Juana

When I went to Teotitlán de Valle I bought a rug that was woven by Juana Chavez. Juana was gracious enough to pose with the rug that I have placed at the foot of the bed in the apartment. It is made of wool that was carded and spun by hand, then dyed with natural carmine from cochineal, and woven by Juana. The designs are Zapotecan, the largest indigenous group in Oaxaca, and Juana's ancestry.

Ways to go!

Within four blocks, within 10 minutes, I took photos of these four cars. A green Dodge. A light green Chevrolet that the owner drove away two seconds after I took the photo. An old black "vocho" Volkswagon that needed a block of wood as a brake. A blue Ford.

Lunch Isthmus-style

Lunch this afternoon was at a great little restaurant, La Jícara, just a few blocks from my apartment. Today they invited a chef from the Isthmus region of Oaxaca to cook. The area is surrounded by water, both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf, so fish is very common in their dishes.

The first course was tostadas with fish finely ground with spices (it looks like ground beef but that is where the similarity ends), topped with cabbage and served with very spicy guacamole. The fish is white but is colored by the spices. The base is tótopos which are baked flour tortillas, typical of the region.

The main course was poblano chile filled with fish, carrots and potatoes. The taste was so fresh, with the coating crisp and light.

This was served with a drink of jamaica flavored with ginger and cinnamon.

A great food memory!

Rugs from Teotitlán de Valle

The village of Teotitlán de Valle, located about 30 miles east of Oaxaca, is famous for handwoven wool rugs. The rugs are irresistable for their patterns and colors!

In this home, the family cleans, spins, dyes and weaves the wool themselves. For color they use natural materials such as insects, seeds, flowers, herbs, fruits and so on.

Here, you can see cochineal, from a dried scale insect that lives on cactus, being ground into powder. When the powder is added to water, carmine red dye is obtained. When lime juice is added, the color changes to orange. By adding more cochineal, you obtain magenta. They say that cochineal can be manipulated to obtain 50 different colors.

La Quinceañera

There is a quinceañera almost every weekend at this church, sometimes more than one. The celebration of 15 years begins with a Mass of Thanksgiving that is dedicated to the teenager with suggestions on how to live her life, as well as instructions for the parents. She has a special spot in front of the altar.

Someone was holding a bouquet of flowers to present to Itzel, la quinceañera after church. This day is the first time of her life that she receives a bouquet.

Photos of Itzel leaving the church and outside alongside her parents. Then it is off to the fiesta where, besides food and drinks and dancing, there is a reenactment of her life with different people playing la quinceañera as a little girl and older girl.

The traditional color for the dress is white but now you see every color.

Wedding

I went to wedding Saturday night at Santo Domingo church which is the most elaborate church in Oaxaca. I saw the decorated car parked on the street and thought, photo opportunity! Custom is that at the end of Mass, the couple poses at the altar and everybody takes turns getting their picture taken with them. Someone from the wedding walked up to me and said, go on up to the front, take pictures. I said, really???

The groom was looking at me like, who is this?

The little attendants were having a fun time keeping the bride's train straight. At one point the little guy was underneath. Those are white flower petals thatare thrown at the couple as they leave the church. It looked like snow.

It is custom to decorate the car with bouquets of flowers. This car is so small that I wondered how the bride got her gown inside.

Embroidered Paintings

There is an exhibit at the Textile Museum of works by Oaxacan artist Navidad Amador. Navidad studied Fine Art at the university and produced graphics and paintings. Later when she began searching for more meaning in her work, she developed a technique based on her village's elaborately embroidered clothing. Here I have one of her untitled works and close-ups of parts. These photos do not reveal the artistry, intricacy, detail and beauty of her works.

Navidad uses the traditional chain stitch of her village but with different techniques such as different angles, combinations of threads, and combinations of colors to get shadings and depth as is achieved through painting. To do these embroidered paintings, the fabric is stretched on a large wood form then the stitching is done by hand with a hook (looks like a fine crochet hook) above the fabric and a small needle underneath.

I don't know what the materials are made of but the threads look shiny like silk.

Fruit

The fruit in Mexico is so delicious that I have to eat some everyday. It is more flavorful, more colorful, more intense, more juicy. There are stands all over the city of Oaxaca, in doorways, on the sidewalks, selling fruit and vegetables cut in pieces or juice. This is the stand that I frequent most often as it is on the route between my apartment and school. La Señora prepares and sells the fruit and vegetables, along with her daughters, five days a week, from 10:00 until 3:00.

She offers cantalope, watermelon, mango, papaya, strawberries, apples, jicama and cucumber.

You can have your fruit natural, with chile and lime, or with honey and granola, or yogurt. Today I had melón con chile y limón.

Walls

Painting messages on walls is common in Mexico. Some are tagging but most are political messages, some are stenciled, some are originals. The first image shows that Communism is alive and well in Oaxaca. The next image has a message about a national strike against imperialists.

This house that is under construction has La Virgen de Guadalupe painted next to the front door. I have seen this same image in different colors on other houses. I think the rose and green are particularly pretty here.

See? They invented more than the wheel.

This isn't painted but was drawn on the wall next to a front door by using a sharp instrument when the cement was wet. I stopped to look at it wondering if a musician lived here, and was taking a photo when the door opened and la señora stepped out. We surprised each other then starting talking. She explained that her deceased husband was a musician and this was a song he loved. She sang the song for me. I told her I loved the houses in the neighborhood because each one was unique and charming. She said, are you in a hurry? You can come in and I will show you my house. The house was filled with counted cross stitch, including a family tree showing her 11 children. She has 10 birds in cages on the exterior patio, 6 canaries and 4 parakeets. When I left she said, mi casa es tu casa, so I guess they really say that.

Street Views

This charming house is in my favorite neighborhood in Oaxaca, la Colonia Xochimilco, where the streets are cobblestoned, curvy and hilly.

Narrow streets are the norm here.

A pretty little entryway built into an old wall made of the local stone, cantera, which comes in green and rose.

Wrought Iron

I am enamored with wrought iron that decorates almost every building in Oaxaca. I love the patterns and shadows. I took these photos on Sunday as I walked through a pretty neighborhood.



Can you see the guard dog jumping?



Shadows from a window grille.



Driveway gates.



A pretty turquoise door.

My Apartment in Oaxaca

I am back in Oaxaca in the same apartment. Here are a few views of the main room which has a sofa and chair, dining table, and desk. Through a doorway you can see the bedroom. Unseen is the kitchen--which I call the utility room since I don't cook here--located next to the dining table.

I decided to make the place a little more interesting and happy so I re-decorated by covering the sofa and chair with white rebozos, then added a couple embroidered pillows. I replaced the chair pads with green ones. Behind the sofa I hung two "sellos" with Mayan designs, which are cut out of tissue paper. Over the dining table I hung a hand-embroidered cloth that looks contemporary-ish from afar.

What do you think?