Martha, Marianne, and Judy arrive from the city for dinner on December 23 and then we gather at the house of the eighth posada. Earlier, I go to the local morning market and find a fish vendor from the coast. We eat organic and fresh talapia, squash, potatoes, carrots, onions seasoned with kumquats, candied ginger, carrots, prunes, dates, and raisins all cooked together in the tagine. Later, I use the head and bones for stock.
The posadas continue through December 24, when baby Jesus appears on Christmas Eve at La Ultima Posada, the last posada, which is the grandest and most magnificent of all.
On the street we meet a young woman and her mother who are originally from Teotitlan del Valle, and now live in Chicago. She tells us she and her family put their name on the list to host La Ultima Posada ten years ago. They will welcome baby Jesus in 2014. The cost to host is about $50,000 USD, which includes a magnificent array of food for three days — enough to serve hundreds, two bands, drinks and refreshments, candles, lanterns, decorations. She explains to us that it is an honor and a commitment to community and God to be able to do this. They meet with the church committee twice during the year to review details that will ensure a traditional celebration. Service and community cohesiveness is essential for Zapotec life. They have lived in this valley for 8,000 years.
On December 24, I make a last minute run to the village market once more to discover it packed with shoppers and sellers at eight-thirty in the morning. This is likely the biggest market of the year! Every one presses up to buy fresh moss and flowers from the Sierra Norte to make the creche that will bring baby Jesus to their home, too.
There is fresh pineapple, bananas, papaya, mandarin oranges, apples, and spiced guayaba (guava). Lilies, roses, and flowering cactus lay on tables ready for plucking. Live chickens and turkeys, feet secure to keep them from flying away, lay subdued, waiting.
Children hide under their mother’s aprons or eat fresh morning bread or sip a horchata. Who can resist the blue corn tortillas? Not me.
Piñatas are an integral part of the baby Jesus birthday celebration. The market is filled with them on December 24. Children adore the rain of candy. Me, I adore the perfectly ripe avocados, organic lettuces and eggs.
I bump into Janet and Jan, expats from France and Holland who winter here. They eat breakfast at the stand set up in the middle of the market, quesdadillas fresh off the griddle.
Later, I join my family for the traditional dinner at eight. Elsa brings homemade bacalhau, there is organic salad, roasted pork leg infused with bacon, garlic and prunes, pinto beans, with plenty of beer, mezcal and wine. Dessert? Why tiramisu cake from Quemen bakery, of course!
Omar entertains Christian. Lupita entertains Christian. The children kick the soccer ball and jump on the piles of wool waiting for the loom. We sip spiced ponche (hot fruit punch) made with guayaba fruit sweetened with sugar cane. Some will go to the church for midnight mass. Others will go on to aanother supper at midnight.
Christmas day presents another dinner feast on Roberta’s terrace, this time a potluck with organic lettuces, Annie’s garden arugula, enchiladas with green salsa, roasted chicken, red wine, fruit salad and Susanna Trilling‘s Mexican Chocolate Bread Pudding that Jan prepares. The patio is filled with flowering cactus and the sunset can’t be better.
All is well with our world. I hope your holiday season is spectacular, too. Feliz Navidad! Gracias a todos.
Our next photography workshop is this summer 2014 for Dance of the Feather. Find out more!
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 are baptized as part of the celebratory mass. This is common practice.
As a by-product of the Mexican Revolution and its sweeping reforms, the state eradicated church political power and confiscated lands, so it is the civil ceremony that takes legal precedents. Yet, the traditional church wedding holds strong emotional appeal for many couples, their parents and extended family.
Uriel and Rosalia’s wedding began with a twelve o’clock noon mass at the Teotitlan del Valle church and included the baptism of their two young sons, Emilio and Cristian.
There were about two hundred people attending, a fraction of the six hundred who would later join the fiesta and meal at the home of Uriel’s uncle and aunt, who hosted the event.
In Zapotec tradition, it is the groom’s family who hosts and pays for everything: the two large bulls slaughtered to become barbacoa (barbecue) to serve the multitude, the beer and mezcal, the band, the tortillas, fresh flowers, decorations, gifts for guests, ample takeaway containers, and an elaborate, multi-level wedding cake filled with strawberry cream.
There is not usually a cash outlay for these expenses. It is part of the elaborate mutual support, bartering, give-and-take system called guelaguetza in Oaxaca’s usos y costumbres pueblos. Extended family comes together to do what it takes to host. For example, I give you a pig one year for a baptism. In six years, when my son gets married, I ask you to return the pig to me. Maybe it weighs a little more than the one I gave to you. That’s how it works and the cycle continues.
Wedding preparations began weeks before. The women of the family gathered to plan the food and make decorations. They ordered large yellow corn tortillas handmade in a neighboring village.
Men conferred to determine how many tables and chairs, cases of beer, and bottles of mezcal would be required. Together, they all determined the collective resources needed to mount this significant event. Then, on the wedding day, they served the hearty festival dish offering greeting of buen provecho to each guest.
On the wedding day, Uriel’s extended family pitched in to cook and serve: aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. As guests arrived, more tables and chairs unfolded. Their arms held extended in greeting, offering gifts, adding their tribute to honor the couple and their families, an ancient practice modernized.
In addition to bottles of mezcal and cases of beer, guests brought cookware sets, utensils, toys for the boys, dinnerware, drinking glasses. and other household items. There was even a new washing machine and bedroom closet on display outside the altar room. Inside was barely passable. The line to greet the newlyweds and family snaked through the courtyard and out onto the sidewalk. We all waited patiently to offer personal congratulations.
In the back of the family compound an army of 60 women were on hand to measure out the meat and broth so that everyone would have their portion. They had been tending the stew pot for days. Platters of fresh tortillas, lime wedges, shredded cabbage, diced onions, and cilantro were set on each table to add as condiments to the spicy meat.
After the meal, the plates were cleared, the tables folded and stacked in a corner, and the chairs arranged in a circle. Let the dancing begin. First, the band from Yalalag played as the couple came out, she adorned in traditional dress from her native Zapotec village.
Then, Teotitecos welcomed their band to play the traditional Jarabe del Valle. Paco served as master of ceremonies, inviting family members to dance with the couple in honor of their emotional, financial and in-kind support. Celebrants carry fragrant herbs gathered from nearby mountains. On the bride’s arm is a basket filled with flowers, bread and chocolate — essential for sustaining life.
The party continued through the next several days, and I could hear the band and firecrackers each morning and evening. These celebrations are rooted deeply in a pre-Hispanic past, embedded in memory. It is a wonderful experience to share.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Photography, Teotitlan del Valle
Tagged baptism, church, fiesta, guelaguetza, mass, Mexico, Oaxaca, usos y costumbres, wedding, Zapotec