A Quicky on the BIG Squeeze

I had to write something simply because the SUN IS FINALLY OUT! Not a cloud in the sky for at least 2 days from what I hear, and NPR sweetened the day with a feature on Texas accordion love. It's way too nice to stay in long so this is a quicky.

If you haven't figured this out by now let me come clean, Texas turned me into a massive conjunto and thereby accordion fan. Yes I LOVE me some accordion and along with my dreams of getting up on a tarima and effortlessly getting down to some son jarocho, I dream of grabbing an accordion and letting er' RIP! 

So in honor of the big accordion pilgrimage in Houston this weekend, I am posting up a couple of videos. Also check out Flaco and Santiago Jimenez's version of Viva Seguin on the NPR story if you're curious about what makes my hair stand up. As a bonus here's a Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez (with Willie Nelson on the side) version of Volver Volver! I'm off to buy myself some botas picudas and a cowgirl hat to go with my dream accordion!

La Lloroncita Three Month Hump

There's no doubt, I've hit the three month hump. The day in and day out grisuras have seeped into my mind. My bones and body ache... rechinan... squeak like an un-oiled rusty machine. The pangs of my beating heart, and the longing of my soul clumping in my throat, sinking heavy deep down into my stomach like a boulder.

A wave of childhood memories. Old yellowed polaroid film-like images of the girl I once was.  I keep imagining myself back there somewhere, bolita de angustia, staring out the window plotting her great escape from the misery around. Now I sit here in front of this window, la lloroncita contemplating the grayness and stillness of everyday. I imagine myself as one of those light-loving insects. I think about walking towards the sun the same way they fly towards the light in their ultimate demise. 

My dreams are filled with firefly nights and paleta de limón days. Swinging back and forth en mi hamaca, getting wiffs of cacao beans en el metate. I can hear the sound of mi tía Elena's hands making tortillas en el comal... Chickens running back and forth in a frenzy con su manada de pollitos as my little brother tries to catch one to hold in his tiny hands. Una oleada de viento makes the hand made cortinas that hang in every door swop up into a dance. There I stay swinging back and forth en mi hamaca a daydreaming lloroncita.

Love Fest

I remember the names randomly popping up on my fb news feed months ago when I was still living la vida loca down in Oaxaca

 Mosquita y Mari

An old high school classmate randomly saying something about supporting the film and the film maker, a queer Latina from the bay area living down in LA. 

I let it pass by... didn't investigate any further... until one day out of the blue it practically slapped me across the face! A few days ago Colorlines made the film the subject of their daily Celebrate Love post. I checked out the films page, read the synopsis, and checked out the crew... and what a sight it was. Rainbow colored, from all walks of life. Made me miss LA, made me miss its gritty, concrete, norteño, mural plastered, orange selling freeway ramps... Reminded me of its magic... It filled me with joy to see their beautiful faces, to witness the effort of so many to try to get this story, our story told. It doesn't hurt they set it in my old stomping grounds. The same places I was around when I was the age of Mosquita y Mari... a quinseañera...

So I've decided to join the cyber space love for  M y M. Can't wait to see las mocosas up on the big screen uno de estos días soon. In the mean time check out the director's other short film bellow and click on this kickstarter link to support the film any small way you can. 

Monas in the window

"La Mona coqueta in the window"... Life in Portland, Oregon, April 2011.

Vuelvo... 
Although to be honest I am just going to take this whole coming back thing O N E  D A Y  a t  a  T I M E ,
Poquito a poquito.
Pasito a pasito...
No promises,
No palabras de honor... just yet. 

Still in a head-spin, mostly a self-inflicted head-spin. Before el choc wore-off, I took off-running like that Chicana Virgen de Guadalupe from Yolanda Lopez's "Portrait of the artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe,"   l  i  k  e   s o m e sort of crazy Chicana version of Run Lola Run (except for the whole boyfriend losing a stash of cash and having the mob after him part). I figured that if we were going to be here por un rato, there was NO time to waste, NO time to spare, too many plans, too much to do, too many bridges to build...

And so, I've been on a mission to find, learn, absorb everything I can while here. Through this journey, it's turned out this whole moving thing, this whole leaving behind a community I have nurtured and tried to build over the span of years was not as tragic as I first imagined... Don't get me wrong  I miss Oaxaca, but I also feel I am at a different place now since my last telenovela drama of a month ago. I've turned the drama into a learning-frenzy that I am determined to keep up until we go down south again. I know deep down inside Oaxaca is not going anywhere and neither is my love and respect for the community I have built there.

I admit that living in the US has always been hard for me. I was born here, but having spent a crucial part of my childhood in Mexico and to be ripped from it just before I hit my teenage years, left a hueco I have always been trying to fill al my life. It left me with a never ending ongoing search to recover a lost childhood. Yet this time around coming back to the US, I am learning to do so on my own terms without being ripped into pieces. Instead I have been making an extra effort to make the experience of being here as fruitful as possible. As a result this has so far changed my experiences for the good so far. No noches de ronda tomando mezcal para olvidar thank you. I am, believe it or not, enjoying este tiempo. 

How am I doing this you might ask? Well here are a few things I have been doing since I got here to turn things around: 1) I reached out to the local community radio and am now learning how to use their equipment and volunteering with them as a trade off, 2) I have found numerous interesting organizations doing all sorts of work, from urban farming where people trade crops to feminist community spaces, 3) have found a few potential spaces where I might e able to organize a few exhibits with the art work I brought back with me from Oaxaca (part of the bridge building), 4) finished designing a blog for a women artists collective in Oaxaca, 5) have found some of the most amazing coffee ever! (yes I am a coffee snob), I've eaten some amazing pie and strolled through one of the most beautiful farmers markets I have ever seen... which just happens to have an adjunct-rogue mariachi trompetista playing  to his own tune :]   I hope tell you more about him soon. 

There is so much more to tell, so much more to say, pero tengo el cuerpo cansado por ahora. Did I mention I am starting my own vegetable garden? Yeah, was out shoveling yesterday then went on to unwind and cut ivy from berry bushes that are beginning to spring up... I am guessing black berries... but will let you know when they pop out! Oh! and then there's that whole job search thing to top things off...  No time to waste too much to do :]

One year later...

...celebrando que hace un año nos encontramos rodeados de amigos y familia compartiendo tejate, horchata, mole negro, y pastel de tres leches, bailando al compas de una banda Oaxaqueña y brindando alegremente con mezcal...

Dispatches from a Mixed-Up Mex in the Northwest...

Alas we are at it again... Yes we have moved and I can barely feel my feet under me, mostly I think because they are wet and frozen. I come to you from yet another mexiroccan experience, the great puddle of Portlandia. Yes no more straight from the mercado dispatches, no more flaunting my memela and tamales de mole powers, no more colorful Sunday strolls in the sun bathed (sometimes scortched) streets of mi enamorada... la linda Oaxaca.

Enter BIG SIGH!... Sniff sniff...

Alright! I admit I am being a  l i t t l e - b i t t y - b i t  overly dramatic, but heck it goes with the territory, I'M A CITY GIRL not a frontiers woman! Give me some cement, some chaos, some crazy fight-for-your-life lines and I'll feel right at home. Okay, and yes, I am exaggerating the whole never-Oaxaca-this-and-that-talk a  l i t t l e - b i t t y - b i t like a tween-aged-girl who just found out Justin Bieber is going steady thus crushing all of her hopes and dreams of ever touching his oh-so-perfect hair. 

WE WILL BE BACK IN Oaxaca soon enough. What can I say, we caught, or to be more accurate, WE ATE the chapulin bug a long time ago and Oaxaca is no longer a question mark in our minds, it has become part of our home. A place where being not quite Mexican, and not quite gringo feels comfortable and uncomfortable enough for us to be happy. So like a couple of good telenovela lovers riding a never ending see-saw of romance dysfunctionality of an on-and-off again relationship, our torrid wonderful affair has no fin in sight...Ce la vie de le pocho-mexicaine!

Back to my sulking... 

So in a not so small nutshell... Yes we have moved. Yes I live in green beautiful woodsy rainlandia. Yes I am surrounded by most often tragically hip hipsters, the brawny man and other woodskeepers ( I am guessing I'll soon bump into the keebler elves), and of course the gringo/a-one-love-rasta-mans/womans. 

Here's a snap shot of my life now days:  

Walk into my local coffee shop where I often feel like I have entered some other dimension. You know the feeling, it's like in that program Star-Trek where they can beam you up or down to another planet or galaxy, except you get this creeping feeling that someone must have pressed the wrong button on the control panel! Okay, back to the coffee shop where M and I are now the only two non-'hip', non-mustache, non-beard contest winners, or 70s wearing, bike riding, comPOST GENIES... In other words we are the only two ni de aquí ni de alla straight from the streets of East Los and La Estrella Oaxaca, mixed-up, non-white humans in the building. HELL! I feel like some sort of minority statistic just walking into a place these days.

Can't help but think of that book by Dr. Seuss, the one everyone gets for graduating high-schoolers and fresh-off-the-block 21 year college graduates... Oh! the Places You'll Go... yep. Funny.

And so with that thought, I bid this blog entry adieu for now ;)

Postcard Love Note

Corazónes volando, Ave. Allende, Oaxaca, 29 de enero 2011. 

A postcard love note...

short, sweet, can be sent by mail, 

can be delivered personally, 

left or tucked-in somewhere

visible for the beloved to find.

I went out to pick up a few supplies from the mercado Saturday morning. Nothing better after a Friday night out with friends than tamalitos de mole negro, un atolito de panela, y unos cuantos churros for our mid-day cafecito. Got to the market and found myself in the middle of a party con todo y cumbia band. Just one of those not unusual yet unexpected surprises that make going to the mercado on a Saturday morning that much more exciting, one of those acontecimientos that makes one fall head-over-heels in-love with Oaxaca una y otra vez. Still feeling the tunda from the night before's events, zombyfied, and embrujada by the wooing cumbia beats, I took out my camera to film a little (see video bellow, I suggest watching it on the blog and not youtube for a less pixilated experience).

A que RE-CHULA es la Oaxaca...

Mercado Sanchez Pazcuas, Oaxaca, sábado, 29 de enero 2011.

Chacahua

Playa, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

La Costa Chica de Oaxaca colinda, runs into, la Costa Grande de Guerrero, both known for their Afro-Indigenous- Mestizo roots. It is a place that is still hard to get to, far removed from many of the more popular Mexican pacific coast beach destinations. The language culture and music of this region can seem worlds away even from those of the Mexican states they are tucked into. Political maps might have the region divided in two but the region's similar history and continuing trade and exchange of goods makes them seem like two parts of the same naranja.

Coming from the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca into la Costa Chica the topography can seem almost garden-of-eden-like... Hues of GREENS, BLUES, and shades of WHITE... large open areas of bright green grass, cows out to pasture among las palmeras... a  w o o i n g sound of waves crashing on the beach near-by... swamp-like marshes where birds and cows gather to drink and bathe... small and large lake-mirrors reflecting flocks of small white cranes as they fly overhead... campesinos working the land, tending to the young papaya plants, cutting cocos, sembrando maíz... and the lingiring ghosts of colonialization and slavery marked on the faces of young and old alike. I've been to la Costa Chica only a couple of times but have always been struck by the beautiful faces de su gente, almost completely absent, hidden, and erased from the larger Mexican imaginary, growing, thriving, and the life and blood of a land de manglares, lagunas, y mar...

To get to Chacahua from the city of Oaxaca is a bit of an odyssey. It takes almost every type of transportation method to get there: suburban (large van) to Puerto Escondido (about a 7+ hour topsy curvy ride through la Sierra Sur), a colectivo to Rio Grande, taxi colectivo to el crucero de Zapotal, colectivo truck into Zapotal, boat from Zapotal to the peninsula of Chacahua (Chacahua is surrounded by lakes and on the other side the ocean), colectivo truck to pueblo de Chacahua. 

Most of these modes of transportation do not have a set time, a nice reminder that not everyone believes or lives by the TIME IS MONEY syndrome of capitalism. Camping at one of the palapas in Chacahua is free, yes FREE, however you are expected to eat at the respective palapa you are camping at. If you like fresh seafood and home-cooked meals this should not be a problem. We stayed with the same family M had stayed with years before on the recommendation of a friend who has visited the same family for years. 

Here are a few more images of our camping trip to Chacahua...

Lesli the youngest of the family, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011.

Palma roof, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Palma & boat on lake, Pueblo de Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Hierva Santa, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Bird & lake, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Palmeras, Pueblo de Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Playa, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

Playa, Chacahua, Oaxaca, January 2011. 

domingueando...

I used to hate Sundays in Oaxaca. Las calles solas, desalojadas sin el hustle and bustle of everyday life here. Las calles los domingos used to feel plain dead.

I remember I especially hated despedidas en domingo. I used to avoid them like the plague. Sunday mornings used to feel like the life had been sucked right out of the city and saying goodbye on that day was always sadder and harder which might explain the countless 'accidentally' missed flights I've accumulated over the years.

Thankfully those days are long gone... I hate Sundays in Oaxaca no more...

Sure they are still quite y las calles siguen solas sans the hustle and bustle...yet I've learned to find a kind of beauty in the  s  l  o  w , quiet, despertares en domingo that changes ever so slightly depending on the season, month and week. Sundays have become a  r e s p i t e , a kind of refuge from the clacson y el constant beeping, the clouds of exhaust, and even the tourists. The winter light is especially beautiful in Oaxaca and looking at the city with fresh eyes on those quiet Sunday mornings  has become one of my favorite pass times. 

Este domingo we went to el mercado, got our memelas, shared a jugo de mango con naranja from Angelitas Jugos (yes! there are mangos in season again!), walked on el andador and listened to the accordion player play to an almost empty street (see video above). We took time to admire the amazing Oaxacan skies, marveled at how the sun light caresses Santo Domingo so beautifully that you can't help but be enchanted by it every time you pass by. We then headed to the coffee shop where we met years ago and talked over cups of espresso about how the Oaxacan skies and sunlight can make a photographer out of almost anyone. We then took our domingo to  el museo del ferrocarril where a few minutes more in the hot sun found us sharing a jicara of refreshing tejate... mmmmm... I love tejate...

Here are a few photos from our domingo.

Santo Domingo, Plazuela del Pañuelito, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero 2011.

Tren Azúl, Museo del Ferrocarril, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero 2011.

Museo del Ferrocarril, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero, 2011.

Niña Mariposa, Museo del Ferrocarril, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero, 2011.

Pajarito nuevo, Museo del Ferrocarril, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero, 2011.

Buseador y niño pajaro, Museo del Ferrocarril, Oaxaca de Juárez, 9 de enero 2011.

A year of Kaliman

Maya (dog) and Kaliman Ninja (cat) one year ago, home en la Colonia Estrella, Oaxaca de Juárez.

Yes I am going to be completely ridiculous in this post. To tell you the truth I think most people here in Oaxaca would think I am absolutely mental, (I am sure you can find a few more out there outside of Oax who would think the same). 

This is a pet post. A post about the two furry crazies that get us out of bed in the morning wether we want to or not. The two furries with completely opposite personalities, colors and sizes who somehow get along like two peas in a pod. The reason for the post is Kaliman's one year anniversary with us. It's not hard to see from early pictures just how this crazy little yellow fur-ball ended up taking over the household. I mean just look at the picture above! Maya the ever drama queen looking confused yet stoic and the little yellow fur-ball ears popped straight up looking out from his bed stage. (See evidence of Kaliman's sin verguenzadas bellow as he stretches on the bed and Maya curls up).

Maya and Kaliman Ninja Jan. 2010.

Kaliman came to us via a Oaxacan friend of ours who loves animals and is on a constant mission to rescue them all, much the chagrin of her Texan husband who now calls her pet loca. She had asked us not to look for a cat or buy one. She promised to find one and give it to us. She was good on her word and on Jan. 3 2010 she called. 

M and I had been mostly hoping for a female cat since we heard they were much more homie and cariñosas... When B called to let us know she had one for us and that it was a male I was a bit cautious. This would be M's first cat and I was afraid of scaring the wits out of him with an insane male cat who would hardly look for us or be around the house... 

It's been a year and Kaliman Ninja (as his name suggests) is crazy... entertaining, vocal, smart, and loves loves his life his family and especially his big sister Maya whom he cuddles up to, demands licking from (he also licks her), and whom he loves taunting by bitting and jumping on her to get her to chase him around and through the house. He is the first cat I have ever had that understands and comes when he is called by name. His tail wiggles almost out of his control when we call his name and he is perched on high on his favorite tree. 

I think it is safe to say that M is now a full fledged cat convert... The cat and M have done everything from putting back together parts of the car to planting lemon trees. And as aloof as Maya can sometimes be, having Kaliman has ironically turned her into more of a dog than she ever was. The relationship between the cat and the dog is so crazy that Kaliman is the only animal Maya is comfortable with around  when she's eating or snacking. 

Yes it's been a great furry year indeed... Here are a few more pictures. 

Año Viejo...me dejo cosas muy buenas

Baile "meguiochiga" los invitados bailando con sus cantaritos para la coperación... Ixtepec, Oaxaca Dec. 28, 2010.

I've spent a couple of New Years in el Istmo de Tehuantepec. The last New Year's I spent there was in 2008 in Juchitan de las Flores. I love el Istmo... No no, let me rephrase that... I love love absolutely LOVE EL ISTMO... 

It is unlike any other place I have ever been to, it is unlike any other place I could ever visit. Ah but New Year's in Juchitan can be a bit of a heart stopper. T o d a v í a   me   acuerdo  walking through the streets, the clock about to strike las doce, the viejos made out of hay, dressed in old rags and stuffed with cuetes, sitting outside every other house  waiting  p a t i e n t l y  as I hurried towards la casa de la familia gathered en la septima, a section of town known for it's zapotec speaking people... 

Me  acuerdo  that all the kids in the neighborhood had begun to light fireworks on the sidewalks, los famosos busca pies my mother and father always spoke about, tiny firecrackers that kids throw at the feet of passersby hence the name. 

I can still hear the cacaphony of fiestas con banda music coming at me from different directions, desde la calle from blocked off street parties and from deep deep in peoples backyards... Laughter and chattering, clincking of glass bottles... and in the midst of it all I could only think of getting to la casa de la familia, catching snippets of el año viejo as I scurried along, corre que corre... trying to beat a ticking clock... tick, tock, tick, tock, tiCK! Yeah I didn't quite make it... 

Ya me fregue! Son las doce! and I see los viejos being taken to the middle of the street and one by one being set on fire. Whistles, baNGS, POPS! Squirting lights in every direction... los cuetes escapando de los viejos en todas las direcciones... more poPS and BANGS y PITOS!

I ended up pushing my body against the walls of the houses leaving my foreigness smeared en los muros along the way to la casa de la familia. Kids laughing excitedly, running from one side of the viejo to the other, daring each other to jump over the exploding effigy as the adults congratulated each other con abrazos, con baile, tomando, comiendo, y tomando un poco inside... 

This New Year's Eve was nothing like the one spent in Juchitan... No exploding viejos lying in the middle of the road other than the usual borrachin left in the baldio in front of the house. We did, however, manage to get to el Istmo a few days before the new year. We went on a whirlwind tour to the second day of a wedding in Ixtepec, weddings in the Isthmus last 3 days. It had been two year's since I had been back and yet it was all still so absolutely beautiful and still HOT...

On our way back we were even able to stop and let the Juchitan sun caress our skin. The jardín had been renovated and the palacio was not all grafittied or held in protest as it was last time we were there. We weaved through the istmeño crowds of men and women in their long flowing rabonas to go to the mercado to get some garnachas and drink some agua de coco. We bought betabinguis and frutas en chile y miel for the road and headed back to the city to spend New Years. 

It was a quiet one here, well almost quiet that is, would have been minus the barrage of cuetes that went off a las doce that lasted, no exageration, for over an hour. We made some dinner, listened to some music, and watched a movie with our pets coming in and out most of the night... The next day we headed for the mearcado to welcome the New Year with a tamal de mole negro... Si señor, como Dios manda!

Los novios y los cantaritos rotos, Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Dec. 28, 2010.

The Hap Hap Happiest Christmas...

Our little Charlie Brown tree this year. Oaxaca, Oaxaca de Júarez, México, Dec. 2010.

I've been a bit more kris kringly, os pido posada... and entren santos peregrinos this year. A tad bit more into the holiday spirit than last year when I was doing my best at doubling as the humbugging Ebenezer Scrooge. Heck, I'd even say I might be on some sort of Christmas overdrive! Been blasting Christmas music since the calendar turned to December driving M and I am sure our furry pets up the wall... The truth is I just can't help it! REALLY I can't!

I've taken a 180 turn into Christmas Ville, jumped off the holiday barranca into some chocolatito de agua river, walked through the giant candy cane forest, and the sea of swirly gum drops, marveled gawked and admired the GIANT piñatas that pop up this time of year on Porfirio Diaz, and wished oh so much to be invited to a posada. Yes a posada! I want to sing carols, eat tamales, drink ponche and chocolate de agua in our almost constant above 70F weather. By the way we were invited to one, but getting there might have been like going through the seven levels of the candy cane forrest and coming out the Lincoln tunnel.

My Christmas enthusiasm has been transformed into a few DIY projects this year including making  stockings out of manteles de plastico, making istmo inspired gourd decorations, a big bake-athon is in the works for gifts this year, and I have managed to extend our nativity scene a la abuelita Rita, Petra, and mom's style... although I am still quite far FAR from their nativity scene expertise level, (no Mickey Mouse, Beatles, or cake ballerinas skating on mirror lakes), I have managed to add a small duck and a nopalito this year. Ah! and to keep with tradition, M and I have been watching a series of holiday movies. Watched Elf last night and before that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation... we were rolling! Next up I believe is Scrooged :)

I thought I would end this 'dipping my toe' in the blogesphere entry with one of my new favorite Christmas song... Saludos from Oaxaca!

Bici-Zapata

Bici-Zapata, Calle Crespo, Oaxaca de Júarez, Oaxaca. October 2010.

It's been a while I know! I've been contemplating coming back for a few weeks now but sometimes life gets in the way and then before you know it we just don't know how to come back... Where to begin!

October and November are probably hands down two of my favorite months here in Oaxaca for so many reasons that I don't think I can explain just yet. Can't say December's been too shabby either ;]  I don't see myself writing about the 'lost weeks' at the moment, but something tells me I will come back to these 'lost weeks' at this time next year when I am completely homesick for Oaxaca...

Now back to where we left off...

This Bici-Zapata went up a few weeks ago. It was designed by two young artist friends and I had the chance to see their original stencil. The piece is about 5 feet tall (to give you some perspective), and the stencil looked very complicated. They put the piece together on paper and then pasted it on the wall. I think this was their trial piece since I found pieces of others throughout the city after a protest march. Pasting stenciled pieces is becoming increasingly popular because of the speed these artists can put their work up clandestinely.

There is no doubt that stenciling continues to be all the rage here in Oaxaca. Just the other day, M and I walked into an art school and found the whole inside of the building had been used as a canvas by stenciling artists. The city itself is a changing canvas upon which artists paste and stencil their work, archeological remains of those that came before found in bits and pieces framing the most recently exhibited work.

I leave you then with exhibit B...  and yes I am back ;]

Ps.
I am working on redesigning my page, so bare with me... It will look weird for a while until I get the redesign all done :]

Flores Magon & friends... Barrio de Xochimilco, Los Arquitos, Oaxaca de Júarez. November 2010.

Bicentenario from the South (part deux)

Break dancers  next to calle Indpendencia practicing their moves, Sept. 15, 2010.

Oaxaca's bicentenario celebrations were no where near what we saw in newspapers, through youtube videos, and heard coming from DF, but it was very much a reflection of where Oaxaca (and maybe the rest of the country), is. It was evident that for one, the PRIs defeat (the country's ruling political party for over 70 years, and in Oaxaca for almost 80), put a big damper on the 'official' celebration. In Santo Domingo, the anti-government celebration was left to be, although there was no lack of intimidation. Truck loads of soldiers passing on nearby streets, state police on motorcycles periodically running through the pedestrian street where the Triqui women from Copala had setup camp, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary really.

Near the zocalo, the group of young break-dancers that usually gathers on weekday and weekend evenings, set up their radio and put on a show for each other and the curious passerby. The show was interrupted periodically by those tourists and locals wanting to take a picture in front of the countdown clock (which was miraculous clean, no graffiti, no stencil art, no tagging). 

Despite the mostly tranquil bicentenario in the city of Oaxaca, there were several communities under threat, Copala, Zimatlan de Matamoros, and Ixcatlán, hence unable to celebrate. In the community of Copala 3 women were shot during the days leading up to the national celebration. Due to the threats on the community, none of the women were able to receive medical attention until they were 'recued' from the community by state police.

Here are a few more pictures from the bicentenario celebrations in the city of Oaxaca. The few night images I could rescue from my digital camera ;)  Enjoy!

Heroes de la Independencia with National Anthem in several Oaxacan indigenous languages, Spet. 15, 2010.

Catedral, Sept. 15, 2010.

Zocalo de Oaxaca, Sept. 15, 2010. 

Sombrerote, Hidalgo y Morelos, Sept. 15, 2010. 

Ex-Palacio de Gobernación, Sept. 15, 2010.

Banderas, reguiletes, y soldados (soldier convoy) en Alcala, Sept. 15, 2010. 

El Bicentenario from the South

Vocho, bandera y paloma, Sept. 2010.

After a year of preparations, analysis, and talk about Mexico's 200th independence anniversary... IT ARRIVED! Toda pomp y circumstance, but not all out pavorreal, aventando la casa por la ventana as we might have expected, or as DF seems to have gone. Unless you've been living under a rock, in some hole, or the such here in Mexico, there was no way around the Bicentenario frenzie. Living through the bicentennial celebrations here in Oaxaca was interesting. Unlike the DFs all-out-bash, (a few links for your enjoyment: link 1 link 2), Oaxaca seemed quite tranquilo, and if you walked through the zocalo just the day before "el grito" the plaza was full of anti-government graffiti up the waaazoo! It was hard to imagine any government celebration actually taking place the next night. 

The next day I was actually shocked to walk through the same plaza to find it all painted over, cleaned, and as festive as an army of workers could get the place. You could still make out the words ASESINO through the paint during the day, but lucky for the government night time lighting can perform miracles. 

The celebrations went on without a hitch. I say celebrations because there were two in the centro de Oaxaca, the 'official' celebration over which the outgoing governor presided, and an anti-official celebration held in front of Santo Domingo (one of Oaxaca'z main churches and tourist corridor), where the on-going planton by Triqui women was reinstalled after having to move a few days before. At the second celebration videos highlighting some of the ongoing struggles in Oaxaca were projected. The place was filled with mostly young people.

At the 'official' celebration, three stages were set up from which music acts alternated. The whole place was strung up in green white and red lights and large portraits of some of the indenpendence heroes were set up in front of the cathedral with the himno nacional (national anthem) written in a few of Oaxaca's 16 indigenous languages. 

To celebrate Mauricio and I had a plate of nachos, a beer, and I accidently ordered some kind of Cancun-Spring-Break drink that the waitress insisted on setting-on-fire and having me chug with a straw... Hmmm Yeah! It wasn't my style at 16 or 19... Turns out I'm still not into the chugging, so I didn't! Who knew that Juan Rulfo's classic "El Llano en Llamas" would be turned into some flaming chugging devil drink?! Se a de estar revolcando en la tumba!

Anywho, here are a few images of how the Bicentenario looked down south in Oaxaca. Will post the night time images on another post. Enjoy!

Balcon y bandera, Sept. 15, 2010.

Ex-Palacio de Gobierno, Oaxaca, Sept. 15, 2010.

Sombrero Viva México, Sept. 15, 2010.
.

Papel picado, Sept. 15, 2010.

Our lunch! Chiles en nogada, only available during this time of year... Click here for a recipe

Reguiletes, Sept. 15, 2010.
.

Manequín, Sept. 15, 2010.

Grita tu Pesar, Sept. 15, 2010.

Hereo de la Independencia, Guerrero como Boxeador, Sept. 15, 2010.

.

A Little Oaxaca Music

When Tlahuitoltepec met the Balkans 

This is a long, long overdue post...

I was first introduced to Balkan gypsy music a few years back here in Southern Mexico. I had spent my first few years here as a faithful dance-athoner, attending weekly night services Friday's and Saturday's at a local club/bar/cine/concert stage all-rolled-up-into-one. It was there I first heard the music of Kocani Orkestar; there where I first heard Señor Coconut's remixes mixed-in with la cumbia de las luchas; and there where I saw some of the weirdest, coolest, most terrible and most amazing local and international acts. It's a little known fact to the rest of the world (unless you've spent some time in Oaxaca) that sometimes, down south in the middle of "sleepy" Oaxaca, far far-off from the lime-light, and the cool oozing cities like NY, London, LA, Paris, or D.F.... Magic Happens! 

This past year's magic came in the form of la Banda Regional Mixe who had free, yes FREE! concerts booked all over town to promote their first album. Their concert's culminated with an encuentro between them and low and behold all the way from the Balkans... Kocani.

La Banda Regional Mixe, is from a small town called Tlahuitoltepec in la Sierra Mixe, known for its music program from children and for its excellent musicians. I have yet to visit the town, which is high on my list. It is said that before kids can walk or talk they are playing an instrument in Tlahui. 

So when I heard of the encuentro between RM and Kocani, I was more than a little bit excited... To put it simply, NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS did I think I would ever get to see Kocani live, and then there was RM for whom our love had grown with every presentation we happened to catch. RM concerts are nothing less of a jumping extravaganza!

No surprise then that the encuentro was more than we could have ever hoped for. Between the blurrish joy-filled bouncing, I can still remember turning to Mauricio now and again, both of us BEAMING with happiness, hopping, dancing with the rest of the audience, high on life, HIGH ON RM and KOCANI! It was and still is one of the fondest memories I will ever have here in Oaxaca. When it was all over we left practically floating... YES IT WAS THAT GOOD! Magic happens... and it sure happened that cool night in December.

A few days ago Mauricio found the video above and the emotions from that night all came rushing back... AH! and to our surprise we realized we are in the video! ja, ja ja! Newly arrived from the States, we were still not on Oaxacan time and we arrived at the concert so early we had our pick of seats... so we took the second row behind a older couple who arrived early to not have to fight through the usually late-Oaxacan-mad-rush.

I am also attaching a second video of music inspired by Oaxaca. Beirut, for those of you who know their music, also made a stop in Oaxaca... The lead singer came for inspiration about a year and a half ago or so and played with a local band from Teotitlan del Valle on the song bellow. The sounds and images are screaming "I'VE BEEN TO OAXACA!"

Hope you enjoy!

Oaxaca re-mix

Oaxaqueando en lunes...

miscelanea, Oaxaca re-mix, August 2010. 

guaracheando, Oaxaca re-mix, August 2010. 

Pero sigo siendo el REY calavera, Oaxaca re-mix, August 2010.

Arte Jaguar Punketo, Oaxaca re-mix, August 2010. 

Racimo de Colores and sights of Oaxaca on a Monday in August...