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Norma writes for Selvedge Magazine Issue #109 -- Rise Up, November 2022
Norma Writes for Selvedge Latin Issue #89
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What is a Study Tour: Our programs are designed as learning experiences, and as such we talk with weavers about how and why they create, what is meaningful to them in their designs, the ancient history of patterning and design, use of color, tradition and innovation, values and cultural continuity, and the social context within which they work. First and foremost, we are educators. Norma worked in top US universities for over 35 years and Eric founded the education department at Oaxaca’s textile museum. Our interest is in creating connection and artisan economic development.
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Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay
Norma Contributes Two Chapters!
- Norma Schafer and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university program development experience. See my resume.
Study Toursd are personally curated and introduce you to Mexico's greatest artisans. They are off-the-beaten path, internationally recognized. We give you access to where people live and work. Yes, it is safe and secure to travel. Groups are limited in size for the most personal experience.
Programs can be scheduled to meet your travel plans. Send us your available dates.
Designers, retailers, wholesalers, universities and other organizations come to us to develop weaving relationships, customized itineraries, study abroad programs, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
Select Clients *Selvedge Magazine-London, UK *Esprit Travel and Tours *Penland School of Crafts *North Carolina State University *WARP Weave a Real Peace *Methodist University *MINNA-Goods *Smockingbird Kids
Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
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Food and Poetry: Writing About Eating, Ingredients and the Kitchen
After our cooking class with Reyna Mendoza Ruiz, Robin Greene, MFA, led us in a writing about food discussion. She referred us to Poet Laureate Mark Strand’s poem, “Pot Roast.” He uses words masterfully: gaze, sit, spoon, “I bend, I raise my fork in praise.” We come to a place where we are ‘eating poetry.’ To understand the interrelationship between food and poetry, we must write it out, memorize it, hear the sound repetitions, embed it in our bodies. This is the way to eat poetry.
So I go back to the image of Reyna bending over the metate, grinding the roasted peppers into the paste that will become the base for the mole roja. I take notes and write. Then, I try my hand at the metate and write some more.
Reyna at the Metate
“My fingers are stained red from the grinding of the peppers on the metate, ancient instrument of women’s work. The peppers become paste. My wrists turn “la mano de metate” — the hand of the metate. The stone in my hand grinds against the stone platform that sits on the ground. My back bends, I wipe brow sweat with the edge of my apron. I have hardly just begun. An electric machine would be easier I whisper under my breath. Kneel, Reyna says.
Tapete (rug) at the metate
“My knees are on a hand-woven square rug that sits on the raw earth. My back is an arch, my hands outstretched gripping the edges of the stone cylinder that looks like a rolling pin without handles. Come closer to the metate, she coaches. Use small, close strokes. Add water to make the paste until it is smooth and supple, like the skin of a young woman I imagine. Faster, press against the stone, grind as fine as possible. The stone is granite hewn from the mountainside from the labor of man. Muy fina, back and forth, a reverence to the rhythm of work to fill bellies and remember when time began.”
We offer an optional cooking class with Reyna for those who wish during the women’s creative writing and yoga retreat. It is a great way to stretch your creative cooking and writing skills.
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