Oaxaca

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So once upon a time I was studying Spanish in the country called Mexico when I decided to go home to the United States to see my family. I thought that I was not going to come back to Mexico, so I bought an apartment. The apartment was a townhouse with three floors and I decided to renovate it to fit my tastes. A couple days later a good friend of mine heard I was in town and came over to see my new apartment. However, this was interesting because I had not seen this person since 8th grade. He convinced me that I needed to return to Mexico to finish out my semester there. I said I would return, only under the conditions that he join me, so we hopped on a plane to Mexico.

I thought everything was going well, when the plane started to dive back to earth. I bent over and hugged my legs, just as safety pamphlet demonstrated, and luckily survived the plunge into the sea. My friend I made it out to the wings of the plane and were rescued by a flying dinosaur that promptly flew us directly to the base of Popocatépetl.

This was very convenient because I had always wanted to go to the top of Popocatépetl. So my friend and I jumped on a bus that took us to the summit. I had imagined that the top of the mountain would have snow and rocks and not too much going on, but to my surprise there were lakes, rives, and waterfalls, all of brilliant colors. The water sparkled and there were rainbows because of the sun reflection. We wandered among the forest of trees, bodies of water, and ice sculptures and I ended up having the time of my life. It was really as if we were in heaven.

Right now in my Spanish 306 class we are working on the past tense and this was our homework assignment. Of course for my homework it was in Spanish, but here is the English translation for all of you that don’t read Spanish. (In truth I barely read Spanish). We had to write about a dream we had and I had this one (may have made a few parts up) last Thursday night. I just thought some people would like to see what I am doing with all my time here in Mexico. So productive! Anyways too it is interesting to look back on my dream because it is kind of a portrayal of my time here in Mexico so far. First, when I got here I only wanted to go home (I didn’t), then I guess I was rescued and decided to stay and I have been finding the beauty of this neighboring country. I haven’t gotten to see the sparkling waterfalls yet, but I think they are coming.

I did, however, see a pretty awesome town this weekend. Oaxaca, pronounced Wa-ha-ka, is another adorable colonial Mexican town turned metropolis. Here I was expecting to find a town ten streets wide, only to be smacked in the face with traffic, millions of people (especially tourists), and too many streets to count. Those travel guides show you one pinprick of each city and make you think that it is going to be quaint and small, but in reality it is nothing close to that. I do have to say that Oaxaca still maintained most of its cobblestone streets, old buildings, and local artisans.

On our trip down to Oaxaca our bus broke down. Shocker right? I am actually getting really used to everything going wrong when I travel. I am pretty sure it is just a normal with traveling anywhere and it is just better to always expect and prepare for the worst to happen. (The group thinks this is my motto) Not that this was really that bad. We got out and took some pictures of the beautiful mountains for a few minutes and before we knew it we were in route again. Ten minutes later the bus broke down again; this time for good. Ted asked me if I loved all the excitement of the bus breaking down, because I loved it when we almost missed our bus in Acapulco. I have to say, the bus breaking down wasn’t quite as exciting as the taxi ride in Acapulco. Anyways, luckily, there was a bus of 8 Dutch tourists that pulled up right behind us and took us the rest of the way to Oaxaca. We found out that the next day the bus was still sitting on the side of the road and the bus driver spent the night on the bus. Poor guy.

So anyways we eventually made it to Oaxaca and went out for some lunch. We visited the Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo, which was really a truly incredible building. At first glance it seemed to be built of all off white stone, but when you looked a little closer it was really constructed with light green, orange, and brown stones. I loved everything about this building, of course, because of my love for architecture. A group of us had to go to the bathroom while we were there and it was way off on one side of the building where they have art exhibitions. I wandered through this area a little (I was really supposed to be learning about the indigenous societies), and I found an exhibition of Irma Grizá (whom I had never heard of before), but I loved her art; I could have spent all day in that room. After looking at the art I went back to the main center courtyard of the building and found this peaceful corner. It was so nice and quiet, there were no people, I had a perfect view of the fountain, the building, plus the tower on the front of the building and the tower of the neighboring church. Loved it! (There is a picture from my space of repose). I spent another few minutes in my tranquil location before I went and found the rest of the group again. I was kind of annoyed the whole time with the group because all of the information the guide was telling us was in Spanish. Now I understand that we are here to learn Spanish, but not all of us are fluent yet and honestly I did want to know what was going on. So I will probably just be doing a lot of googling and reading of my tour books.

After the Ex-Convento we had some time to wander around the city. I took off with Nick and Caitlin and we just wandered some of the streets and then we found the mercado (market). Here Nick proceeded to try grasshopper, which I passed up. I heard it was salty and sour and I just really didn’t want to eat a grasshopper, it is not the same as my green super food shake (although mom and pope you probably classify them in the same grouping). Anyways we walked through the market checking it out, and I was actually not as impressed as I thought I would be. There were tons of people packed into a small area and you really couldn’t comfortably check out all the stuff. I still prefer the markets in Barcelona.

The next day we got up early and went for a buffet breakfast. It was delicious and I loved that on the television right in front of me was an EVERTON vs. WEST BROM game!! As one may have guessed Everton won 2-0. Then right after the game was the Dubai tennis tournament and it was Djokovic. So it was like I was in heaven for an hour. After that we took about an hour bus ride to some of the outlying towns of Oaxaca to see some local artisans.

We went to Alberto Vasquez, a hand-made wool factory that uses both organic and cochineal dyes. Cochineal is a traditional red dye of pre-Hispanic Mexico. It is dead and dried out insects that they crush on a stone until they become a red powder. They then add the powder to boiling water and use this mixture to dye the yarn. They repeat this process with a blue stone to create the blue dye. So we saw the whole process, how they prepare the yarn, how they dye the yarn, and then how they hand weave it to make a rug or a poncho. The man said that to make a fairly large area rug, like 8 by 10, it takes about 5 months. For the amount of time it takes and the energy that goes into the process, I felt like the rugs were fairly cheap, or at least a good deal; for something in the United States with a process this intense (it doesn’t exist), it would probably cost $4000 for a rug, here it was 4000 pesos for a large size. I ended up getting a small one that was made with the cochineal dyes and the different colors of the natural wool, so I paid the hefty price of 1000 pesos ($60). Some people got a bigger size and it was less, but they got the fake dyed version, and we all know that is not my style. I am thinking that I will have to frame the rug, because my cat will probably try to eat it and plus I don’t want people walking on something like that.

Also while we were at the wool factory some of the boys were introduced to this tennis-like game from pre-Hispanic times. They each put on these mammoth gloves that were fairly heavy, and they hit/pushed this large bouncy ball around. They had to be really careful because it easily could have broken something or someone. But, anyways it was really funny to watch and I think they enjoyed it. After our trip at the rug factory, we went to Mitla, which is an archaeological site located in the town of San Pablo Villa. I wasn’t at all impressed with the site of Mitla and there is not much to tell you all about it, but I loved the little town of San Pablo Villa. It was real Mexico, which is exactly what I was looking for. Here, we went and saw some more artisan work that was done by a Mexican family. They made these little wooden animals that were cut out of wood and painted crazy fun colors. The dad would carve the wood, the youngest girl would buff down the wood so it was smooth, the two older kids painted the animals, and the mom sold them in the market. Now that is a family business! I did not buy any because they are not my taste, but I took some pictures of the whole process.

After our visit in Mitla, we had lunch in a restaurant that fermented Mezcal. Mezcal is liquor that I believe is a type of tequila or it might be that tequila is a type of Mezcal, but anyways it is fermented from agave plants. They gave us shots to test it out; I of course by passed on this experience again, but it was just not my cup of tea. The process of taking a shot started with a lime in which you added some worm salt, and then you sat a worm on the lime, ate the lime and worm, and followed it with a shot of Mezcal. Most people said it was rather disgusting and that the worm left a not-so-nice aftertaste, so I am not disappointed that I missed out on that experience. That afternoon we returned to the city of Oaxaca, where I went on a nice run with a girl Emily. Running here is not fun because you just breathe in pollution and dust and choke your way down the street. But either way I made it about 30-35 minutes, which I am happy with.

Later that night we went to a tourist dinner/dance place and it was a little ridiculous. It guess it was cool to see all the different types of dances native to Oaxaca, but it not something I would recommend to other people. When we got back to the zócolo, I went on a mad hunt for ice cream. It is as if it is a commodity here in Mexico; I can never find it. We were 3 seconds to late to get some from the ice cream shop so we found a restaurant and settled for some mediocre chocolate ice cream. After our ice cream, Caitlin and I tried to find the group; they told us they were going to a place called Elefante and that it was six blocks up the street. So we took off six or seven blocks up the street before we decided to start asking around. We asked about 6 people on the street before we finally found Elefante. It was one block from the zócolo down another street, so we walked in a huge circle only to find that they weren’t at Elefante. So we called it a night.

The next morning I got up early with Nick and we took off on a hunt around Oaxaca. We found another center square where they were setting up for a huge bike race and they also had this exercise class going on there. I wanted to join in, but decided that wasn’t a good idea, plus we only had an hour till we had to meet up with group for breakfast. Nick and I got these chocolate milkshake drinks called Malteados. Amazing! One: wish they had them here in Cholula, two: wish we knew about them before our last day in Oaxaca. We took them with us on the bus to Monte Alban.

Monte Alban was my favorite place thus far. B-e-a-u-tiful. It is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site on the top of a mountain. It was one of the earliest sites of Mesoamerica. I will let the pictures do the talking. While we were here we had a great time. We made human pyramids on top of the pyramids and we also had a photo shoot dancing down the pyramids. The other people there thought we were hilarious, because as each person descended the pyramid they had to pick a song and perform it, hopefully you can get the idea from the pictures. The other people would clap for us as we got to the bottom. We also made Alyssa, a gymnast, do cartwheels and back-handsprings everywhere, poor girl. Later in the day we headed to Alfareria “Doña Rosa” which is where they hand-make the black pottery that Oaxaca is famous for. I was freaking out the whole trip (ask anyone) because I needed to get the black pottery and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I couldn’t figure out how Oaxaca could be famous for something that was nowhere to be found. So we went this place where they make these pots without electric wheels! The man who demonstrated for us used two plates; one face down and one face up, as his wheel to make these huge pots. It was really an intense experience to witness. In all of 5 minutes he whipped up this perfect pot (I know it is whole life, but still); it would have taken me three days to do what he did and it still wouldn’t have been as nice. He told us that is was the same technique they have been using for all of time. His tools were all natural too; he used natural woods and quartz to create these pots. I got a few to bring back so you can all see them!

Thus far, I am having a great time with the group. We have our moments where we disagree or we need a break from one another, but that is too be expected. I am finding my niche in the group; I apparently am the fifth boy, haha. I guess I would rather that than be considered a girly-girl. Anyways it has taken me about four days of typing this up to get close to finishing telling you all about my weekend, so I hope you enjoy it. Tomorrow we head out to the Talavera Factory in Puebla. This is where they make the pottery that Puebla is famous for, so hopefully I will find some nice stuff to bring back. Mom, prepare yourself, no clothes are allowed to accompany you, just a large empty suitcase with packing supplies!

Also we are in process of preparing for our spring break to Chiapas. We met yesterday with the TA from Dartmouth here, who went with some kids in January and she said she wanted to move there, so I am really looking forward to it. And just so you all know, we are all staying up with the news and we all know what is going on, so please do not keep telling me how dangerous it is here, I know perfectly well and I am being very careful. Also Cholula is more of a neighborhood town where everyone knows everyone and it really pretty safe. I know that if we were to be in any real danger they would get us out of here, so please do not worry about me. Hope everything is going well and I will hopefully be able to give you a shorter update sometime next week.

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Comments

[Martirene]

Griza'a artwork
I was trying to remember the name of the Museum where Griza's exhibit is taking place when I ran into your blog. I was very happy to read your comments about her work. I am her daughter and one of her fans and collector. I want to share with you her website in case you would like to see some of her work and learn about her career. (www.irmagriza.com) Once again, thank you for taking the time to look at the exhibit.