Octotlan market and some art...

Not much too do this weekend, except work on my lesson plans and Powerpoint etc for a brief presentation on Monday. Though I did get a manicure and pedicure yesterday, and the girls were so enamored with the metallic "spring green" nail polish I brought with me, I left it as a gift for them!

However, went to Octotlan market last Saturday (and had started a post, but never finished nor published it, so here it is below) with Jake, Zak, Pearl, Pam, Kim, Stef, Ron and his wife. Markets are always lots of fun, plenty to see... 

Big markets like this one are very similar to a big box store in the States, you can get just about anything you want or could dream of, all in the open air.

                              

Hands full of shopping bags? No worries, just head carry it so that you can use your hands to carry more things!

Those are bees on the sweet bread, not flies.

                    

Pig head anyone?

Old lady selling herbs. And you better believe she wanted to be paid for her photo, which was one thing I did NOT like about that particular market. Most people expected to be paid at Octotlan, even one lady, who the only photo I took was of her flowers (above), NOT of her. *sigh*

After a couple hours of that, the others went back to Oaxaca, while Jake, Pearl, Zak and I stayed on to visit Josefina Aguilar, who is very well known for her clay figures. 

  

After lunch we headed back and stopped at San Martin Tilcajete, a small town known for it's alebrijes. I bought a beautiful hummingbird from Efrain and Silvia Fuentes. I can't wait to hang it from the ceiling.  

The joy and bane of my existence here in Oaxaca... the Guelaguetza

So, my first week in Oaxaca my little street was very quiet which was good since my apartment is closest to the street... But then in the second week, things changed... Not only was there an extended fiesta for Saint Carmen beginning, so was the Guelaguezta (gheh-lah-getz-ah).

One of the first parades celebrating Saint Carmen (I took alot of these pics from our roof, which, don't worry mom, there are stairs and it's a flat roof).

Notice the lit candles on her headpiece.

Now, remember, the church right across the street is Iglesia del Carmen Alto. So that meant lots of music, parades, dancing, single fireworks (used for the noise mostly it seems, since they are shot off during daylight - though I know they will be going off, they still scare the crap out of me  because we don't know *when*!) etc. in the church courtyard and in the street most everyday, and at the weirdest times. One morning in fact, not only were the church bells at 6 am (which I had gotten used to), but all the sudden a mariachi band started up (I kid you not!). I mean, seriously, who the heck is at church at 6 am on a Friday? Anyhoo...

Sorry about the annoying black "line"... it's the shadow of the power line.

Thankfully, it hasn't been too horrible, and most festivities have ended at a decent evening hour. In addition to all this commotion, both sides of Calle Garcia Vigil has been lined with temporary food, drink, and craft stalls (literally, they showed up all in one day) and at the end of the block, carnival rides for the kids... and it's still a working one-way street with cars carefully driving slowly down the street trying to avoid the pedestrians who now have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are housing the aforementioned stalls. Ah! Mexico!

All the girls are soooo pretty.

Mom & daughter.

*Love* the braids that all the girls wear. However, I have noticed that if a girl's hair isn't long enough (say, just below her shoulders), she will add black or brown yarn to her braids to add length, which is usually pretty well camouflaged by the ribbons.

So, though it has been abit annoying, it's still been pretty cool, especially all the costumes and dancing. Great photo opportunities. For what it's worth, I have not and will not attend the "official" Guelaguetza at the big stadium, since I see so much of it for free in the streets and on TV (and truthfully, alot of the dances seem very similar).

The joys of Mexico...

So, on this day that we have run out of running water here at Casita Camila (we have large containers on the roof) *sigh*, so in contrast to this big bummer, I thought I'd show you some of the funnier things I've seen here in Oaxaca.

(I should say though, I was able to get a quick shower in last night - woot! - and I DO have drinking water, not to fear! And... it's fairly common to have water shortages here in Oaxaca.)

Zak & Jake acting out the Los Danzantes carvings (the ones of the mutilated dead guys).

Zak making sure that his friend Travis is enjoying the trip too! (that's an old-fashioned clothespin painted as Travis he's holding next to some pottery shards).

The totally awesome neon lit Virgin Mary at the church in Tequixtepec (7/20/10).

Same church with their awesome neon lit Saint Michael at the alter. I wonder if they are taking new members at the church? Seems like my kind of joint! ;-)

Casa Sagrada - riding in Mexico

So, here are a few pictures from our riding weekend (July 16 - 18) at Casa Sagrada. It was Stef (the bio teacher) and her friend Sonja (not a teacher in the NEH group, but she came along for Spanish lessons) and me for the weekend. The owner Mary Jane keeps a lovely place, the food is great, and she has a variety of horses. I rode an Anglo-Arab mare named Tory both days. We rode 6 hours Saturday, 4.5 hours Sunday at the walk, trot and canter. Needless to say, I was abit sore afterwards, but on the mend by Tuesday. Enjoy the pics.

Casa Sagrada

View from my room.

Hay is scarce here (you can get alfalfa, however), so for forage when not at grass 

(and there's very little of that anyhow), the horses eat the leftover green part of corn 

after the ears have been harvested.

Proof that they eat the corn greens (even when they have yellowed). 

Mary Jane says all the horses love it and they don't have 

to be taught to eat it (it is apparently alittle sweet).

Aside: they can get Purina grain (Omolene and the like here, but it is VERY expensive), so if grain is needed the horses get steamed, rolled oats and sometimes a bran mash.

Me and Tory, Saturday AM (she doesn't like to stand, hence the tight rein). 

I lost a stirrup that day (Sat.), as the stitching came undone on the leather, while at a canter and I was in two-point! I did, however, stay on (yeah! for having ridden for so many years and still having very good balance), and Mary Jane gave me her stirrups and she jerry-rigged a stirrup leather out of a leadrope (it was impressive - sadly no pics of her ingenuity) until her partner Bobby (he's originally from San Antonio) was able to meet us with a new set of leathers.

Sunday.

Stef on Spirit (L) and Sonja on Zeb (R).

BIG bougainvillea bushes! (though I saw several that were downright trees!)

Yucundaa

Yucundaa is a ruin site that was first excavated by Dr. Spores (whose been with us for over a week here giving tours/ talks/ lectures) and a team just in 2006... Sadly, there was no money to keep Yucundaa open to the public like Monte Alban, so to protect it, Yucundaa was covered back up! Hard to imagine, huh?

It was very interesting to see all the ruins being overgrown again, covered in grass, trees etc. And there were pottery shards EVERYWHERE.

Jake in front of what is a wall.

Cool pottery shards found by Stef.

Dr. Spores talking to the group while standing atop what is one of the great platforms.

Monte Alban & Mitla

One of the views from Monte Alban

On July 13, we all got into a bus and headed for Monte Alban (~ 800 BCE to 900 CE) which was a Zapotec city.   FYI: BCE = BC and CE  = AD, the Western powers that be in history are moving to using BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) as they feel it is somehow more correct and not religion based. Monte Alban is just a mere 30 minutes from downtown Oaxaca.

The erroneously named Los Danzantes (The Dancers)... originally thought to be dancing, these men are, in fact, dead after having been mutilated. Yikes.

Interestingly, there were no metal tools available at Monte Alban, and though there were wheels on children's toys, wheels were NOT used as a tool/ machine. Perhaps that is because of the hilly terrain? One doesn't truly know (including Dr. Spores, our resident archeologist/ anthropologist whose focus in Mesoamerica, specifically those cultures in the Oaxaca region). It is estimated at the height of Monte Alban that the population was ~ 30000.

So, since we all know I am best with pictures and not words... here ya go!

One of the pyramids...

Ron (one of the staff) at the top of the pyramid we climbed... you can see Celeste at the bottom. It didn't take too long to climb, but it wasn't easy as the steps are very narrow and unusually tall.

After lunch, we then headed to Mitla (~ 100 - 650 CE), a much smaller Mixtec city, where you can see the Spanish colonial church is built on top of some of the ruins (see below), and some of the stones from fallen down Mitla buildings were used in the construction of the church.

As you can see, not only was the church built on top of the ruins, 

today's modern Mitla residents live right next door.

Some remaining paintings (painted on plaster that's been put on the stone wall).

More of the "Greca" friezes... 

The designs are thought to be representative of wind, rain, clouds, etc.

You can see here paint remnants, which shows us that the friezes used to be vividly painted.

Here you can see one of the friezes close up. Note that each individual piece is held in by pressure, there is no mortar/cement. Also, the pieces that stand up/out are all one piece (more intact ones to the left, ones that have broken off to the right).

Next post: Yucundaa

Mexican Flora & fauna... so far...

I know, I know... I need to post about Monte Alban and Mitla... I'll get it to it I promise. But for now, you can check out fellow NEHers blogs:


Pearl Lau (Art teacher, with great info and she's a great artist too!)
http://pearl-mexico.blogspot.com/ 
Zak Foster (Spanish teacher, all-around cool guy with a quirky sense of humor, LOVE it!)  http://zakinoaxaca.wordpress.com/ 


For now, thought I'd show you some of the flora of the Oaxaca region, most of the pics were taken at Monte Alban and El Tule, but some at Yucundaa ruins.

Love how this one (above) starts out (to the R), then the individual buds

bloom into tiny white flowers which makes a bigger flower!

Some flowers around Monte Alban (above and next two below). 

They are trying hard to reintroduce native plants to the ruin site.

Very pretty but painful!

 

Cactus living in the remains of a tree at Yacundaa ruins.

 Very odd tree leaves at Monte Alban... Our resident biologist (Stef T.) thinks maybe they are a parasite... but the looked to just come up straight from the leaf, not attached like a parasite would, but I dunno... Mom? Thoughts?

  

                              See how the bigger the cactus gets, 

the more bark-like the bottom part gets/ looks?

Tadpoles at Yucundaa ruins.

El Arbol del Tule... MASSIVE tree. It's a sabino tree (a type of cedar, I believe). Over 2000 years old (!!!) and 160 feet in diameter! It's said to be the most massive tree in the world, but not the oldest nor tallest. Very impressive.

You can see abit better here, with the people standing in front of it, just how big around El Tule is... Even with my small lens (28 - 105mm) on the good camera, if I stood where they were I couldn't pull back enough to get the whole trunk in the shot, so had to get farther away!

Lovely gardens at El Tule, which is in front of a church.

Cool clouds over the mountains on the way home from Yucundaa (about a hour outside Oaxaca city).

 
And finally, a great rainbow from the bus window yesterday!

I am going horseback riding this weekend with Stef T. and her friend Sonja (she's not a teacher, she's here for Spanish classes), so no more posts until I get back. We are staying and riding here: http://www.horsebackmexico.com/ 

Hasta luego!