South of the Border, Again.....

Again, Oaxaca is Wonderfully Safe....

2012-02-10T10:42:00.001-08:00

This is just a quick overview, to calm the jagged nerves of leary travelers:

So many people look completely shocked when I say I am going to Oaxaca, Mexico...this is my 6th, yes SIXTH trip in the last 13 months as I am working on a new book project. As one of my friends here at Casa Colonial says, the only thing to fear about coming to Oaxaca is that you will exceed your credit card limit! I walk the 20 minutes back to my B&B (the "Casa") by myself after dark, until about 9:30. I would not walk around alone in my home town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, as lovely as it is. Too many questionable types, too many drugs around.

Here in Oaxaca, here in the Historic District and in the outlying smaller villages, you don't see lots of things: stressed out people, rudeness, screaming nagging children, anger, sharp retorts, fighting couples, impatience, constant blaring of TV and teens with their noses in their smart phones (although the latter is making headways). What you do see is a lot of smiling, happy and content people who love their families and who are normal, nice folks....by our standards they are 'poor,' i.e. they don't own a lot of stuff, and the system fails them in terms of health care, but they are a heck of a lot happier than people in the US. I've been coming here a lot and, as it clearly shows, I love it. Sunny blue skies. Prices are great in hotels and B&B's (you can ask for a reduced rate as tourism has flagged here recently due to narco fears) , modern and folk art are thriving, and there are many wonderful creative restaurants to dine in at bargain rates.

To wit: yesterday at La Jicara for the mid-day meal ('comida') I had a Tortilla Soup with cheese, avocados, herbs, broth; a large Green Salad with Amaranth, Carrots, Avocado and Cucumbers in a Sweet Balsamic dressing; Sauteed Fish with Mango/Cinammon Salsa and a reduction of Hibiscus Flowers with a mild spicy chile ; Rice with a faint flavor of lemon grass; a Mango/Strawberry thick juice drink, and terrific Coffee that would put Starbucks to shame. Grand total: $6.32.

A new friend confided she had moved back to the countryside from Mexico City where she had been a maid (servant is what she actually said, with a 'perdon' after her statement). She and four generations of women live in very, VERY humble conditions; they earn maybe $550 a YEAR. She quoted the lyrics of a popular singing group: "Aunque la jaula sea de oro, no deje de ser prision." Even though the jail is made of gold, it's still a prision. She would much rather live in the country, growing her own food, and cook over a wood stove, than earn money and live in Mexico City. Another woman in the same village confided: 'somos libres aqui.' We are free here.

Feast Day in San Miguel Huautla, OAXACA, Mexico

2011-09-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

We arrived in San Miguel Huautla, Oaxaca three rugged, rutted hours after leaving Oaxaca City. Patron saint (Saint Michael the Archangel) festivities had been going on for several days, and we arrived on the last day, the 29th, in time for some traditional country festival cooking and the mass and procession of the patrol saint. A busload of local families living in Mexico City hire a bus each year to come for the week as it is a time of reunion, celebration and general merriment . This is a small town, located in the deep valley of lush surrounding countryside, very picture perfect at first glance. About 500 households ring the valley, with the historic colonial church nestled at the bottom of the hills.

The primary source of income in the village is the weaving hats and baskets, using both natural straw and the newly popular metalicised plastic look-alikes. The weavers earn THREE PESOS for each hat, the next person in line irons and shapes them, and the vendor gets $30 pesos for the hat. The creators are able to produce 3-4 a day. That translates into less than a dollar a day, which is the universally accepted definition of "the poorest of the poor." (Microcredit Summit, Washington DC) That, and agriculture, form the economic base of the community. They are taking making inroads into reverting back to the old agricultural ways of their forefathers, returning to sustainability and organics.

We had an early mid-day meal,or maybe a late breakfast at the home of Anastasia, the majordomo's sister. It is very similar to feast days on pueblos in New Mexico, each family opens its doors to friends and family for sharing of food and here, much drink. I had to refuse mescal and beer for breakfast several times, with "I don't drink" and "I am allergic" falling on deaf ears. Later, Anastasia kindly presented us to the Municipal President, which eased our acceptance into the festivities and made interviewing and picture taking much easier for our current book project about CEDICAM (Centro de Desarrollo Integral Campesino de la Mixteca). The women of the village cook for days and actually stay up all night long prior to the final feast day. Several managed to nod off occasionally in-between serving times …..They create a kitchen on the dirt floor of the community building using bricks (to hold both the heat and the pots) and firewood, and assemble their huge vats of mole, beans, rice, blood sausage and breakfast masa. The beef was cooked for hours in a brick lined pit which was filled with embers and then covered. Each family contributes 100 tortillas to the event.

The important men are served first(no comment)and then after mass, the entire village lines up for a huge plate of wonderful food. The downside is that everything is served on styrofoam, using plastic cutlery, using probably thousands of pieces of plates and glasses, which they then burn thereafter. When burned, polystyrene (styrofoam is expanded polystyrene) produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (which causes cancer) carbon soot (also can cause cancer) and carbon monoxide, which is poisonous and must certainly offset the rewards of returning to an organic diet.

The very organized woman in blue who was seemingly in charge of the food operation very kindly shared the mole recipe with Susana Trilling (www.SeasonsOfMyHeart.com) , which had been passed down through generations of women, and is always used during festivals. This day they used 25 kilos/55 pounds of just chiles; there are about 20 other ingredients…. they used beef for their mole, rather than the traditional turkey, and a local cow was sacrificed for the communal event. I was a bit taken aback to be told proudly that their cows were 'natural,' i.e. NOT inoculated. Oops. Glad I passed on the blood sausage.Other events included a series of basketball playoffs, a bullring, small carnival rides for kids, and the ever-present pop and junk food vendors. The kitchen was by far and most certainly the most interesting place to be!(I apologize for the lack of control of photo placement...I have tried an tried to no avail....)

The Best Quesadillas are in Nochixtlan, Oaxaca

2011-09-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

THE SHORT LIFE STORY OF A QUESADILLA IN NOCHIXTLAN, OAXACA...

There is a quesadilla stand just outside the main market in Nochixtlan in Oaxaca State, about an hour north of the superhighway out of Oaxaca. IF you can get on the superhighway. Parts were washed out during the last recent rains and yesterday we had to go on the old road, which was the main road for many years. Pleasant change. Felt like we were actually in Mexico.

So, it was about lunchtime. It's usually about lunchtime in Nochixtlan. And my favorite quesadilla lady, the mother in the family, was there, serving up her delights. Truth be told, I'm a bit of a tortilla snob, having cut my tortilla teeth in El Salvador years ago in the campo, always awakening to the sound of 'slap, slap, slap.' Here it's 'squeak, squeak, squeak' as the hinged metal tortilla press slams shut on the circular ball of dough, creating a perfect circle, of even diameter and enviable even thickness. Pure corn roundness about 12" in diameter.

After this modern approach to tortilla making, the insides are generously arranged. I asked for the 'works,' which here means a glorious array of sauteed mushrooms, fresh squash blossoms and that amazing string cheese that Oaxaca is known for. Maybe even invented.

The dough is then folded over in half, dampened around the outer inside edges, and crimped. Remember Grandma's pie crusts....like that. And then carefully put onto the comal heated atop the little habachi-like brazier to cook on each side...maybe three minutes per side. Served with an apple fizzy bottled drink (Manzanita) and some hot sauce....I passed on the latter, not because I don't like it hot (okay, okay....), but because the contents were a trifle murkey. And you know what THAT can mean in Mexico

I gobbled up the first one, and then Susana Trilling (Director and Founder, Seasons of my Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca) and I shared another. Bet you can't eat just one.

Best $2.75 lunch around.....

After lunch, Susana and I headed further north, in search of more authentic, Mixteca food delights from regional sustainable farms....our new joint project. (and it
s a good one....watch for further updates.....)

.

STILL SAFE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS....OAXACA!

2011-08-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Still Safe After All These Years...OAXACA! Just a quick update...I've been to Oaxaca three times this year, 2011 -- January, March and June, and I also have trips planned for September and November as I am working on another book project......I feel safer there than I do in Espanola, New Mexico, if you want the truth. Tons of people on the Zocalo at night and on the weekends, no American tourists of course, as due to press coverage , and possibly a lack of understanding of the geography of Mexico --

they have extrapolated the dangers in the drug/crime-infested border towns and further south to mean the whole entire country! Oaxaca IS NOT JUAREZ! It's a great time to visit......come on down! Food's still wonderful, and the artisans will treat you right..... The image is from San Pablo Tijaltepec, about a 5 hour trip NW of Oaxaca City....the people are far re[Image] moved from the modern world, and create these amazing blouses. And they charge for them handily, which is just fine....about $200. Takes months to make them, they are a truly unique blouse in Mexico. If you go, make sure you go on a Saturday, and stop at the market in Tlaxiaco, which in itself is reason enough to go north....wonderful hotel there right on the plaza, best to drive up Friday, stay the night and watch the market setup and get first pick! Very vibrant, non-touristy, at least, until we get there!

In Search of Disappearing Huipiles in Coban

2011-04-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hola, COBAN... and.... Adios, Huipiles.....

Coban. What a disappointment. Huge, sprawling, and noisy, with large malls at the entrance to town. We were told by an American living there for the last 35 years who works at our hotel that the big, new money is the product of the drug traffic as the heavy stuff passes up up north from Colombia. It is fairly unsafe at night, hard to trust unknown taxi drivers,etc. etc. Very commercial, 'modern.' Our hotel, Hotel La Posada, was a charming, old style colonial family inn started by North Americans decades ago, very similar to NaBalom in San Cristobal in Chiapas, or the Mayan Inn in ChiChi. Lovely, colonial, with lush gardens and a great dining room (with an unfortunately listless wait staff). Lots of ancient floor tiles, local textiles decorating the rooms on comfy beds, on the furniture and framed on the walls. Great mask collection. But NOISY. The truck traffic now shrieks by on both sides of the hotel, on what used to be horse drawn carriage lanes when the hotel was first built in colonial times. Earplugs a must, or an inside room in the older part of the hotel. (In all fairness, there is more to Coban than just our projected textile hopes. This is a land of great hiking, biospheres, orchid cloud forests, etc.etc. )We looked for the traditional huipiles of the Coban region, only to learn yet again, that there weren't any. The young women now buy thin nylon or polyester huiplies in bright colors with machine- embroidered lace motifs. Gone are the lovely backstrap loomed white-on-white patterned base cloth with an embroided trim at the neck and sleeves. If not gone, then very difficult to find, even with good travels skills, good Spanish, and huge desire. The ocassional new huipil is usually a tenth of the quality and fineness of stitch we have come to love.Our hotel waitress told us of a nearby town with a market the next day: San Juan Chamelco. A 20 minute taxi ride from Coban. Market days are Monday,Wednesday and Friday, if anyone reading this is on their way there. Very little Spanish spoken, just the local dialect. I did find a more economical version of the old style huipil we were searching for, which I bought. A street vendor was wearing what I wanted, and I went her nearby house as she said she made them herself but when I got there she was actually making/selling the newer, cheaper version. She said the hand-loomed fabric of the earlier style is too expensive and no one can afford it any more; young women are no longer making their own at home because it's too time consuming and won't help pay the bills as a job in a bank or store will. Which of course is the lament of fine folk artisans the world over. Fine folk art has become, 'por fuerza,' a product aimed at the more well-off collector, the only people who can afford to pay the fair price to the producer who spends a month or two perfecting each piece. One very fine new huipil now sells for $200- $800 dollars now, if you are lucky enough to find someone who is still making them. The older, finer ones are now sold by antique dealers who specialize in this nearly disappeared craft, and whose markup is astonishing. With each passing year, the prices go up and up, and the supply will become less and less. It is a sad, somber realization. Our wonderful, amazing International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico, (www.http://http://www.folkartmarket.org/) is addressing this problem head-on, and is thankfully having a world-wide positive impact on artisans due to the high volume of sales each summer generated by the great craftsmen of the world. And all the money earned goes directly to the vendors and creates a need to hire and train more creative talent. Bravo.

Dia de San Jose in La Mixteca, Oaxaca

2011-03-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a day that all true travelers long for, the kind of day that is increasingly difficult to even hope for: a truly authentic and unself-conscious cultural encounter. I was invited, along with my chef friend Susana Trilling (www.SeasonsOfMyHeart.com), to a special historic holy place, a tiny, one-room adobe church atop an unmarked hill, to celebrate a mass honoring San Jose/St.Joseph,and to take part in the special social events to follow.

Villagers from 24 small pueblos came to the sacred hilltop to begin the day with a special outdoor mass. As there were about 350 people assembled, too large a group for the tiny chapel, we met under a huge green tarp, spilling out the sides into the warm sun. A new young priest extolled the virtues of St. Joseph, using parables to discuss good parenting to the local fathers; how good San Jose/St. Joseph must have been in order to raise Jesus from infant to adult. And do ye likewise. Mass took about two hours with much singing, loud boisterous calling out of prayers in unison, with lots of waving of arms…..a new experience for me in the Catholic mass.

And then, lunch!! Most of the villages had cooked for several days, and consequently there were at least 20 different large food areas under the partially leaved oak trees which the priest blessed individually, sprinkling food and folks with huge amounts of holy water.

Everyone was given enough food for a week. Yellow and red moles, enchiladas de frijol con yerba santa (sarsparilla),huge rolled soft tacos… Nopal/cactus salads with a light vinaigrette, both white AND blue corn posole, white beans with "amarillo,"(a spicy yellow sauce)”, black beans with "rojo,"(a red chile sauce). Egg tacos, and on and on…..…. All this was grown on their own small family plots. Plenty, more than plenty, for all, with a lot left over. And all raised and prepared at home. Why is there hunger in the world? The large, thin tortillas utilize homemade nixtamal (dried raw corn cooked in quicklime/calcium oxide, then ground to make the dough), and are made on a large wooden press.There are three varieties: all corn, all wheat, and 'revueltos,' a mixture of both grains. An early frost killed much of their corn crop last fall and wheat is added to stretch the corn…. home grown organic wheat added to home-grown organic corn!

When all were satiated, the party started. Guelaguetza dances, several bands, recitations, candy gifts for the kids. Women of all ages wore simple regional costumes for each dance, tossing the traditional 'gueza,' gifts of candy and fruits, to the excited and happy audience. A loud, very loud, brass band played and was mercifully on-key and in tune! A youth Christan Christian rock band made their first public appearance among these, their friends and family, and a new local teenaged heart throb was born. A young woman gave a short one-act play extolling safe teen-age driving in parables,to much applause.

We finally departed around four o’clock when a new band surfaced bearing huge speakers and a shrieking out-of-tune violin that created a sensation similar to ramming a dull nail into one's eardrums. Time to go!

These small villages, for consisting on of 60-75 houses are all located about 45 minutes outside of Nochixtlan, an hour north of the city of Oaxaca in la Mixeca region. They own few cars or TVs, and there is little reason to leave home, as they are all “campesinos” /(farmers) and life is filled with the daily chores of raising food, caring for small children and animals and the elderly --– up to four generations are in a family compound. The kitchens are usually NOT of concrete block , but ventilated thatched- roofed rooms with wood burning handcrafted stoves. The walls are thin tree or bamboo branches which have been roped or wired together. Dishes are hand-washed, clothes hung on the line to dry next to the huge adobe oven that bakes the weekly bread. A group of townspeople in each village are politically involved in keeping their planting seeds free of GMO's. They trade and and barter their millennium- old native drought resistant seeds within the community. They participate in special fairs educating about native seeds. Posters on the wall proclaim their reality --– to live by the teachings of their grandparents -- going back to the old ways, dependent only upon themselves for food and shelter. Sound good?

Back in the big city, Oaxaca City, and walking back late from too much food at dinner, I saw a wealthy family's stylized,very self-conscious wedding leaving a church, complete with fancy bridesmaids in Juchitan/Frida finery, and a very tuneful pricey brass band. A lovely procession with flower-filed baskets on heads led a raised ornate St Joseph saint. The rose-bedecked Rolls Royce convertible (rented, made from a fiberglass kit ) awaited the bride and groom. Quite impressive. But I walked away, rather over whelmed by the sumptuousness and staged feeling of it all after my wonderful, genuine day.

And then, down the block I suddenly spotted my favorite,very old and very sick,once-upon-a-time-beautiful but now ancient and scrawny and frail beggar, a woman I always seek out. I gave her too much. I keep expecting never to see her again and yet she persists.

Teary,tough contrasts. Quite a day.

And Christmas Eve IS Better in Oaxaca!

2010-12-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

After recuperating from the Night of the Radishes on 12/23, we ventured down to the Zocalo again, one night later, for the Posadas on Christmas Eve. Wow. Brass bands, usually in key, floats from each neighborhood with their own Christ and Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, Three Kings, etc. ringed the Zocalo from 7 pm until about 11 pm. It was such a happy, rambunctious yet celebratory event with a jammed square. Joyful! I am a particular fan of the 'gigantes' or 'calendas' , the HUGE wire and paper mache figures who cavort in the Posadas. Round and round they went, with new floats on diesel trucks appearing from the northeast corner of the Zocalo every 10-15 minutes. Our group purchased lots of hand-blown eggs filled with confetti to crack on each other's heads; it is still making an appearance on my pillow. We ate fried plantains, refried beans,peanuts with chile, lime and salt,quesadillas with the local string cheese, mushrooms and fresh epasote herbs, møle tamales,Cuban tortas,
all washed down with a great, smoky mescal. What a wonderful evening!

OAXACA'S NIGHT OF THE RADISHES, 12/23/2010

2010-12-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Oaxacan "Night of the Radishes" rings somewhat of the '90's TV series 'The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.' Radishes? Here in Southern Mexico it is played out rather differently however: radishes are left in fertile fields to grow as big as they can possible get, sometimes up to three feet in length. They are then carved, joined, jointed, sliced and diced into pieces that are then reconstructed into the shapes of small, medium and large sculptures that can ultimately create a whole town, a Day of the Dead cemetery, or a Guelaguetza dance festival complete with bleachers.Or try a Frida Kahlo portrait. It can actually take your breath away. If you have any left after waiting in line for three hours with about 5-10,000 Oaxacans for a chance to pass by and take a peek in the Zocalo, their main plaza.

Included in the venue are other similar scenes but this time they are created with dried corn husks or small dried flowers, carefully joined and glued into a panorama. Equally charming. And all against a saturated red backdrop of thousands upon thousands of red poinsettias in full bloom. KaBoom!

Several years ago, in 2001, two weeks before his death, I had the honor of interviewing the grand Oaxacan artist el Maestro Rodolfo Morales, considered by many to be near sainthood in this southern Mexican City for the stimulus he gave to artists and the artist community as a whole. He complained to me of a terrible stomach ache, and had no idea his death from pancreatic cancer was imminent; he blamed it on parasites in the water. He recounted his version of the beginnings of the Radish Festival: years ago, when vendors had a night food market on the few days right before Christmas Eve, one vendor decided to attract attention to his stall by carving radishes in somewhat sexy poses. The idea caught on, soon all the vendors were making similar risque carvings, until the church decided enough was enough…..but the seed was planted, so to speak, for an evening of carved radishes right before Christmas….

The event is now much more commercial, the price of entry to exhibit the dioramas or sculptures has tripled in just the last year, and the grand prize is about $50,000 pesos….$5K US which is a lot of money for a root vegetable. And there are Second and Third cash prizes, in three categories. This year the event opened at noon rather than later in the afternoon, in order to accommodate more easily the jam of foot traffic generated by the contest. And ended with a huge bang: magnificent fireworks lit up the sky in front of the city's Cathedral just off the Zocalo, and spelled "Noche de Rabanos" in lights as well as a heavenly fireworks show that delighted thousands.....mostly Oaxaquenos, however, as bad press about the northern drug cartel violence has adversely affected tourism this distant southern city, a city which has escaped those bloody irrational violent episodes, Gracias a Dios.

Regardless, it is a unique cultural expression from a city that UNESCO has rightly included in the category of Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

Oaxaca, The Zocalo and The Virgin of Guadalupe, 12/2010

2010-12-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

I have been here in Oaxaca for a few days, my first trip in a little over a year. I was wondering if I would see any changes since Cue, the new Governor, was elected, and yes, there is one really huge one, immediately visible: the Zocalo is absolutely jammed, more so each day, with vendors…..and not just vendors of nice locally made goods, but of Chinese

sunglasses and earrings, fresh food vendors with little braziers set up in front of the restaurants, black market CD stations, plus political dissenters (which I think is usually a healthy thing in the Zocalo but not in this instance) who have set up camp under the portal of the former

Presidential Palace with tents, plastic bags, and garbage sacks, who have covered the finally sand-blasted walls from the 2006 demonstrations with new fresh grafitti (which is very hard to remove off the centuries old stone blocks). It's a real mess. Other cities world-wide have limited such free public market space to the artisans themselves, to those who only sell their own hand-made goods. Might work here. There is no room now for the other folks who love to slowly promenade through the Zocalo day and night, one of the loveliest traditions of this great city.

The headlines in the paper this morning also discussed the carnival atmosphere which sprang up at Parque el Llano for the Virgin of Guadalupe Day, normally a solemn, sacred event -- carnival rides on rickety machines, game stands, loop-de-loops, stuffed animals for sale, and lots of fried food and cotton candy. Blaring music. I haven't been here before on December 12, but this certainly lowered the level a bit! The Presidente Municipal promises not to use force to make the vendors move, but there are so many hundreds of people spilling out of each corner, with double rows around the center Zocalo garden areas, that I'm not quite sure how this will get resolved before the traditional Christmas poinsettias and lights are readied for the Night of the Radishes celebration……which requires a clean thoroughfare to show off the carved radishes and cornhusk dolls contest. It is one of the biggest events of the year, and at this moment, has no place to go. I can only hope for a peaceful resolution......

The far northwest corner of Parque el Llano is where the Iglesia de la Virgen de Guadalupe is, and there were hundreds and hundreds of parents carrying their little children who were all dressed as Juan Diego and little peasant girls. They filed past the small image of the Virgen outside the church, kissing her shrine and lighting and leaving a candle at her feet; they then went into the small corner of the park to have their photos taken in front of special dioramas depicting the historic event. The story is that Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, saw a vision of a young woman on December 9, 1531, while he was on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City, Mexico. He told the local bishop, who asked for some proof. Three days later, according to legend, the image of Mary appeared miraculously on his cloak when he was showing it to the bishop. Today the cloak is displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe nearby, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image (thank you, Wikipedia….). It was quite touching and the kids were absolutely adorable! Although with the donkeys present , and all the hubbub, it did remind me a bit of having my picture taken as a child with my parents on a painted donkey/zebra in Tijuana, Mexico many years ago.

2010-02-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

Is Oaxaca Safe????? YES!

2009-11-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

OAXACA IS SAFE!!!

After spending two and a half weeks in Oaxaca, and after hearing while down there about the random shootings at Ft. Hood and in Florida, I can safely say that I feel much safer in Oaxaca, in the city and in its environs, than I do in the US. I believe the media, on a slow day, replays and replays the bad news from northern part of the country near the border, to fill it s 24/7 needs, and creates a completely exaggerated impression that all of the country suffers from the violence that plagues certain cities. As a single woman I walked the streets alone at night with hundreds of other folks, streets lightly lit, at midnight. No fear. I shopped in the crush of thousands at the Day of the Dead markets in Tlacolula, and the Abastos in downtown Oaxaca, as well as the Benito Juarez and 2 de Noviembre markets, and felt nor saw nary a pick-pocket attempt. Crowds were large and happy, and I felt entirely safe and at peace with the world. So please, give this wonderful region another look-see as a travel spot, it is so well worth your while! A magical, wonderful city, deep in the heart of colonial, creative Mexico, which has been unfairly damaged economically by exaggerated US news reports. So many artisans and small businesses are right on the edge of extinction, without any true reason . Andale!! You won't regret it.......

Day of the Dead, Teotitlan and Tlacolula, 2009

2009-11-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Teotitlan del Valle, Nov. 1 2009

We got a chance to walk through the graveyard here in Teotitlan before all the partying starts. A dizzying, dazzling array of yellows and deep pinks, marigolds and cockscomb. We had homemade chicken enchiladas for breakfast with Bulmaro and Aurea, then we walked to Viviana's home to view, perchance to buy, her famous beeswax candles and to see her altar. A vew more pics herewith......

We went to Tlacolula Market yesterday before heading out to Teotitlan, and ate a grilled lunch there; we picked out our own green onions, chiles, tasajo (thin, thin beef), fresh tortillas off another grill, a cold beer, and condiments of cabbage, radishes and avocado, lime. Wonderful! It's my favorite market, even better today because there were very few people.....

Day of the Dead, Oaxaca 2009

2009-11-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2009 - OAXACA, DAY OF THE DEAD
I just experienced the most unusual and can I say extraordinary Day of the Dead in Oaxaca? We went to the City's Panteon General, the public cemetary, for the evening candlelit walk through the graveyard, and at about 11 pm (an hour before the spirits return to Oaxaca; the spirits wait until 3 pm on Sunday in Teotitlan to return home) the amazing sounds of a Requiem Mass (Mozart?) floated through the immense area; it was a live performance by the Oaxacan State Orchestra and Chorus, with four soloists. Absolutely riveting, in the near full moon.

We are out in the countryside now, in Teotitlan del Valley, and last evening we accompanied my weaver friend Bulmaro Perez and his wife Aurea and son Diego to visit her parents, carrying candles, oranges, chocolate and pomegranates to place on their altar before enjoying mescal, hot chocolate and special anis-flavored Day of the Dead bread before retiring. Today, Monday, the spirits return to their place of rest at 3 pm. Twice through the years i I have experienced the local phenomenon of the very, very still day suddenly becoming windswept at 3 pm , just as the bells start to toll grandly in the church -- and the spirits depart in a 'whoosh' as does all logical reasoning. The hair stands up on your arms, and you find yourself wishing them safe passage.

We will go to the local graveyard today at 3 when the whole town returns to the cemetary with food, drink, flowers and relatives to party the day away.....

REPRISE: A Fond Farewell to PERU....

2009-06-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

As I sit on a comfortable first class bus riding from Puno to Cuzco, Peru (the fare is a whopping $8), we approach the turn off to the tiny village of Chijnaya where I have just spent 10 days as a board member of the Chijnaya Foundation working with the artisans there in preparation for the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in July of 2009. The bus is mostly filled with a tour group of middle-class Canadian and European tourists, and we whiz by the Chijnaya exit (north of Juliaca and Pucara). I am suddenly completely aware of how privileged I am to have come to know so intimately the details of what goes on down that particular dusty dirt road, to be so familiar with the daily life inside those homes, and with the optimistic dreams that reside therein.

The other passengers, of course, can only see the blatant poverty, the spare tin-roofed adobe blockhouses, and the bleak, sad vista positioned in a huge, thrilling landscape. But now I can also see the amazing community spirit and their incredible cooperative organization. I know firsthand their big friendly hearts and also, the innocent childlike expectancy they have placed on their upcoming two days of retail sales in Santa Fe at the highly acclaimed International Folk Art Market.

The artisan groups in Chijnaya create a winsome, fanciful embroidered depiction of their lives here in this high Peruvian Altiplano village at 13,000 feet. Stitched within their embroidered ‘achachis’ are not only the images of their livestock, their weaving, their quinoa and potato harvest, and their dances and celebrations, but they are also weaving into their work their dreams to improve their health, to get clean hot water for bathing, to put a small piece of meat in their soup, or to buy enough new materials to actually be able to continue production of these endearing artisan products for the years ahead.

(The sun is shining in the bus windows now, and as we actually pass by our town, and the tourists pull the curtains to shield them from the sun’s glare and the rest of the outside world. Seems like a perfect metaphor for how most of us so easily turn our consciousness away from recognizing the harsh realities that most of our fellow humans endure…I have never really figured out why the poor are so invisible to most of society. If people only understood how much good sharing a few extra dollars can do -- it would make such in difference in so many lives!)

But I digress….. There are 110 houses in dusty little Chijnaya. And there are 110 members in the 11 artisan groups, 10 in each. One group is all men, and they are in stiff competition with the women for speed and quality. They meet several times a week in the morning after their cows are milked, or at 5 pm after they fetch the cows from pasture. Milk and cheese production is their first economic priority. And then they come together to create their little wonders in the Casa Comunal.

This unique folk art grew out of a casual Peace Corps project in 1964 -- a volunteer gave the towns’ children sewing needles, woven wool cloth and some alpaca yarn, and asked them to draw their life stories on the cloth. The stories grew and their expertise increased and the art thrived until the Shining Path and the political upheaval of the 80’s.

A Santa Fe anthropologist and former Peace Corps Volunteer, Dr. Ralph Bolton, recently returned to his former assigned village of Chijnaya some 40 years after the fact in response to their cries for help. Bolton created a foundation that helps Chijnaya and other nearby villages in the area with health, animal husbandry, farming and economic development/artisan issues.

One day we traveled two hours round trip to the industrial town of Juliaca on a cramped, hot little bus to buy our natural alpaca yarns in shades of grays, blacks and browns. And on another day, an twelve-hour round trip to get to Cuzco to for colored background fabric. There are only two cars in Chijnaya that I can tell so bus transport is our only option. We then meet in near darkness in the Casa Comunal, aided by the light of a 25-watt bulb, to pass out new materials and to learn how to use straight pins, how to translate inches into centimeters for our pillow covers and how to create a standardized product line that will hopefully provide a new income stream for the villagers. A baby alpaca wanders in and playfully breaks up our concentration. We are wrapped in blankets, with our hats on, and have on an additional three layers against the bitter night air of approaching winter. I hold up a flashlight to shed more light on early samples they have created, to praise and discuss the pros and cons of each artisan’s creation. The women giggle as they each take turns learning new skills, such as how to create pillow cording cut on the bias, or how to depict snow and rain in yarn. Whispered secrets in Quechua, their first language, buzz around the circle as they watch and learn.

The artisans of Chijnaya are hard at work as you read this, preparing their embroidered tapestries for the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market July 11 and 12. Please stop by their booth to say hello when you go; you won’t be able to resist their creations, and in so doing, will help to ensure fulfillment of their tenuous yet certainly reachable dreams.

To donate: http://chijnayafoundation.org/Donate.html

Judith Cooper Haden, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, El Salvador

The Chijnaya Foundation

2009-06-03T20:29:00.001-07:00

(http://www.ChijnayaFoundation.org)

Hugo, my counterpart here in this tiny, dusty, nearly forgotten village high in the Andes, is wonderful to work with. He has completed 6th grade, I believe, and is anxious to work hard, earn money and get ahead. He is 35, married 14 years, with two lovely daughters, one 14, the other about 7. His wife is an obvious helpmeet to him, and they whisper conspiratorily in Quechua while working on our new projects, which are pillows and table runners. Hugo's hand-operated sewing machine is 80 years old, and belonged to his wife's father.

We are making three sizes of pillows to sell at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Fair, and are learning how to estimate amounts of fabric, how to make the trims, how to make a fine flat seam. We are figuring out how much for Hugo to do in advance of giving the handwork to the ladies in the ten different emboidery groups. This was his idea as to how to get consistency of product. It is fun to give him the problem of the moment, and watch him work through it. He learns quickly and easily, and our brains 'match,' as they say. Great fun. We are going to go back to earlier days of this craft and just use natural colored alpaca yarns on softer natural colored backgrounds for the pillows. He invented a great closure and we both agreed wood buttons would look best in keeping with our 'natural' theme. Wood buttons are 5 soles a dozen, or...2 cents apiece.

We had our first Artisan's Association meeting yesterday with about 100 women and men present. There are ten women's groups, one other is comprised entirely of men, 11, each with ten members, 110 in all. Amazingly, one man said he had done natural dying about 20 years ago and asked if we thought he should try it again!!! Hurrah! This would solve so many problems, we could dye our own yard and base fabric. The herbs and flowers he needs have just died back as it is winter, but I am going to meet with him and show him samples of colors that might work well with this project. The women at the meeting were so enthusiastic and appreciative of my efforts in Spanish and at my explanation of why we needed some new products and why we needed to go back to days of colored 'bayeta' backgrounds. We are all excited.

I went with the Eusebio, the Association's secretary, to Juliaca yesterday to shop for a treadle sewing machine and new alpaca yarns. Now THAT was a challenge. Quechua is his first language, and his almost second language (like me) is Spanish, is spoken through his two remaining side front teeth with lots of whistles other interesting sounds, in a rapid fire delivery. But we moved quickly through the large, unattractive industrial center of Juliaca on tricycle taxis, going from one end to the other several times for about 50 cents a trip. The sewing machine we finally decided upon was 250 soles, or $85 US. We brought it to the meeting to show everyone, it was like Christmas. If we can just get Hugo used to using two hands now to guide his fabric as he is used to using only one hand, the other to turn the wheel of the sewing machine.

I announced to the women at our meeting that I will be taking free portraits of them which I will then send copies back to them after the Folk Art Market is over. It's catching on and I'm getting some lovely pictures of family life here. The usual problem of photographing people in Latin America is that they pose ramrod straight and stare dully into the camera; I can't get the Chijnayans to stop smiling and laughing! They are wonderful to work with.

We also traveled to see a school for the blind and disabled in Puno that the Foundation is supporting as they were helpful to one of the kids from Chijnaya and took him in. Most disabled children of the very poor are simply hidden away, with food, but no care or training for either parents or kids to deal with special needs.

THE HOUSE WITH THE BLUE DOOR......

2009-05-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

5/27/09

From the minute we landed in Chijnaya we have been welcomed with open arms, hugs, smiles and laughter. Talk about being enveloped in the arms of an entire community. Our welcoming reception was so much fun, with hugs, confetti, a special band, dancing, and a communal meal with the entire town. Lots of the usual flowery, lengthy speeches by the mayor and other local dignitaries, a declarative poem by a 9-year old boy (who forgot the words half way through but received warm applause nonetheless) and a seemingly unending national anthem. TWICE as long as the Salvadoran anthem, which we always thought held all records.

Huge soup pots were carried from different homes to the community center where we all ate together. First, alpaca stew (gosh, and they are so cute...) with reconstituted dried purple potatoes and regular white potatoes with quinoa as a thickener. Then a separate dish of rice and yet another member of the potato family which looked much like a Jerusalem artichoke, with some carrots. Both were delicious, and no harmful effects today. More speeches after lunch, and then the 10 families whose turn it was to host a volunteer took turns drawing names out of a hat to see which of us stayed with them. Photos, laughter, and applause. The only young man on our team was assigned to a single young woman through this lottery system and everyone one loved it. (She is Zenobia, the Chijnaya representative at the Folk Art Market last year in Santa Fe). This is truly a dirt poor village, and I am so hoping to be able to help them increase their income. They have so many hopes for me -- I was a bit terrified after their inspirational speeches about my being here, but I have decided I am just going to do what I know how to do, give it my all, that I am here for a reason in the larger sense, and just let things happen.

My family is an extended one as are most families here. The parents are about my age, their son and his wife and their child, a little girl of about 7, all live here. It's so much easier now than it was in the Peace Corps to always be the center of attention, to be their entertainment. They want to watch, look and listen at everything I do, wear and have! The house has a wondeful blue door. My room is great, adobe brick floors, stuccoed adobe walls painted mint green, a comfortable bed (hopefully), a desk, and....a television in my room??? There is one satellite receiver in town, and one channel changer, so........the images are sent into each home and everyone watches the same channel for one whole week! A comittee decides which channel is next. No women on that committee, lots of soccers games are the choice or so I am told. I am leaving mine off. No cell phones here,there was one computer for village use in the school but the government (who paid for it) cancelled as there wasn't enough usage. I brought school supplies for gifts and will go wander over today.

No way to bathe that I can determine. The bathroom is hardly that, just a hole in the ground in a tin hut. With a hose from the well. Sufficient, if kept clean. We were told to bring lots of Purell and baby wipes, which we did. I'll probably wear the same clothes night and day to stay warm! Always interesting to remember how lucky we are in our country. And how really simple subsistence level existence is for so many billions of people in the roughly $1 a day and under category of our world.

I couldn't ask for anything better in a counterpart.He is the president of the artisans committee. Hugo is 35, married, and I go their his house today for our first official meeting in town. We shopped together in Cuzco for a day for materials for our pillows, looking at all the color choices, natural dyes, alpaca yarns, etc. and feel at ease with each other. He is bright, quick and completely enthusiastic. Last night he watched the demonstration video that I made of Herbie in Santa Fe about how to create covered pillow cording on a continuous bias strip (TMI, I know) and got it instantly. He sews on a Singer sewing machine, which is HAND powered, he embroiders, and he also does the macho thing with his own cow herd. Delightful guy and quick to respond.

Speaking of cows, the definitive aroma in town, in my room, and soon, I am sure, in my hair, is that of cow dung, fresh and dried. Add into that alpaca, donkey, pig and sheep dung. Cow dung is used as fuel, and so the flavor is constantly enveloping the town. Guess I'll learn to not even notice it.

I brought a mummy bag, a fleece outer bag, and my own pillow, and they put about 50 pounds of blankets on my surprisingly comfortable bed, so cold I was not during the night . They scrubbed everything so well, and bought a new plastic tablecloth for my desk. I have my own little desk and chair for working on images, and pillow designs, and I'm completely comfortable. The family just opens my door and comes in without preamble, so I asked if they wouldn't mind knocking first. Of course they would knock first! So they knock and instantly burst right in with about 1/2 seconds' notice.......

Their day starts when the sun comes up, around 5:30, which is also when it goes down. They milk the cows between 6-8 and take the milk to their 'queseria' or cheese factory, which is their major source of income in additional to folk art. They milk by hand, and earn S 1.20 (soles) or .$35 cents American for each litre they bring in. About $20 a day. My neighbor milked 60 litres this morning from the cows in her yard. Everyone jumps on their bikes at around 8 - 10 am and drives the heavy plastic covered buckets filled with milk to the factory. Then, they all walk their herds out to pasture (no horses) for the day and it starts all over again tomorrow. Quite a phenomenon!

CUZCO and -- CHIJNAYA HERE WE COME!

2009-05-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

It was actually a relief to get to Cuzco. We are at 11,000 feet, and tomorrow climb to nearly 13,000. Have only had a mild headache one morning, and huff and puff a little going up a relatively low incline.The colonial aspects of this city give it it's elegance and it's order. It is a very clean city, actually it is a very clean country. Lots of European tourists. As sun goes up and down every night a little after six it 's COLD at night at this altutude. Pulled out my down jacket.

We are all together now, Ralph Bolton, from Santa Fe, our director, four college volunteers from Scripps and Pamona Colleges in California, and my counterpart, Hugo, who is the president of the artisan project in Chijnaya. He and I spent the day together shopping for new colored 'bayetas,' the background of our new pillow products. There is an overwhelming abundance of 'folk art' here in the large artisan 'malls,' most of it, unfortunately, rather junky. Lots and lots of alpaca at very reasonable prices, and if one is allergic to wool, it is a real find. Soft and lovely. We met this morning with a representative of PromPeru who promotes folk art exports from Peru, and she will be invaluable in helping our own product along. She too wants to come to Santa Fe, and we will help each other....! Seems most artisans in the world have heard of us by now.

I went to two Sunday markets yesterday, Chinchero and Pizac, which were right up my alley. It was a wonderful 8 hour day of driving through spectacular scenery and shopping! The Pizac market is huge, about the size of ChiChi, but quiet and easy going, more space to move, but with just as many stalls and vendors. Very lovely stuff there, and I did my share of adding to the local economy. Natural dyes are slowly making a comeback, thank goodness, which are soft and lovely. The Chinchero market is quite different, smaller, and lovely to look at as all the vendors wear their local red and black with their charming little flat red hats. I looked up some friends from four years ago, and as a prior donor, was treated like a queen, I am now "mama Judy..." They plied me with lunch and a couple of gifts, and I ate with a Seattle eco-tour group Crooked Trails ( which I travelled to Peru with four years ago....). They are most hopeful to be able to come to the Santa Fe folk art market next year.. not only do they weave exquisite articles using natural dyes, they also run a little boarding school for poor and orphaned kids, teaching them comportment and weaving skills so as to be able to fend for themselves later in life. They have a weaving school for US folks hoping to learn their artistry, and will provide a lovely room with meals, to boot. Called Mink'a Chinchero (which in Quechua means 'a day for you, a day for me,' and is their co-op philosophy)it is run by Vilma and Paulino. Very much fun and also inspiring to see their great success.

Tomorrow we go at long last to Chijnaya! We are all a bit anxious, and went to the local 'supermercado' to load up on soymilk, dried fruit, chocolate bars and a little Chilean Cabernet all of which we will have to sneak and eat in our rooms late at night to not hurt their feelings.

LIMA, CUZCO AND POINTS SOUTH.....

2009-05-23T19:47:00.001-07:00

Lima is a very satisfying place for the tourist. Large, at eight million in habitants, it nonetheless manages to stay relatively uncrowded, clean and efficient as a major capital city. More of a modern European flavor. And contrary to popular belief, the food is good here too...and that's high on this foodie's list.....

I started my day at the Inka Palace, one of many huge artisan markets on Avenida Petit Thouars. My goal was to find comparable products to those I am here work on in the high Altiplano village of Chijnaya, north of Puno and Juliaca. So I started out wandering in this meandering market of millions of pieces of primarily woven/knitted goods, and then segued on to the higher end shops to see what the local really creative producers have taught the artisans to do.

If you are ever on a folk art hunt in Lima, here is a good hand-picked tour. Actually, it would be a perfect trip for the IFAM in Santa Fe! I was able to do it in one day, two would be more relaxing, or better, in three! ....First on the list: Dedalo is housed in an large old remodeled home a block from the beach in Barranco; rooms and rooms of fascinating museum-quality contemporary art and folk art, with a lovely coffee shop and gardens in the rear. (Paseo Sáenz Peña 295, Barranco.) Discovered some very cool purses and pillows that might offer some inspiration to our artisans. Then raced over to Indigo,(Av. El Bosque #260, in San Isidro) for more in a similar vein, many of the same artists, and way too pricey. Wonderful neighborhood, old remodeled home, more for the idle rich and the ladies who lunch. So. Off to Kuntur Huasi, established decades ago by a North American man and his Peruvian wife. (Ocharan #182, in front of the Sol de Oro Hotel. Miraflores, I think.) This was up my alley. I was able to TALK shop with Ms. Davis, and DO shop at the same time. Lovely store, with reasonable packing and shipping on site. They specialize in pottery, with great ceramic bulls from Quinua. New and old large ceramics, wonderfully designed baby alpaca sweaters (they use the first shearing of the youngest alpacas for these) that actually fit. Lovely store. I then raced back to Barranco to see the jewel in the crown of folk art stores: Las Pallas, run for years by British ex-pat Mari Solari. The house is itself the jewel, there is an unerring choice of color combinations, and here one can find the best of the best. Quite remarkable. Remarkable prices as well! This would be a good place to actually begin one's search, to see educate yourself in the best the country can produce, rather like the Folk At Museum in Mexico City. De todo un poco.

After all that, I raced back to where I began, and after running through about 6 rather similar large artisan 'malls', I returned to the Inka Palace, to finalize a purchase of some natural dyed 'bayeta' fabric for our artisans. I also made contact with the National Artisans committee and PromPeru's ('prom' from from 'promotions,' not the annual high school dance event...) artisanry contact person in Cuzco, where I will be going today, for better raw materials at better prices for our products.

Lest I forget....Barranco is my favorite place in Lima. It's an old neighborhood, with refurbished 19th century mansions and gracious homes, now inhabited by and large by the artists and poets of the city. Best food, bars and sights. Great exterior colors on the homes. It's south of uber -modern, spendy Miraflores (you have no idea that you are actually in Peru). I instinctively followed a group of hungry French tourists into La Fonda de los Suspiros (Av. Pedro de Osma #102) You know you are in for something good when there are three different kinds of forks on a white brocade tablecloth.... They suggested Pescado a la Chorrillana, the freshest of poached bass, topped with a freshly made Peruvian ahi sauce consisting of two kinds of onions, two kinds of red and yellow peppers, a bit of spice, and roasted tomatoes in a white wine sauce. Veggies steamed to perfections with a bit of butter therafter, and double-cooked potatoes, first boiled, and then quickly deep fried, not greasy just tasty and crisp. Nice Chilean white wine. Great filtered coffee (esp. after my Nescafe for breakfast), all for around $14. Very atmospheric and lovely, near the library. The waiter insisted on taking my picture, which I include!

OAXACA IS FOR FOODIES

2009-02-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

Oaxaca takes its food very seriously. And with good reason. It is a complicated cuisine, having little to do with the Mexican offerings found in North America. No hard-as-rocks taco shells, no greasy yellow cheese food drowning tasteless entrees in a too-hot-to-handle plate, and nary a stale taco shell salad in view. Flour tortillas? Not a one to be found. Most cooks take their own corn to the local 'molina' to make grind their own masa dough for home preparation of fresh tortillas. This is the home of complicated sauces with 30 ingredients, a dozen different tender steamed tamales filled with a delicate balance of vegetables and meats (even fruits!), and tasty barbequed goat, lamb and pig -- a carnivore's delight served with fresh tortillas hot off the comal, and a crisp, spicy escabeche. Yes, there are seven moles, made famous by the local North American chef Susana Trilling (www.http://seasonsofmyheart.com) who gives a marvelous day-long class comprised of an Etla market tour,a food lecture and the hands-on cooking class at her lovely rural cooking school to the north of Oaxaca followed by a late lunch of foods prepared in class.

But don't forget the 'estofados,' green tomatillo sauces or the soups: creamed poblano chile, chayote with cilantro, sopa de tortilla. Or the fruit-flavored mild chile and tomato sauces, and the steamed, to-die-for chocolate puddings and flans. The French kindly (or inadvertantly?) left their recipe for 'bolillos,' in spite of the French Emperor Maximillian having been summarily executed in Mexico in 1867. A bolillo really a large French roll with a crusty outside and a soft, almost sourdough cushy inside that accompanies all meals to soak up those wonderful sauces. Or which forms the basis of 'tortas,' always a great,classic sandwich. Warning: avoid the Mexican 'sandwich' at all costs, for the bread basis is the dreaded Pan Bimbo, aka Mexican Wonderbread. Dreck. For the early morning or late evening pick-me-up, a huge ceramic bowl of foaming, freshly locally made hot chocolate, prepared with milk or water, is accompanied by a large basket of fresh 'pan dulce.' Careful, it's habit forming.

For those who love to cook in news ways at home, there are many Oaxacan cooking classes here to sharpen your skills: at La Olla Restaurant/Las Buganbillas B&B, at the newly recussitated El Naranjo Restaurant (we had the best ever chiles rellenos there), or at Casa Oaxaca with the energetic, charismatic Chef Alexandro Ruiz. Speaking of whom, we were the only lucky diners one night last week at Casa Oaxaca, and ate in the kitchen watching him prepare and plate a tasting menu of local fresh fish: red snapper, octopus, tuna and giant shrimp. Superb! He created recipes on the spot ~ an appetizer made of goat cheese, small dab of fruit jam, nuts and a mystery herb, all rolled in flour and quickly fried. Wow! Not to mention the chocolate mousse wrapped in a thin leaf of local Oaxacan chocolate (which contains cinnamon, almonds,and local brown sugar ) topped with hand-made spun sugar. For a more casual approach, where he puts his individual spin on local Oaxacan cuisine, do try his new large and more affordable Casa Oaxaca Cafe in the La Reforma neighborhood. Spend three hours on a Sunday afternoon trying the tacos mole, or wild boar stew,accompanied by small shots of smoky 'mescal.' Keep your eye on this man, his own personal star is about to ascend across all regional and national borders! Google Casa Oaxaca on YouTube to catch him in inaction.... OR...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e5FQWnzqqA

You can buy literally tons of plump, glistening fresh veggies every day of the week at a different regional markets; best time to go is early in the day when people and food are at their best. Tlacolula is my favorite on Sundays, but then it's hard to pass up the Friday market in Ocotlan and Maestro Rodolfo Morales' Instituto for a peek at his famous kitchen and a gallery of his whimsical collages. Etla is on Wednesdays, and our tour there with Susana's cooking school allowed us to try all the mystery foods I'd been afraid to try over the years: foaming, frothy drinks, candies, ice creams, tamales, and a market lunch of entomadadas. Susana's staff checks out the cleanliness of the cooks' kitchens before taking tourists there. It has taken me 15 years to decipher the obvious: enchiladas are tortillas dipped in chile, entomatadas are dipped in tomates, and enfrijoladas are covered in a frijol bean sauce....a little quesillo, or famous Oaxacan string cheese, some fresh onions and parsley on top,and you have an inexpensive, healthy and most tasty meal.

We visited the small, tidy La Merced Market in Oaxaca City, on the north side of town, where Chef Rick Bayless has understandably filmed some of his cooking videos as it is very managable: open, light, and uncrowded. Friends Henry and Rosa Wangemann, and delightful son Zach of the perennial favorite Amate English Bookstore on Alcala Street (http://www.amatebooks.com) , guided us to their favorite empanada stall at the entrance -- the winning entree is the large , 10" empanada (slyly made of a large corn tortilla rather than bread, as the name implies) stuffed with 'huitlacoche,' the delicate dark corn fungus (which if fresh, comes with additional small kernels of corn), mushrooms and string cheese, all for a staggering 18 pesos, or $1.30 as of this writing. The nearby juice bar proffered a mystery veggie liquid of all things green, or mango, payapa and citrus juice combos, with or without carrots and beets.

It's impossible to write about fabulous Oaxacan food experience without mentioning everyone's favorite, both for ingenuity and fair pricing: Biznaga. It's on the north end of Garcia Vigil, and has a jazzy, New York/Mexico City kind of urban appeal. The Slow Food designation is gone, and the service and speed have thankfully picked up a bit. The chefs shop locally, and combine local ingredients in inspired new ways, with regional naming conventions. At lunch I tried La Sierra, grilled paper-thin tasajo beef, (you can see through when hanging fresh in the meat markets it's sliced so thin), which was stacked on grilled portobellos from the northern Mixteca region, over a nutty goat cheese. $6 or $7....The music is always interesting, in several languages, at a volume that allows conversation. The high ceiling slides open on warm evenings, allowing stars into the patio courtyard. It's one of those places where you want to try everything but hate NOT to order your favorite as they it's too good to pass up. The only real dud was the Oaxacan salad, which avoided lettuce for the fearful, and instead replaced it with a huge chunk of string cheese. If you are in fact feeling a bit of indigestion, the 'Suave' is a chicken and rice soup to sooth the more savage stomach.All foods here, as in most larger places in Oaxaca now, have been rinsed and disinfected. Organic food choices are growing monthly, and the local Pochotle Friday/Saturday market, as well as the new market at the train station, feature organic and natural foods. NOTE: While waiting your meal at Biznaga, you can shop at the attached store Chimalli, a compact folk art store with great selection and great prices.

Buen Provecho!

Zaachila One Man Band

2009-02-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

ZAACHILA One Man Band...

2009-02-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

ZAACHILA Tianguis (Market)

2009-02-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

If you are in Oaxaca on Thursdays, head early to Zaachila about 10 miles south of Oaxaca. You can grab a group cab at the Abastos Market in Oaxaca for under a dollar, riding with the locals. Go directly to the small excavated tombs, uncovered in 1962, to get there before tour buses might arrive as tombs are small and only one at a time can fit. The local guard has photos of all the unearthed gold pieces and fabulous ceramics, which, he said, were taken by the American archeologists to Mexico City Anthropological Museum, never to be seen again by locals. Hence, further excavations were forbidden here; one can only imagine what additional treasures lie under the remaining nearby small and medium-sized mounds. Then wander down the hill to the market with thousands of Zapotec-speaking locals who are chatting, buying,and selling everything under the sun.Buy a live turkey or two for your own mole! We ate a local specialty, barbequed goat and lamb tacos, complete with chopped cabbage 'curtido' and a cold beer. No resulting stomach issues, thankfully. The trick to eating street food is to always get it right off the hot comal... Then stop off at Cuilapan and visit the Ex-Convento de Santiago where Vicente Guerrero was executed in 1931 (he is known as the father of the Revolution....) Construction began in 1535, ended in 1570. Lovely. It's being renovated once again.

2009-01-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

OAXACA!!!!

2009-01-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2008

Our first day in Oaxaca was a double whammy.....a memorable, terrific, and completely cathartic Inauguration Day, complete with brunch for 200 ex-pats in the historical district with a huge theater-sized TV screen, followed by my birthday celebration in the private home of Henry and Rosa Wangeman, who hosted Henry's and my mutual birthday celebration in San Augustin Etla with five kinds of tamales, guacamole and apple pie! Good to see Susana Trilling again, who will be teaching a day long cooking class for us next week. Happy and joyous day from start to finish.

Woke up late. We are staying in the second floor apartment of the teeny local Episcopal 'church,' friend Father John Zachritz (with wife HelenMarie) is the visiting officiate. The apartment has two large bedrooms, living/dining room, kitchen, wireless and cable TV, and is centrally located on Crespo between Morelos and Matamoros. Today we walked the entire length of the town, north to south, starting with a hearty breakfast at el Zaguan ($3.50 for hot chocolate, bread, scrambled eggs a la Mexicana, and black beans and tortillas), followed a visit to Santo Domingo church and museum. This is a world class museum and historical renovation....a must. Sat for a couple of hours in the Zocalo and enjoyed the passersby, and then hoofed it again to the Benito Juarez market for organic dark roast coffee for the apartment, continuing on to the 20 de Noviember market. Inside we discovered a fun and frenetic lunch area -- we picked out our own cecina enchilada (seasoned pork) and tasajo (paper thin sliced flank steak) from the vendor of choice, and carried it to the grill where we added green chiles, green onions, then guacamole, Negro Modelo beer, and fresh warm corn tortillas. The freshly grilled selection is brought to the tightly packed family-style table shared with Oaxacans to create our tacos as we saw fit. So much fun. About $3.00 each. Can't be beat. Ducked into a chocolate factory to pick up some for our mid-morning snack; the whole cacao beans are ground in front of you with added cinnamon stick, almonds, brown sugar and lecithin; they are packaged in large tablets just right for a large cup of hot chocolate with added hot milk or water. The smell is divine!

Home Again, in Santa Fe, New Mexico

2008-11-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that where I live is as satisfying as where I visit when I travel. I am always SO glad to get home again, and then, a few weeks later, I start to get antsy and begin to dream about the next trip. Maybe the next blog will be about New Mexico. Stay tuned.

OFF TO GUATEMALA.....AND NICARAGUA

2008-11-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

I can´t recommed going into Guatemala City at this point, it´s too dangerous. Over the last year or two, more than 100 bus drivers have been killed, that´s over 100, squeezed by gang members applying extorsion tactics to the companies, and killing drivers when rejected. There have been 653 women killed in the whole country this year and about 6300 women raped and beaten over all countrywide, according to a morning story in the Presa Libre, which has become quite a reputable paper these days. The headlines this morning declared that the government paid indigenous people, about 20,000 of them, anywhere from 50-75 Quetzales )(7.5 to the dollar) each to come in to the capital and demonstrate IN FAVOR of the goverment´s proposed budget, which would likely push monies into the hands of the leaders rather than into the specific programs to help the education, health, and welfafe of the people. Really astonishing. Every day there are stores of 7, 8,or 15 people murdered it the capital. The goverment can´t send in security guards for the buses as: 1. they are out of money, having pocketed it all, and 2. the security guards are many times working for the drug lords,the gangs, beholden to them. Three more people murdered this moring, a passenger, a driver and a young gang member who had previously been jailed but let out on a low bail amount.

So, at the airport one must jump into a hired car or hotel representative and drive directly to Antigua, where these problems seem a million miles away, even though it is just a 45-minute drive. DO NOT DRIVE AFTER DARK. There is crime here after dark, particularly, but it has improved in the last year or so. Just make sure you are home by 10 pm as that'[s the cutoff hour for the tuk-tuk's, the two person little taxis. Iit´s a small city, walkable from end to end, north to south, east to west, but don't walk after dark, call a reputable cab from your hotel.

I´m still in awe of what a truly remarkable place this city is, especially when walking around at 7 am before the traffic starts. Cobblestone streets, huge churches, both in ruins and in use (personal favorite is San Francsico on 1st Ave. South), cool sunny climate, perfect for a hour or two of fast walking. The historical board does a very good job here, and it should serve as a model for other colonial cities.

Our hotel is a dream, we are very lucky. La Quinta de Las Flores, an old public bath and laundry, coloial times. Four or five pools, fountains and a couple of acres of tended beautiful gardens, exquisite textiles adorning each room, the volcano peeking out from behind the morning mist in the distance. Only about 14 rooms. http://quintadelasflores.com/about-us.htm I don´t get paid to mention this, honest. It´s going to be hard to leave.

ChiChi...caste-nan-GO!!!

2008-11-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

Got a great mini-shuttle from Coban to drive us to ChiChi. Six hour drive, with a spine crushing first couple of hours over a washed out dirt and gravel road.
htpp://www.cobantravels.com $35 well-spent, shared with some French and Spanish tourists.

As always, we stay at the Posada del Arco. Pedro, who lived in the US from age 18-55, and his wife, have created a cozy, tiny guest house, with large room, great fireplaces, and a balcony overlooking the entire valley. This is our third time here. About $20 a night.

The indigenous market is incredible, and still magical. The Indian Quiche population here is different from that in other parts of Guatemala (55-60% of the country is indigenous, speaking about 20 different dialects; Spanish is always a second language.) and the Mayan customs and traditional attire still dominate, both religious and political life. We caught a cofradia parade into the church, very thrilling. I like to get up at sunup, and go watch the flower vendors sprawled on the church steps, in a cloud of copal incense smoke (Sundays) selling to church go-ers. This is one place where time does seem to have stood still, at least until you get deeper into the market and see the newly arrived vendors of black market CDs selling rap music at high volume on their boom boxes. I just pretend they aren't there, which ain't easy. Thousands of items are for sale, in hundreds of booths, and these are tourist items. We figured there were about 80 tourists here, a large German group, and assorted others. What will they ever do with all those goods?

Here in the market you can in fact buy well-made new local huipiles for a reasonable price. We have found some wonderful vendors of second-hand huipiles at great prices; you have to sift through mountains of rags to find the fabulous ones, but it's better than an Easter egg hunt, believe me. Fun!!!

The day after the market is also interesting. The big dollar vendors go home on Sunday night, and today, Monday, the little guys are inhabiting the same stalls, selling bits and pieces of old rusty hardware pieces, and huge truckloads of US thrift store leftovers to an eager audience. The indoor food market is being washed clean, so the usual vendors have spilled out into the outdoor area. Many shoe vendors. Every single handicraft store was closed up tight as a drum, the town was virtually empty. Had a day to rest and read before returning tomorrow to Antigua.

Rabinal???? A GREAT MARKET!

2008-11-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

The weekly Thursday market in Rabinal is an authentic Guatemalan market at it's best. Only one other tourist, a young former Peace Corps Volunteer fellow who stayed on in Honduras with a paying job working on getting water to outlying villages, who was in town for a meeting. Women came from miles around to buy and sell, the sellers wearing their traditional clothing -- but none for sale! We were told the older, used 'huipiles' would be available on the Sunday markets. You had to hunt to find even the newer ones...women line up sitting on the ground, with 2-foot diameter baskets in front of them, a cloth hiding the contents of what they are selling. Interesting marketing technique.

The market reminded me of what the Chichicastenango (ChiChi) market was like decades ago, before it became the wholesale venue for tourist items, i.e. fabric covered notebooks,purses, cheap carved masks, etc. (They are even selling dish towels IMPRINTED with a woven design, made in San Francisco of all places.) We were an oddity, but received in a very friendly fashion. The best moment for me was when offering to buy a woman's head wrap - 'cinta' - which she offered having left her duplicate at home after I expressed an interest. The cinta is very rare and not seen any longer except in high end antique stores, it wraps through and holds their long hair together, with a huge set of pompoms resting on the center front of her hair. During our negotiations, during which a small crowd of nearby women gathered close, she mentioned she purchased this special wedding cinta for her daughter's wedding, but the daughter wanted to wear a more modern hairclip. Was I getting married, then? Oh, no, I answered, in my best Spanish, I tried that once, and once was enough, thank you. They burst into HUGE peals of laughter, and we were instant friends. Great fun and wonderful cameraderie.

We hired a taxi then to drive us to our next destination, Coban. The only transportation in the outlying areas is the famous 'chicken bus' which are in fact decommissioned US yellow school buses, highly decorated. Their safety is dubious, and they pack 4-5 persons per seat, plus have others sit on the floor while they careen wildly over mountain passes for a 75 cent thrill of a lifetime. We have learned that HUNDREDS of bus drivers have been murdered in Guatemala City now, bus company owners refusing to pay the extorsion monies demanded by gang members, or else. It has the nation in a huge crises as you can imagine, buses being the only form of transportation for probably 90% of the citizens.

Dia de Feria in SAN MARTIN

2008-11-13T15:25:00.000-08:00

Visiting the small town of San Martin, north of Antigua, was one of the most delightful days I have ever spent in Guatemala. It was a real feast for the eyes, and needed encouragement that perhaps not all Guatemalan culture had been supplanted by Levis, t-shirts and video games or rap music. It was the religiouns feast day of San Martin, an annual event. In addition to imported entertainment consisting of SIX ferris wheels, there were many additional kiddie rides, video games, hundreds of booths of plastic toys and assorted Chinese junk items . There were food booths, fortune tellers (a parakeet picked out your rolled up printed paper fortune), con men with shell games, windup toys demonstrations, and assorted games of chance. Ferris wheel rides were 5 quetzales each, about $.75. They were jammed once mass was over. Music blared. Bodies tightly jammed the aisles in this ephemeral, fun-city-for-a day creation.

The real event, however, took place in the church. It was the main annual event, a city-wide mass, and people streamed in and out all morning long. Penitants prayed on the hard concrete floors if the benches were full. There were long lines at the confessional, and the many saints were decked out in wonderful fresh flowers, satin fabrics, perched on wooden platforms to carried through the street as part of the procession after mass. There were three women's 'cofradias' (religious brotherhood, sisterhood) at this particular church, and the women from the various groups wore yellow, blue or green ribbons entwined in their long braids to distinguish them. The men were in black and white. Rumor had it the bishops from Guatemala City came to perform the mass. White veils came out and were placed on heads when the women entered the church or began the procession, and they all wore their best 'huipiles', their 'sobre huipiles' (ceremonial blouses) on top of their usual dress. The women were friendly and loved to show us their beautiful clothes. A particularly sweet two little old ladies spoke with us, a mother and daughter, probably 70 and 85 years of age. They were thrilled to have their pictures taken, and held hands and giggled throughout.

We found a sparse little restaurant on a side street, Cafe of the Full Moon, run by an American man and his Guatemalan wife. He was off traveling; she spoke perfect English, and had graduated from a hotel/restaurant community college program outside Portland, Oregon! Somehow she got talked into moving back home to this teeny little town of 3800 and into opening a restaurant with her husband and three children; we had the feeling she knew her talents were being underutilized; she had returned home after school to work for Nestle in the capital in food development before getting married. Her food was delicious, she purified all vegetables, etc. before cooking, rather unusual in that tiny a town. A lot of fun.

Bye-Bye Grenada, Hola San Juan del Sur.....

2008-11-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

I think I feel guilty about this. We are in a HUGE resort, high above the ocean, built by an North American ballet dancer from San Francisco. Go figure. Three pools (we just returned from a late swim in the infinity pool overlooking the ocean and the small fishing village, reminiscent of Puerto Vallarta in the 70's. It's all that I really don't care for in an underdeveloped country vis-a-vis wealthy tourists swarming in and changing the culture and investment structure, and boy is it great. Wonderful food, big huge safe salads, and we three are sharing a house meant for long-term stay, with three bedrooms, three completely tiled baths, three CNN TV's, and Wi-Fi. People in Santa Fe would love to live here. LOOKS like Santa Fe detailing, actually. All the trim, towel racks, counter tops, chairs, etc. looks like they are made in a carpentry shop on site, using a local wood. Don't know which wood, but it's teak-ish. We found a coupon in a paper for 25% off (will I EVER change?) , so we are each paying about $60 a night. It would rent in the States for about $1000 a nite. What can I say. San Juan del Sur is 1.5 hours by fast cab from Granada. And this is not even the good beach area. Many foreign investors here, I have several friends who have purchased beach front property. Values seem to double in four years. Or at least they did. Good luck Barack.

It was actually a strenuous week, mostly due to the climate at this time of the year. Sticky, sweaty, wet, and exhausting. Thankfully, our lodging was terrific. Too bad only a few of us had A/C, I felt pretty lucky. It turned out not to be a photo workshop, more of a photo tour, sort of. That was OK, but I felt an opportunity was missed all the way around. Would I return? Sure, maybe for a long week-end.

Anyway, off to Guatemala tomorrow to meet Beverley. Hooray. Time for a change of scenery, although travel with my two current companions is swell. We have been together in Peru, Africa and Seattle at various times.

One Pueblo Blanco among many

2008-11-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

It's too damn hot here, our only real complaint. Three or four showers a day....and you try not to move too much after your shower. I leave my hair wet, hoping to catch a breeze. The People: they are incredibly friendly, even-keeled, and good natured. Tourism hasn't soured them to us yet, because there really isn't any tourism, just a large group of ex-pats, as mentioned, who live here full- or part-time. The Spanish takes some getting used to: 'mah' = 'mas' (more) . Very nasal, dropping ends off of words, and running it all together to create a huge, long single mysterious word. And as there is no tourism to speak of, there is nothing for a tourist to shop for, with the exception of wonderful hammocks, wooden rocking chairs and large pots, none of which seem to fit into my suitcase. Many people using horses and carts, oxen, bikes. Not uncommon to see 20 or horse drawn carts just in one morning.

We visited a pottery town yesterday, in Los Pueblos Blancos, called Catarina, and saw the pottery workshop of a well-known artist, who had a more modernist take on the craft. Also lunched lakeside at a lake in a volcanic crater lake, and later, viewed the area from above where there is a view park, musicians, and restaurants. Almost COLD when the winds came up. Nice day.

It's political season here too, with yesterday being the cut off day for all parades and public political events,complete with loudspeakers at full blast playing the FSLN (the Sandindista Liberation folks) theme song, John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance, in Spanish. Mayoral elections will be held on the 9th. I haven't had the courage to try to understand their politics yet; dealing with our own situation just about took it all out of me! (Uploaded image with curvy white balcony, and early morning bus is taken from my room at 5:30 am.)

2008-11-05T16:48:00.003-08:00

Where to go to watch election returns, in Nicaragua, with our hearts in our mouths? Found a good spot. Quite a crowd at the local hotel/eatery, Hotel San Francisco, here in Granada, owned by two American sisters (relatives, not nuns) who returned for some dental work after years working in NGO's in war zones, and bought the place in a week! Small cozy place, great food, and lots of Obama supporters, including an old friend from Seattle, Bill Ashman, whom I hadn't seen in 30 years, who now lives here. Our kids went to school together as second and third graders, his wife helped to start the Museo Ixchel in Guatemala City. Teeny world. Wonderful, glorious, over-the-top night!!!!!

We made it home in time for Obama's acceptance speech, real-time miracles are still possible in this world. It still has a sense of unreality about it. We cried, laughed, clapped and cried more, silently, tears streaming. Was so very touched to see both Jesse Jackson and Oprah in tears at the rally. WOW. Still have to pinch myself. I have been smiling to myself all day long.

Visited another barrio earlier yesterday where Empowerment International is working, this time in the country. Very peaceful. Very hot and humid. Over the top. Easier to be poor in the countryside, and easier to raise kids. No TV, no videos, kids are more respectful and the teachers seem to be listened to. We had a raucous game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, plus a fun pinata, with everyone getting a chance at it.

Went out at 6:30 am this morning to the local market, it's even too hot at that early hour. Our electricity just went down, we're working off of batteries. The water of also off...no showers. Filthy food market, no garbage control, but lots of people also happy about Obama...he's billed as the President from HAWAII!!! Front page says 30 million African Americans are cheering his win, no mention of us white folks. Nicaraguans in the market are thrilled someone of color has won, no matter the rest. (Everyone here is a bit confused by Michelle's choice of dress, however....she is clearly creating her own path!)

My hopes are that the world has now shifted on it's axis, as has been long predicted. Won't be easy, but with Obama, it won't be so hard.

2008-11-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

A few more shots, to give you an idea of what it's like here......

Craters and Crafts.....and then some

2008-11-04T14:19:00.001-08:00

Craters and Crafts

Masaya Volcano is active and impressive, and not far from Grenada. We were told to park backwards, i.e. with our noses pointed OUT, downwards, rather than facing into the parking space, for a fast getaway. That says it all. They made mention of seismic devices, but then ended the talk with "and you really just never know." Sulfur gases kept us in line, and we shifted to the non- windy side of the park after a few noxious inhalations. Quite lovely, with a view down,way down into a bubbling abyss, and across to Lake Masaya, which abuts Grenada.

After a Pan Bimbo, orange-ish salad dressing mayo-type substance sandwich (which included some industrial turkey) that of course tasted great, at a lovely area within the volcano national park, we went into the town of Masaya to the Artisan's Market. Actually, two artisan's markets, the old one (hot, dirty and cheap) and the REALLY old one (historic, still cheap- yet airy- building on the plaza). Couldn't find anything to buy, oddly, with the exception of a carved gourd, a jicara, which I just now realized I left in the hired van. Oh, well. They do make splendid hammocks and great pottery oddly reminiscent of Casas Grandes designs, all too big/heavy to bring home, but the rest of the markets were filled with Mexican and Guatemalan goods, at twice the normal price. Dinner at an East Indian restaurant, where the bill for 5 of us, with the requisite wine and appetizers, and chicken-coconut-pineapple curry dish,came to $75, total. A little less than $15 each. Much discussion over dinner about vampire bats as we have these little mysterious machines in our rooms that make anti-bat zapping whines throughout the night. Election results tomorrow. I feel like something is about to burst.

Grenada, Villa Esperanza, and Day of the Dead, sorta'

2008-11-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

Granada is really a bit of a shock after Leon. Whereas Leon had that old-time, authentic flavor, a bit like a real original Coke, Grenada is the Ultra Lemon-Lite-Diet variety, somehow losing it's authenticity to chase after the tourist dollar, which is does very well. And which is not to say that it is not an extremely pleasant, wonderful place. The buildings are outstanding, the colors are spectacular, it's as comfy really as Antigua. But....too many tourists, too many Americans (for my liking) , some actually say 3 in 4 are ex-pats. Prices are much higher than further afield, although a great Margarita is $2.25 US. Heard a woman singing Karaoke off-key in English last night on the way home.

Food is superb. Home made tortillas for breakfast, along with Gallo Pinto, rice and black beans which when cooked, are then sauteed together. Moros y Christianos. Tasty. You pay a bit more to eat the special exported beef, and, unfortunately, coffee, the main export, shows up at our table as perked, weak Hills Brothers. All the good stuff is shipped out.

Took a long morning to visit Villa Esperanza barrio today with Empowerment International, the non-profit who is sponsoring our trip. They work with 200 younger school kids, trying to keep them in school. Most of the staff is from Colorado and Santa Fe. The students put on an 'acto,' which we did a lot in Salvador, with young children dancing and performing , with fancy costumes and makeup,for us, their special guests. We toured the barrio, visiting homes made of tin pieces,leftover wooden planks, with the clean hardened mud floor, tin roof. LOTS of people in small spaces, the women hand wash the clothes every day to keep their 5 or so kids in clean clothes. One woman said her husband hadn't sent his monthly money yet from Costa Rica, and she was very worried. In addition to the really poor living conditions, it is hot, hot, hot here, and humid. It was memory lane again, Peace Corps deja vu. Didn't see where they bathe, probably pretty casually as there were no formal bathrooms. We walked the 1/2 hour back to Grenada in the heat, and collapsed after lunch until our group excursion to the city cemetery for Day of the Dead.

November 2, Day of the Dead, is much more straightforward in Nicaragua than in Mexico, no mystic overtones, no real visual punch for us photogs, but it certainly has a greater pull for the townspeople as a whole. Thousands have come during the last two days to decorate graves with sparse sprigs of fresh flowers, a few garlands, but mostly a limited offering. Lots of whacking away at weeds with machetes on overgrown plots. Many young people. (Actually there are LOTS of young people here, and many loitering teenaged boys, obligatory baseball hats perched on backwards.) Only saw two lit candles on graves, and everyone took off after sundown, which is around 5:30 here. The front section is the high rollers home turf, and the size and value of the grave markers diminishes as one walks further back into the huge acreage. The simplest wooden crosses were in the far end. My favorites.

Uploaded photos are difficult to control; you'll just have to figure out what is what!

Leon, Nicaragua, the Authentic Colonial City

2008-11-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Leon is only about 1.25 hours from Managua, but such a welcome relief. It hasn't been cluttered with neon from American companies, most of the available products seem to be made in country here. We spent a couple of hours at the local food market, a real joy. Lovely, lovely people, happy to chat, WANTING to be photographed, anxious to be friendly. I asked a torilla seller if I could take her picture, she asked for one Cordoba (20 to the dollar). I explained I had just given my last change to the 98 year-old woman begging at the church (see photo), and she GAVE me a tortilla, no charge, and let me take her photo. Absolutely unheard of on any of my other travels in Mexico or Central America. They haven't been worn out here by tourism yet, and are still a bit naive and without guile or agenda.

We're opting out of the trip to coffee lands, Esteli, tomorrow, as we've just come from there before the workshop began, and are hoping to stay glued to the TV all day for a huge landslide. All of us have knots in our stomach about now. And beads of sweat on our brow. And on the back of our legs. And running down our cheeks.

We are staying in a 16th century wonder of a renovated home in Grenada, 24 foot ceilngs, beautiful wood, we each have our own room with A/C, antique furniture, mosquitos netting, it's actually right out of a movie set. Exquisite. The program serves us two meals a day, and are usually on our own in the evenings. It's half a block from the plaza, a bit noisy, but we all sleep like logs.

I am so hopeful about tomorrow!

s.

Off and Running in Nicalandia....

2008-11-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

I have to say I love Nicaragua. It reminds me of of El Salvador before the war, just bigger. Equally hot and humid, however, as in your shirt is dripping in 1/2 hour. The countryside is lush, peaceful and quiet, and and people are exceedingly friendly, and very helpful. Can I take your picture? Sure! Sometimes they even ask! There aren't any other tourists, and we are constantly asked where we are from. Seems like a country very much under the radar, at least this end of the country, which is up north near Leon, and coffee country. Prices are exceedingly inexpensive, the local food is a variation on the themes of plaintains, beans, rice, tortillas, and cheese, fish.

Managua is a bit like any other Central American capital city, noisy, too much garbage, the MetroCenter large mall is filled with young kids, a 'date and mate' moment. Very self conscious place, looking like it's trying very hard to be in Los Angeles. Lots of Texaco, BurgerKing, Coke, Shell, CitiBank, Benneton, 9 West, Fila, Nike...but that's about it so far. Our fist night was in a small 10-room hotel, Los Robles, new Spanish Colonial in style, great service, food and prices. Lots of bikes in use everywhere.

We (Veronica and I) decided to go high up to coffee lands to a completely sustainable coffee finca, and while it stopped us a bit short at first as it is Bavarian in style and content (with Octoberfest celebrations!) it is a very unique place on the sustainable map of important experiments. SEE: http://selvanegra.com/en/Coffee-Sustainability.html OR - http://www.planeta.com/planeta/99/0199selva.html

It would have been worth of inclusion in Omnivores Dilemma, by Michael Pollon. Mauzy and her husband Eddy Kohl, author of 10 books on local history and coffee industry, have invested heavily in the understanding of how bacteria can help in the process of natural pesticides, composting, creation of methane gas and bio-diesel, with solar and electricity from their lakes providing much of the power to run run a 1500 acre coffee plantation that produces organic coffee we can now buy at Whole Food in Santa Fe under the Selva Negra brand. They provide housing, education and health care for all their workers, numbering anywhere from 300 -450 during the picking season, when 7,000 tortillas and produced daily for the entire community! The farm produces all their food: cheese, sausages, chicken, beef, cheese, etc. etc. Truly a remarkable couple and an experiment that they hope receives more world-wide attention. Mauzy is now lecturing for Whole Foods in different parts of the country. The little bungalows and dining room need a bit of sprucing up, and the fireplaces didn't work, so the damp chill stayed on all night long. No matter. This is a unique effort in a true rain and cloud forest, where it can rain as much as 14" in ONE DAY.

We lucked out and got a ride with a visiting Frenchman (living in French Tahiti as a high school Spanish teacher) back down the mountain to Managua to then grab a microbus for $2 to go to the colonial town of Leon for the night and next day. I feel like I am in San Miguel, in the eastern part of El Salvador. Streets have the same dimensions, as do the buildings in size and style. Love it. We are splurging on the Hotel El Convento, an underdeveloped huge former 16th century convent. Lovely, replete with antiques, manicured gardens, palm trees! No one else is staying here. Taking a taxi back to Managua, then off to Grenada to join the group.