Habitat for Humanity, Oaxaca

We thought there was no Habitat for Humanity group in Oaxaca, so we were happily surprised to step out of our courtyard one morning just in time to see a truck pass by with the HFH logo on the side.  Later that day, I googled Oaxaca HFH, and found them.  Stuart sent a note, in english, and a couple of days later received a response from Elizabeth y Raquel, obviously translated into spanish with an electronic translator.  Fortunately, my spanish has improved enough to write a simple note, and soon enough we had a date to see the job site here.

Habitat Oaxaca has a sponsor Angel from Boston, a group that gives money regularly, which is sorely needed here.  Right now, Habitat Oaxaca has 12 houses in the plans, and I think they work on about 2 houses at a time.  The 12 owners, and two paid employees, do all the work.  We met Marta, who's house is about 2 weeks from being completed.  She very proudly showed me the kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bathroom and living room.  The entire house is 7 meters by 7 meters.  Elizabeth showed us the beginning of another house, where the foundation was being dug through the sand and rocks.  The construction is concrete and block, normal construction for this part of the world. 

These two houses, and I think the other 10 in the current project, are in the barrio Santa Cruz Amilpas, which is tiny, close to the city, but off my map.  We turned off the paved street, at a bus stop, onto the dirt main street of the barrio, passed tiny houses and shops, everything covered with the dust from the dirt street.  We saw no more cars, but people walking down the hill to the bus stop.  We drove up a very steep hill, and parked to walk up a little further.  There is no way to negotiate these dirt streets in the rainy season, and I don't know how they walk in the mud.  But, the view of the valley to the east and south is spectacular!

We toured Marta's house, and saw the next one, which was close by, and then visited with Marta and an old woman who was cooking outside.  They served us beans and tortillas and coffee, and we had a visit while I asked a few more questions.  Stuart and I hope to put together a group to come back here...I'll begin to investigate the logistics of getting here/staying here, while Stuart talks to the Wilmington group about planning with Elizabeth and Raquel.  Here are a few pics....

The downhill trench is the bulkhead for the rest of the house.  I don't know where the septic tank goes, but there will be one!

 Oscar and Emilio were drawing the lines to "square" the foundation.

Oscar (in the red shirt), the job foreman, with the bricklayer.

Straightening rebar, using a hammer with a pipe handle.  It will take them at least 2 days to cut and straighten the rebar for this house.  Then, they'll begin tying the rebar, for the foundation.

It's simple construction, with the wiring buried in the cement inside plastic piles.  The windows and doors are all custom cut and set at the end.  The gas, for the cooktop, will come from a tank outside.  The water will come from a huge tank on the roof, which is normal.  Stuart came back the next week, and spent a morning tying rebar, getting an idea of how to make a simple tool to help the next time he's here!

Sunday walk about

  We went for a walk about this morning.  It was almost cold, by the time we left the apartment it was 60 degrees fahrenheit.  Of course, like the rest of the world, Mexico uses the celsius/metric system.  We have conversion charts, for people who are fahrenheit challenged.  Our destination: the train museum area.  Not necessarily the train museum, but I wanted a good look at the grafiti in the neighborhood around the old train station.

On the way, we walked past the Soledad Church.  On the quiet, Sunday morning streets, perpendicular to the plaza, the garbage trucks were lined up, 2 x 2, and they were all decorated with flowers.  Those fancy arrangements you see on the hood of the wedding cars.  And, flowers on the rear-view mirrors, and flowers on the lift-body.  Several dozen trucks, in two blocks.  Of course, I asked why the flowers and why the trucks were parked together.  The man I asked, a driver, was pleased to be asked, and told me today is the 30th anniversary of this group of trash trucks keeping Oaxaca clean.  He was proud, and I was, too.  I was proud that he understood my question and I understood his answer!

At the Soledad, the folks were getting ready for a fiesta.  The men were unloading the fireworks riggings from the back of a big truck.  Lots of mescal was being passed around, surreptitously, or course.  We'll check out this fiesta later today.  They NEVER start early.

At the railroad museum, we walked right in, no entrance fee required.  This woman, made of grasses, stood guard at the entrance The Oaxaca railroad station was opened in 1892.  People, livestock and cargo went in and out of here.  Lots of cargo, according to the pictures.

I was really interested in the modern grafiti, however, and we wandered outside.  The words in the above photo say, "The south will never die!".  Yep, true words!

I love the way the grafiti artists work with each other.  One graphic might end, and the next artist will make the first piece work with the second piece.  A sign, claiming authorship, was signed, "Tlacalocos".  Tlacalula is a nearby village; locos is spanish for crazy.  I took lots of pictures...

I particularly love the way this part is part fish and part hand, and the hand moved into yet another design (out of the photo).  There are many more paintings on the walls surrounding the stadium, el deportivo, and I hope to walk there soon.

Bici a Oaxaca

    Oaxaca is not known for being bicycle friendly.  Some would even say it's not pedestrian friendly, a comment I disagree with, but every Friday night, the cars are required to stop for the cyclists who claim the streets.

Last Friday night, we were with friends, listening to music at an outside bar, when I heard a raucous group approaching, whistles and laughter and loud music leading the crowd.  Bicyclists!  Hundreds of them, zooming past.  I want to do that!

After asking around, I learned the group ride is casually hosted by Mundo Cieba, a non-profit group.  Mundo = world, ceiba = a type of tree.  Mundo cieba works to plant trees in deforested areas in Oaxaca, (other places?).  The bike ride is intended to raise awareness about  bikes as transportation, to call attention to our carbon footprints and to make bicyclists more visible to drivers.

The weekly ride works so well in Oaxaca because of the Fiesta mentality:  any reason for a party is good enough!  It's called paseo de todos the ride for everyone, because entire families show up weekly.  Last night, I'd guess 200 people gathered at the Sto.  Domingo at 9:00.  The leader  and a small group of volunteers showed up, wearing a green vests.  The leader was towing a small trailer with his bike, tall flag waving in the breeze.  In the trailer was a boombox blasting tunes, adding to the fiesta mood.

Stuart and I rented bikes at Lobo Azul, a great coffee shop who's walls are covered with political posters from all over the world, promoting peace.  We pedaled and pushed our way up the hill to the Sto. Domingo.  A green-vested dude came around, passing out whistles, silbatos  to us all.  When the mood quieted during the ride, one of the dudes would shout through his stolen highway cone (as a megaphone), "Arriba la bici!", which was answered with great shouting and whistle blowing.  Stuart and I were the only gringos in the entire crowd, with the exception of three young, german speaking women.

Stuart and I positioned ourselves in the middle of the pack.  A group ride with children, people in terrible physical shape and experienced riders can be tricky:  be careful of the wobblers and slow pokes, they spell danger!  We pedaled down the hill, turned left and left again, and headed up Fiallo towards Colonia Reforma, around Reforma, and back down to Centro.  The riding crowd drew people to doors of the houses and shops, restaurant patrons and waiters waved and called to us, we responded with whistle toots and shouts.  Volunteers swooped skillfully through the crowds, zooming ahead to stop traffic at intersections, and making sure any crashes were up and riding again.  Stuart peeled off about half-way through, we'd arranged to meet later for beers, and I kept going.  We rode up the steep hill by the Soledad Church, the reward a fabulous view of the hillsides, from above the valley, and then a fast swoop down the hill and back towards centro.  We negotiated car-sized potholes and drainage grates, double-parked cars and road construction, and each other.  Topes speed bumps were fun, the oldest cobble-stoned streets were not so much fun.

After the cruise around the zocalo, I turned back towards Lobo Azul, with a few other people, and returned my bike.  I'd been riding almost 2 hours.  Estaba fantastico!
 
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arriba la bici!

(Lobo Azul is on Armenta y Lopez, one block south of the zocalo.  Bikes rent for 50 pesos, you'll need ID.  The rental bikes are not the best, but, hey, it's a rental!  Pick your bike up earlier in the evening for a better ride.  The coffee is great at Lobo Azul, as is the artwork)

Stilt Walkers in Oaxaca

          Stilt walking is alive and well in some villages close to Oaxaca.  And, the people who make the stilts and the costumes are stretching to new heights.  El Museo de Textiles Oaxaca, the Textile Museum, currently has what I think is the best exhibit ever:  Stilts and the costumes.  Works of art, all.  I've seen the exhibit three times since we've been here, and again today, with my friend Tere.

The current exhibit was made completely by local artists:  wood carvers, wax workers, costumers.  It was taken to NY, to Wall Street, where the men danced down the street for the video that is now part of the exhibit.  How cool to see those men in suits, far above the heads of people on the street!

Virgil was celebrating Fat Tuesday in great style!  After the costumed dancers finished their dancing, we had a visit.  He's a painter, living in Zachilla, and invited us back to visit.  Another picture of him, full length, below.

Stilt walking is part of many festivals here, particularly Carnival and at the fiestas of the patron saint of the churches.  We went to Zachilla for the first night of Carnival, where the stilt walkers led our colectivo into the zocalo, such luck!  The stilts lift the men more than 5 feet off the ground.  Men, only.  They dance as if they were on the ground!

After the stilt

I love the costumes, and can't imagine the weight of some of them...  This costume, above, is typical, with the 'fringe' effect.

This is my favorite costume, made entirely from upholstery fabrics.  The part above the costume is the head dress, which must be heavy, too.  It's decorated with cd's, which gives the outfit shine.

I love these carved heads!  Animals and humans, covering the stilts.

These flowers are made from wax!  The artwork supports several families. This is the first time they've done such work, and the artist said he struggled with the marriage of wood (the stilts) and wax.  I believe the artist won that battle!

The rough, basic stilt.  Just a chunk of wood, nailed to a pole, with a piece of foam to wrap around the walker's calf for protection.  The strap is fastened with a car seat belt!

settling in Oaxaca

        OK, we've been here two months,so the title of this post makes no sense, does it?  But, I was playing catch-up when we first arrived in Oaxaca.  I still love the thrill of arriving in this beautiful, elegant city, and getting my kitchen settled in.  The delight of eating REAL food still makes me grab the camera. 

From left:  the hand-made tortillas from a woman who begins her day by grinding the corn and building a fire under a huge clay comal.  She is not on the way to anywhere we normally go, but I go out of my way to buy her hand-made tortillas.  Bring your own plastic bag, and cotton towel, in order to get them home in good condition!  Un peso cada uno.  One pese each!  The freshly made yogurt, from el mercado Pasquaz Sanchez, on calle Porfirio Diaz.  Go in the north door (there are several entrances, of course), go down the steps, the yogurt people are in front of the chicken lady.  They scoop the yogurt from a five gallon bucket.  And, they no longer ask me if I want "natural"...they know my face!  The papayas are more delicious than I can describe:  soft and velvety on the tongue, sweet and perfectly ripe.  With a squeeze of lime, please!  The locally made queso fresco, the crumbly cheese you MUST use on beans, or just about anything else.  Salty, tangy, delicious.  The strawberries must be coming from Pueblo, not so far away, and sweet and perfectly ripe, and like everything else, cheap.

Every Saturday, I walk about 15 blocks to the 5 Senores neighborhood.  It's a nice walk, not much traffic in this part of town on Saturday morning.  There, I find the weekly tiaguis, a pop-up market.  Fruit and vegetable, pork, beef and chicken vendors, a dozen or more kitchens and fruit juice squeezers, clothes, flowers, nail polish, and just about anything else you can think of, they're all there.  They set up early Saturday morning, and by mid-afternoon, the best stuff is sold, and folks are sitting on plastic stools at the taco kitchens filling their bellies for a few pesos.  You'll find Stuart and me there, too! I  buy a week's worth of fruits and veggies, more than I can comfortably carry.  The bus stops at the corner of the market, right by the orange truck, which is where I make my last purchase.  Twenty five oranges for about one dollar!  Sweet, juicy and cheap.  The bus costs 6 pesos, about 50 cents, and takes me right to my apartment.  Life is good!

Last week, I stopped to buy some garlic from a woman sitting on a bucket.  She had something I didn't recognize, and the young woman buying some of the unknown veggie offered me a taste.  Roasted garbanzo's, in the pod.  Delicious!  A bag of them cost less than a dollar, and that smokey goodness went into a wheat-berry salad I made later that day.  Along with that ugly, heirloom tomato, that was almost smashed when I got it home.

Before we left Wilmington, I had dreams of buying a sewing machine, to put in The Box.  I checked a couple of stores, the new machines were reasonably priced, but something made me hold off.  We were walking one morning, past a pawn shop, and I went in.  They had FOUR machines for sale!  Well, a couple of days later, I went back with a demo kit in my pack:  decent thread, a piece of fabric, new machine needles and a pair of scissors.  To my surprise, all the machines had been sold.  That will teach me.  So, the kit stayed in my bag until I bought this sweet little Brother XL3200 for about $110US  few days later.  It needed a light bulb, easy enough to replace in a city that doesn't think twice about having clothes repaired or altered.  It runs like a dream.  I've made a skirt, top, 2 rugs, hemmed several kitchen towels and a pair of shorts for our neighbor.  Oh, and I made a pair of slippers.  That's another story. I'm happy to know I can stitch anything I want.  Next year, I'll bring a few supplies back with me, including my rotary matt and cutter.

We spent about 2,000 pesos getting settled in with other kitchen necessities and household things.  You don't think about reaching for the salt shaker or the clorox to soak the veggies (ok, not in the States), and of course we needed everything else.   Our kitchen is adequately outfitted for non-cooks, I needed a cheese grater, a decent knife, a pot of a Certain Size with a lid for popping popcorn.  We needed a decent orange juicer, an extension cord, a blender and coffee pot, some of which we found at the pawn shop, and some at the Chedraui supermarket, and some at the big Abastos mercardo. Plastic containers for food storage and ziplock bags, clothes pins and toilet tissue.  Yep, all the important stuff! 

We have a short list of things to bring next year, but mostly, we have everything we need.  The things on the list are duplicates, otherwise, we'd buy them here.  Oaxaca is a beautiful, elegant, modern city.  With the best food in the country.