I am going to posit a guess that Malia Obama was in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca today with her classmates. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and Pedro Montaño Lorenzo and I were on our way out-of-town heading to Matatlan in search of El Cortijo mezcal. Pedro had just asked me if I thought Malia would visit Teotitlan. It wasn’t on her itinerary, I said. No, I don’t think so. Just then, we passed a house where I saw a lot of activity — much more than usual.
It had to have been the U.S. Secret Service entourage I saw parked in front the house of weavers Victor and Rafaela today. Why else would there be thirty vehicles in front of a small weaving house? Why else would there be Mexican Federal Police cars parked beside them? Why else would there be a truckload of armed military men of the Army of Mexico parked at the Crucero — where the road to Teotitlan connects to the Pan-American Highway? There were probably four or five Federales cars roaming the road, too. And, I couldn’t take a photo or I might have been thrown in jail! And, I wanted to turn around and go back to say, “Hi, welcome to Oaxaca.” But, I knew they wouldn’t take to kindly on that!
I turned my head to look at the doorway of the house, which was packed with people. Yep, I thought. Malia Obama made it to Teotitlan del Valle. She will know about the centuries old tradition of tapestry loom weaving that makes this village so special.
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