Oaxaca 2020 Week 6

2/19/2020

Day 36 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Wednesday, a day when no street vendors are allowed on the streets. As a result, we find things that we otherwise might have missed owing to less street activity (i.e., distractions). One such place is the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca (IAGO), a museum-library, created by the painter Francisco Toledo. Inaugurated in November 1988, it’s located in an 18th century house, donated to the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) by the Toledo family, located in front of the former Convent of Santo Domingo on the Alcalá. (Note: How often do we see the plaza in the front of the church absent of people!? Not Very!)

It has five exhibition rooms, three reading rooms, a central courtyard decorated with plants, a cafeteria, and a restaurant service specializing in typical dishes of Oaxaca cuisine. 

The collection contains more than twelve thousand volumes covering topics of painting, sculpture, architecture, bibliophilia, poetry, narrative, essay, children's and youth literature, industrial and graphic design, archeology, photography, cinematography, textiles, ceramics, folk art. While the collection is focused on Latin America, a good portion of the collection covers artists worldwide.

The collection is constantly updated. Works on music, dance and theater, and twenty-five subscriptions to magazines specialized in art and literature are available through services of internal and home lending, open shelving, consultation, computer data bank, newspaper library, photocopies and a cineclub. A collection of more than 600 VHS format video movies with regular cinema showings are regularly scheduled. 

The public can select and take the materials for themselves and, if required, receive individual attention from librarians. Guided tours to tourist and school groups, upon request. It periodically organizes keynote conferences, workshops and courses. It also publishes catalogs of exhibitions, posters, postcards and books with its own in-house graphics and print shop.

We still find streets we’ve not visited and a small parks like Jadín Conzatti, a few blocks west of Llano Park. We suspect there are even more so we keep searching.

Back to the apartment, happy hour, some light reading then to bed. By the way, the coffee we purchased at the small coffee shop next to La Rambla has been terrific.

Day 37 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

    Cleaning day again but we have a plan. Visit another cafe noted for its comida dia prices. Another recommendation by a neighbor, Santo Sabor. But as usual, our cleaning starts at 11:30 but the restaurant doesn’t start serving the daily special until 1:00pm so there’s time to kill.

We needed more cash so we walked to the ATM we’ve use din the past. Then needing another loaf of bread, we walked to Boulenc - but as long as we were there, a cup of coffee and a large slice of fresh baked sourdough bread and blackberry jam seemed in order.

Bread in hand we walked to the Zocala to observe people, then made our way to Santo Sabor. Thing is, walking from point A to point B (and often points C, D, E, etc.) we get easily distracted. Like stopping again to checkout anything new at the Centro Cultural San Pablo. A handful of new photographs were inspirational plus the small chapel connected to the building.

A small dog on the third floor of the library was sitting along the glassed wall overlooking the courtyard. For whatever reason it felt compelled to stare at me. When I pointed the dog out to Carol - literally pointing up at the small creature - it began barking. Barking dog in a library? The owner quickly came to quite the dog (looked like it was a reference librarian).

While the owner of the cafe Santo Sabor was most helpful, and the cream of carrot and broccoli soup was wonderful, overall, it was bland. Not like the lunch we had at La Taviche.

In the evening after happy hour, and still full from lunch, while Carol settled for a slice of bread and I for some cookies and tea, we heard a loud bang and a scream from our neighbor downstairs. We rushed down, knocked on her door and found her somewhat dazed. She had lit - or thought she had lit - her gas oven to heat up a meal. When she found it unlit, she attempted to relight not taking into account a small build up of gas. Boom! Slightly burned her hand which she put into iced water. Happily, nothing more serious. Odd, though, that no other neighbors came out to investigate?

Day 38 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Not much cooking today. A grumbly stomach kept me at home in the morning while Carol went out to explore a bit on her own. She did a FaceTime with Melissa showing her some of the sights and sounds of downtown.

I managed to get out later in the day to pick up some Coke plus a short walk through the Acola where an annual workshop promoting the sixteen known ethnic dialects from surrounding pueblos and barrios in Oaxaca. Several artisans were setup along the area selling local arts indigenous to their areas.

Happy hour, a light dinner, then off to bed.

Day 39 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Central de Abasto or also known as Mercado de Abasto. Oaxaca’s largest market. We walked over this morning to discover a glorious mass of controlled shopping chaos with something for everyone. Vegetables, meat, flowers, leather products, clothing, baskets, pottery…aisles and aisles and aisles that seem to go on forever. And ringing the area is a massive flea market. Glad we visited but we don’t have to go back. But the glorious sounds, smells, colors…it was all so overwhelming! Bought a red onion and a small cantaloupe, then walked back over to have breakfast at La Rambla.

Carnival is a significant event preceding Ash Wednesday in about 225 communities in Mexico, many of these, especially in the smaller communities, maintain elements from Mexico's religious and indigenous heritage. Celebrations vary widely from region to region, often with traditional dance, music and ceremonies with both pagan and Christian origins. Municipalities compete against each other in dance and for best costume with people dressing as monkeys, death, devils, women and even extraterrestrials. One unique costume to the area is the Cuernudo, which is a mix between a monkey and a devil. Dancers, restricted to men, dress and use charcoal (a very greasy black composition as we learned first hand the next day) made up to look like the coastal area's Afro Mexican population.

Our local celebration took place on Saturday in Oaxaca central. It began at 5:00 in the afternoon a few blocks north of the Santa Domingo Church. A raucous procession snaked down the Alcalá, the pedestrian walkway, through throngs of onlookers, eventually ending in the town’s central plaza. Several area pueblos competed, each with their own banners and bands and dancers, dressed in costumes representative of their pueblo. At one point I did a FaceTime with Jennie and Bob to give them some idea of the celebration (hopefully the connection was fast enough for them).

We attended Carnival with two of our neighbors, Val and Barb, stopping to first attend a rooftop social market at the Casa de Barro Terraza where we had a beer at the Tapas Bar & Restaurant, then following up with mezcal Margaritas and an order of ceviche at Maguey & Maiz Restaurant before walking back home amid Oaxaca’s nightlife.

Day 40 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Sunday turned out to be an extraordinarily busy and eventful day most easily described in two parts.

The first part began with an early walk to the Oaxaca’s ethnobotanical garden to attend a bird banding session conducted by Edgar del Valle, a master bander and local bird guide. Arriving at just before 7:00a.m. we checked in with the guard at the main gate, then on to the designated banding station area. The first to arrive we had a little time to bird, thrilled to be inside the gardens which are restricted access. We also was witness to several workers tearing down tables, tents and large umbrellas, the remnants of a wedding the day before. It’s not at all uncommon for spaces inside the gardens to be used for large events. We’ve learned that the cost of such events - like this wedding - runs into the 10’s of thousands of dollars (USD). Only the well-heeled can afford such expenses. Unfortunately, it’s the government of Oaxaca that controls the space rentals with most if not all the rent money going to the government  and not to the gardens (which explains why the garden bathrooms cannot even afford ot be stocked with toilet paper). Such an injustice!

Another birder from Ontario arrived, then Edgar appeared with an assistant, Santiago. They had been setting up the mist nets. As more people arrived we recognized some of them as birders we’d met earlier during our stay. Edgar set up a small table, brought in folding chairs and then we headed off to check the mist nets.

There were five nets, each numbered. At each net Edgar and some of his banding students, removed netted birds which were placed in cloth bags. Attendees - that’s us - were handed bagged birds with the instruction to remember which numbered net the bird had been collected. After checking all the nets, we returned to the banding station set up in a corner of the gardens.

Each bird was taken from a bag in the order they were netted starting with net number one. Birds were inspected for age, gender and body fat. If they were recaptures - birds that previously had been banded - the band number was noted. If the bird was to receive a band, the bird’s leg was measured for which band size was appropriate. The new band number was read off, logged, and attached to the bird’s right leg. Then the bird was weighed before being released. All data gathered will eventually wind up at a central data collection site in Costa Rica.

Over the course of the morning we accompanied Edgar and the students to retrieve birds from the nets numerous times. Edgar was more than willing to answer any and all questions about the process. The best - or most interesting - bird recorded? A Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. At least until this morning.

During our second round checking nets, Edgar suddenly rushed toward net number one where a Crested Cara had become entangled. A large bird, it could have easily destroyed the fine mesh netting. Fortunately, Edgar was able to retrieve the bird before the net sustained any real damage. This was the first time a Cara Cara had been netted by Edgar’s team! To calm the bird, it was hooded bird with one of the larger of the small bags and taken back for inspection. using a couple of references, it was determined to be an adult female in good health. Unfortunately, Edgar didn’t have any bands large enough to band the Cara Cara and it was eventually released without a band.

Over the course of the morning numerous Nashville Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and House Sparrows were netted. A single Norther Beardless-Tyrannulet, Inca Dove, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Social Flycatcher. A couple of Clay-colored Thrush and two Warbling Vireos. Edgar had said that the local population of House Sparrows seemed to be in decline so even banding them could possibly help provide useful data.

Both Beryline and Dusky Hummingbirds were netted but not banded due to the birds having such short and delicate legs. As such there is a much smaller number of certified hummingbird banders - Edgar is not among them.

Close to noon, we left the banding session which was due to wind down soon owing to the heat of the day. We’d received a message that our friends Hector and Toni had arrived from Veracruz the night before and were to meet us at the front of Santa Domingo Church.

Sunday’s second part began at Noon when we met Jaime and Toni in front of Santa Domingo Church as we had earlier in the month. We spoke a little about the banding session but we were more interested in hearing about their day. We were also hungry so we suggested getting some lunch, we learned they had already eaten a late breakfast - but they would like a cup of coffee.

Jaime was also excited when he handed over a thumb drive. On the drive were recordings of Canto Nuevo! Of course unable to listen to anything immediately, I tucked the drive in my pocket as we headed off in the direction of of favorite Sunday go to spot - Berlina’s. There we introduced Jaime and Toni to Eric as we ordered a Reuben sandwich to split - Jaime and Toni had coffee.

Afterwards we walked downtown to pick up some mezcal they had ordered as Jaime went to retrieve their car. The mezcal, it turned out, came in beautifully decorated bottles. And perfect timing - just as Toni paid for the mezcal, Jaime arrived to pick us up to begin a journey to a few places they had wanted to share with us.

First stop was in  the town of San Bartolo Coyotopec. San Bartolo is a Zapotec community, which has been making pottery for about 2,000 years. The clay of this area produces a distinctive color, which for most of San Bartolo's history was a Grey matte. This clay has been used to produce utilitarian objects such as jars, dishes and other storage containers.

The most important innovation to the crafty of the pottery was is a polishing method devised by ceramic artist and potter Doña Rosa in the 1950s. Doña Rosa discovered that by polishing the nearly dry clay before firing, the gray color turned to a shiny black. This has made the pottery far more popular, and many pieces are produced now for decorative purposes rather than utilitarian. Since then, the aesthetic qualities of "barro negro" (black clay) pottery has become further appreciated due to the work of artisan-sculpture Carlomagno Pedro Martinez, who has displayed his barro negro work nationally and internationally.

The two of the main attractions for the town are Mercado Artesanal (Crafts Market) filled mostly with barro negro pottery and the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca (State Museum of Popular Art of Oaxaca). We didn’t visit the latter but we did walk through the small market. This is a market few tourists take the time to visit. A shame because, as they say, we were seeing crafts straight form the horse/s mouth, so to speak. And at prices far below what we’ve seen in Oaxaca central shops.

The town has is a small well manicured park and across the street, the San Bartolo Coyotepec Church and a 16th-century Dominican convent. Interesting note about the Catholic Church - it has no priest. In 1997, Father Manuel Marinero announced that he was in love with a member of the parish church. The Catholic Church responded by immediately putting an end to Marinero's 24-year career as a priest.

However, the local community has continued to support him as their spiritual leader. The people still call him "Padre" (Father) and he continues to live in the house that has been traditionally reserved for parish priests with his wife and two children. The Church has asked him to move but the house belongs to the town and the residents want him to stay.

On the day we visited, there was a “quinceanera” taking place. A special ceremony when a Latina girl turns 15. Derived from the Spanish words for "fifteen years," the expression "quinceanera" refers to both the celebration and to the young lady herself.

Moving on we continued to the pueblo of San Martin Tilcajete, a traditional and historically Zapotec village, best known for its production of “alebrijes,” iconic Oaxaca wood carvings of real or fantastic creatures painted in bright colors and intricate patterns on carvings from the copol tree. Here we were introduced to a family that are good friends of Jaime and Toni. We were welcomed into their workshop to view their works.

Since this is also a time of Carnival, a local custom is for young men to smear motor oil on their bodies, don fearsome masks, and run around the streets looking for girls, trying to kiss or smear oil on them. Wearing masks and brandishing whips, with cowbells wrapped around their waists, they can seem quite menacing. But as we learned, it’s all in good fun and spirits - just don’t get too close or you’ll wind up with motor oil on your face, clothing and hands! It’s a devil of a time to remove!

Stopping on our way our of town (while attempting to avoid any further direct contact with the oil covered demons) I wanted to take a few photos of murals. Meanwhile, Carol, Toni and Jaime had entered a shop where they found an elderly woman painting several alebijes she had carved. Stunning to say the least. But as we delved farther into the shop we discovered an amazing array of alebijes created by the woman’s son, Francisco Fabián Ojeda.

Unfortunately the taking of photographs is forbidden. But as we went even further into the shops courtyard, Carol fell in love with an alebije and I had to agree it was stunning. The young man tending the shop said the price for the piece was $2,000 Pesos (roughly $105 USD).

After seeing what a piece like this sold for in Oaxaca, the price was reasonable but we didn’t have that kind of cash with us. As we balked at the price, the carver, Francisco appeared and the price was suddenly cut in half. Oh, and he took credit cars. Well, how could we refuse such an offer….along with his offering to share some mezcal.

In the end we made the purchase. While he was signing the piece, the young man ushered us into Francisco’s workshop where we viewed hundreds of carved alebijes waiting to be painted. The carvings were done by he and his mother.

We also learned that Francisco doesn’t sell his work in Oaxaca but mainly outside of Mexico. Judging from the number of photos on his wall with him posing with customers and varies pieces of work, he seemed quite content with his market.

After carefully wrapping our carving, we bid a farewell and at the invitation of Toni and Jaime, we stopped at a local restaurant, Comodor Los Huamuches. It was a locals only stop where tourists rarely go. Toni and Jaime wanted us to experience the “real Oaxaca” and we most certainly did. All afternoon!

On our way back to Oaxaca they asked if we wanted to stop to stop and see El Árbol del Tule (the Tree of Tule), a massive tree located in the church grounds in the town center of Santa María del Tule. It was on our bucket list of places to see so of course we enthusiastically said, “yes!”.

To say it’s a large tree is a major understatement. I don’t believe we’ve ever seen a larger tree. It is hard to photograph to get a proper perspective on just how large it towers over surrounding buildings.

As the sun was setting, and the lights of the pueblo came on, there was a bit of a festive aire with families strolling through the gardens. What a delightful end to an amazing day.

Jaime and Toni dropped us off well after dark at our apartment. We offered beers and wine but Jaime was already pretty tired so we said our farewells. We’ve extended an invitation to come visit us in Arizona and they may just be able to sometime next year in December. We certainly hope so. We’ll stay in touch.

Imagine that 30 years ago that a week-long encounter with a music group from Oaxaca would have lead to such a friendship and all the experiences we’ve shared in Oaxaca with now dear friends, Jaime and Toni!

Day 41 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Following a very long but satisfying day, time today was spent getting caught up on entering into the log, editing videos and photos, posting reports to our FB family and friends, and little else.

We did finish the latest jigsaw puzzle, and of course found time for happy hour. We’ve been invited to return to San Martin on Tuesday with some of our neighbors via bus but given how warm it will be and that the annual San Martin Carnival will be in full swing (i.e., crowds of people), we’re going to take a pass. Besides, we were just there the day before. And though it will be helpful to learn the bus route, we’re pretty sure we can do that by ourselves when Marge arrives should she want to go to San Martin.

Day 42 - Week 6 Oaxaca City

Skipping a revisit to San Martin we found ourselves out shopping for gifts for people back home.

Finally found a t-shirt for Alric - one that is done on silk screen instead of all the shirts using an applique. Then a nice visit with our master weaver friend Luiz Martinez when we purchased a wall hanging for Chris and Robyn.  Luiz was kind enough to give us a discount plus threw in a couple of small weavings suitable as drink mats.

Over to the Wearable Arts store (Marias Arte y Diseño) we found a nice set of locally made copitas - small clay cups for sipping mezcal or tequila made by La Chicharra Cerámica, for Jennie and Bob. Now all we need to do is buy some mezcal to go with the copitas.

While at the store we witnessed a local artist painting a mural on an interior wall of the shop.

By this time lunch was looming so we walked to Xiguel Cafe to sample trucha con jocoque (smoked trout) sandwiches. Carol had one using ciabattas while mine was a sandwich with whole wheat bread. Ginger ale to drink. The trout was fantastic and we would definitely have that again if given the choice.

This cafe is located in a different barrio, Jaliatilaco so of course we encountered more and different street murals. On our way back we stopped for some churros and some time sitting in the shade and cool breeze in Llano Park.

Back at the apartment Tom edited a video using one of Canto Nuevo’s songs (Samba de Lazano) along with photos from our time together with Jaime and Toni. Also finished editing other photos from our day out on Sunday afternoon.

Happy hour, dinner, part of a movie then off to bed.