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 […]
Celebrating 50 Years of Marriage in Teotitlan del Valle: Felicidades Gloria y Porfirio
Family is more than important here in Teotitlan del Valle. Being and staying connected, committed to each other’s well-being, is a way of life. The social fiber of the village is based upon maintaining strong family ties and mutual support. That manifests by participating in ancient rituals and celebrations tied to life cycle events such […]
Tonina, Hidden Chiapas Archeology Gem: The Road Less Traveled
Few people make Tonina, the classic Maya archeological site just beyond Ocosingo, Chiapas, a travel destination. Instead, they choose to go between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Palenque directly, bypassing the most vertical site of the ancient Maya world. It’s another three hours by road to reach Palenque, which demands at least one overnight […]
The Journey Begins: San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Most of our Penland School of Crafts travelers continued on with me from Oaxaca to explore Chiapas. Our journey began at the ADO bus station where we boarded an overnight luxury bus called the Platino with twenty-five reclining seats, leaving at 8:30 p.m. and arriving in San Cristobal de Las Casas at 7:30 a.m. the […]
Stone Soup in El Tule, Oaxaca: Lunch and the Life of Bloqueos
I have been driving around for hours trying to get through the roadblocks that have closed the three major highways leading into the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Jacob and I set out from Teotitlan del Valle well in advance of our three-thirty lunch reservation to meet our friend Aline on the rooftop terrace restaurant at […]
Why Learning Spanish Makes You Smarter
Learning a second language like Spanish or any other language for that matter, makes the brain nimble! according to psychologists and language researchers. I liked this article published in The New York Times, March 18, 2012. Studies show that learning a foreign language as an adult will stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s. It’s like exercise for […]
Curandero Sergio Castro Preserves Chiapas Textile Traditions
Behind a tall wooden gate about six blocks from the Zocalo at #38 Guadalupe Victoria is the Museo de Trajes Regionales. The private collection of traditional indigenous dress is an inspiration of Sergio Castro Martinez, a former Chiapas state senator (2000-2003), engineer and lay healer. Señor Castro gives personal guided visits in French, English, Spanish […]
Juchitan, Oaxaca Endangered Language (Zapotec) and Poetry Project
This video is about helping to keep an ancient language — Zapotec — alive. This project is based in Juchitan, Oaxaca, in the Isthmus at the southernmost end of the state and is about preserving Isthmus-spoken Zapotec. It combines poetry, art, and film making. Thanks to reader Mary Ann Walsh for sending it our way! […]
Return to San Pablo: Oaxaca’s Indigenous Cultural and Academic Center
At Centro Academico y Cultural San Pablo we discover secrets, surprises and ancient stones. An 18th century rosary chapel with contemporary stained glass window designed by Francisco Toledo, the imposing green stone façade mingled with original 16th century adobe, and a gold-leaf altar are only a few of the architectural delights of San Pablo […]
Oaxaca Center Promotes Indigenous Language and Culture, Opens November 26, 2011
Tucked behind the tall green-tinged cantera stone wall at the corner of Av. Independencia and Fiallo is the newly renovated 16th century Dominican convent San Pablo de Indios. It is reinvented as Centro Academico y Cultural San Pablo. The renovation has been a painstaking six-year project funded by the Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation to […]
Liza Bakewell, MADRE: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun, Gets Oaxaca Welcome
http://wp.me/pRHvb-pB My friend and Oaxaca colleague Shannon Sheppard writes about her experience reading the book, her impressions, and connecting Liza with both the local and ex-pat community in Oaxaca. I think you will find her comments entertaining and informative. Click on the link above to read My mobile office is now two feet from Highland […]
Book Review — Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun by Liza Bakewell
Liza Bakewell takes us where we may never have thought to go: Down Mexico’s dusty back roads and cobblestone alleys, across neighborhood plazas lined with madre-derrogatory grafitti, through bustling markets, in a high speed car zig-zagging the wrong way down a one-way street, in provocative conversation with wise and deferential men, sequestered on the coast […]
Indigenous Languages Sustain Cultural Heritage: At Risk of Extinction
Zapotec, Mixtec, Huave, Nahuatl and the other 12 indigenous languages of Oaxaca have fewer and fewer native speakers. As young people want to become part of the “mainstream” Spanish-speaking culture they leave their mother language and their culture behind — often out of the strong desire to assimilate. And continuing education requires commitment, resources, and […]
Mexican Culture Lesson: The Long Drawn Out Telephone Goodbye from Lesley Tellez
This is so YES and true, and funny and perfectly mirrors life in Mexico where the subtleties of language are embedded in every response. Hidden meanings and messages are everywhere — a cultural norm — and as a Gringa in Mexico I stumble and fall constantly. Be sure to read the comments. They are wonderful! […]