Search by Topic
Stay Connected!
LIKE Us on Facebook!
Social Media Connections
-
Connect: email, text or WhatsApp +1-919-274-6194, FB Messenger, IG
-
Why Travel With Us: Help sustain regenerative traditions.
-
- 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.
-
We organize private travel + tours for museums, arts, organizations, collectors + appreciators.
-
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.
-
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.
-
OCN Creates Student Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center Giving back is a core value. Read about it here
-
Meet Makers. Make a Difference
-
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.
-
Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
-
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.
-
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
-
Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
PRESS
- WEAVE Podcast: Oaxaca Coast Textiles & Tour
- NY Times, Weavers Embrace Natural Dye Alternatives
- NY Times, Open Thread–Style News
- NY Times, 36-Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico
Our Favorites
- Cooking Classes–El Sabor Zapoteco
- Currency Converter
- Fe y Lola Rugs by Chavez Santiago Family
- Friends of Oaxaca Folk Art
- Hoofing It In Oaxaca Hikes
- Living Textiles of Mexico
- Mexican Indigenous Textiles Project
- Museo Textil de Oaxaca
- Oaxaca Lending Library
- Oaxaca Weather
- Taller Teñido a Mano Natural Dyes
Foodie Heaven: Oaxaca, Mexico
Falling in love with Oaxaca centers on food consumption, food ingredients, the visual, sensory excitement of food in its raw or cooked state, the preparation that goes into it, and of course the taste once a fork-full hits your salivary glands and begins its magic. From the street to the finest restaurants, food culture reigns in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Here are a few of my favorite food images from the past week.
From Casa Oaxaca, we have Squash Blossom Soup with the local herb chipil, quesillo stuffed squash blossoms, and a blue corn tortilla drizzled with garlic oil, topped with queso fresco accompanied with fresh made salsa with red tomatoes and tomatillos.
Street vendors can be mobile carts on bicycles. They sell everything from fresh fruit cups to aguas (fruit drinks like horchata and agua de sandia — watermelon juice), empañadas and quesadillas.
An agua de sandia!
The food a La Zandunga continues to be delicious. They moved from their corner location that used to be cater corner to La Biznaga and are right next door on Calle Garcia Virgil one block from Santo Domingo Church. The mashed potatoes with either the stewed pork (left) or the roasted chicken is amazing. You can’t go wrong with either. The space is up-tempo, Mexican-contempo with many more tables to accommodate the crowds since the New York Times travel section featured them in 36 Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico written by Freda Moon.
The daily special at Terra Nova on the Zocalo was a big plate of mixed fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, mango), cottage cheese, and pineapple jello (they call this gelatina, which has 90% less sugar than our U.S. version, making it absolutely tasty.)
Below, this street vendor on a bicycle sells steamed tamales. Occasionally, his wheel will come loose, and he’ll need to stop to fix it, which is how I was able to take this photo. See Taste Oaxaca: Shop, Cook, Eat coming up in winter 2013.
Like this: