chained to a post in the field.

We brought Beezy back to health and took him to San Pablo Etla to Friends of Megan animal rescue for adoption. We don’t yet have a fostering/adoption program here in Teotitlan. Merry has her hands full with the clinic, but sometimes she is able to take in dogs in need and tries to find them homes, too.

In June, people came forward with gifts to help Beezy, and I used the extra funds to donate to Friends of Megan and to this clinic, in addition to giving veterinary care to the dog.

Aye, chihuahua preciosa

This is my first life experience having animals! It’s both challenging and rewarding. The most challenging for me is that there are so many animals in need. I wouldn’t call myself a dog person (I’m a textile person), but I cannot turn away.

Thank you for your help and for your participation on Sunday, August 19. Party for the Animals.

 

 

 

 

A Day in Oaxaca Villages with Envia Foundation

Yes, I went on a tour! Envia Foundation offers half-day excursions out to villages where their borrowers live and work. I say borrowers because Envia’s primary goal is to offer microfinancinginterest-free loans — to women entrepreneurs who want to start or expand a small business. Responsible tourism is part of that.

San Miguel del Valle weaver and Envia tour-goer with a tree-of-life tapete

We visit borrowers to see the improvements they have been able to make with Envia’s financial help and to hear their personal stories about how funds and educational support programs have made a difference.

San Miguel del Valle’s Bordado Mary with her magnificent aprons

To qualify for an Envia loan, you must form a group of at least three women and promise to make weekly repayments of at least 20 pesos and on time. Each woman is committed to each other to make this happen. The first loan is for 1,500 pesos, which translates now to about $80 USD. Once this is repaid, the women can qualify for the next level loan. The largest loan is 7,500 pesos, or about $400 USD.

La Alma de la Casa! Our lunch stop in San Miguel del Valle

Envia lends to women because data show they will keep the funds in the family and they are more accountable for repayment.  There is a 99.8% repayment rate. In Mexico, the cost to borrow money (interest rates) ranges from 75% and 200%. People are never able to get out of debt if they follow this path.

My tlayuda. More than I could ever eat. Delicious organic corn.

The women present a simple budget to Envia to apply. For most, Spanish is their second language. They speak Zapotec. They don’t need to speak Spanish, though, to receive a loan. They must attend a basic business education course before the funds are given. About 10% of the borrowers have completed middle school (8th grade), and 60% have completed elementary school to the second grade. The loan gives them a leg up to buy materials and supply such as yarn if they are weavers, thread or a sewing machine if they are embroiderers, a stove if they run a small diner (comedor).

Winn and me trying on aprons. Of course, we bought one!

We might think these needs are simple. To many, a small loan can make a big difference.

Young girls start wearing aprons early — part of their identity

We started the day at Envia headquarters at Instituto Cultural Oaxaca, boarded a van and headed out to San Miguel del Valle, a village in the hills above Tlacolula de Matamoros on the way to the Sierra Norte. Here they are known for both their elaborate embroidery and weaving.

Through the screen door at the comedor, San Miguel del Valle

We first had a fantastic homemade lunch at Comedor Teresa. She calls herself the Alma de la Casa, the Soul of the House. We had a choice of chicken or vegetarian dishes: chile relleno, tlayuda or tacos dorados. All delicious.

Weaver sisters in San Miguel del Valle, and husband who also weaves

We then walked to the house of a 25-year-old embroiderer who makes elaborate aprons that must pair with a matching or contrasting under-dress. She gave us a demonstration and we were in awe of her handiwork. She does not sell at the Tlacolula Market. All her customers come to her house.

We next walked uphill to a house near the church, then climbed down a steep stairway to the courtyard of weavers Petronia and Minerva, who now buy their own dyed wool instead of being supplied with a piecework order from a big house in Teotitlan. This gives them more independence, a bit more profit, and saves materials and travel costs. Every little bit helps.

Array of colorful beeswax candles, handmade, some with natural dyes

We arrived in Teotitlan del Valle in late afternoon to visit the house of Sofia and her sister Sara who make traditional beeswax candles, some dyed with natural plant materials and cochineal. Just stunning work.

Sofia starting a candle, 365 layers of wax

Candles dyed with indigo and cochineal, artful to hang

In the same courtyard, we meet family member Ludivina Vasquez Gutierrez who dyes wool with natural plants and cochineal. Her husband is the weaver. They do the entire process by hand, carding, spinning and weaving the Churro wool they buy from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca. We were taken with the quality and very reasonable prices. Perhaps only a dozen weavers work in natural dyes here, though most can give tourists a dye demonstration using cochineal.

A stack of beautiful rugs, all made with natural dyes, Teotitlan del Valle

The tour, which began at 1 p.m. returned the group to Oaxaca after 7 p.m. The cost is 850 pesos which includes transportation and lunch.

Hand-carding wool to spin. Two days labor to fill a basket.

Being a tourist on this tour can’t be beat!

Thanks to Jacki and Ida for being the best tour leaders and translators of language and culture.

Bordado Mary makes embroidered bags, too.

 

 

 

Video: Chinas Oaxaqueñas at the El Tule Guelaguetza 2018

The “alternative” Guelaguetza in Santa Maria del Tule started with the crowd-pleasing favorite, the Chinas Oaxaqueñas. I don’t know how the tradition of the name originated. Can anyone out there offer an answer?

Chinas Oaxaqueñas at El Tule Guelaguetza 2018˜

Perhaps it is simply Oaxaca’s version of the Chinas Poblanas of Puebla. Their beaded blouses had origins in the Philippines and were likely imported on Spanish trade galleons coming from Asia to Mexico. Women from the Philippines came to Mexico in this fashion, too.

Goods landed at Acapulco and shipped overland to Veracruz, with a cross-roads stop at Puebla. It is said that the mantilla and rebozo/shawl with hand-knotted fringes had its origins in Asia, too. Spanish women loved this look then. We love it now.

Video: Danza de los Diablos, African Roots in Mexico, El Tule Guelaguetza 2018

Danza de los Diablos is connected with the Afro-Mestizo history of Oaxaca’s Costa Chica, the Pacific coast region between Puerto Escondido and Acapulco, Guerrero. Now referred to as Mexico’s Third Root, people of African descent are an integral part of what it means to be Mexican, more than only the mix of Europeans and AmerIndians. With the conquest of Mexico, Spanish brought African slaves here in the 16th century to work sugar cane fields, mines and agriculture. Most were men and married indigenous women. Race and class was far more permeable in Mexico than in the United States.

Only recently have academics and cultural anthropologists begun to uncover and investigate the importance of African roots in Mexican culture.

Dressed as the devil with mask, horns and horsehair, African roots

The dance and its music, with its stomping and whirling, are said to symbolize the breaking from the repression of slave owners and the church. The woman in the dance represents the mixing of races. She carries a white doll. Traditionally, the dance is performed on November 1 during Day of the Dead.

White mask, dark skin, white baby, symbol of Afro-Mestizo roots

Oaxaca Costa Chica Textile Study Tour, January 11-21, 2019–Spaces Open

Behind the mask, a beautiful countenance

Today, the dance is a testimony to Oaxaca’s rich diversity and deepening respect for her roots.

One of the pleasures I have from writing this blog is the research I do to investigate the culture and history of Oaxaca and Mexico. When I was at the Costa Chica in the last two years, I became more aware of African slave roots as as I talked with cultural anthropologists and locals.

A First Person Commentary

About Afro-Mexicans

Much more has been written about the African experience on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, at the port of Veracruz and south. The Son Jarocho music of Mexico, Cuba and the Caribbean are rooted in Africa, as is the donkey jawbone and drum percussion instruments. There is still a lot to learn.

 

Fancy Dancing: Video of Huajuapan de Leon Jarabe Mixteco

On Monday night, while the crowd of 11,000 was in the Auditorio Guelaguetza enjoying the main event, I joined friends Winn and Jacki in Santa Maria del Tule for their First Guelaguetza. There are other villages around Oaxaca, too, that produce smaller-scale guelaguetzas for a fraction of the cost, more accessible and affordable to a wider audience. Yesterday I posted still photos. Today, I’ll continue with video. I hope you can go next year. Definitely GREAT.

Here is the couple from the Mixtec region of Oaxaca