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Why Travel With Us: Help sustain regenerative traditions.
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- We know the culture! This is our land! We are locally owned and operated.
- Eric Chavez Santiago is tri-lingual --Spanish, English, Zapotec.
- Eric was founding director of education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca + folk art expert
- Norma Schafer has lived in Oaxaca since 2005.
- Norma is a seasoned university educator.
- We have deep connections with artists and artisans.
- 63% of our travelers repeat -- high ratings, high satisfaction.
- Wide ranging expertise: textiles, folk art, pottery, cultural wisdom.
- We give you a deep immersion to best know Oaxaca and Mexico.
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We organize private travel + tours for museums, arts, organizations, collectors + appreciators.
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Creating Connection and Meaning between travelers and with indigenous artisans. Meet makers where they live and work. Join small groups of like-minded explorers. Go deep into remote villages. Gain insights. Support cultural heritage and sustainable traditions. Create value and memories. Enjoy hands-on experiences. Make a difference.
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What is a Study Tour: Our programs are learning experiences, and as such we talk with makers about how and why they create, what is meaningful to them, 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. We create connection.
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OCN Creates Student Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center Giving back is a core value. Read about it here
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Meet Makers. Make a Difference
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Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university, textile and artisan development experience. See About Us.
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Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
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Arts organizations, museums, designers, retailers, wholesalers, curators, universities and others come to us to develop artisan relationships, customized itineraries, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
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Select Clients *Abeja Boutique, Houston *North Carolina Museum of Art *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 *University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
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Oaxaca Breakfast with Carina Santiago Bautista
Carina Santiago Bautista prepares desayuno (breakfast)
I landed on Saturday and have been breathless ever since. After two nights and days in Oaxaca City, visiting friends, shopping, sightseeing, and walking up and down hills, we have now settled into the pueblo of Teotitlan del Valle. Here it is fresh, calm, peaceful, a rural village a mere 30 minutes outside the city and a different world, a quieter pace. Stephen and I decided to have breakfast at La Tierra Antigua, the restaurant operated by Cari Santiago Bautista and her husband Pedro Montano Lorenzo. We hopped on a tuk-tuk (moto taxi) and landed in paradise where their stainless steel, commercially equipped kitchen is the foundation for preparing delicious local foods. We ordered more than we could possibly consume for the full-taste experience and Stephen asked for “para llevar” — to go.
Fruit plate with homemade jam at La Tierra Antigua
Cari preparing homemade hot Oaxaca chocolate
Vegetarian omelet
Cari’s vegetarian omelet uses two eggs (fresh from her own hens), stuffed with quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese), salsa fresca (tomatoes, peppers, onions) plus sauteed onions, served with a side of nopales (cooked cactus) — very high in vitamin C, and refried beans. Stephen had his with chilequiles (dried tortillas soaked in black bean sauce).
Cari with basket of fresh eggs from her hens
Organic corn, dried on the cob, ready for planting
Behind Cari and Pedro’s home is a large tract of land that they will plant with corn, squash and beans — the traditional Zapotec milpas. The nutrients from the roots of each plant give just the right mix of fertilization needed for an outstanding crop.
This is planting season. The earth is rich and fertile. The farmers are in their fields, oxen yoked with ancient wood to plow the fields into deep furrows. Along wooden rod extends from the yoke to make the furrows. One can smell the history, the steamy loamy earth. In the distance, a curl of cloud embraces a mountain peak.
Everything that Cari serves is organic, include the incredible whole bean coffee she grinds that comes from Hidalgo. We had three cups and were definitely ready for the day. Breakfast lingered and the multi-course meal plus conversation took about three hours — a luxury where we live, part of life here. One reason that we love it so much in Oaxaca!
Restaurant Tierra Antigua, Av. Juarez #175, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Tel (951) 166-6160, email: zapotecweavers@hotmail.com
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