Day of the Dead 2021, Teotitlan del Valle Cemetery: Cultural Sensitivity
External influences on Day of the Dead cultural practices
All Soul’s Day, Dia de los Muertos, Oaxaca 2021
Today is the day, November 2, that the souls of the departed visit their loved ones here on earth. Our Oaxaca Day of the Dead Culture Tour is immersed in the traditions of the small weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle. We have also spent time in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, the Zapotec City […]
Rosario’s Bolsas: Embroidered Oaxaca Shoulder Bags
Rosario is my Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, friend who is an excellent embroiderer. I asked her to make more shoulder bags to send to me to offer to you. The dimensions are similar for all of them: The bag is 8″x10″ (Because they are handmade, there is some variance.) The shoulder strap is 43″ long. […]
YES! Back to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead 2021
Whew. I just bought my plane ticket to return to Oaxaca, after last leaving in March 2020. That’s 17 months ago! So much has happened since then. To many of us, I’m sure. For me, it’s been a crazy year-and-a-half. I decided to sell my historic tobacco warehouse condo in downtown Durham, North Carolina, in […]
Three Steps Closer to Oaxaca
I now have a signed contract for the sale of my Durham, NC, condo after two months on the market. Patience is a test in so many ways. We have struggled, endured, survived this last year when many haven’t. I remind myself daily that this is a blessing and carry on. Now I can begin […]
Juvenal’s Funeral: Saying Goodbye in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Juvenal Gutierrez Alavez died from Covid on January 31, 2021 in Southern California. He was a healthy man in his mid-50’s and left behind his wife Norma, daughters Nancy and Lizet, and son Lionel. Nancy just had a healthy baby boy this week. Life continues. Juvenal’s body was returned to Teotitlan del Valle on Friday, […]
Help Bring Juvenal Home to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
My friend Juvenal Gutierrez Alavez died from Covid-19 last week alone in a San Diego hospital. He was in his mid-50’s. A young man by my count. Oh, to be in my mid-50’s, full of life with years ahead of me. But, for Juvenal, this was not to be. His wife Norma and teenage children […]
Deck Your Halls with Oaxaca Rugs: Shop Open
We got this shipment of hand-woven Oaxaca rugs just in time for the holidays. Even if you are celebrating small (and we hope you are), these floor coverings (or display them as wall hangings) are a great decor enhancer for a fresh, new look. Made in Oaxaca, Mexico, by Taller Teñido a Mano on a […]
Mask-eR-Aid and More for Oaxaca
Lots to report since the last time I wrote about The Oaxaca Mask Project. The recent 7.5 earthquake in Oaxaca eclipsed news about Covid-19 last week. Fortunately, in the city and surrounding villages, damage was light. The quake was centered near Huatulco along the Pacific Coast, where indeed, some villages suffered. This week, the Welch-Allyn […]
Words of Gratitude for Masks: Oaxaca Mask Project
Cristy Molina Martinez is my eyes, ears, hands and feet on the ground in Oaxaca. She is a teacher who lives in Teotitlan del Valle. She has been working to make and distribute masks throughout the Tlacolula Valley for the past two months. She writes me almost daily with updates. We are making and distributing […]
Donors Help Send Medical Supplies to Oaxaca Health Clinic
We branched out from masking making and distribution last week by raising funds from four donors to buy a Welch-Allyn vital signs monitor for the Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, health clinic. Village volunteer officials contacted me with this special need. I reached out to readers and received immediate response from Kate Rayner, Toronto, Canada; Claudia […]
Generosity Knows No Boundaries: Oaxaca Mask Project II
We put out the call on Monday, May 25, that we were starting Phase II of the Oaxaca Mask Project. On Tuesday, May 26, an article in Mexico News Daily featuring the project appeared, written by journalist Janet Blaser. Oaxaca blogger Shannon Pixley Sheppard, View From Casita Colibri, reposted our Monday cry for help. You […]
The Oaxaca Mask Project Report #6: The Final Push
This is our final push for now to make and distribute masks in Oaxaca and surrounding villages. We need your help. Will you make a donation today to give us the means to get 300-500 more masks made this week? To do this, we want to raise $1,250 more. To date, we have made and […]
The Oaxaca Mask Project Progress Report #4: Getting Masks to Villages
Thanks to the 58 donors of The Oaxaca Mask Project, we are making and distributing masks beyond Oaxaca city, getting them into villages. Seamstresses we are working with have made or are in process of making 1550 masks. We have received $3,636 to date and all of these funds will be spent by Thursday this […]
The Oaxaca Mask Project: Progress Report #2–Thanks to Donors
Good News! We have 600 masks ordered. 200 will be delivered by the end of this week and ready to be distributed. 400 masks are being sewn now and we hope to get them into people’s hands by the end of next week. Ojala! We have four mask-makers in Teotitlan del Valle, one in Oaxaca […]
#QuidateEnCasa: In Oaxaca, Stay Home Order Cancels Good Friday
Stay Safe at Home. Today, on Good Friday, I immediately think of the 1964 Simon & Garfunkel song, The Sounds of Silence, knowing that the traditional Semana Santa celebrations in Oaxaca and my town, Teotitlan del Valle, have been cancelled. For religion to be cancelled in Mexico, this is a very serious time! On April […]
Oaxaca Speaks: COVID-19 Report #5, Samuel Bautista Lazo, Teotitlan del Valle
I asked Samuel Bautista Lazo to write me about life in Teotitlan del Valle, during the corona virus outbreak. It is the famous rug-weaving village about 40 minutes outside the city close to Tlacolula. I’m especially concerned for the people in the village where I live most of the year. Samuel earned the PhD in […]
In Teotitlan del Valle, Hidden Treasures: Adrian Montaño
My North Carolina friends just left the village after spending a week with me celebrating a belated birthday. It was a bash! Mucho mezcal. Mucha fiesta. Mucha comida. Lots of travel to villages to visit favorite artisans. We spent a morning with antiquarian Adrian Montaño in Teotitlan del Valle. I met Adrian a couple of […]
Wedding Fiesta: Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Mucha Fiesta! I knew it would be BIG when two giant tents went up three days ago beyond the tall concrete walls that separate my neighbors from me. I steeled myself for a really BIG party. I even thought I should high tail it to the city for the night to escape the sound of […]
Happy New Year 2020 from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Las Cuevitas
In the hills beyond the Oaxaca village of Teotitlan del Valle, there is a sacred Zapotec site. It is said a virgin appeared and whomever comes to the ancient Zapotec grottos to offer tribute and make wishes will be blessed for the coming year. Las Cuevitas means little caves. Beginning on December 31, people of […]
Las Mananitas Happy Birthday 2020: Feliz Ano Nuevo
We gathered yesterday to bid 2019 goodbye and welcome 2020. My sister and brother are visiting and they treated us to an impromptu, unrehearsed New Year birthday song. From Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, we wish you a New Year filled with joy, satisfaction and contentment, good health, and prosperity. We know that not all of […]
La Reina de Mexico: Celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe
I’ve been corrected. The Virgin of Guadalupe is not a saint. She is Our Lady of Guadalupe, giver of miracles. In reality, she is the quintessential symbol of Mexican syncretism, combining indigenous roots/beliefs with Spanish Catholicism. In reality, she is more indigenous than Catholic receiving much more attention than the Virgin Mary or Jesus. As […]
Lupita’s Quinceanera in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Culture and Tradition
You might call it a coming out party or a debut to society if you lived in the United States of America thirty years ago. Some of my southern women friends participated in debutante balls just before women’s liberation took hold. For me, growing up in the wild west San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, […]
Sitting With the Ancestors: Day of the Dead, Teotitlan del Valle Cemetery
Not only do I organize the Day of the Dead Women’s Creative Writing Retreat, I am a participant. This means I take Natalie Goldberg’s advice for Writing Down the Bones seriously. I sit with my thoughts and emotions, dig in, write. We are based in Teotitlan del Valle, where I live many months each year […]
Finding Meaning: Day of the Dead Inspiration for Women’s Writing Workshop
We gathered in Teotitlan del Valle on October 30 for the Women’s Creative Writing Retreat to find meaning, reflect on life and death through the written word. Some of us were mourning recent losses: husbands, mothers, fathers, and yes, even self. There are those other kinds of losses as we age, lose memory, become infirm, […]
Day of the Dead Preparations in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Life in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, centers around life cycle events. Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — brings us together at the village market to prepare our altars to welcome the difuntos — the spirits of our loved ones who return to earth to visit us each year. This could be […]
One-Day Tlacolula Valley Folk Art Study Tour
We are your portal to Oaxaca! This one-day customized study tour takes you beyond Oaxaca City and into the villages along the Tlacolula highway to San Pablo Villa de Mitla. We schedule this excursion based on your travel plans and our availability. It is a menu-based, mixed-media approach to discovering the best artisans that the […]
Oaxaca Journal: Traveling with Oliver Sacks
This is a book review, of sorts. Perhaps it’s my own journal of movement and re-discovery both internal and external. The Time Machine of air travel took me from Oaxaca to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Huntington Beach, California, now to land in Durham, North Carolina. I also call North Carolina home though I spend […]
Taking Big Leaps–Dance of the Feather, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Wednesday, July 10, 2019–This group of new dancers start their three-year commitment to church, community and family this year. The most touching moment for me was to be in the home of the Moctezuma, the lead character in the Danza de la Pluma just before they set out to the church plaza to dance for […]
Parade of the Canastas and Dance of the Feather, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Opening ceremonies for the Dance of the Feather in Teotitlan del Valle always begin with a 5:00 PM Monday convite starting in the plaza courtyard. Convite translates into banquet, invitation, feast. Here, it is a procession that by my definition is a Feast For the Eyes. Today, Tuesday, July 9, Los Danzantes de la Pluma […]