Semana Santa in Oaxaca

A place of cult?

2008-06-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Those who know me know if I agree with the translation or not...(but I am sure the English meaning was not intentional).This sign was posted at the entrance to the cathedral in Puebla.

Puebla cathedral

2008-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Construction of the cathedral began in November 1575, was stopped in 1626, and was subsequently restarted in 1640 when the bishop of Puebla, Juan de Palafox, was ordered by the king to finish it. it has two towers, the tallest in Mexico, one of which has no bells. According to legend, an underground river passes under that tower and if bells were placed in it, the tower would collapse.
The interior is truly beautiful.

Puebla, last stop before the US

2008-06-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Puebla, city capital of Puebla state, Founded 1535 as Puebla de Los Angeles, the city was historically a link between the coast and Mexico City. The official name is Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, in honor of Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, who defeated the French forces there in 1862. Although smaller in number, the Mexican army won this battle but they did not win the war. The French conquered the country, and in 1864, a European emperor(Maxamillin) was put on the Mexican throne(this is the origin of the holiday Cinco de mayo which most Americans is the most important Mexican holiday and mistakenly believe that this the independence day) Not so, the 5th (cinco) of May only celebrates the victory of one battle over the French, and is really only regarded as an important date in the area around Puebla) It was taken (1847) by U.S. Gen. Winfield Scott during the Mexican War. French troops captured Puebla in 1863 but were ousted by Porfirio Díaz in 1867. Puebla was the center of a large earthquakes in 1973 and 1999 which have caused intense damage to the city and its surrounding region.
The site of Mexico's first textile-producing factory, Puebla has cotton mills, an automobile factory(Volkswagen)onyx quarries, and pottery and food industries. Talvera which originally came from the Moors who conquered Spain for a time and left the heritage of this kind of pottery which the Spanish later brought to Mexico. The colored tiles that decorate buildings and numerous churches are very characteristic of this town. I find Puebla to be the most "Spanish" of the cities I have been to in Mexico. The cathedral, built between 1552 and 1649, is one of the finest in Mexico is huge and imposing, but I personally find it cold in appearance, (at least on the outside) the gray almost cement looking stone does not have the warmth of the green stone used in Oaxaca for churches and large public buildings or the beautiful pinkish/golden stone used in Zacatecas..

seen in Ixtlan de Juarez

2008-04-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

not about my trip to Oaxaca, but true, nonetheless!

2008-04-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Swedish Vodka maker Absolut is stirring up a little nationalistic pride in Mexico with their new ad depicting what Mexico would look like in an "Absolute World". But it is stirring a few feathers in El Norte, that’s for sure:(I would imagine the usual political idiots are now furiously pouring their Absolut vodka down the sink)

The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. (Texas actually split from Mexico several years earlier to form a breakaway republic, and was voluntarily annexed by the United States in 1846.)

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S. Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”

But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat. “Many people aren’t going to understand it here. Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the county — I don’t know if they know much about the history. “Probably Americans in Texas and California understand perfectly and I don’t know how they’d take it.”

More on Textiles

2008-04-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

and at the beginning the wool yarn

some examples of the rugs that are made on these looms, I have some in my home that I have purchases over several trips.

Besides the back strap loom, the other major type of weaving is by the hand and foot operated wooden loom. You can peek in shops and homes and see this type of loom. The ladies are using this type of loom to make a rug. (photo taken in Santa Ana de Valle)

Textiles an ancient art

2008-04-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

The Zapotecs were weaving in the valleys of Oaxaca as long ago as 500 B.C. The Aztecs conquered them and made their textiles into a tribute item for the Aztec empire. After the Spanish Conquest the Zapotec weavers were put to work by the Dominicans which were the dominant sect of the Catholic church in this part, indeed in most parts of Mexico.

Many weavers still use the natural dyes to make the rugs. See my post on cochinilla here.
Many of the textiles for the table or shawls (rebozos) and other types of weaving are still made on back strap looms that those pictured here, you can still see the Triquis in the market using these.

works of Rudolfo Morales

2008-04-04T20:40:00.001-07:00

My theory of this painting of the women with guns and the surrounding dogs, is his sympathy with women who are abused by their "dogs" of men, but who knows?

In the museum next to the restored church you can see his last painting of his home town, Ocotlan as well as some of his other work. In this painting he shows the living and the dead, the flowers and fruits of the place he loved.

Rodolfo Morales

2008-04-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

All over Oaxaca you see the evidence of this remarkable artist who died in 2001.You can wander around in his house just as if he were waiting around the corner.

the following is excerpted from this article written by Stan Gotlieb:

Morales was a Zapotec, born of working class parents, in a small town near Ocotlan de Morelos, a regional market town about 30 miles from Oaxaca city, Maestro Rodolfo rose to be a very wealthy man, with paintings being displayed in major galleries throughout the world. Many who have had his talent and good fortune turned their back on their roots, but not Rodolfo.

The Zapotec traditions include a committment to sharing good fortune with others. The Zapotec word for this social service, transliterated into Spanish, is "Tequio". It is similar to tithing, where labor may substitute for money. In the poorest villages, it is how the roads and the schools get built: everyone gives some labor (or money) to a common project to benefit the community

His contributions, mostly through a foundation he set up in later years, includes the renovation of fifteen churches and cultural spaces throughout the municipio of Ocotlan.

There is a permanent staff of architects and other experts overseeing all the projects, but each and every project hires local young people, mostly women, to do the work of restoration.

Morales gave his house in Ocotlan, a colonial house, to the Casa de Cultura (state culture ministry) of Oaxaca. Aside from the beautiful garden, and the Maestro's studio, it contains a computer classroom. The Maestro noted, a few years ago, that computers were the future, and immediately bought a roomful so the local youth could learn.

La dolorosa

2008-04-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

On Holy Thursday visits are made to “the seven houses” or churches, with altars set up for “La Dolorosa”, (Our Lady of Sorrows) with "chía" seeds sprouting green out of clay animals (symbolizing the Resurrection) and flowers and leaves of the maguey plant.

Pictures of this day before Good Friday. I think perhaps the chia seeds to symbolize the resurrection are unique to Mexico.
These photos were taken in the house of Rudolf Morales in Octolan, expect for the first photo which was taken in Oaxaca city, cannot remember where exactly.

can we just go staight to the ice cream?

2008-04-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

a first confirmation "princess" outside the church, adoring family trying very hard to get a smile.

falling blossums

2008-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

the African Tulip Tree Native to West Kenya and Uganda was still brilliant.

by the time I left Oaxaca in the last week of March, the jacaranda flowers were falling and the yellow mesquite flowers made a carpet underneath the trees.

San Bartolo Coyotepec museum and town

2008-04-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

"the heritage of an ancient culture shows the treasures of the world"
(translation of the Spanish at the top of the photo) There is a small but very interesting museum in the town square, this photo as well as the pieces in my photos were there)the sincerity and pride of the family in this picture is profoundly evident. Not sure how long ago this photo was taken, my guess is in the last 20 years, but only a guess. The type of black pottery that San Bartolo Coyotepec is famous for is still made in this area in the way, without using a wheel methods for 2000 years. Part of the craftsmanship was lost for several centuries although the local people still made hand worked pieces but of a dull clay color. Then one day Dona Rosa Valente Nieto Real rediscovered the secret of her Zapotec ancestors by smoking and then polishing the pots with an agate rock until they shone with an almost hematite looking metallic finish. Today the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec is still making the shiny black pottery, completely hand formed and smoked in wood fired kilns dug directly into the earth.

(the clay Catrina (well dressed skeleton) is interesting because on her skirt are costumes representing the regions of Oaxaca, which are all different in terms of custom and sometimes language.

There are sixteen groups and the number of speakers of their language according to the 2005 census are:

Zapotec - 357,134^[8]
Mixtec - 290,049
Mazateco - 164,673
Chinanteco - 104,010
Mixes - 103,089
Chatino - 42,477
Trique - 18,292
Huave - 15,324

Cuicateco - 12,128
Zoque - 10,000 (est)
Amuzgo - 4,819
Chontal - 4,610
Tacuate - 1,726
Chochotec - 524
Ixcateco - 207
Popoloco - 61

However, the regions are usually divided into 7 or 8 distinct cultural divisions as represented by the smaller skeletons on the skirt.

scenes from the mercado

2008-03-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart is in Mexico, but the mercardo still thrives, for now at least. The sights, smells, colors are always fascinating. And Wal-Mart does not sell grasshoppers with chile and limon! (as shown in the second photo)

A sacred well and the end of time....

2008-03-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

I have seen the tall golden spikes of the maguey used in alters at this time of year, these maguey flower were placed outside the garden surrounding the sacred grove

This small town has a sacred well that is formed by the roots of some very old (as in thousands) trees called Auhuehuates, they are a kind of cypress and I think related to the cypress trees we know in North Carolina, although these trees keep their leaves all year. I read about this town on the Mexican textiles site and was intrigued.

The villagers have built a walled garden around the trees, and obviously value this very ancient, sacred site. The trees looked stressed because of the dry season and the water was very far down past the massive roots into a pool at the bottom. It was hard to tell how deep the water was because of the dark roots. Every year in Oaxaca (and indeed in many, probably most, other places in the world) the ground water level drops and most of the surface water is contaminated.

When I was riding back in the collective taxi (these taxis do not leave until there are 3 people in the back and 2 passengers and the driver in the front) the ladies in the back seat were chatting in Zapotec and I was talking to the driver in Spanish, the ladies were listening of course.

I expressed concern for the tree, the fact that it looked a little sick and the water in the well at the bottom of the roots was so far down. Everyone at this point burst into laughter which continued for at least a few seconds, they then told me that the idea that the tree would ever die was just simple not possible, the idea was so ludicrous that it made them laugh.

In their minds this tree and sacred spot had been of their lives and part of their history for untold generations and would live forever. However, when they stopped laughing, we did talk about the fact that water is less available every year, but they simply could not wrap their minds around the inevitable conclusion, and maybe that is a good thing.

Ocotlan

2008-03-29T20:02:00.001-07:00

I have been to Ocotlan before on a market day. That was fascinating, but it also makes it harder to see the town. So I decided to go back there and I also wanted to go to a small village near there called San Miguel Tilquiapam. I found out about this small town on the Mexican Textiles site. The person who created this resource for Mexican textiles has a mission of visiting and documenting the rapidly disappearing traditional dress and textiles. Here is the link on his site for San Miguel Tilquiapam.
Here is his picture of the church, and here are some photos of the current restoration. (I am pretty sure that this is one of the designs that Morales the artist that has done so much for Oaxaca has created)
Here are the pictures of the church that I took a few days ago.

a very different kind of garden

2008-03-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I went to Santa María Coyotepec which is famous for the black pottery that is sold all over Mexico. But off a dirt lane is another kind of garden, a garden where insects are not only encouraged but raised and harvested. Here you can learn about the lifecycle of the cochineal beetle and how it attaches itself to and feeds off of a type of nopal cactus, and how this beetle is harvested and used to dye the rugs made in Teotitlán del Valle. This dye is also used even today in some of the foods and beverages you may be eating, if you see the ingredient called carmine on the label, you are eating a dried, ground up insect,the Grana cochinilla fina, known as cochineal. This carmine red has been used for thousands of years as color for textiles, feathers, paper, and colonial murals.
When the Spanish arrived they quickly discovered the world wanted this brillant red and it created great wealth, it became the third source of wealth in Mexico after gold and silver. Many of the elaborate gold encursted interiors of the churches are the result of the revenue from the cochineal, of course, as usual the Indians were exploited as labor and did not benefit directly from the cochineal. When synthetic dyes were invented the use of this dye world wide fell but the rug weavers continued to use this dye, and I have read that in the past few years the use of this dye is increasing, so check your food, toothpaste etc. labels for carmine!
in the pictures you can see the almost fungus like look of the beetles growing and feeding on the nopal cactus, in the other photo you can see the small woven containers in which the beetles are placed in the egg laying part of their cycle, this woven container is then put onto a fresh nopal leaf and the beetles leave to begin the cycle anew. The first picture is a close up of the insects, if you click and open for a full size view, you might be able to discern the insects.

I want one of these

2008-03-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

This of type outdoor kitchen is typical here. Everyone has some version of this. But I think that this example in the small restaurant at the eco tourism cabanas in Ixtlan is one of the better examples I have seen.

walking an ancient road in Ixtlan

2008-03-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Part of my hike in Ixtlan was along an ancient trail, called the camino real. This trail is centuries older than the conquest and was used to carry trade goods from the mountains hundreds of miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Walking along this same path trod by indigenous people for thousands of years was a special treat. The walk back down along this ancient trail and many other mountain trails took about 4 hours through many different kinds of forests and micro climates. Of course, a guide is necessary both so I would not get lost, and because the community controls access to their lands, as they should. ( the wires you see in the cloud photo are not from electric lines, there are none, but instead are part of the fire observation tower structure that we are standing on)

where Pacific winds mingle with Gulf de Mexico winds

2008-03-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned that I was going up to the Sierra Norte a few days ago, to spend the night in the cabanas and go on a long hike up to the cloud forest. In this place called Ixtlan de Juarez (to distinguish it from thousands of other Ixtlans in Mexico, because Ixtlan is a very common place name in Mexico, I believe it means land of...)
Anyway, this community owns in common many acres of mountain forest, most of which is of very high biodiversity and unique in many ways. The community land is managed with an emphasis on conservation, there is some cutting and selling of the timber, but I saw no evidence of anything remotely like clear cutting, and little evidence of timber harvest at all. In some parts of Mexico, Michoacan state for example, local indigenous people have actually been murdered while trying to protect their forests from ´¨ timber pirates¨, who come and steal the timber. I asked my guide if this was a problem here and he said no. I then asked why other parts of the country had more problems, and he said that in Michoacan he knew that the land in danger was edijo land, which means that was given to indigenous families after the Mexican revolution to partly compensate for the land that was taken from them after the Spanish conquest. This sounds good but in practice this often means that as the land gets handed down from family to the many children the land portion for each family gets samller and poorer. Edijo land generally cannot be sold except under special conditions. My guide said that since the community owned the land where I was in common, every member of the community was vigilant and united in defending it, instead of a single person defending his small plot.
This part of the sierra norte has one of the highest points that enables the cloud mist from the Pacific to meet and mingle with the cloud mist from the Gulf of Mexico. This means that walking from one side of the ridge to another you experience miro climates, the Pacific air is much cooler than the Gulf of Mexico side, for example. All this mist also creates moss that sways in the wind and hangs high from huge and very old trees.
A comment on the picture of me that my guide took.... I think I look like the witch waiting for Hansel and Gretel.

how to be invisible

2008-03-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

How to be invisible:
1. be a member of an indigenous group that has been oppressed and abused for centuries, you can be easily recognized by having darker skin, sharper features, and smaller stature than the dominant group
2. Be a victim of bad luck and bad choices ( having as many children as possible is a big advantage in becoming invisible)
3. By your very presence, make passersby feel guilty or angry that you are reminding them of the poor and disadvantaged, so you must not be acknowledged.

So do I give them pesos? Yes, every time I pass by, but I have no illusions that my tiny contribution will change their lives, my passage is as random to them as the rare rain in the dry season, as random as the sickness that takes the next baby. But, by giving them a peso and a smile, I think just for that moment I help make them visible and human.

a walk in the Sierra Norte

2008-03-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

I went back to Cuyjimoloyas a few days ago, this is the village in the mountains above the valley of Oaxaca that has a project to help perserve their forest and their culture. At 10,000 plus feet the air was fresh and crisp. Our guide knew a great deal about the healing and medicinal plants on our hike. He showed us a herb that cures hang overs, a tree with a resin that when applied to a broken bone heals by stimulating the rebuilding of the bone material internally, a red flower that when placed in the ear cures ear ache, a plant for toothache and much more. The huge maguey (type of agave) are a different type from those used to make mezcal or tequilla, our guide said the interior of the tall flower stalk is eaten in vinegar.

the silent march(Friday before Easter Sunday)

2008-03-23T14:54:00.001-07:00

Very solem and sad, no one talks during the march which depicts the scenes leading up to the final moment of the story. The night before was the night everyone is supposed to visit 7 churches, the 2 pictures at the top show one of the gilded alters of the many churches here.

se vuelve me loco (drives me crazy)

2008-03-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in an internet cafe listening (against my will) to the gringa girl talking on the internet phone and I am reminded of how irritating it is to listen any conversation by practically everyone under 30. Not because I have a youth bias, but because they use ¨like¨ at least 2 or 3 times per sentence, and sometimes even more often, to modify every single verb and almost every single adjective or phrase.

This appears to have little to know with intelligence or knowledge base, it is almost universal in this under 30 demographic. I am sure this same demographic group is totally unconscious of how they use ¨like¨ because they all use it.

OK back to travel notes, like, you know, like appears to be like here to stay.

gardens and flowers.

2008-03-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Everything that is blooming now are dry season flowers, with only a few exceptions where gardens are watered all the trees that are blooming now have not had rain since the rainy season that in most places ended in September. There is also a wonderful botanical garden behind the main cathedral which offers tours twice a week which features plants from all the varied areas of the state of Oaxaca. (Remember you can click on any of these photos to view a larger version or download if you like.) The first purple blooming tree is perhaps my favorite that blooms at this time of year. They stand out from the dry season landscape, you can even see them from the plane as you come into Oaxaca, the name of this tree is the jacaranda.

rug examples for Gaddy

2008-03-22T07:47:00.001-07:00

I have not found your rug yet, since each rug maker has their own designs, I will keep looking, However here some photos of some I have found with various depections of indigenous gods, alll of these are about the same size as the ones I have in my living room at home and range from 180 dollars to 200 dollars or so. The designs with the old gods are more expensive than the rugs that I have bought in the past, any design with more curves is more difficult and time consuming to make that the more linear designs with the ancient symbols from the Mitla ruins.
I think that the rug that was pictured in the book was a rug made for an art gallery, with the perfectly excuted circle being the most difficult form to make on a loom.
You can download any of these pictures to look at them in more detail, if you like.

night in the zocolo

2008-03-20T08:01:00.001-07:00

Everyone shows up in the zocolo sooner or later, this very lively central square always has many things going on and the people watching is fascinating. There are lots of venders selling sweets, flowers, textiles y mucho mas. Although I suppose the tourists think them only a colorful part of the scenery what they do is hard work, walking for hours trying to sell and enduring countless rejections for each successful sale. Whenever I ask to take a picture, if they say yes, I always offer the amount in pesos of whatever they are selling. I am impressed with the grace and apparent cheerfulness they show.

Lots of fountains, music, and random performers in the zocolo, I can sit with my coffee or sip on a tequilla and be entertained for hours.

pictures at an exhibition

2008-03-20T07:41:00.001-07:00

lots of art museums and galleries here, went to an exhibition the other night which consisted of many mirrors all with different treatments, not really my style of art, but interesting.

I thought the trees in the courtyard behind the gallery were more interesting with the light and shadows reflected on the white walls.

Last of the traditional Mexican toys?

2008-03-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

No lead based paint here.

Like every other place in the world, plastic made in China toys (lead included free of charge) make up the majority of toys. However, in the mercado (traditional markets) and this toy store you can still find traditional toys made here in Mexico.

procession and church fund raiser sale

2008-03-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I should have changed the order of these Palm Sunday posts, this one should be the last one instead of the first in this series. Anyway, the chosen men, and I am sure this is a great honor, picked up the very heavy, very extensively decorated stuate of Jesus on the donkey for the procession to the church.

The first picture is of some precious children holding the line along the procession route, then pictures from the parade route, notice the very important job of lifting the electric wires with a long bamboo pole so the the top decoration can pass underneath.

As I noted earlier, everyone brought something, one guy is determined to earn a lot of Jesus credits, he brought a whole truck loaded with cabbages.
At the auction in the church, lots of excitement, made you want to buy a cabbage at least!

Palm Sunday in a pueblo in Oaxaca

2008-03-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite photos from this day, the little girl who had brought her dove (with a 10 peso price on top of his head). I was standing next to the little girl when a town official who was recording interviews with various people in the town asked me to tell what I thought about the celebration. I hope I did not mangle the Spanish too bad, but what I said was how much I admired the faith and effort they put into this celebration, how nice everyone was, and how much I appreciated letting me observe the ceremony.

The other picture shows the ladies looking at the decorated statue of Jesus on the donkey, the expression of joy and intense interest on their faces is beautiful.

domingo de las ramas de palmas

2008-03-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

As you might have guessed this is what you know as Palm Sunday. This is a very happy day because according to legend this is when Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusulem on a donkey. So, although not a fiesta where there is drinking of mezcal and dancing, this is still a day of joyous celebration. We went to a small pueblo outside of Oaxaca city, the name of which G. and decided we will not share because we do not want to encourage busloads of tourists to visit.
The church has all the statues covered with purple cloth, I am not sure what the significance of this, except to say they are uncovered on Easter morning.
The mercado was open, but most people were busy putting the final touches on the gifts that were to be carried in a procession to the church and sold later to benefit the church, somewhat similair to a church bazzar, but a LOT more exciting and what seemed like chaos, but if you observed closely was quite organized.

Everyone had brought something, with a suggested price tag stuck to each item.

Oaxaca, Getting ready for Semana Santa (holy week)

2008-03-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

As you might expect in a predominatly Catholic country the week that begins on Good Friday and continues until Easter is a very big deal. Tomorrow, Palm Sunday we are going out to some of the villages surrounding the city which have the most traditional processions and events associated with Palm Sunday. All the churches have people making crosses, flowers and various things for people to carry tomorrow. As usual I am amazed by what can be done with nimble hands and some natural materials. I always ask permission for the photo and buy some small thing, after all this is their way of earning much needed pesos.

windows and doors in Oaxaca

2008-03-11T12:27:00.001-07:00

I am reminded of the saying that the eyes are the windows of the soul....it always seems to me that windows and doors are the entry way into the soul of a building. In Oaxaca, one is likely to be in some buildings that are much older than our relatively young (and often brash and foolish) country.

view of the Sierra Norte

2008-03-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

this was the view in November 07. I would expect the mountains to be less green now, but I am also looking for the spring trees like the purple jacaranda to be blooming. Vamos a ver!

Culipan monastery

2008-03-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Culipan monastery.

It was left unfinished sometime in the middle of the 16th century, but the cloister, walls, cupola and foundations of what was supposed to be an enormous church remain This Dominican monastery could have been the largest complex of its kind in the New World if it had ever been finished. Set into the floor of the unfinished church can be found the tomb of Princess Donaji, a Zapotec princess and early convert to Christianity. It is said she fell in love with a Mixtec Lord, the Lord of Tilantongo.
When I was there it was a beautiful day and the huge chapel exposed to the sky was as beautiful in its own way as the very ornate churches that I had seen all over the area. No one else was around, so I was free to wander.

view near the corner of Loneliness and Death

2008-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

this a is view near the corner of two streets called El Muerto (Death) and Loneliness (Soledad)

very creative grafitti in Oaxaca (Nov.07)

2008-03-05T11:42:00.000-08:00

This graffiti on the side of a small tienda seems to have a message, perhaps depending on the mind of the viewer. (Bimbo is the brand name of the most popular packaged bread in Mexico.)

I imagine the graffiti has been changed since I was there last. Some is very creative, like this one showing the Governor as Hitler. Lots of creative, political graffiti, unfortunately lots of the stupid, write my name on the wall graffiti,too.

back to Oaxaca 14 marzo hasta 31marzo (March 14-31)

2008-03-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Wonder if the dogs guarding the auto repair shop on my walk to the Zocolo are still wearing their T-shirts, they got a change to a clean one daily. I think it was to keep them warm during the chilly nights in November when I was there last.