Tag Archives: gifts

How To Repair Our World: Oaxaca Earthquake Donations and Magnitude of Need

Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2017 | 10 comments

Last night, when I returned to Durham, North Carolina, I opened my mailbox to find three checks totaling $700 USD for Oaxaca earthquake support. Most of these gifts were collected by Mary Randall, my Oaxaca friend who lives in Modesto, California. Others came because people contacted me directly asking if they could send a check instead of making a PayPal donation.

Oaxaca earthquake rubble, photo by Denise Lechner

Special Thank You to:

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County, Ca. where Mary’s call to action resulted in a collection of $300 USD!

And to these individual donors whose checks I received.

Mary and Sara Randall, Modesto
Christine Fiedler, Modesto
Mary James, Modesto
Richard Kowalczyk, Springfield, VA

And, thanks to so many of you who made your gifts directly via PayPal.

I’m expecting another gift from Mary in the mail. Her daughter Sara is an elementary school teacher. The Third Grade at Garrison Elementary School, Modesto, gathered $47 USD for earthquake relief. Mary says a neighbor kid’s grandma is buried in the rubble in Mexico City.

In line for aid, San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca, photo by Denise Lechner

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There was another 6.1 magnitude earthquake in southern Oaxaca yesterday. This was one of several yesterday in the same region of the 8.2 quake. USGS officials are saying these are aftershocks. I’m certain people are jumpy and suffering from PTSD, fearful for loved ones, not having the resources to rebuild.

Fissures, photo by Denise Lechner

There is a lot of need right now in our world. What we choose to repair is a personal decision. If you have extra resources for Oaxaca, here’s what you can do:

Mail a check to me, payable to Norma Schafer, 500 N. Duke Street, Apt. 55-307, Durham, NC 27701. I will send the funds on for direct aid to either the Toledo Foundation or to Denise Lechner. Please specify.
To Francisco Toledo Foundation Francisco Toledo’s Foundation IAGO (Instituto Artes Graficas de Oaxaca) https://www.paypal.me/donativoistmo (This link is no longer working. I’m trying to find out why.)
To anthropologist Denise Lechner who is working in the field https://www.paypal.me/deniselechner
To Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation as follows via wire transfer:

Special thanks to Mary Randall, a knowledgeable historian and resource about Oaxaca. Her talks at the Oaxaca Lending Library attract eager audiences whenever she is in residence.

Magnitude of Need is 10.0

Oaxaca got hit with another earthquake yesterday, a 6.1, and then there is Puebla, where major historic sites were damaged, and Mexico City, where people died buried in rubble from the 7.1 earthquake last week. Climate change and destruction are upon us. Where to start? It’s your choice! There is so much to do.

From on-the-ground-in-Oaxaca: I’ve been in Oaxaca city since early August. Experienced both of the big quakes, on 9/7 in the Isthmus and on 9/19 in Puebla state. We got a scary ride on the terremoto machine, but the city and surrounding areas, including the (north) Oaxaca coastal area, are fine. The massive old buildings here, built of huge blocks of solid rock, seem to do well with the earth shaking.

All around the city are pop-up centers for gathering donations of food, water, clothes, diapers, medical supplies, etc. that are going to Juchitan and smaller pueblos in the Isthmus, where the devastation has touched everybody. And Norma has already published the ways we can donate funds that will be matched and will be assured of getting to the people in need. We can help too with our purchasing dollars.

–Winn Kalmon

Note: There is some controversy about how aid is being distributed, especially through NGOs that have ties to the government with reports that funds are being diverted to political use.

Dr. Anja Widman, administering aid, photo by Denise Lechner

I assure you that my friend, anthropologist Denise Lechner and Dr. Anja Widman, who is working with her, have taken a Mobile Clinic and donated goods to provide care services and supplies to people in communities that need them most on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and neighboring mountain villages.

Isthmus of Tehuantepec is hardest hit, Matias Romero took latest hit

If you made or make a gift directly to Denise Lechner, the Toledo Foundation or Helu Foundation, please let me know. I would like to recognize you and give you public thanks. I am not sure how donors will be acknowledged by these organizations. They are too busy giving aid. With appreciation, Norma

10 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Mexico

Tagged aid, contributions, Denise Lechner, donations, earthquake, gifts, Mexico, Oaxaca, relief fund, secure, support

Oaxaca Earthquake Damage Extensive: Urgent Support Needed

Posted on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 | 19 comments

I’m putting out another donation call to help the Oaxaca earthquake victims. The situation is dire along Oaxaca’s southern coast and particularly in the city of Juchitan de Zaragoza.

click here to watch BBC video of earthquake devastation

There are two ways to donate that I know your gifts will go directly to the people in need. They are trusted to know where the funds can be used.

To Francisco Toledo Foundation Francisco Toledo’s Foundation IAGO (Instituto Artes Graficas de Oaxaca) https://www.paypal.me/donativoistmo
To anthropologist Denise Lechner who is working in the field https://www.paypal.me/deniselechner

Francisco Toledo is a renown Oaxaca artist-activist who was born and raised in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, that suffered the most severed earthquake damage.

Denise Lechner is a personal friend who has worked with artisan communities along the coast of Oaxaca for years. Go to her Facebook page to see photos of the affected areas.

Report From Barbara Cleaver, Hotel Santa Fe, Puerto Escondido

Our hotel in Puerto has been one of the gathering places for donations: Denise Lechner has been on top of encouraging donations, and then driving them to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

We too have donated, both in money and in supplies, and will do more.
So much damage! In Tehuantepec, Chiapa de Corzo, up in Mixe country….but Juchitan de Zaragoza is a disaster zone.

I encourage everyone that can give anything, to do so. Please.
Thank you.

Friends, if everyone who reads this sends something ( 5$/ 20$/ more if you can afford it), it would make a huge difference.

Some places have even lost access to water, as wells have collapsed or been buried by rubble. This is the largest earthquake to hit Mexico in 100 years…please help if you possibly can.

The news of the extent of the damage of this earthquake is overshadowed by the drama of the terrible hurricanes … but Mexico needs help.

Something on the order of 1,000 houses have been damaged in Juchitan, along with public buildings.

Bad damage ( and slow help ), with many houses down, in San Mateo del Mar (an important weaving village on the coast — near Laguna Superior on the map). I have not yet heard from San Francisco del Mar.

Houses rendered uninhabitable in Tehuantepec; I don’t know how many because it is still hard to get through to anyone, but we were able to talk to one friend. Her wonderful old house is probably beyond repair and she says others, too.

Power out/ many ( but not all) phones out.

Chiapa de Corzo, the wonderful old fountain from the 1500’s, and some houses; again, I don’t know how much.

So many places!

The more I hear, the worse it gets…

We sent supplies with Denise and now we are going to send money so she can buy what she sees is needed.

You can tell your people to have full confidence in Denise..I certainly do.

Hijole…

It was a huge long quake, and there have been so many aftershocks, off Chiapas and off Salina Cruz.

Thank you for putting the information out there, Norma!

19 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary

Tagged donation, earthquake, gifts, Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Juchitan, Mexico, Oaxaca, support

Chicken at the Tlacolula Market: The Gift

Posted on Sunday, March 6, 2016 | 2 comments

A group of 12 women are immersed this week in our sixth annual Oaxaca Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat. All except two have never been here before. Two came all the way from Melbourne, Australia.

Chicken on the spit, seasoned with local chili salt and delicious!

Going to the Tlacolula market is a highlight for any visitor, especially for those who have a gift list. And, we are writers, so before boarding the Teotitlan del Valle bus and entering the frenzy of market day, Professor Robin Greene, our instructor, gave us a prompt to tie the often dizzying experience to the written word:

What does it mean when we give or receive a gift from someone?
What do we remember about childhood gifts?
What associations do gifts bring up for us?
How was a gift received and by whom?
Is giving a gift about asking for forgiveness? For showing love?
For expecting something in return? A transaction?
Who deserves what type of gift and why?
When we buy something for ourselves instead of someone else, what comes up?
Is a purchase associated with a relationship between the person who sold it and why?

A new artisanal mezcal, Tzompantli, from Miahuitlan

At the Tlacolula market, there are the obvious gifts: bottles of artisanal mezcal from Miahuatlan, colorful embroidered blouses from Mitla, hand-woven tablecloths and napkins, brightly painted gourds from Guerrero, hand-hewn wooden trucks for little boys, flouncy dresses with lace trim for little girls, a new apron for grandmother.

These did not turn my head.

I saw a lot of chicken today. I don’t know why I focused on chicken. Barbecue chicken. The women selling cooked and raw chicken. Whole chickens and parts.

There was chicken roasting on the grill. Chicken turning on the spit. The people sitting at long tables eating chicken. The chicken legs and thighs at Comedor Mary that could be topped with mole negro or mole rojo.

Chicken at Comedor Mary ready for mole negro

I ate chicken for lunch at Comedor Mary although there were many other things to choose from. Took the meat off the bone. Looked at the bone and the meat and thought about my grandmother from Eastern Europe. She killed what she cooked and then ate it.

Rosticeria, where roasted chicken is prepared.

Rosticeria, (roas-tich-air-ee-ah) where roasted chicken is prepared.

Most people here do that. Have a reverence for raising the animals, then slaughtering them for food. Would they say a prayer like my grandmother did? Do they imagine the food as a form of gift? Protein is still scare here for those who don’t make more than 150 pesos a day. That’s about $9 USD.

A chicken on Sunday is a gift. I thought so.

Portable outdoor butcher shop

2 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Food & Recipes, Workshops and Retreats

Tagged creative writing, gifts, market, Mexico, Oaxaca, prompts, Tlacolula, Women

Tlacolula Market Christmas Preview: Oaxaca Glitters

Posted on Monday, December 21, 2015 | 6 comments

I grew up in Tinseltown. My memory is imprinted with pink, blue and white flocked Christmas trees for sale on pop-up corner lots along Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Glitter was not only reserved for Hollywood. Garlands of sparkling silver ropes and plastic poinsettias could make any California dream of snowmen come true even in sunny December.

Checking email, texting or whatever — Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico

Little did we know that poinsettias, called nochebuena here, are native to Mexico, bloom in November and December, have become the North American symbol for Christmas. They are all over town.

Welcome to Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico, where traditional Mexican Christmas decorations of moss and bromeliads mingle with shiny stars, dangling bulbs, plastic farm animals and colored Christmas trees — a cross-cultural holiday morphing that points to the immigration back and forth across the border (sorry, Donald Trump). And it’s sunny here, too. Sometimes downright hot in December.

Everything you’d ever need to decorate for Christmas

Evoking Frida Kahlo: Making Memory Altars and Shrines, February 25-28, 2016

So many of Mexican parentage are United States of American citizens and they come home to visit family this season. We can debate the impact of change and commercialism on the culture of indigenous Mexico and what the word authentic means. People come back together after being separated and that in itself is good news.

Bromeliads from the Sierra Juarez, traditional decorations

(Don’t forget, Donald Trump, that Mexicans have lived in the United States for over 400 years, and that the southwest was stolen from Mexico in a trumped up war to gain territory.)

Poinsettias that are planted in tierra firma bloom here every holiday season — a natural part of the environment. So, there’s no excuse for fake here, although I see plenty of imported from China nochebuena flowers sticking out of vases on restaurant tabletops.

A 30-lb. turkey (or more) at 1,300 MXN pesos, led on a string

Those who can afford it will have turkey — pavo, guajolote — on their Christmas table. This will usually be dressed with mole negro or mole amarillo, depending on family tradition. There were plenty of live turkeys for sale on this Tlacolula market day, the last one before Christmas. The ladies were vying for customers.

The poultry sellers market, Tlacolula, Oaxaca

I could hardly get through the crowds, even at my usual 10:30 a.m. arrival time when typically there are fewer people. The crowds don’t usually come until after noon. But, the aisles were jammed with vendors, either stationary at tables or sitting on mats, or trying to move rolling carts from one spot to another.

Couple this with families out shopping for Christmas gifts and visitors from the city and you can imagine the skill required to negotiate the camino without tripping over someone or getting stepped on.

Fancy day-glow tennis shoes, a perfect Christmas gift

What I noticed most were a different variety of displays this time of year destined to become gifts: day-glow socks, lacy underwear, art work, fleecy hats, piles of oranges, embroidered little girl dresses and fancy tennis shoes.

Mamay fruit also known as Zapote Chico

Wall decor for holiday giving, some original, some reproductions

Plus, lots of fireworks for sale. Pyrotechnics are a big deal here and kids love shooting off firecrackers and spinners. Are they regulated? Heck, no.

Waiting in line for remittances, Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico

The line out in front of the money exchange was a block long all day long. People were waiting to collect the remittance dollar being sent from the U.S.A. by family members who are there working for the benefit of those at home. Since the exchange rate is now over 17 MXN pesos to the dollar, this is a Christmas bonus for many in the Tlacolula Valley.

Notice the Michigan Black Beans sign above. Wonder who picked them?

Tourists love it, too. This is an especially good time to go shopping in Mexico. I noticed the market had more than its share of gringo travelers. Let’s hope they left with some treasures and left their pesos behind.

Oil paintings and watercolors for sale on Tlacolula street, kitsch folk art

Piñatas for Christmas? Yes, it’s someone’s birthday!

I am waiting for my family to arrive this week for holiday celebrations. We are going on a Collectivo 1050 Degrados tour to Atzompa tomorrow, a mezcal tour next week, maybe a visit to Hierve el Agua and a stop in Mitla on the way back. It’ll be busy, but I’ll try to keep up with Oaxaca comings and goings.

Packed parking lot — first time in my memory here.

6 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Mexican Immigration, Mexico, Photography, Travel & Tourism

Tagged Christmas, decorations, gifts, guajolote, labor, market, Mexico, nochebuena, Oaxaca, poinsettia, remittances, Sunday, Tlacolula, turkey

Too Much Fun and Where to Eat in the Boqueria Market, Barcelona, Spain

Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 | 8 comments

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria in Barcelona, Spain, is a food and wine lover’s paradise. It is one of the best tourist attractions in the city. Here, your eyes can be bigger than your stomach. So, watch out! Most dishes are huge enough to share by two people.

Remember you can always order more. Unless you take a grazing route through the market nibbling on cheese, red wine, raw oysters, crusty bread, Spanish ham, olives and the most divine desserts I’ve ever seen.

On our first full day in Barcelona, we roamed the market in search of El Quim tapas bar (recommended by friends) and never found it until after lunch.

The allure of plates of fresh cooked shellfish was too compelling to dismiss. We scouted the restaurants to determine which one was the most packed with locals and settled on El Cochinillo Loco (The Crazy Pig), which we walked by thrice before deciding.

The fresh shrimp, langostinos, clams, oysters, mussels, octopus, squid, sea bass and other unidentifiable frutos del mar were piled high and our eyes got bigger just looking. So, we waited for two seats to open up and sat between two local couples immersed in platter sharing. It was 2:00 p.m. By 4:00 p.m. we had finished our sangrias, had too many leftovers, and become best friends with our lunch neighbors. We were happy to divide the remains with them since we couldn’t carry out to our hotel!

Then, one couple ordered a bottle of Spanish cava (sparkling wine) while the other bought a basket of fresh organic strawberries. The strawberries landed in the sparkling wine. Of course! I have many more photos of all of us hugging, laughing and giggling, too many to publish here.

I can’t imagine a better way to get a cultural immersion and practice Spanish than to share lunch and a bottle of wine with Ines Natera, who works at the Universidad Politecnica Catalunya and her husband.

Then, my sister reminded me we had a dinner reservation three hours later at the Michelin 1-star restaurant Alkimia. How were we ever going to get our appetite back? Since dinner doesn’t really start until 9:00 p.m. we were hopeful.

So we said goodbye to our friends and set out for a market walkabout. By now, our eyes could not deceive us and it was easy to pass by the chocolate covered berries, the nougat, the dark chocolate coated orange rinds, and the custard tarts… (well, not really)

the freshest fruit, bottles of sweet red vermouth, mounds of crustaceans, farm vegetables, sardines, anchovies, and every imaginable food gift perfect for a special friend (or yourself).

To walk it off, we took a circuitous route back to our hotel through the medieval old quarter of Barcelona bordering La Rambla, and then into the narrow streets where locals were celebrating Sant Jordi Day with gifts of flower bouquets for sweethearts and books for beaus.

We didn’t take home the emu eggs or crustaceans or pintxos or tapas. We did bring home Catalunya olives, vermouth, Iberian ham, super ripe stinky goat cheese, and lots of chocolate.

And, what did we do on our last day in Barcelona. Stock up with a final visit to the Boqueria market, of course, followed by a run through the basement food section of El Cortes de Ingles at Placa Catalunya. Can you tell? I’m in love with Spain (second to Mexico, of course).

Boqueria Market Eateries

El Quim (Located mid-section of the market on one of the center aisles. It’s a very small bar. You could miss it. Great tapas.)
Bar Central. There are two locations in the market. I like the one with long bar in the back.
El Cochinillo Loco, Portico Sant Josep 6-8, Tel. 93 119 19 54

Footnote: Since returning to Oaxaca earlier this week, I haven’t done much except sleep, eat, visit with a few friends and venture out for a few afternoons in search of wifi service. I have none at the casita, so my communication is limited. I’m sitting in the wonderful fresh breeze at Tierra Antigua Restaurante in Teotitlan del Valle, with a delicious lunch and internet. Hallelujah. In celebration of small wonders.