Dance of the Feather Grand Finale and Rain

I’m finally settled into Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, after a whirlwind two days in Mexico City and a six-hour bus ride south.  It’s raining here and has done so for days. Evenings are chilly enough for a blanket. The afternoon sky is filled with dramatic shades of gray cumulus clouds punctuated with intermittent sunlight. The river is flowing, the land is green, and the Dance of the Feather just ended, an annual village ritual celebrated since before the Spanish conquest and adapted with a new story line.  Rain or shine, the dance continues.

This year the Danzantes (the dancers), who were born in Teotitlan del Valle, but have lived in California since they were young, returned as a group to make their three-year commitment to honor their Zapotec heritage.

Read Meagan and Ben’s blog post about Dance of the Feather and their experiences at the public health clinic!

Ben Cook and Meagan Parsons, the two physician assistant students who are volunteering this month at the Teotitlan del Valle public health clinic, immersed themselves in the culture of the Dance of the Feather.  They wrote a post about it on their blog, Ben and Meagan’s Teotitlan del Valle adventures 2013, and included lots of photos to give you a sense of what it’s like to be here.

Plus, there’s some great pictures of the always alluring Sunday Tlacolula market, which they went to with Deborah Morris, MD, PA-C, their academic coordinator.

Today, Debbie and I got together in the courtyard, dodging drizzle and hiding from the sun, to make felted wool cloth which we cut and sewed into flower pins. We arrived at Las Granadas B&B in time for a simple dinner of quesadillas, brown rice, and black beans topped with Magdalena’s amazing smokey salsa de chile pasillo, just as the rain clouds opened up with a deluge at six thirty this evening. The lightening display was dramatic.  Thunder still roars.

Here’s a shot Debbie took of the rain coming over the mountains from the village of Benito Juarez.

One of the most popular Teotitlan del Valle rug patterns is called Mountains and Rain!  We know why.