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Written by Alvin Starkman
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Saturday, 12 July 2008 21:31 |
Spotlight on Jacobo Ángeles ...
Try searching the Americas to find creators of folk art with more
form, symbolism and importance to the development and sustenance
of their culture, than those of indigenous ancestry in
Oaxaca, one of the southernmost Mexican states.
Many so-called experts in folk art have mistakenly written that
the origins of Oaxaca's wood carving tradition date back fifty or
sixty years, to a small number of carvers residing in one of the
central valleys of Oaxaca, a few miles from the state capital of
the same name. The error has consistently been equating the
recent commercialization of the art-form with its origins, and
ignoring its pre-Hispanic roots and subsequent development.
Jacobo Ángeles lives with his wife María and two children in San
Martín Tilcajete, one of three main native Zapotec villages,
where most residents earn a living from carving and painting
colorful figures, often generically referred to as alebrijes.
The others are Arrazola and La Unión Tejalapan.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 July 2008 21:47 )
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Written by Dick Davis
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 21:12 |
Border Crossing The Grand Marquis needed a lube, an oil change, and the tires rotated. I stopped before the border in Laredo, Texas. There was a long wait so I went to a café next door, sat down, ordered coffee, and looked in my guidebook for Villa Santiago, Mexico's latest designated Pueblo Mágico. This Magic Town was not listed in the Lonely Planet Guide, but my map showed that Villa Santiago was just southeast of Monterrey in the Sierra Madre Mountains. I guessed it would be about a 4-hour drive from the border, but with Monterrey in between it might be longer. Villa Santiago would be a new experience. I would head east, take the scenic route, back roads and side trips, before going south to San Luis Potosi. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 July 2008 21:57 )
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Written by Bill Conklin
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Sunday, 01 June 2008 17:52 |
Pozos in the clouds
We have just finished building a casita in Mineral de Pozos on part of about 6 acres of almost total tranquility and beauty. Our land is about a 10 minute walk, just out side of town in one of the abandoned mining areas. We often see clouds below us and swear that we can touch the stars.
It's not the first place that people considering a move would think of building. So how did we end up in what most see as a remote part of the state of Guanajuato and how was it to build here? As to the latter question, I strongly suggest that anyone that is thinking of building in Mexico read God and Mr. Gomez by Jack C. Smith before even contracting the land, let alone the architect/builder.
Now (paraphrasing Paul Harvey) for the beginning of the story.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 June 2008 20:22 )
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Written by Norma Hawthorne
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 23:29 |
Leaping Dancers
Nine young Zapotec men in their 20's and 30’s bedecked in bold
primary colors – red, green, yellow, black -- and crowned with
feathered headdresses the size of a large moon, leap and twirl
into the air, shake rattles and raise a carved and painted wooden
talisman to the sky. They are reenacting the Spanish conquest
through dance as an annual ritual of remembrance. The
accompanying band, a crew of both veteran and youthful musicians,
play flutes, cymbals, drums, trumpets, tubas, clarinets,
saxophones, in an oompah-pah cadence reminiscent of a Sousa march
with hints of German polka. They chant and speak a conversation
between Moctezuma and Cortes, in which Cortes says there will be
a special god that will come in the appearance of Cortes and
conquer the Aztecs. The entourage includes Malinche, the Aztec
princess who learned Spanish, became courtesan to Cortes, and
betrayed her people according to lore. Two masked clowns, the
buffoons, parade between the dancers and along the sidelines,
make mocking gestures. Village children represent the Spanish
soldiers in a parade before the dance begins.
This year (2008), the Dance of the Feathers is scheduled to start July 9th in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 14 July 2008 16:27 )
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Written by Alvin Starkman
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Tuesday, 10 June 2008 18:33 |
Hierve el Agua
The Sierra Norte in Oaxaca is a heavily-wooded area east of the city of Oaxaca, divided into three districts: Ixtlán, Villa Alta, and Mixe. Ixtlán is well known for ecotourism.
Ecotourism as we know it in the Ixtlán district of the Sierra Norte, may never reach the Mixe because of its distance from the city of Oaxaca. However the Mixe still has many of the trappings which attract travelers who want to get away from urban life and see different and more natural sights. In terms of material culture, the district may in fact be superior. Certainly the drive, best handled as a two-day excursion, has much to offer beginning from its ascent out of Oaxaca's central valleys.
What's in store should you venture off on this 280 kilometer round-trip trek are cave paintings, cascading springs, meals so fresh that the roadside eateries have no need for refrigeration, markets, by-products of the agave plant such pulque and mezcal, pottery in a style and color not often encountered in the state capital, and on a daily basis women wearing unique, regional dress.
The drive itself, without stops or side trips, takes upwards of 3 hours, beginning in Oaxaca and ending at the recommended final destination of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec. But it's the journey which holds much of the allure.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 June 2008 00:33 )
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In our forum
What would it cost to retire in Mexico? See: Moving to Mexico
Safety and security on Mexican buses
An exploratory mission to Baja to see if a retirement will stretch in Mexico: Baja in June
With airfares up, maybe it's time to consider: Bus Travel from Texas to San Miguel
The Mexican Board of Tourism is promoting the idea that there are magical towns in the country: Pueblos Magicos
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