International Priests Visit Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

The firecrackers call in early afternoon to announce that something spectacular was about to happen in the village later that day. It’s filled with surprises here. My neighbor Ernestina comes over in the morning to offer me 20 fresh, creamy chicken and mole amarillo tamales for 100 pesos.

Then, later tamales are served for lunch at the guest house where the felt fashion workshop participants assemble. It is not yet Dia de la Candelaria, when everyone eats tamales. What is going on? I wonder.

At six-thirty, the young men atop the bell tower ring the church bells. Rosario and Josefina say goodbye. Where are you going? A la iglesia. To the church, they say. There’s a fiesta to welcome 30 visiting priests from Columbia, China, Nueva York (New York), California and India. I follow the sound of the bells to the church courtyard.

Nearly the entire village gathers. I arrive just in time to be offered a fresh, steaming hot tamale, to see the children dressed in Dance of the Feather plumage dancing the re-enactment of the conquest, to hear the band play, and to see banquet tables filled with men who sip hot chocolate and eat tamales, served by traditionally dressed village women.

I hear that more than a thousand tamales are made that day by the women chosen to the traditional, pre-Hispance Jarabe del Valle dance. They are part of the church committee that supports the village festivals.

A master’s of ceremonies talks about cultural exchange, the many Zapotecs from this village who live and work and practice their traditions in towns throughout southern California, and how these priests help people to adapt, acclimate and stay connected to their roots. The Spanish is sprinkled with a little English to make the visitors more welcome.

Then, the women, holding branches of fragrant herbs welcome the guests to join them for the Jarabe del Valle. The men, towering above them, move their feet to the rhythm of the dance and catch on quickly.