Five pesos for the bano.

Stuart, who was "volunteered" to help is asking for clarification in the instructions.

Two weeks ago, I went to my Monday spanish lesson to find my teacher, Laura giggling.  When I asked about her weekend, she broke into a laugh.  Her cousin, Make', lives just down the street.  Make' called Laura Saturday morning to say everyone at her house was sick, and they were in need of help.  As Laura is telling me this story, I was sad to hear they were all sick, and wondered why this was so danged funny.  Weeeelllllll.

Make' and her family own a public bathroom and parking lot business.  In Oaxaca when you go in a public bathroom, you pay 3 or 4 pesos, and are handed a few sheets of toilet paper (papel personal, or papel higenico) and you can go into a somewhat clean bathroom.  No toilet seats, but that's another story.  Since everyone at Make's house was sick, no one felt like tearing the little bits of toilet paper to hand out at the bano.  So Laura spent her entire weekend tearing t.p. into appropriate lengths for her cousin.  She showed me the three bags of little bundles, and we both dissolved in laughter.

Maybe you had to be there.

The next week, Laura sent an email plea for volunteers to all her students.  You guessed it:  to tear toilet paper!  She pointed out that it would be a good spanish lesson, since no one in Make's house speaks English.  Well, you know I volunteered.  And, volunteered Stuart, too.  To my knowledge, we were the only students to volunteer.  You may have read in an earlier post about a trip during Dia de los Muertos when I met Make' and she told me about catching grasshoppers (chapulines) in the corn field.  Chapulines are a much-loved food in Oaxaca.  That Make' talked to me with expectations that I understood everything she said was a compliment in my eyes!

Laura led Stuart and me down the street to Make's house, where we were warmly greeted and shown to the dining room table.  Each of us was handed a huge roll of paper, and told to roll it out the length of the table, and tear it.  You can see the look on Stuart's face:  "Tell me again, what am I doing with this?"

Make' instructed us to roll and tear; roll and tear.  Stuart began cutting with the scissors (unas de tejidores), and Make' told him he was being too elegant!  After a while, we finished rolling and tearing/cutting.  Then, we began to fold (doble) each length.  Wow! I've never gotten this much papel for 4 pesos anywhere around here.  This is a nice public bathroom!

Each length of papel higenico was then wrapped with a peach-colored paper towel.  To dry your hands, which you surely will wash, afterwards!

Two small dogs kept us entertained with barking and playing while we worked.  This is Chile, with one of his favorite toys in his mouth.  Frijolito (Tiny Bean) wouldn't stand still long enough for a photo.  Tito, Make's 2-year-old nephew was also scooting around the room on his tiny car scooter (coche) with a shy grin

Make's sister putting the fruits of our labor in the box, ready to go down the street to the business, all smiles.

I figure this is sort of like herding turkeys for my brother on his farm.  Something everyone wants to experience once.  Just for the story. Herding turkeys?  That's another story, too.

Thanks for the spanish lesson, Make'!

Feliz Navidad 2013

Feliz Navidad 2013!

This time of year, the shops have a few extra things in their inventories.  Not at all like the US, where December is ALL about shopping.  But, the week before Christmas here, a few decorations appeared, with a little sparkle.  I spied a shop on Armenta & Lopez, not far from my apartment, with these great bags on display.  Thankfully, I needed a small bag for a gift, so could go into the shop and look. It's a plain brown bag, with handles.  The bow is slightly shredded to give it some excitement, and it's hot-glued (be still, you Martha Stewart wannabees!) onto the front.  The red fringe around the top is simple squares of paper folded into triangles and taped onto the bag. The woman made them all.

Earlier this week, Josephina and Manuel spent an afternoon decorating our courtyard.  Manuel did NOT want his picture taken!  He was adding more shiny stuff to the giant cactus, which is a perfect Christmas tree.  With lights, of course.

Los Danzantes, one of our favorite restaurants, always has a pretty display in the interior courtyard.  Right now, it's a pink tree, with pink lights, with papier mache figures, all standing in the small pool of water.  It's very elegant.

The Santo Domingo, one of the gorgeous churches the city is known for, hosted music all week.  The acoustics are awful, with all that stone and 30 foot ceilings, but it's always impressive just to walk inside. The "Tuna", an ancient tradition of music, performed with this group of kids.  They swayed in perfect chaos to the lively music!  They posed, perfectly still and somber, after the performance for  the grandparents and parents to take pictures.  The men of the Tuna were far more interesting, in their fabulous capes and big, beautiful voices!  Of course, they're behind the kids in this photo...

Noche de Rabanos.  Even Garrison Keiller knows about it, and in his December 23 Writer's Almanac made note of the event.  By 2pm, the line had snaked three blocks long, waiting to get onto the raised walks circling the zocalo to view the work.  I had a spanish class at 5, which meant we didn't even get in line!  But, I walked around outside the rails, and caught these few photos of the amazing dried cornshuck and carved radish creations.  The masks on these tiny figures were incredible in their detail.

...more incredible cornshuck work.

This eagle was posed, sparring with another bird of equal detail.  I hope this artist won an award!
 

A car, made from the skins of radishes!  The wheels were entire radishes, bent and held together with sticks.  It was about 3 feet tall,

One of the two Tule tree sculptures I saw, complete with the pretty little church beside it in the village of Santa Maria del Tule.  You can't see the tiny figures in this photo, but the tree is circled with tiny cornshuck people, holding hands.  Just like in the famous postcard.

Christmas Eve night is the special time here, and we were invited to join Tere and Dan, and Tere's extended family for a gift exchange and meal.  Dan cooked a turkey, and made a pan of dressing.  The dressing was a big curiosity for everyone but Stuart and me!  Try describing dressing, and see if it sounds appealing:  dried bread, baked with onions and herbs, and chicken stock.  Really???  The traditional dried cod dish was delicious, as always.  Tere's daughter made a pecan cake, from her grandmother's recipe, and it was much admired by everyone. Here are a few photos from last night's fun:

Dan and Tere, carving the turkey at their house before we left for the dinner party...

Some of Tere's family...

Tere's sister-in-law, Rosa, our hostess for dinner.

The delicious dinner was served, buffet style, at midnight.  We were all ready to eat by then!  Some of us were asked to bring specific things; I contributed a huge vegetable salad.  Carolina, the woman to the right, made pasta with pesto, with basil from her garden. We had ham, turkey, the traditional dried cod dish, and salads.  I'm glad I wore a skirt with elastic in the waist.

One of the traditions at Christmas is to break egg shells filled with confetti on the heads of your loved ones.  Rudolpho was a favorite target of the kids, as he protected his pecan cake from the bits of paper!  I tried to break one of the eggs on the head of one of the kids, and I may have given him a concussion.  The egg shells are hard as glass!

Tere and Dan dropped us off at 2am, after driving through the unusually quiet streets.  Today, some businesses are closed, while people take a rare day off of work.  From my apartment I hear a few buses, not many; the tamale dude pedaled past this morning, and I easily caught him on the empty street for our breakfast tamale.  We'll take a long walk, to burn some of the calories we consumed last night!  Then, have a pot-luck comida with friends this afternoon.
Feliz Navidad!

Random Oaxaca notes

        "What do you DO all day?"  I hear that question a lot.  The standard response is, "well, I live 18 blocks from anything, so I walk a lot!"  That's the truth.  It seems that everything we do takes a bit longer because of getting there.  But, when I consider my method for errand-running in NC, I realize how easy it is here.  Back home, if I'm out running errands, I'm in the car/out of the car, in traffic and out of traffic.  Here, often I walk, but a bus passes every 30 seconds, and for 6 pesos, I can sit for a few minutes.  Today, I had caught a bus up to the Parque Llano (The Lion Park).  This is the Fiesta de Guadalupe, so there were hundred of little children dressed as peasants, to be blessed by the priest.  Mostly, they were at Llano for the rides and food!  Stuart walked over to Paschal Sanchez to buy our weekly yogurt, and I caught a bus back home.  When we met again, we walked over to La Noria market to buy fruit and a bit o' chicken for dinner.  We stopped at Conchita's for lunch.  Suddenly, it was 3:00!

Here are some random photos from the past few days.
A beautiful, typical dress for a Zapotec woman, with jewelry (above).  The current exhibit at the Textile Museum features hand-made dresses from different regions of the state and their history, along with a few (unusual) pieces of jewelry.  Jo Ann Feher taught a beading class a couple of weeks ago at the museum, which I signed up for, and in the class we made a pair of ear rings she copied from a pair on display...no photo yet!

 Thanksgiving Day lunch at Gio.  This avocado was served on a bed of mixed greens, and stuffed with a tasty mayonnaise/chepiche/garlic dressing. Jean Micheal, the owner/chef at Gio, told me what was in it, and I've since made this several times, improving my amounts each time.  Yummmy!

The second course of my T'giving Day lunch:  he called it chp suey!  Thankfully, without those crunchy fried things from a can (which are probably not available here.  Thankfully.  Beautifully julienned veggies and a little bit of beef, in a tasty sesame sauce.

And then, dessert....
ohmy!  A sauce made from the flower of the cactus, tuna, served over a Oaxacan chocolate torte. I'm thankful for Gio!

 The embroidery and crochet work on blouses is awesome.  The most beautiful work can cost from $300US and more.   This one is an example of one of the finer blouses...

 

  I took this photo of an outfit in a shop window because the color combination is so pretty.  I love the white/coffee/purple combination.  Lovely.

At an artisans market a couple of weeks ago, I spied these hand-made shoes.  For men only!  I wanted a pair, but they didn't have any in my size.

  At the same artisan's market, a display (not for sale!) or whimsical, ordinary plastic objects.  You can be sure I'll be at the flea markets when I get home, and something like this will be hanging in my garden!

oh, the music!  Music everywhere, almost every day.  In the streets, in art galleries, in restaurants, in museums.  Marta Saenz, jazz singer by night/tour guide by day, and her pianist.  The music sounded just like this photo looks:  smokey, smooth, and served with several cigarettes and several mezcals (for the singer, I only had the mezcal).   It was a lovely evening at the San Pablo restaurant, attached to the beautiful San Pablo museum.     

Ole'!  In Santa Maria Tule, the small town that boasts the Big Tree,  gardening is an art form.  This dude is happily riding in front of the town hall building.  Every other ficus tree in sight is similarly pruned.

The gardens at Sta. Maria Tule always have curious plants from Central America.  This one, whose common name is "cow udder", was the most curious last week.  It was the one that attracted the most photos, too!

The Big Tree.  I can't begin to describe it, even though I've tried in previous posts.


In addition to all these photo opportunities, I've been studying spanish, with a class twice a week.  I really could spend 5 hours a day studying, but that doesn't happen as much as I'd like to report!  And, the annual Oaxaca Lending Library annual fund-raiser is next week.  A giant yard sale!  I've been helping with the sorting and pricing tasks for the past couple of weeks.  Sale this weekend.  I've put a few garments on my Wish List...I'll be one of the first in line Sunday morning! Beading a little bit has become a Need also; I have a more than one project going at once.  Normal!

Now, I'm off to randomly wander the streets, and look for comida.

Parade a Day in Oaxaca

Living in Oaxaca, I'm never surprised to hear a band in the street and see the dancers and puppets and assorted people, celebrating just about anything.  Seems there is a parade a day here.

There are three words for "parade":  desfile, calenda y comparsa de muertos.  A defile is an everyday type of parade.  A calenda is a Christmas parade, and a comparsa de muertos is a November/Day of the Dead parade.  There are probably more words!            

  Barbara and Brent came from NC for a visit last week.  One gorgeous afternoon, we walked up Macedonia Alcala, and found a rooftop bar for an afternoon adult beverage.  San Felipe was visible, after a few days of being clouded over.

As is normal, we heard a band gearing up, and went down to see what was going on.  As our friend Phil pointed out: this is the public street.  No permits are required!  In our NC city, even on the "public street", a parade like these would never be allowed.

I caught this puppet, waiting for it's human. These papier-mache puppets are typical parade participants. No wedding would be complete without the dancing couple...this dude was smoking a cigarette, very unusual!  The heads are papier-mache, the clothes are draped over a bamboo frame; the arms are soft and stuffed, for swinging wide over the dancer's heads.













It was fun to watch the dancers, always men, gear up.  They waited until the other parade participants arrived before putting on the puppets.  The band always features tubas, trumpets and trombones, and the music is fast and lively.

















This woman spoke a little english, and was proud of it!  She was gracious enough to pose for my camera.  More than 30 women, dressed in similar brightly colored skirts and scarves arrived to parade with the band.  There was a little wind, I wondered how they'd keep their head decorations upright, but they are experienced!



















The man with the papier-mache bull had apparently been in the mezcal before he arrived.  He allowed me to take his picture, and then handed the bull to me!  I don't know who took the pictures of me, with my camera, but I'm glad they did!  I needed proof of holding the bull.






















It was not too heavy.  The women all laughed, and after I handed the bull back to the Bull Man, they gave me hugs.










So, as always, I wondered what the parade was about...the 90th anniversary of the Cultural Missions of the country.  Indigenous groups, I guess. 


















The participants were handing out gifts:  I have one of the hats you see here in my collection now, along with a small basket, the biggest lemon I've ever seen, and a small, woven fan.   The Bull Man dragged me over to the a small group of men, and insisted that I have a shot of the village mezcal.  People will dance even more after a shot of mezcal!

   

The other puppet dancer....





















Parades are part of life here.  This day, we saw three parades in the afternoon.  So much joy, so much to celebrate.  These folks danced their way down to the zocalo, danced and drank a little mezcal, and danced their way back up to the Sto. Domingo.  The Parade Route!

Thanks 2013

For three days, the sound of two hammers breaking up concrete have bounced off the concrete walls of our little courtyard, driving some of us living here to take to the streets to escape the noise. The hammering has begun at 9, two hours after the men arrived for work, takes a short break in the afternoon for comida, then continues until 6.  There is an electrical problem, causing the lights outside our apartments to come on and go off at odd times.  The electrical cable is buried under the concrete paving, and apparently the only way to fix the problem is to break up the paving.  No fancy tools are endanger of being used here.  The hammers have metal handles, the chisels are worn and bent.  Manuel and Tio(uncle, an honory title) Manuel have no gloves, no hearing protection.  No smoke breaks, no water breaks.  All the other chores want attention, too. 

Oaxaca graffiti.

Tio Manuel doesn't know how old he is; there was no birth certificate, but someone here guessed he's in his mid- 70's.  Joven (young) Manuel is probably in his early 50's.  They have been pounding concrete for three days.  They have a job, for which they might be thankful.

Gringo Thanksgiving is today.  This year, I'm thankful that I was born to parents who could read and write, to parents who lived in the US, and could make a good enough living to feed, cloth and house me. I could have been born in Syria or Ethiopia, North Korea or El Salvador, Somalia or Iraq, or any number of places where I might be hungry, uneducated and poorly clothed and housed.  I could have been born to parents who couldn't read or write, or in a society that treats women like slaves or throw-away property. I could be on a bicycle from 7am to 10pm, pedaling tamales for 8 pesos each, 7 days a week.

This year, I'm thankful for Tio Manuel and Manuel, and Josephina, who take such good care of us.  I'm thankful for a soft bed, my terrific spanish teacher, my previously-loved sewing machine, several changes of clothes, good shoes, and money enough to eat well and often.  All those things, and the usual luxuries, too, like great health and loving friends and family.  I'm also thankful for the coco nieve I had yesterday afternoon, after a very tasty meal of pozole!

Eat well!  Enjoy your comfy chair this afternoon!

Festival Origens, La Etnococina de Oaxaca

        While having lunch at Los Danzantes last week, our hostess told us about a festival planned for the weekend. Festival Origenes, La Etnococina de Oaxaca. All six of us at the table, after hearing about it, immediately bought tickets!  250 pesos, about $21US, bought our entry into an indigenous foods festival.  Seventeen of the indigenous groups in Oaxaca would be serving locally made dishes, and the price included fruit drinks (aguas), mescal, beer and music.  You bet I'll be there!

Sunday afternoon, dressed in my finest indigenous outfit (the only one I own), Stuart, Tom and Jo Ann and I met our friends Elly and Marc.  Being gringos, we arrived at the advertised hour, to find a huge tent set up in the plaza by Catedral (Iglesia?) Soledad, and it was empty of everyone but waiters and cooks.  Being directly in the sun would have made this a miserable afternoon, so we were cheered to see the tent.  Arriving on time also guaranteed us that we could have our pick of tables, as everyone else here works on Oaxacan time.  A little bit later!

The tables were beautifully set, with coordinating cloth napkins and runners, the plates set on silver chargers.  I confess, I did not expect this much elegance, and had packed a Real Fork and cloth napkin in my bag!  I'm embarrased to admit that.

Being early was great, it gave me lots of time to walk past the more then 100 pots of delicious looking food, to take pictures and ask questions.  The tables were arranged around the perimeter, and the cooks and hosts were dressed in their best trajes, village clothes.  I could identify some of the areas by the clothing, and a few others by the signs posted on the hugs pots of simmer food.























Elly grabbed an empanada before we were told we couldn't begin early, and she shared it with us.

Our waitress was all smiles, and cheerfully brought mescal (whets the appetite, you know!), beer and glasses of horchata (a delicious rice/cantelope drink).

A band set up, playing traditional music, and soon a group of young men from the coast took the stage to play stringed instruments. The percussionist played a clay jug!  The band came back, some announcements were made, much applause to the chefs of each village, and we were invited to eat.

Having looked at all pots earlier, I thought I had a plan, but it went out the window when I passed the first table!  It all looked and smelled so good!







The embroidery on the blouses worn by these women is not actually embroidery, but bead work.  They wear these blouses tucked into very full, long skirts.  I don't know the group, but the food was very good!










Albondigas de malanga:  meatballs.














Cazuella de pollo....a chicken stew.  These women were set up beside a wall of beautiful, locally famous green rocks.  They had the coolest spot, in the shade of the cool wall.

Two of the young coastal band, waiting patiently for either their turn to make music, or to eat!









                            




 These were from the coast, filled with corn kernals and bananas.  To a gringo palatte that might sound wierd, but it's delicious.























ohmy.  These women were NOT happy!  But, the embroidered blouses worn by women from Juchitan are simply the most gorgeous.  The Isthmus of Mexico. I saw them later, eating, and they still didn't look happy!



















"ok, so make sure everything is ready in the next few minutes."  Last minute conferences all around!














This may be my favorite photo of the day!  This tiny woman, from the mountains just north and west of the city was being photographed by a Very Tall Spanish man.  She could barely see over the top of the cazuela!  Look at her face... In the past, you would see many people from her village in the city center, but now, the old people are too old to get into town, and the young people don't wear the same clothes.  They are among the poorest people in the state.

sopa de calabazitas:  squash soup













These women are a tiny indigenous group, from the coast. One of the few black indigenous groups. They had a great time, I watched them all afternoon!
















I've never been to this region of the state, on the coast north of Puerto Escondido.

Tamales of fish;
Pilte de pescado: I don't know, but something with fish;  Barbarcoa de puerco:  barbequed pork (yuummm!); Huevo asado con hoja de hierba santa: baked eggs with a local herb that is a little anise tasting.

Mateo Yelto, San Juan Bautista, Valle Nacional: The name of the puebla.














Here is some of what I ate:
A black bean and dried fish dish;
















oh, this was delicious!  A yellow sauce with potatoes and a specific mushroom, from the mountains.  No, not that kind of mushroom!


















I love tamales, and I have two on my plate here.  With a blue corn tortilla.  The corn has probably been grown by the same family for many generations.














Mole has many different personalities.  This one was rich and creamy, with green beans and nopales.
















oh, pickled vegetables from the coast!  I had a short, funny conversation with the woman serving this.  She told me this dish is considered an aphrodisiac!  En escabeche:  pickled.















Baked fish, with tomatoes and onions.  When this was brought out, there was a rush for the few servings they had!  I didn't get any, but it smelled heavenly.


It was one of the Best Days of my life.  Truly a terrific experience. We waddled home, wishing we could have eaten more.  But, it wasn't just the food. The entire experience was almost too good.  Three locals joined us at our table, and one of the woman told us about the food from her village.  We had a special dish only served for weddings in her village:  corn meal, chicken and vegetables.We shared bites of everything, from everyone's plate, laughing and talking over the music, and drinking more mescal.    Delicious!  What a treat to have been here for this.