Itzel Rodriguez Tolis Receives OCN Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center
Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC established a named scholarship at the Oaxaca Learning Center a few months ago to give back to the community we love and respect. The scholarship fund is supporting deserving students and mentors from indigenous communities who are either enrolled in or plan to enroll in university. Education is our driving force. […]
SALE. Shop Small. Shop Artisan Made.
shop.oaxacaculture.com is where you can find the perfect artisan made gift for family, friends, co-workers, and anyone who loves hand-made from Mexico. Perhaps you will find the perfect blouse or huipil for holiday dressing, a hostess gift for someone who has (almost) everything, or something to add pizzaz to your own home decor. Shop today […]
Day of the Dead Etiquette and Behavior: Teotitlan del Valle Cemetery
Last year, 2022, Day of the Dead in Teotitlan del Valle was a frenzy. Big tour buses and mini-vans each holding 24 to 36 passengers unloaded face-painted visitors in front of our cemetery. I had made a plan this year to go early and not stay very long, expecting the same thing — travelers looking […]
Giving Back: Oaxaca Learning Center Scholarship Funded by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC
We have just established a Friends of the Oaxaca Learning Center (FOLC) named scholarship fund that will support underserved Oaxaca students to further their university education. Our goal is to help encourage young people and advance their communities. We’ve been working on this over the past several months with FOLC board president Bob Anyon and […]
Yes, Let’s Celebrate. Cinco de Mayo Rooted in Civil War Anti-Racism!
Why is Cinco de Mayo celebrated and where is it celebrated most? Yes, it’s a great time for a Margarita or swig of Corona, but let’s know the reason we raise our cup on Cinco de Mayo. (Bonus: Shelley’s Margarita recipe below!) Facts: Cinco de Mayo, first celebrated on May 5, 1862, was the response […]
Margarita Time: What is Cinco de Mayo?
This Friday, May 5, 2023, marks the 161st anniversary of Cinco de Mayo. Why do we celebrate with a Margarita or Corona or Modelo Negro? More than party time, Cinco de Mayo is an important event in U.S. history, and not so much for Mexico. Read on to find out more. First of all, it’s […]
Earth Day: Homage in Photos
Here on the Rio Grande Gorge Mesa the wind is scouring the earth. Spring cleaning, I think. Perhaps nature’s attempt at renewal. The cycle of life. In Oaxaca, torrential rain, hail, remind us that the seasons are now topsy-turvy and we can no longer predict the patterns of nature. Many of us know we are […]
Who is the Virgin of Guadalupe, Patron Saint of Mexico
Monday, December 12, 2022 is the Feast Day to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, canonized in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII, revered. Most of us who live in Mexico know the story and many of us have been to the Basilica named in her honor in Mexico City, the most visited […]
Reflections: Oaxaca Day of the Dead 2022
The intensity of organizing three Day of the Dead programs — a culture tour, a writing workshop, a folk art tour– in Oaxaca this October and November gave me little time to adequately reflect upon and write about how Day of the Dead is spiritually satisfying, evolving and changing in Oaxaca. Now, back in Northern […]
Rare Opportunity, Day Trips, July 27 + July 29: San Pedro Cajonos and Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec
We are doing a cultural textile tour from July 25-31, 2022 where extraordinary garments are made by very talented weavers. This includes two days up into the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. We want to fill our van! So, we are offering one-day travel opportunities to Oaxaca residents, collectors and visitors. Join our travel group […]
Pre-Hispanic Oaxaca Cooking Class with Vicky Hernandez
High up the hill in the shadow of Oaxaca’s famed archeological site of Monte Alban is a humble comedor on a dirt side street down the hillside from a paved access road. Carefully make your way down a curved, steep stairway cut into the hill to find the simple kitchen of Cocina Pre-Hispanica con Fogon […]
Permanent Resident of Mexico: Green Card Equivalent
Today, after my third trip to Migracion in as many weeks, I picked up my official Residente Permanente card granted by the federal government of Mexico. I was surprised at myself: I couldn’t stop smiling. I’m thrilled, in fact, to now be an official part of this country I call home most of the year. […]
Best of Oaxaca’s Biodiversity at Ejido Union Zapata: Day of Plenty
Oaxaca celebrates indigenous food and handmade at the annual Agro-biodiversity Fair in Ejido Union Zapata. This once a year event is building traction. The main street of several blocks, cordoned off for booths and foot traffic, was packed by noon. The natural food color was beyond belief. Billed as a seed exchange, farmers came from […]
Biodiversity Fair in Union Zapata, Oaxaca, Saturday, November 24, Plus New Vegan Cafe
The Biodiversity Fair celebrates Oaxaca’s organic food. This includes not only the criollo (natural, unmodified, original) corn of the Oaxaca Valley. The fair encompasses all parts of Oaxaca State where farmers are using organic fertilizers and native seeds: peppers, squash, tomatoes, sunflowers, and more! There is no GMO here! Please come to support the small […]
Happy Thanksgiving From Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
I woke up early with the wind at my back, ready to get a jump on the Day of Giving Thanks. In Mexico we call it Dia de Accion de Gracias. It is a good day to take a walk and think about all the goodness of life. It was close to eight o’clock this morning […]
Documentary Film: Zapotec in Oaxaca, Mexico, Dizhsa Nabani, A Living Language
All ten, five-minute episodes of the documentary film, Dizhasa Nabani/Lengua Viva/Living Language, premiered last night in San Jeronimo Tlacachahuaya. This is an ancient and important village in the Tlacolula Valley, center of the Catholic diocese. The film is in Zapotec, with Spanish and English subtitles. Just wonderful! Yet, the risk of indigenous Zapotec language loss […]
Party Aside, Say No To Hate and Please VOTE Today
The polling place is across the street from me at the Durham School of the Arts. Last night the signs began to proliferate. At this moment, the wind is blowing strong from the southwest. Atop the flag pole, the Stars and Stripes unfurl, waving and below is the Old North State flag bearing dates that […]
Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead: Talking With the Ancestors
The altar is complete. Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead– 2018 has passed. The difuntos, spirits of the ancestors, have returned to their resting places content that we have welcomed them back to earth for the day to celebrate their lives. Some of us talk to our parents, ask their advice, admonish […]
Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — Is it Halloween?
Today is Halloween in El Norte, the northern part of North America aka USA. In southern North America aka Mexico, the celebration is very different. And, the border is more permeable so iconic images of carved pumpkins, witches on broomsticks, and the call of trick or treat are becoming part of the Mexican holiday landscape. Catholic […]
Photo Essay: Oaxaca Cochineal Dye Workshop in Durham, NC
Yesterday, my Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, godson Omar Chavez Santiago, from Galeria Fe y Lola, taught a cochineal natural dye workshop through INDIO Durham, hosted by owner Wendy Sease. We had a sold-out workshop. Most people don’t know that cochineal is the natural dye that colors lipstick, Campari, yogurt, and wine. Anything labeled carminic acid […]
On Becoming a Permanent Resident in Mexico
Last month I was invited to contribute a chapter to a book about ex-pat women from the USA who have chosen to make a life in Mexico. Tell your story, the editor said. Write about your experience. What was your reason for leaving our land of the free, home of the brave (my tongue and […]
Day of the Dead 2019 Women’s Writing Retreat: How Memory Inspires Us
Arrive Wednesday, October 30 and leave Monday, November 4, 2019. The retreat can accommodate up to 10 women. We gather for Day of the Dead 2019 in the traditional Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico to write with intention for five nights and four days. Day of the Dead inspires us to revisit our […]
Global Day of Clay, Video and National Ceramics School, San Marcos Tlapazola
My father was a potter so I have a special affinity for clay. My kitchen in Teotitlan del Valle holds an assortment of San Marcos Tlapazola barro rojo from for cooking. Shelves are stacked with elegant, simple red clay dishes and bowls from which to dine. I love this clay and the women who make […]
An Immigrant to Mexico, Not an Ex-Pat
This year, I will live in North Carolina for only a few weeks. I will be here to vote. That is mostly why I bought my apartment condo in Downtown Durham, though you could say I could vote absentee ballot. But to do that, you need a permanent address. A post office box will not […]
September 16: Viva Mexico, Independence Day from Spain
In villages and towns large and small, Independence Day is a big deal in Mexico. On September 16, 1810, the Grito, or Cry of Dolores was shouted by Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo in the Guanajuato town of Dolores (later renamed Dolores Hidalgo). On September 27, the revolutionaries, led by Augustin de Iturbide, marked into Mexico […]
Ringing the Bells: San Miguel Arcangel Church, San Miguel del Valle, Oaxaca
San Miguel del Valle, Oaxaca, calls to me. Perhaps because it is hidden — escondido — beyond Santa Ana del Valle and Diaz Ordaz, tucked into the fold of the foothills leading to the Sierra Juarez on the way to the eco-tourism center of Cuajilomoyas. There are dazzling, artful aprons there that talented women embroider […]
Introducing Zayzelle. Dress Simply. Made in Oaxaca. Designed in North Carolina.
Zayzelle. Dress Simply. One dress. One size fits most. Many fabrics, textures. Affordable fashion. Three years ago I cut a pattern and started sewing a simple dress that would take me through the day and into the evening here in Oaxaca, in North Carolina and wherever else I traveled. I chose linen and cotton. Pure […]
Podcast: Tixinda Dreamweavers Plus Our Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour
Listen to the WEAVE Podcast from Gist Yarn & Fiber Today, Sarah Resnick from Gist Yarn & Fiber, talks with Patrice Perillie, an immigration attorney based in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, and Mixtec weaver Amada Sanchez Cruz from Pinotepa de Don Luis. She also interviews Norma Schafer at the end of the segment. Patrice started the […]
Zaachila Zancudos: Dancing on Stilts is Cultural Heritage
The Stilt Dancers of Zaachila are called Zancudos because stilts are long and leggy like mosquito legs. Stilts are called zancos in Spanish. The Zancudos are very proprietary about this dance. They consider it part of their cultural identity and heritage. After I wrote the blog post about the Lila Downs concert during Guelaguetza season […]
Flouncy Aprons of San Miguel del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
Oh, gosh, how to resist these extraordinary aprons of San Miguel del Valle. The Zapotec community is nestled into a steep hillside 8 km up into the Sierra Juarez from the Tlacolula crossroads on the way to Cuajimoloyas. Remote but accessible by car. This is a small village of about 1,000 people many of whom […]