After hearing the organ at the cathedral, we met Del and went to get Jo, who was dancing in one of the many parks where groups of people gather: almost any kind of dancing, from beginners to professionals, live and recorded music. On the way we got sidetracked by the sight of large orange mounds: marigolds piled at the entrance to a pedestrian street where people were building ofrendas. They were just getting started, so we decided to return later in the day. Although there were folks dancing, it wan quieter than usual for the dancon, but Jo and Del managed [View Full Entry]

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We hit the ground running, that is after sitting on the tarmac for an hour while our plane's communication system got fixed. In a city this size always has something going on at any hour, so we are walking all and dropping at night. First surprise was were the "Alebrijes" on the sidewalks of Reforma: weird creatures some ten feet high. Pedro Linares started out as a common papier mache artist who eked out a living on the outskirts of Mexico City by making traditional piñatas, carnival masks, and Judas dolls for local fiestas. In the 1930s, he broke from tradition [View Full Entry]

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or from the Mummy Museum to Dia de los Muertos. Finally, to be spending a day off my aching feet! The Mummy Museum is on the opposite side of town, actually underneath the cemetery. So, to scope it out before the Muertos celebrations, we caught the bus, at the bottom of the hill. It was half empty, as is the city now that the Cervantino is over. It (the bus) groaned through the tiny streets and lurched up the hill atop of which the cemetery sits. The Mummy Museum contains the dried, leathery remains of about fifty folk, adults and children. [View Full Entry]

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What a blessing, that there are people and cultures that are not afraid of color! Not just rich, saturated hues, but delirious combinations: red & blue, yellow & purple, green & orange. All on one house! Multiply that by a hillside collection of dwellings, and you get the sublime. These little neighborhoods and serpentine streets are awesome, a waking dream. Giotto-esque, not only for the color, but the jack-straw hodge-podge organic building of one structure upon another, nary a parallel line. A short walk down the hill there is a tree filled median where fruit and vegetable vendors set up [View Full Entry]

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Oh, there are few things more exciting than to wake up somewhere you've never been before! From the songs of birds before sunrise (accompanied by the explosion of fire-works at 5 AM!) to getting lost on winding streets full of exotic smells and colorful sights. The Cervantino is not over until tonight, so the city is flooded with a wild assortment of folk, much like Mardi-Gras in Venice. Live music on every other corner till the wee hours. Life unbridled. An intimate and welcoming place, already feeling like home in less than 24 hours. [View Full Entry]

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First to the Thursday market in Etla, a fraction of the Tlacolula market, but delightful, with the most beautiful local vegetables and fruit, and pottery. Then the entire afternoon on the mesa of Monte Albán, one of Mesoamerica's most incredible Zapotec ruins. Words and even the images don't do it justice; the expansive space and massive structures are stunning rock constructions, perched on the top of a mountain that dominates the valley below. It exhudes a power and a mystery, 'facts' are few, and even they are open to dispute. A thunder storm was moving in from the west, adding to [View Full Entry]

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The VW bug is not red, and it's just as well. Although lime-cream green is still pretty visible. We are hitting the country roads to tiny villages where kids run away when they see Tim! I am a bit under the weather today, if you know what I mean, so will let the images bear the burden. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten the grasshoppers - but its said that if you eat them, you'll return to Oaxaca. [View Full Entry]

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Well, okay then. A number of people have asked about food. I will admit to three daily foibles. In the front of Pitico there is a sorbet counter, usually two highschool-aged girls run it. These sirens wait at the edge of the cashier station with teensy plastic spoons on a tray that have tastes of the flavors in stock. They know me now, and know I need no temptation. They don't always have the pistachio and cream that is my weakness, but I'm easily convinced to try something else; tamarindo, grape, 'tuna' (cactus fruit), hibiscus. I stear away from capuccino or [View Full Entry]

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In the last few days the pace has slowed considerably. Downloading the 1000+ photographs, attempting to put some sort of order to them, and recuperating a bit. Saturday we tried to visit the Santa Domingo Culturel Center, connected to the church. Many of the groups of people from the zocalo, that were forced out when the police arrived, have relocated there. The Cultural Center was closed. I asked one of the men working there why it was closed. He replied " Security reasons, because of the crowds", not knowing if or when it would reopen. "But," I said, "these people are [View Full Entry]

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The third entry and last of the cemetaries. Setting off at about two, we saw plumes of smoke coming from the university area. A woman we passed urged caution as "people were being rounded up." We were heading in the opposite direction, to the northern edge of the city and the tiny cemetary of Sn Filipe del Agua. It, too, was bustling, but in an more familiar, everybody-knows-everybody, small town kind of way. We sat on the massive knarled roots of a huge tree, just watching families go about their business, arm-loads of flowers. Sweeping, washing, making flower crosses and hearts, [View Full Entry]

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