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Published: March 11th 2006
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International Hikers
Giselle (from Germany), Zdenek (Czech Republic), Cura (Brazil), and Michelle (US) òn a ridgetop in the mountains above Tepoztlan Greetings everyone. The days and weeks have gone by sooo quickly here. It's hard to imagine how to share the events of our routine at Tashirat - our yoga is certainly improving and becoming more comfortable every day, the vivero (greenhouse) is getting greener as the many seeds we put in the ground weeks ago are stretching into the diffuse sunlight and beginning their magical dance. We're putting a cropping plan in place for Tashirat, drawing on the many resources and talents that Michelle developed while at MSU. We continue to learn more of the intricacies of this special community as we get to know the staff on a more personal level. Friendships with fellow volunteers continue to deepen and strengthen, and we have made a number of other friends in passing. And now we are days away from pushing off from Tashirat and continuing on our travel adventure. It seems sudden, and at times feels like our work here (both personal work and service to this community) is not yet complete. But we are both excited to be back on the road and to see some of the other beautiful places that this country has to offer.
Here are
a few highlights from our past month or so in Tepoztlan:
Huehuecoyotl A number of weeks ago, we had the good fortune of meeting a young guy from the Czech Republic named Zdenek (aka, Pancho!) Zdenek is traveling in Mexico studying shamanism and native healing/ceremonial practices. When we met him, he was staying at a community a bit farther up the mountain from Tashirat. Zdenek showed up for yoga a few mornings, joined us for a fun evening of music and song around the campfire, and invited us for a hike at his temporary home of Huehuecoyotl. A beautiful collection of gardens and amazing homes, Huehuecoyotl is a small community initially established by a group of caravaners - rainbow people that had been traveling the world for years. One thing for certain that they gathered through their travels is a keen though exotic aesthetic: Turkish domes of adobe, 20 ft. tall mask facades, earthy yet delicate cob. In stark contrast to the desert scrub that surrounds us at Tashirat, this area, a bit farther up the mountain and a few decades more established, was green and lush with monstrous avocado trees, productive citrus, colorful blossoms. We briefly met Helen,
Ancient tree
This (thousand-year-old?) Ficus presides over the garden from the stone wall at Huehue a current resident of Huehuecoyotl and Zdenek´s host. Helen is a self-proclaimed ¨bridgebuilder¨ and ¨spacemaker¨: she has spent her life working with native peoples, bridging cultures and traditions, creating spaces for ceremony, and helping people working to maintain active traditions build solidarity and hope. She told of many amazing and magical ceremonies she had been a part of, and invited us to Mexico City for a big water ceremony on March 16th, which will bring tribes and peoples from across Mexico, the US and beyond to pray for safe, clean, free water for all. We´re definitely going (more on this later!)
Zdenek then led us up a steep scramble to a favorite vantage point high on the hillside behind Huehue. Among the noble pines and cedars at the top, we had a majestic view of the next valley over, free from human development. As we sat absorbing the natural beauty of this vista, Zdenek drummed and sang a prayer for us all. Cura, fellow Tashirat volunteer, sang one as well. We relished in an intimate connection with the natural world, somehow much stronger here than in the cosmic-oriented spirituality of Tashirat. Zdenek ran off to attend to other ceremonies
Well deserved rest
Rainbow caravan bus in the shade of young banana trees and we loitered at the top with open hearts, sharing stories, anecdotes, recipes...
¡Carnival! We had heard many rumors about Carnival, so as the week before Ash Wednesday approached, our excitement grew... Saturday afternoon, we took the bus in to town to meet Dan, 20 year old from Chicago and fellow volunteer. The food and artisan market that we had become accustomed to now spilled down the street and into the side streets, all filled with crowds of people (most carrying Micheladas - beer with lime and chili). Dan, already a few Micheladas to the wind, greeted us with a hearty ¨Carnival!¨ and crushed eggs filled with colorful confetti on our unsuspecting heads. The central area, usually vegetable vendors and food stands, was now filled with carnival rides and amusing carnival games (e.g., shooting games that made little Ken and Barbie figures dressed in Mariachi or Rock´n´roll costumes dance to favorite tunes!) We wandered the streets, tasting the many treats available, people watching, marvelling at the sea of consumerist ´stuff´available for sale. Dan braved a few upside-down carnival rides, and we all danced with the Chinelos. This local tradition involves elaborate costumes with big round hats and funny masks
Carnaval Dancing in Tepoztlan
The crowd follows the chinelos, who follow a brass band, around and around in circles in the plaza, all afternoon and into the night. of pointed beards. The Chinelos dance round and round in the central square to the blare of trumpets and crack of drums while hoards of Michelada-filled Carnival goers join them. While certainly the highlight of Carnival, we still don´t really know the story behind the Chinelos - anyone out there have an idea?
Crystal Ceremony Last week we were invited by a neighbor to join in a crystal bowl ceremony. The ceremony celebrated a crystal ¨seed day.¨ It was so beautiful -- can anyone shed more light on the crystal seed day significance? Her explanation was all in Spanish, and that is all we caught. What we did was set up eight crystal bowls in a circle, each corresponding to one note of the scale, and to one color of the rainbow. We started the bowls vibrating by tapping with a mallet, then running the mallets around the outside edge of the bowls to maintain the vibration, and they sang! We played the bowls for over an hour, and the music echoed off the rock walls all around. It was mesmerizing, and musical, hot and sunny and beautiful to play the bowls (and the didgeridoos, pipes, conch shells,
Chinelo up close
The traditional Carnaval costume in Tepoztlan-- they incorporate bearded masks, elaborate velvet robes and headresses, images of everything from Quetzlcoatl to Mickey Mouse, and there's even an ice cream flavor (Nieve de Chinelo) named after them. But what ARE they?? etc) in a circle with folks from all over the world. There are visual and aural sense memories from that day unlike anything either of us had ever experienced!
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Chelsea
non-member comment
I think this is really neat. It makes me want to go on a vacation, not for a vacation sake but to really live with the people and experience the culture. I like this because it gives more than just facts, but personal experience.