ECLIPSE AND CLOUDS

A few shots of our observance of the latest solar eclipse combined with some Oaxaqueno cloud studies.




You'll find the sun in the middle of the above photos, behind the clouds. Kept hoping I wasn't going to burn out the CCD. I didn't.



These were the clouds preceeding the eclipse and following the eclipse. In some ways more appealing than the eclipse itself.


An example of the incredible sunsets of winter in valley of Oaxaca.

PHOTO ESSAY: GRAFFITI

SIGN ART
There is a great deal of folksy sign painting happening in Mexico.


[Cd. Oaxaca]


[Welder, San Cristobal, Chiapas]


[Cocina Zapatista sign near Ocosingo, Chiapas]


[Zapatista Papeleria (paper store) sign near Ocosingo, Chiapas]

B/W STENCIL ART
When we first arrived in Oaxaca there was an art show at IAGO featuring the work of El Grupo SUMA. SUMA is a graphic design group (loose grouping?). The show focused on work from the 1970s and 1980s. Their work with silhouette has had an effect on the graffiti of southern Mexico at least. (Sorry, I was unable to find a sample of their work to post.)


[Cd. Oaxaca]
A "Reservoir Dogs"-like reference by Vain and a Benito Juarez updated for the punk rock generation.


[Cd. Oaxaca]
A stencil by Suero with an independent comic book feel (like "Transmetropolitan").


[Cd. Oaxaca]
A merger of George Bush (fils) and Mickey Mouse on a slow sign. Filled with allegory.


[San Cristobal, Chiapas]
"Tierra y Libertad" by Dr Hofmann. Brilliant piece comparing graffiti artists to Mexican revolutionaries. Some would agree.


[San Cristobal, Chiapas]
Just onions.


ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION

[Hierve el Agua, Oaxaca]
Several large agaves are dying due to the scratched in names of students visiting Hierve el Agua, in the mountains outside Oaxaca Cd.


[Cd. Oaxaca]
Our closest building in mal estado. Ripe for new works.

ZAACHILA

Yesterday Kelsie, Ella, Muriel, Leland and myself had a fantastic visit out to Zaachila, which is a small town about a half hour outside of Oaxaca. First, we spent a couple of hours out at the livestock market which is on the outskirts of the town. It was truly incredible--none of us had ever seen anything like it. When we first got out of the taxi, we managed to wander into an area that was selling nothing but firewood and charcoal. We thought that perhaps we'd missed the livestock market, so wandered a bit. There were a couple of carts with burros braying loudly which provided a some entertainment, but still not what we were seeking. After asking a couple of people, we found our way around a corner and down the street to the sought after livestock market. Upon entering, a brahmen bull got loose, sending several people, including us, scattering out of harms way.


Overview--the bull area was the largest


Bulls for sale


And so the adventure began. We wandered slowly between the perimeter of where the bulls were and the comedors (small eateries) where barbacoa de chivo (barbecued goat) was being served. One woman gave me a taste as I admired the contents of her cooking pot. Delicious! Everything goes into the pot--organs, head, etc. Just at the end of the covered area that had all the comedors were the goats and sheep, and beyond them the pigs. Behind the bulls were a few burros and rather sad and bedraggled looking horses. There were also a few random bunnies, which the children particularly enjoyed.



Piggies.


Double decker sheep.

We were the only foreigners in the whole market, so were a bit of a novelty. Everyone was, as usual, incredibly kind and warm. After our wandering, we sat and had tacos de barbacoa de chivo which were great. It was a bit strange to be eating goat and being steps away from the live kind... The kids found the meat too spicy, so had deep fried quesadillas with epazote (a much used herb) and flor de calabaza (squash blossoms)--very greasy and quite yummy.



Sheep waiting while it's new owner eats some barbacoa...


After our lunch, we walked out to the main road and got a motorcycle taxi to the center of town, where there was a large and very crowded market going on. It was a little daunting with the kids in tow, and the heat coming on full force, but we managed to enjoy ourselves. We found some little classic Oaxacan baskets to use as Easter baskets for the kids, had some fresh fruit, saw lots of turkeys panting in the heat, and made a friend with one of the turkey vendors.


Market overview.


Making friends.


Her turkeys for sale.


After the crunch of the market, we went across the street to get a peak at the church, and get an overview of the market. We also found a molino (grinding store) to buy some freshly ground mix for making hot chocolate (or mole...). It was great to watch people choosing their particular amounts of cocoa, cinnamon and sugar, then seeing it ground. There were also tremendous vats of mole. The children loved tasting the freshly ground, still warm, chocolate mix.


The weighing station.



The grinders.



Mole off to market.



Checking out the chocolate.






Making hot chocolate later in the day.


We finished the day eating tacos at our favorite stand in the Parque Llano. All in all a grand day. It was Kelsie and Ella's last day, and I think quite a memorable send off.

March is here, the weather is heating up, visitors are pouring in, and the end of our time in Oaxaca seems to be spiraling closer at an alarming speed. Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe left yesterday morning after a fun four day visit. Saturday was spent out in San Augustine de Etla, where we toured the paper factory, the upcoming art school, and visited with our friends Marietta and Antonio.


The paper factory, which is one of Francisco Toledo's many projects, is amazing--beautiful textures and colors in a gorgeous setting.


These are some of the raw materials used to make the paper.



Here are some fibers being prepared to turn into paper.


This is how the paper is dried.



A few examples of the finished product.


The future art school there is another Toledo project. The scale of the building is incredible.


This is the main upstairs space.


Ann and Paul admiring the cochinile dyed water that runs down either side of the main stairway.



After visiting the paper factory and school, we went with Marietta and Tony to a little eating spot up the street from their amazing new house. The food was incredibly delicious, and the environment unsurpassed.




Sunday Thom, the kids, myself and our friends David, Elizabeth and their daughter Leila went out to Guadalupe Etla (there are MANY Etlas...) for a gathering at our friend's Rachel and Eric's. They have an amazing piece of land way out in the country. It was a blast. The kids made kites. The parents talked and ate. (dish of the day was rajas con crema, with quesillo--very decadent and delicious!)


This is a banana tree flower at Rachel and Eric's. There are many banana trees putting out these incredible blooms at the moment. Amazing to see, particularly considering the lack of water right now.


This is the tree house for Eric and Rachel's daughters Luli and Zea.




Kids with kites...



And, finally, yes the impossible occurred: Thom took part in a drum circle. Well, he looks pretty happy for it.


And so now...Tonight Matt and Ella arrive--Thursday Kelsie joins up with all of us. Thom's film "Stray" is showing tomorrow night at a little bar in town. He's very excited. Alta and her friend Jeri, who arrived Saturday night from Minneapolis, left today for a 5 day journey to Chiapas. Thom and I are going to follow suit and go on our own to Chiapas after Easter while Alta takes care of M. and L.(first time since before Muriel that we've been off on our own!). We'll try and keep all the adventures posted!

The night before we left for our week in New York (visa renewal and seeing The Gates as our major excuses), we went with our friends David, Elizabeth and Leila to the Circo Franzatti/Rudy Brothers Circus. It's been I don't know how long since I've been to a "traditional" circus, and this one proved to be quite exceptional in it's starkness, it's frayed edges, it's sweetness. We all had a tremendous time, and following it I kept thinking how much I would have loved to take photos of the show, and of the participants. They didn't allow any photos to be taken during the show, and the only photo that I did take, of the ticket taker, I liked the look of. We were under the impression that the circus was only going to be in Oaxaca for a week, and since we were leaving for New York early the next day, I attempted to put the whole notion of photographing the circus and it's participants out of my mind. After all, I very rarely photograph human subjects, so, while intriguing, I could easily dismiss the idea.


The Maestro. He is the school teacher for the numerous kids in the circus, and the ticket seller...

When we returned from New York, we were all surprised to find out that in fact the circus was still here. Last Friday morning I went out to ask permission to return during the evening to take photos of the circus entertainers. As I spoke with Uri, the man who works with the lions, in the shade of one of the tractor-trailers we heard the male lion roaring. When I commented on the magnificence of the sound, he asked if I'd like to come over and see the animals. Duh. A half hour later I left the circus area having pet 2 nine month old tigers and been in very close proximity to lions, baboons, a zebra, camels and so on. I also had a very warm invitation to return that evening to take photos. I arrived at 5:30 with a box of cookies and a large bottle of mezcal as offerings.

That day was the 1st birthday of one of the children whose family works at the circus, so there was a festive group gathered out between the trailers. All were incredibly kind and generous. I was given carte blanche to wander and take photos. Mostly, I camped out at the back of the circus tent where the performers went in and out over the course of the evening. Between taking pictures I spoke with the various entertainers, who doubled as popcorn and cotton candy hawkers when they weren't performing. The circus is actually a merging of 2 circus families that make up Rudy Brothers Circus and Franzatti. It seems like everyone is someone's cousin or niece or grandchild--a bit hard to keep it all strait, particularly with language barriers in place...

Kilma and Abril are both 14 years old. Abril will turn 15 on April 5th (I have to assume she was named for the month she was born into) Quince años (15 years) is a big rite of passage for young women here in Mexico--it's seen as the passage into womanhood. She has extended an invitation to me to attend her quince años party which will be held in a town about 45 minutes from Oaxaca. I think they are also planning on doing a special circus that evening in celebration.



Kilma and Abril.


Abril at the popcorn stand.


The evening was a tremendous experience for me. The performers all worked so incredibly hard, and were so determined to give a good show to the spectators. And, they could not have been kinder to me--I felt like a rock star... They invited me to come and see the show with my family on Sunday, which I took them up on. Thom, the kids, Alta, plus our friend Elizabeth and daughter Leila all saw the early show on Sunday (11:30 am), and then were invited to join them for lunch. By the time we left around 3:30, Muriel and Leland were wanting to start their training to be in the circus. Leland is still talking about his friend Diego, and both kids are still going on about Pepinato the clown (who is VERY funny--clowns are a big part of Mexican culture, and tread a line between stand up comic and clown).


Diego


Pepinato


Fabian warming up. He's 15 years old. When he was 11 he fell and broke his femur and his hand. It took him a while to overcome his fear, but he now gives a beautiful and commanding performance.


Couple in their trailer. This is also where the classroom is. I am not sure what role the couple play in the functioning of the circus.


I went out Tuesday morning for a final goodbye, as they had given their last performance in Oaxaca on Monday night and were packing up to go to the next town. Areli, one of the previous generations of performers (who had to spend 2 years prone in a cast after a fall which broke her pelvis), took pictures of me with one of the two 9 month old tigers. They've had them since they were tiny babies, and they are incredibly social. Very incredible to be near.




I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again in April. I hope to take some more photos then too. I'm still not entirely comfortable with taking photos of people, but this was a good start as they were all so incredibly inviting...

We Live!

In the past weeks we have burrowed deep into ourselves. Taking care of the pains of being separated from our friends, getting rid of colds and flus, renewing our visas in NYC while "the gates" were standing.

It is hot and getting hotter in Oaxaca. We can see the insects flourishing after a relatively dormant period. We feel heat in the house for the first time, when previously there had been many cold days and nights. And we are preparing for a flood of friends. Happily.

This past month has marked a turning point. We are over half way through with our stay. Now every decision is judged against a ticking clock. The clock also pushes us to do the things that we truly want to do. I am learning a plastering process 400 years old using hydrated lime and nopal. Tracy is taking pictures like mad and already has two shows in the works upon her return. (sign up here to book her). Alta is discovering and shipping new product like mad. Muriel and Leland are both drawing all the time. They are soaking up the Spanish language as if it were their first.

So this is short. I wanted to get the ball rolling again. Next, I'll have Tracy tell us about her days spent photographing the Rudy Brothers Circus.

TR

QUICK LOOK AT MURIEL AND LELAND

Just a look at Leland during the morning we observed him at school.


OYE! MIRA!


The school's materials are limited, but Leland likes it there.


The chicas dig Leland.


One example of Leland's inspired art. I love it.


SACABEE'S BIRTHDAY

During our doldrums, Muriel was missing her friends quite a bit. She came up with the idea of making it Isa's Birthday. Once Leland heard about this, he decided it was going to be the twins' Birthday, too. But we all had a lovely time. Muriel's instinct was a good one. It was the beginning of the renaissance.


Our cake for the party.


The twins are inquisitive.


Sacabee's gifts.


The gorillas like the new car Leland chose.

LA GRIPPA BRINGS DOLDRUMS

Two years ago I started getting the flu shot provided by Cornell University to its staff. I know, I know, it probably had some sort of mellowing agent or anti-depressant or something--it came too close to the secret envelope that carried news of your miniscule raise from your shrugging boss. But I decided to start lining up for the shot when I realized that I was getting the flu every year. And around the same day. Last year it worked very well. I didn't have the flu at all and was totally surrounded by it at home. Tracy had a long bout with a cough that eventually made its way to become pneumonia. I got nothing. I felt invincible.

So when Tracy started coughing again, here in Oaxaca, I thought that perhaps I still had some juice left over. I thought, "No way is that thing getting me, I'm immune I think." I mean how different can it really be? Tracy was sick with a high chest cough as early as the week of Christmas. She is just now coming down from it, after two rounds of antibiotics, a late night house call, a fistful of expectorants, antihistimines, Halls with eucalyptus, Halls without eucalyptus but with Vitamin C, a couple of killer shiatsu massages, and plenty of bed rest. Unfortunately, the antibiotics may have even hindered the process of healing, making it take longer.

One day, as I came back from working at my cafe (Cafe Nuevo Mundo) I heard Tracy's cough. It was coming from someone else on the street, hunched shoulders passing in the shadows. But it was unmistakably the same cough, as if the virus had a voice. The next two days I spent working in a daze. Hot and cold flashes. Too hot to work, and too many people in the cafe anyway. [It may be a crime that I have not been able to find a way to work at home. In this lovely home.] And the work was total crap. I got more work done in the ensuing feverish dreams than I did sitting there staring. Cooking.

When Tracy made her first move to sit up and get out of bed, I let the full force of the virus hit me head on. I slept for a whole day. It was as if I had been holding it off, waiting for Tracy to be able to walk. It rode me in all its regalia. Shivering fever, incredible heat, cloudy head, and dreams from Van Gogh's tortured earless head. Oh, and the cough. My mouth had become the PA system for the little mechanical beasts. Sinuses fill. Two dreams about earthquakes. One woke me up, I had been sealed about 40 feet deep in airtight inescapable rubble, and as I lay beside Leland in our bed (he too had succumbed) I was gripped with a fear that I could never sleep again. Vivid, the imaginations of those little mechanical beasts.

I felt like I, too, was on the mend. I made a paella. It went a bit long. I rested the next day. Then I sat while Muriel (poor Muriel!) jumped around at a little indoor playground down the street. I walked back with her. Later I walked down the street again, in search of popcorn (I said it was the doldrums!) of our instance of pitiful Pitico a lame chain of grocery stores (they had none, of course). And then I was back in the dreaming pit. Chills. Sleeping. Out. Wearing my hat in bed.

It hit Muriel. It hit Leland. Muriel has been spotty. Leland was layed out. Keep wishing for our old king sized bed in Ithaca. There were times when I slept in Leland's bed so that he could be with Tracy. Actually that's where I had that suffocating earthquake dream. Other than that, it was comfortable once I pushed my feet through the end of his covers. Like I was back home from college. Oversized bedsprings from old auction bed. Dreaming of my future, with Muriel sleeping calmly in the twin bed next to mine. Some little girl who loves me as if she were my daughter. She loves art and loves to draw, and loves me. A strange mixture of feelings. But they felt good as my feet stuck out the end, Abe Lincoln-ish, and the virus lay as quiet as a machine can. Hiding from my white corpuscles.

Today we took the bus to Plaza Del Valle to see Los Increibles. It was pretty darned good.

CHRISTMAS AND INNUNDATION IN OAXACA

Well, it made me wonder why everyone we knew was going out of town for the holidays. No longer. The innundation of Oaxaca by tourists is now complete, and the tide has receded somewhat. On Macedonia Alcala (one of the primary streets from the north to the zocalo) you were ten times more likely to hear English than Spanish. The very poor know this too and you see many more people from outlying areas coming in to beg or play their accordians or sell rebozos or drawings.



Thankfully our good friend Nilofour King came to stay with us. She played piano for Christmas carolling. The level of cooking knowledge in the house rose a number of degrees. Nilofour made both ponche and rompope, two great seasonal drinks--ponche, a wonderful fragrant spiced cider and rompope, a deadly addictive egg nog relative.

Nilofour was able to go to the Noche de los Rabanos for the first time--she's been waiting for 30 years. Night of the Radishes comes each December 23rd and is a celebration specific to Oaxaca. People harvest old, gangly radishes and carve some amazing things with them. Nilofour was not disappointed. The lines were 1.5 hours long to get into the Zocalo.





Muriel and Leland were asked to be a part of a local posada, celebrating the passage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and trying to locate a place to stay.





Muriel was Mary. Leland, well, Leland was playing the part of an angel. The posada came to our door, visited our creche/nativity scene, milled about and went on to where the party was happening. The last stop is, of course, the inn that has the room (in the manger). Pinatas, ponche (not as good as Nilofour's!), and tamales. Nerve-wracking to walk down Oaxacan streets with kids. The vehicles seemed forgiving, if just for the passage of the pilgrims. Candle-powered lamps bursting into flame if held at the wrong angle. Just clean fun.





On Christmas Eve, four new additions to the home as Nilofour returned to the states. Lynne (Tracy's sister/Alta's daughter), her girlfriend Susie, and their two dogs What What and Alice B. Poodle. And a boatload of packages from the North Pole.