Back to the Oaxaca Villages: Teotitlan del Valle and Mitla
My friend Chris returned to Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Guadalajara, yesterday morning, so it’s been a day of quietude, plus packing to get ready to leave for the Oaxaca Coast early Saturday morning. We have a 14-person tour going to discover handmade textiles on the Costa Chica. My family wonders when I rest. In bits and […]
Voladores Fly in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico. So Do Bees!
Everything leading up to October 3 in Cuetzalan del Progreso is a preview for what’s to come. This is the day each year that the Voladores fly: Danza de Voladores. There is a huge carnival in the church courtyard and troupes of costumed, masked revelers come in from the villages to dance, sing and raise […]
Rosa and Abraham Get Married: Wedding Ceremony in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Chapter II: The Wedding Ceremony, Saturday Afternoon, August 1, 2015 Almost every seat was filled and people were standing in the back of the small, simple Iglesia de Dios in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, waiting for the wedding of Rosa and Abraham to begin. They were waiting for Rosa to appear on the […]
San Juan Chamula, Chiapas: No Photographs, Please
It’s impossible to take a photograph inside the once-Catholic church of San Juan Chamula. It is a Sunday haven of pre-Hispanic mysticism, with folk practices that go way back in indigenous history. Tourists are warned to tread lightly. My body aches to take a photograph of the family crouched on pine needles in front of […]
A Visit to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: More Than Rug Shopping
So many visitors come to Teotitlan del Valle, brought by tour guides to go rug shopping, but never know the other treasures that the village has to offer. In and out of rug galleries on the main road, off they go to the next destination without ever coming into the center of town. I recommend […]
Uriel and Rosalia’s Zapotec Wedding, Oaxaca, Mexico
The church wedding is an important part of Zapotec community life. Often, a couple will have a civil marriage ceremony and begin their family as Rosalia and Uriel did three years ago. Their dream will be to save enough to hold a religious service that recognizes their marriage in the eyes of God. Their young children […]
Modest Organ with Big Sound: San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca
San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca is an agricultural town. Farmers grow organic crops throughout the seasons: corn, squash, runner beans, garlic, garbanzos, flowers, and alfalfa. Mostly, Tlacochahuaya is renowned for its 1678 Baroque organ housed on the balcony above the 16th century gilded Dominican church sanctuary. It is a historic treasure. It is eleven o’clock Sunday […]