What were the Oaxacan protests all about in 2006?

For 25 years prior to 2006, and since, the teachers in Oaxaca have been protesting, and in fact their demonstrations continue in the Zócalo, as we visit.  Prior to 2006 the protests usually lasted a couple of weeks. The issues in 2006 were inadequate funding and salaries as demanded by the teachers union.  The protagonists were the union,  and the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) which was created by a popular assembly of the protesters, versus the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.  In 2006 the union demanded the resignation of the Governor, and in May the government responded with police against the non-violent protesters with the protesters being fired upon. This resulted in the creation of APPO, which has never been able to negotiate an agreement with the government.

In mid-June another violent confrontation occurred between 3000 police and the protesters resulting in over 100 hospitalizations.  The Governor refused to resign.  APPO declared itself to be the governing body of Oaxaca, and started putting up barricades on the downtown streets of Oaxaca.  In August the union took over the television and radio stations and Governor Ulises Ruis left and stayed in Mexico City for several months. (He remained in office until November 30, 2010; see info about his tenure and controversies at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulises_Ruiz)  On October 26, U.S. journalist Brad Will was killed in Oaxaca.  On October 29-30 about 3,500 federal police and 3000 military police removed protesters in downtown Oaxaca's Zócalo, with a backup of 5,000 army troops waiting just outside the city.  Several protestors and leaders were killed. 

“On Saturday, November 25, 2006, a large clash between the federal police and demonstrators occurred in the evening following the seventh megamarch held by the APPO. The march began peacefully, but the situation turned violent when the police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters attempted to encircle the city's Zócalo. It is unclear who instigated the violence, but the clash quickly spread through the city as protesters fought back with rocks and homemade PVC rockets. Police took the APPO encampment in the Santo Domingo plaza and arrested more than 160 people. Many APPO supporters were hospitalized, and the deaths of three protesters were reported but remain unconfirmed.” (Copied from Wikipedia)

In late November, the Chief of the Federal police said that no more violence, nor the conduct of APPO would be tolerated. Soon after, APPO removed their barricades, left the radio stations, and their leaders went into hiding.  By early December the protests had come to an end after seven months.  The aftermath of the protests and violence was a near total devastation of the tourist industry in Oaxaca, which has taken many years to rebuild.

(Much of this article is a shortened and paraphrased version of the Wikipedia history of the protests.  For much more detail and referrals to information about the key players, events, and politics visit: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_oaxaca_uprising)

Post Script:  As our stay in Oaxaca comes to an end, the national news about education in Mexico is becoming very interesting.  New Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto got a sweeping education reform bill passed.  This new policy is intended to restructure teacher selection and review based on performance, not inheritance and history.  The President of the largest teachers union (National Education Workers Union) who is Elba Esther Gordillo and has held the post 1989, said recently (paraphrasing), the current education system will be changed over my dead body.  On February 26, 2013, Mexican President Nieto signed the new law. On February 27, Gordillo and two other union leaders were arrested for embezzlement of millions of dollars of union funds. Because of the seriousness of the crimes no bail has yet been allowed.  This will be an interesting story to follow in the International Press.  

 

Elba Esther Gordillo

(Photo copyright The News - Mexico City English online newspaper)

 

Quirky Living Note

 

Blue lights on cars and trucks -  One of the more distracting aspects of night driving in Oaxaca is the use by private citizens of small blue flashing lights put indiscriminately on the front, back or maybe all over the vehicle.  Occasionally, they will drive with only these blue lights and not even use headlights.  In the U.S. this is prohibited and blue lights are allowed to be used only by law enforcement.  I have had many court cases where young Mexicans have put blue lights on their cars and have received traffic tickets for this violation.  Their response is always that they did not know it was illegal.

Expat Life in Oaxaca

Our neighbor Bill seems to be the social director of at least part of the expats living in Oaxaca.  He denies this, but does have the leadership role in organizing the music functions of those who like to participate in amateur music, both playing and singing.  Everyone around is invited, especially if you have at least a scintilla of talent.  These events used to be held at Casa Raab, down the road, but now are conducted on an irregular basis at our compound swimming pool.

Last night was one of these events.  Not only do the musicians show up, but also their families to enjoy the music and swimming pool. This music group has the name of the Bodega Boys.  When I first heard about it I researched the internet to see what it was all about.  Interestingly they had an entry on MySpace.  So you can share this sidelight of expat life here is their posting:

Howdy Everybody! This here is The Bodega Boys posting from the bodega in lovely San Pablo, Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico. The Bodega Boys are a mezcal fueled music ensemble that get together a few times a month for some serious down home, boot stompin', jam sessions. The Bodega Boys define all styles, yet are no styles. From Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan, The Beatles to Bluegrass, Hillbilly to Hellbilly, The 50's to the 70's, Acoustic to Electric, The Bodega Boys go where no cumbia, mariachi, or trova group dare. The Bodega Boys lineup is continually changing and the set list will forever be a work in progress. On most nights the lineup includes Don Antonio as "Toby Juan Adobe" on Vocals, Guitar or Mandolin, Dengue John as "Alpine Elvis" on Fat Bertha the Bass, Washtub Bass Hall Of Famer, Mr. Bill Blackson as "Black Bill" thumpin' along on the one string, Esteve as "El Vocho", Jazzy Jeff as "Jefe Jeffe", Big Bill on Bass and let's not forget Mike. Other honorary members of the Bodega Boys include Johnny Rico as "Playboy" (he'll play just about anything...), Mississippi-Boston-Berkeley-Oaxaca Brian as "The Hammer", Chet MATT-kins, Calypso Dan as "Dangerous Dan", Bray Poor as "Poor Bray, Johnny B. Goode, Alex, Disco Stu and Alex PETA. If you know at least three chords, can snap your fingers and chew gum at the same time or have access to good mezcal, The Bodega Boys want you!

It must have all gone well last night.  When I checked the pool this morning I didn’t find any bodies, so the mezcal must have been appropriately smooth.

 

 

Quirky Living Note

 

Street Construction -  Is it just my luck, or have these road and construction projects been on the books for years?  You will recall all the problems we had with our street detour.  Now the main road down to the Glorietta is under severe attack with road construction and alley detours.  Not that the road doesn’t need it!  Several blocks of the main road to our casa has now had the blacktop scraped off, one side closed, detours into alleys, and they are working feverishly.  Maybe they heard the gringo complaining about the roads into Trinidad de Viguera and San Pablo Etla!

I have to give Sebastian directions. More fun!

Today the Boyd’s and the Warren’s scheduled Sebastian to take us to the Villa de Etla market, not because we aren’t very familiar with getting there, but so we could use him as our expert in identifying all the unusual fruit and vegetables, for the education of Mall and Mary Ann.  This plan worked out great as it put him to the real test explaining the food items and how to cook and eat them.  The Wednesday Etla market is really a good one to visit as it is very manageable.  The huge village markets of Tlacolulu and Ocotlan are so big they can be a bit overwhelming.

Following Sebastian’s rule, we did not do our fresh item buying until on the way out.  You don’t want to carry those heavy bags too long.  Pineapples, watermelons, cantaloupes and all the rest can add up the weight fast.  Tom and I escaped the most of it (leaving it to poor Sebastian) by heading for the nieves stand.  We dug into some tuna (prickly pear) flavored iced deserts (like snow cones in a Dixie cup) and waited for the shoppers.  As it turned out when Sebastian and the ladies got back to us, Sebastian was carrying his own bag of food items.  He called Elizabeth and took the order!  They then joined us with nieves and discovered from Sebastian that you can ask to mix the flavors.  I tasted his pecan flavor which was excellent.

After the market we were off to our visit of Vista Hermosa.  Sebastian had not previously been there so I had the pleasure of showing him the road.  We had fun laughing about needing to always turn at the Corona sign.  At most intersections there is frequently a small grocery and Corona beer has surely bought every sign for every store all over Oaxaca.  We followed the same ruta that Mary Ann and I had taken a few days earlier.  This time we stopped at the Instituto by the church which we had missed.  It is a fascinating building which was a former paper factory and has been lovingly restored as a cultural and arts center.  Now various crafts are being taught including paper art, pottery and study areas with a library.  We picked up one of their schedules showing that exhibitions and events are being continuously scheduled. 

You don’t want to get to over worked with all this touring, thus back to the casa for comida and an early afternoon trip to the supermercado.  Finally we topped off the day, as you should on a southern Mexico vacation with some pool time.

 

The church & Institute grounds of

Vista Hermosa/San Agustin Etla

 

Entrance ponds and boiler to the Institute

which formerly was a paper factory

 

Quirky Living Note

 

The 7:15 a.m. public announcement truck – After awhile you get used to the early rooster crowing and the donkeys braying, but the speaker truck is truly unique.  Because of my limited Spanish I had no idea what the purpose of this was.  When talking with Sebastian he explained that this is the morning newspaper sales truck, and they were giving the morning headlines.  The day I asked him about it, he said the lead story was that the car arsonist had been caught, and that the criminal was a resident of San Pablo Etla, so there was a local connection.

Chapulines! Are you missing your favorite delicacy?

In Oaxaca, upon entry to any market, no matter how small or large, you can’t avoid the little native ladies selling chapulines.  The delicacy (I assume for those who have an addicted taste for them) is piled into tall piles and come, apparently in different flavors and sizes.  What are they, you ask?  Fried grasshoppers, which have the appearance, as you might expect, of dead bugs.  The sales ladies are more than happy to offer you samples as you pass by, so that you will learn of their excellent taste and crunchy texture.

 

Today we were in the downtown Juarez Mercado and I realized that I had not mentioned chapulines in any of my articles, although the product is so persuasive in Oaxaca.  Have I tried them yet?  Are you crazy, I am a very bland and fearful eater.  I will stick with peanuts, which by the way, are very good in bulk here, although you sometimes get some that are very, very salty.  At the beginning of my blog I may have made a deprecating comment about the local coffee.  I was reading today about an excellent coffee shop named La Antigua on Reforma Street, behind the Santo Domingo church.  They grow and roast their own Oaxacan coffee and we now have a pound of their Pluma Oaxaca beans.  They must export it to the U.S. as it has a stamp on it saying “USDA Organic.”  Can’t beat that!  I will report down the line on how it turns out.

 Oh, by the way here is what is said about chapulines on Wikipedia:

They are collected only at certain times of year (from their hatching in early May through the late summer/early autumn). After being thoroughly cleaned and washed, they are toasted on a comal (clay cooking surface) with garlic, lime juice and salt containing extract of agave worms, lending a sour-spicy-salty taste to the finished product. Sometimes the grasshoppers are also toasted with chili, although it can be used to cover up for stale chapulines.

One of the regions of Mexico where chapulines are most widely consumed is Oaxaca, where they are sold as snacks at local sports events and are becoming a revival among foodies.  It's debated how long Chapulines have been a food source in Oaxaca. There is one reference to grasshoppers that are eaten in early records of the Spanish conquest, in early to mid 16th century.

I think I will let Bob White or Tom Boyd try them next week when they join us here at the casa.  They are surely more adventuresome eaters than I am.  One other event we experienced today was a walkthrough of the Quinta Real Hotel (formerly the Camino Real), which is one of the top hotels here in Oaxaca.  It is right behind the Santo Domingo church and is a converted and restored convent.  It is very beautiful and the pricing on TripAdvisor reflects that, with starting prices of $200+ per night.

 

Chapulines at Benito Juarez Mercado.

We did taste test them!

 

Quirky Living Note

 

School Kids – We see thousands of school children in Oaxaca, as the first session of the day ends about 1 p.m. when we are often moving about the city.  The thing that is amazing is not that they all wear uniforms with colors and logos depicting their school, but that they are so overdressed for the temperature here.  Girls are most often wearing blouses, wool sweaters, wool skirts, and white knee high stockiSngs.  They obviously are not bothered by the 90 degree heat.  The boys will often have jackets or sweaters over polo shirts and sweat pants or black wool trousers.

 

We have conquered the North Platform of Monte Alban!

When last at the ruins of Monte Albán, you found Mary Ann and Tom electing to not climb the North Platform due to some very scary steps and no railing.  Today was the visit to this incredible UNESCO Heritage Site for our friends Mall and Tom. Everyone we take there is so impressed with these ruins.  While they were covering the whole mountain, we concentrated on our missed North Platform.

While the Boyd’s, with their long legs, were covering the whole complex in 1 ½ hours, we spent a leisurely hour scouring the tall ruins of the north end. Rather than go up the scary center stairs from the grand plaza, we accessed it by using several side stairs, all which were very manageable.  When you get to the top the views are magnificent.  We chatted with a beautiful Polish girl (I think they are all beautiful) touring by herself, who has been working in Brazil and has been visiting Mexico.  We took her photo with her camera and told her to send it to her mother and tell mom the photo was taken by a handsome young man!  She was pretty amazed when we told her how interesting and beautiful we thought Warsaw and Krakow were.

Following refrescos in the café, after our strenuous morning, we were off down the hill to Atzompa for another look at the green pottery.  Tom and I thought we had escaped any buying and thought the ladies were right behind us when we took a seat in the El Patio café.  Then the time got longer and longer, and we suspected that we might be in local craft buying trouble. When the ladies did arrive at our table they surely were carrying bags. I thought Mall had committed to not carrying anything large back to Leavenworth, but Mary Ann had led her astray. 

Mall in her two or three trips around the Casa de Artesanias had been going back to the same jug (pot; vessel; art object) and saying things like “I just don’t have enough room in my home for objects to be out on surfaces”.  I had been saying “you need to be expanding more than your kitchen when you start the re-model”.  She is the now proud owner of a priceless art object, which we will be looking to admire, when we visit them in Leavenworth.  This assumes Tom can live through carrying it on his lap all the way.

 

 

The view from the north platform of Monte Alban

 

The conquered north platform

 

Quirky Living Note

 

Fresh fruit and vegetables – It seems that you can purchase fresh and vegetables everywhere here in Oaxaca.  You find them in the mercados, supermercados, mini-mercados, at roadside stands, vendors in the middle of the highways, tiny fruit and vegetable stores in every block, and what today was a new one.  We saw a pickup truck with a canopy going door to door coming up our street loaded artfully with fruit and vegetables.  Well, if you cannot go out, they will come to you!

 

 

 

I knew I shouldn’t have let Mary Ann into that rug village!

When last week, we went to the Sunday market in Tlacolulu with the kids and Sebastian, we did not make it to the native rug making village of Teotitlán del Valle which is a few miles nearer to Oaxaca.  While in the Sunday market this week with Tom and Mall Boyd, we all had a good time watching the meat being barbecued, buying watermelon, and small gourd handicrafts.  They were all very impressed that I even found the parking lot that Sebastian used on our first trip to the tianguis. 

Next we headed to the rug village with all the families weaving rugs, and other woven products right in their individual stores. It is a delightful village with shops up against a very impressive colorful painted church.  While Mary Ann, Mall and Tom (well he was walking along) were looking at the craft makers, I went up to the church.  It was very unique, and while standing there, a band and a group of locals came out, which I think was a funeral procession for a child, judging by the mournful sound of the band and the very small table being carried with a wrapped object and preceded by a person swinging incense. 

I went back down the hill and told the others they really had to see the church.  When walking up the hill they were invited into a shop by an older native woman who actually spoke some English.  This was obviously my downfall.  Mary Ann found a wool wall hanging sized rug that must have said to her – buy me, buy me! The only good news for me is that, it does not look large enough to require shipping.  At least I am not real sure yet of the total haul of the many Oaxacan Valley craft products she is hiding in our bedroom.

We had a very nice lunch down the street which consisted of various orders of Azteca sopa, tacos with Oaxacan cheese, and quesadillas.  The final stop of the day was the huge el Tule tree.  It was easier to appreciate today as there were not so many people around.  Oh, we did stop at a bank for the Boyd’s to hit an ATM machine.  Only took two banks to accomplish a withdrawal. Tom and I agree it is the big bank business plan to irritate customers as often as they can. Now the Boyd’s are fixed up to do some real Oaxacan handicraft damage this week.

When we arrived back at the casa we had received a sad e-mail from Anne White, who with Bob, were to arrive tonight.  She had been running a fever following a bad cold, and they cancelled their trip.  Ay, caramba! We have invited them to come post haste, if she should recover this week. Anne has been the inspiration for this trip, and hopefully it can be resurrected.  What am I going to do with my Bob-site chart?

 

The Church in Teotitlan

 

Dyeing the rugs in Teotitlan

 

El Tule Cypress Tree

 

Quirky Living Note

 

How are your investments doing with this credit union -  At least I think it is a credit union.  In downtown Villa de Etla there is a fairy tale castle being constructed, ala Disney World.  Check out the photo of it below.  Maybe it is just a playland center being financed by the credit union.  Who knows?  (Sebastian says it is in fact a credit union.)

 

Oh my goodness!  The Credit Union.

Topes, Reductors, Sleeping Policemen

Several of my blog readers have commented to me, asking about topes.  This is a Mexican phenomenon you certainly would not want to miss if you are driving in Mexico.  Basically, it is a really evil invention thought up by the muffler (Mofles) repair shops (Taller de Mofles) to guarantee a lifetime income.  I found a delightful article about topes on internet copyrighted by Bob Bowers, who says it better than me.  It is as follows:

“Although traffic signals are found in larger Mexican towns and cities, small villages and towns use topes (speed bumps) quite effectively to control traffic and prevent speeding. Mexican topes often are significant enough to require drivers to slow close to a full stop before crossing them. However, these speed deterrents are not always clearly marked (so true – T), and hitting one of them at even 25 miles per hour can be a bone-rattling experience, risking damage to your car as well. (I would say 5 miles an hour! – T)

Recognizing Topes (Speed Bumps) in Mexico

Topes aren't normally located in open road areas, but the smallest level of roadside business or habitation should alert the driver to scan the road surface. Most of the time (but not always) they are signed at the tope itself, although these signs may be unfamiliar to foreign drivers, hidden by shade, trees or other obstructions or simply too late for an unsuspecting motorist. However, once you hit one without having seen it, your observation skills will improve significantly.

Topes typically come in pairs, at least, with one controlling the speed of traffic coming into town from one direction, and the other doing the same for traffic entering from the opposite end. However, these two topes are usually signed from the approaching traffic side only, even though they will extend across both lanes of the road. In other words, if you see a signed tope as you enter the town, be alert for another unsigned one as you leave.

Mexican Tope (Speed Bump) Signs

Sometimes, particularly in the suburbs of larger towns, warning signs are located some distance from the tope, such as "Tope a 100 m" (tope one hundred meters ahead). Drivers should familiarize themselves with this and other road signs to prepare for what lies ahead.

Topes are not always labeled "topes", a term that is more common in northern Mexico than in the central highlands or the south. "Reductor" is used more often in the south, which means "reducer", as in "velocity reducer", but the speed bumps are the same. "Vibradores" (vibrators) is a term used for a different type of speed-reducer, basically cross-grooved pavement. These are typically used before busy intersections or in front of pedestrian crossings, and will make a lot of noise, but not jar a vehicle like a speed bump.

Find Mexican Speed Bumps (Topes) By Watching Other Drivers

One of the best methods for locating speed bumps is to watch other vehicles, particularly in congested areas and through towns. Watch both the vehicles in your lane and those approaching. If they slow significantly or rise up in the roadway, they are crossing topes.

Similarly, if there are people selling goods or collecting donations in the center of the road, they are almost always standing at a tope, knowing that vehicles will slow to a stop.

Mexican Topes Can Work to the Driver's Advantage

Besides controlling speeders without using traffic police, topes actually can be beneficial to the driver. For one, having to slow down to a crawl or stop where street vendors congregate gives you the opportunity to try local products at good prices. Delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice, paper cups of fresh-cut fruit and hot tortillas are sometimes available at these speed bumps.

If you are trying to enter a high-traffic road from a side street, topes on the primary street will act like a stop sign for the oncoming cars, giving you a chance to merge in.

In addition, if you have been stuck behind a slow truck, coming on to a tope gives you the opportunity to pass the slower vehicle as you cross the tope.  (So true, I see this happening all the time, and have done it myself – T)

Avoiding Topes in Mexico Altogether

Anyone driving in Mexico will encounter topes, but drivers can minimize these occasions by sticking to toll roads (cuotas, autopistas) as much as possible. Toll roads provide comparatively safe, tope-free links between larger cities, bypassing the smaller towns and villages that rely on topes for speed control.

Living With Topes (Speed Bumps) in Mexico

Topes are an integral part of the driving experience in Mexico. Tourists will enjoy their driving experience much more and lower their blood pressure by learning what to expect with topes and how to use them to their advantage.”  ©Bob Bowers

I have driven in Mexico off and on since 1967, and experienced topes from the beginning.  We had topes in San Miguel de Allende, but nothing like here in Oaxaca.  They are obsessed with them and in all heights and widths, some with signs but many without. The ones in the shade of trees are the real killers.  I guess I will just have to take Bob Bowers advice, and accept them as an integral part of the charm of Mexican life, thereby lowering my blood pressure!

A typical topes warning sign in Oaxaca

Quirky Living Note

In the U.S. we now have mobile charging stations for electric cars, but a sight on a street near our casa really surprised me.  A guy in an electric wheel chair was at the side of the road (no sidewalk) talking with a man over a high fence.  I then noticed the electric cord through the fence plugged into the wheel chair.  WOW, wait until the enforcers of the ADA in the U.S. hear about this!

 

What? A day that is only partly sunny!

We actually have some scattered cloud cover and wind today.  The prediction is that we will reach only 76 degrees today.  I was beginning to think this was the land of the continuous sun and 90+ temperature days.  We actually had some drops of rain when we were out restocking the casa with food for the arrival of guests this weekend.  However, the prediction for tomorrow is 83° and 93° on Monday.  Our guests will get to gradually acclimatize.

When out driving to the markets today, Saturday must be the day that all the crazy drivers (or those learning to drive come out), but the scariest ones were taxis.  One nearly backed into me when coming out of a diagonal parking place.  A few minutes later it was confirmed that you do not believe local drivers when signaling.  They may have just left it on since the last turn or movement.  Next, you are surprised when passed on the right on a two lane street.

I am amazed at all those drivers who are in such a hurry.  I admit that I am very cautious with all these aggressive drivers (and the skulking topes).  I get passed all the time, just so the passing person can pull over and stop 100 feet ahead, or is weaving in and out, so that I can come up to them at the next light.  More fun – so they can keep you on your toes – all the time!

Flowers by the casa pool

 

New friends we have met in the neighborhood

 

Quirky Living Note

 

When is a sign, not a sign? – Here in Oaxaca they have certainly tried to put up road and street signs.  However, with the graffiti and tagger kids dominating with their alleged public art, often the signs become nearly unreadable.  I have never figured out how on a huge carretara,  that is very well lighted at night, the graffiti demons can get away with it without being caught.  Here in the downtown they have been very good about putting street signs on the side of the buildings.  However, someone has come up with the destructive idea of putting various stickers over part of the street name so you can’t quite make it out.  These problems will all be corrected manaña!

 

What is that first word on the bottom?

The casa smells of garlic and onions!

Today is a pretty quiet day, but we are making plans for arrival of travel friends.  Mary Ann is doing some menu planning and is, at the moment, doing some experimental cooking, in our very awesome casa kitchen.  The recipe is for enchiladas with all fresh ingredients, and which I will get to test (enjoy) tonight, to see if they are up to the standards of our guests.  For lunch today, I approved of the quesadillas made from fresh (cooked minutes before we bought them) tortillas (with Oaxacan cheese and ham added by Mary Ann) from the tiny tortilla factory (about 10 feet x 10 feet) down a Seminario street, which is connected with my now favorite car wash.

Earlier we did a bit of exploring.  Instead of turning south at the Benito Juárez glorietta, we drove straight across the street, sort of.  At the moment, and maybe for months, they are putting in a huge waterline on the side of the carretara and they are currently digging and installing at the east entrance of the glorietta.  That means there is a different challenge each time you go through it.  Today, our lane was nearly closed off, and instead of three lanes entering the glorietta, there was only one.  Nothing like a few road challenges!

When we got across onto the west side we started our exploration of that neighborhood. It was mostly commercial/construction businesses.  However, as you go west the road curves to the south and becomes an awesome highway along the river with very few topes, and everybody really moving along.  This is a great alternative to the main carretara and connects down at the road to Monte Albán, with the river road that I take to the airport.  The street avoids a lot of traffic, and although a bit longer, has great pavement and is not being torn up with the waterline project.  It pays to do a bit of exploring and being lost as we usually are!

 

The Glorietta construction dance with Benito Juarez supervising

 

Mary Ann creating in the casa kitchen

 

Quirky Living Note

 

Personal Initiative and Private Enterprise – Part II   Previously, I have discussed the guys at the stop lights and all of the products being sold.  Today, out in front of the stopped cars, we spotted a guy in a tuxedo who was juggling bowling pins, all in about 90 degrees in the sun.  I sure hope he had an assistant collecting tips, because he looked really hot.  Well, if you have some talent, show it off!



The most wonderful Alebrijes workshop

In yesterdays post I discussed that we had a wonderful experience prior to the “sacred breakdown”.  After a good touring of the Ocotlan Friday market, we visited the fabric village of Santo Tomás Jalieza with its exceptional quality runners and fabric products made by the ladies consortium right as you watch.  We were targeting this craft village as we were looking for some items that Anne White had requested when she could not join us.  We next stopped at the very good Azucena Zapoteca restaurant we had experienced a week earlier.  This restaurant is located at the entrance road to San Martín Tilcajete, one of two noted villages for the creation of alebrijes, the distinctive wooden carvings.  You can check out the reviews of the restaurant at the following TripAdvisor site:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1575482-d1799374-Reviews-Azucena_Zapoteca-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html.  All 10 reviews presently posted have given them five star excellent ratings.

After lunch Sebastian was talking with some of the shop sales ladies and they encouraged him to take us to their family workshop in San Martín Tilcajete.  To facilitate this, one of the ladies rode with us to the family home, workshop, and sales area.  Thank goodness she came along, as it was off the main craft shop street that we had visited a week prior.  Sebastian had not previously been there so it was a new place for him.  After driving the back dirt streets we drove into the beautiful grounds of the casa and workshops. We entered the family casa, workshops and sales area of Jacobo & María Angeles. This is when the “experience” began.  You are first met by a family member who stays with your group throughout the visit.  He starts with showing you the types of copal wood they use, and which they grow themselves in fields across the street from the home. You learn about the male and female plants and their differences.  Next you are off to the carving areas where the master carvers of the family are hand carving these figures in all sizes, both for their local inventory and special orders. 

We were then shown how the natural paints are created on-site with various uses of crushed copal wood and added ingredients.  They create figures painted both with natural and acrylic paints.  Finally, in the painting area there are 25-30 family members painting items sized as small as your thumb to as large as a small table.  We discussed with a young girl her painting of a large raccoon which she said it would take her about one year to complete.  It was a special order.  Another girl showed us her work on a one foot sized armadillo and explained how each of the individual painted rows depicted historical objects of Zapotec history. 

Next our guide/leader joined us in the sales area and answered questions about prices, and uniqueness, and assisted us in making any purchases we would like to make.  Oh yes, Mary Ann and I could not resist and we purchased five items.  You will have to visit us in Chelan to appreciate our growing collection of alebrijes.  Now, Tom Boyd, being a retailer of lumber products and operator of four building material outlets, was fascinated with the marketing expertise and smooth operation shown by the Angeles family.  As an example of how sophisticated this family is I suggest you check out their webpage (will convert to English by clicking the English option) for if nothing else to view the wonderful craft creations.  The site also gives the family and business history, photos, and other interesting information. Here is the site connection:

http://www.jacoboymariatilcajete.org/

When leaving the business, Mall Boyd asked Jacoby (I assume he was the patriarch) about the flowers in what turned out to be a stone baptismal. After discussing the flowers, he then dipped his hand in the water and placed it on Mary Ann’s forehead and gave her a Zapotec blessing.  Now this was quite a surprise for her, especially when I asked him to repeat it so I could take a photo. It is pretty special to have water streaming down your face and all over your blouse.  In retrospect we are now convinced that this is why our “breakdown” turned out so well, and the Miracle de Sebastian Pablo Villa occurred.

 

After this wonderful afternoon, a mere van breakdown could hardly dampen our spirits.  By the way, when later reading the Viva Oaxaca guidebook, who raved about the Angeles crafts, it explains that they also own the very good restaurant, from which we made the connection.  In the restaurant gift store, there are many of the Angeles products which can become very expensive depending on the size.

 

 

The blessing of Mary Ann

 

Angeles master carvers

 

The Angeles painters

 

Quirky Living Note

Portable Car Washes – We learned in San Miguel de Allende about getting your car washed while at the supermercado.  Here it is taken one step further.  At the Plaza Bella, when shopping at a new Bodega Aurrera on the road to Monte Albán, the wash guys have a neat little portable canister a little larger than a shop vac.  It connects to water and can spray your car with water and then soapy water.  To have your car washed while shopping it costs 30 pesos, about $2.50.  An enterprising teenager in the U.S. should get one of these little machines, and raise all the money he or she needs for college.

 

 

"The Machine"