It is with a certain regret I begin this third edition. I had intended to add the latest posting last week but was sidetracked with an emergency hospital stay. It seems an old acquaintance in the form of an intestinal blockage decided to pay an unexpected visit and I am just now getting back to normal. All seems well now, however, and I can once again relate some of the wonderful experiences to be had in this great place.
For whatever reasons, Kate and I had not previously been in Mexico during the October 31-November 2 event known as Day of the Dead or "Dias de Muertes." We made a promise to one another not to miss this year. With luck we shall not miss another. It is magical. Here is how it works in a nutshell. (Please forgive specific historical details.)
The Day of the Dead is a conglomeration of western and indigenous religious soup. For many hundreds of years native peoples celebrated the event as a month long fesitval around the month of August. In the ancient beliefs the life experienced on a daily basis was in fact a dream. The real world existed elsewhere. As a result fear of death was mitigated. To "die" was only to return to the real world from which you came originally. Each year after returning to the real world by dying, you would visit your dream family. To welcome back the deceased "real world" family members, friends, and beloved leaders was the purpose for the festival.
When westerners arrived they church attempted to stomp out the pagan celebration as work of the devil. (Doesn't it seem that Christian religions tend to attribute the devil's work to anything they don't agree with? Some things never change.) This tradition (unique in all the world's cultures) was so strong the church had no chance. As a conciliatory gesture the church decided to allow the festival to continue in conjunction with All Saints Day which was the deriviative of the modern Halloween. Today this wondrous holiday is held October 31-November 2 each year.
On the first day, Halloween, family members create an altar in their homes. I have not seen such an altar as it is a highly private affair and it is considered a great honor to be invited to participate. This is a solemn occasion and much care and thought goes into the construction with the participation of all family members. Typical altars include a sugar cane arch. Candles and an incense from the "tree that weeps" which is called Copal burn for 3 days. (Copal, by the way, is the only wood which the local wood carvers use for the magical creations we sell on our internet sites.) On the altar are placed items which the deceased loved one enjoyed so they will feel welcome upon their return. Naturally this must include food and drink. How else would they be able to visit for several days? Everybody has to eat! Moles (sauces), chicken, desserts, liquor, cigarretes or cigars, musical instruments etc. are included. There is no specific list as each loved one had distinct tastes, likes and dislikes.
On the second day, November 1, the dead children return and much joy is to be found as all the happy reunions with those who died young are experienced. The smiling faces and cute antics of those little family members who never reached adulthood are the center piece of the day's activities. Rocking horses, baby carraiges, toys and candy are the order of the day. One unusual item to be found is the ample supply of skull shaped and decorated sugar candies. To eat one is to honor the dead person whose name is to be found written with frosting upon it.
The third and last day, November 2, is the day for the return of adults. This is certainly an adult oriented event with much liquor, beer and partying to be had by all. This was the day we chose to go to the local cemetary (panteon). San Felipe del Agua is a small village but it has a great cemetary. As we approached, the street to the entrance had been blocked off and many vendors of rum, food and soft drinks were to be found. Music filled the air. We entered into a world of flowers, incense, music, and people. People everywhere! I never would have believed so many happy people would be in a cemetary at one time. There were two bands playing around the graves of select departed. There were children climbing all over head stones and crypts. There were flowers, particularly huge gold marigolds, on almost every grave site. People were eating food on the tops of crypts as they maintained vigil. And, of course, all the dead certainly joined in the food and fun as plenty of beans, rice, booze, sweets, tortillas, etc. were to be found spread throughout the graves set aside especially for them. It was extraordinary.
The children, many dressed as spooks of various sorts, went throughout the crowd and held up small bags. I did not realize until later I was supposed to put pesos in the bags. I suspect the kids figured I was a cheap gringo. Kate, however, found me in the madness and asked if I had any coins as she was cleaned out. I gave her what I had and that was gone in minutes as well. Fair warning tourists! If you go to the cemetary, take lots of pesos!
That all having been said, please enjoy the few pictures I was able to take prior to the battery dying on the camera. I promise an extra battery next year and many many more pictures. Until next time,
hasta la juego!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
OCTOBER UPDATE
As promised, this is the second of what I hope will be a series of regular postings should anyone care. At the very least, it will serve as a bit of a journal for myself which is something I should be doing anyway.
We have been back in Oaxaca about a month now and we have settled into a weekly and daily routine. Three days each week Kate travels to the out lying villages (pueblas) and visits with local artists and purchases work for our internet store and e bay. Sales have been quite good for the first 3 weeks and have exceeded our expectations. Auctions normally close on Sunday (Domingo) evening. I pack on Tuesday and ship at the local post office on Wednesdays.
Thanks to local union problems (and the state's poor handling of them) the city of Oaxaca had many months of traffic, demonstration, and political problems. The result was defeat for the unions and an almost total loss of tourists. Tourism is a major factor in the local economy and U.S. tourists have been scared away by State Department advisories. There are still some European and Canadian visitors but local hoteliers say business is down about 80%. Many hotels and restaraunts have closed and lots of other businesses are struggling or failing. It will take years to recover (or at least that is the local opinion.)
Weather has been great. Thanks to a couple of storms in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Pacific coast we have had a nice extension of the "rainy" season this year. The valley of Oaxaca only averages about 37 inches of rain per year so the term "rainy season" seems a bit overstated for those used to tropical seasonality. In any event it has been great for cooling off the days and keeping things green a bit longer than normal.
Kate has gone bonkers with her gardening. To date she has planted lettuce, tomatoes, sunflowers, potatos, chives, watermelons, corn, cucmbers, parsley, carrots, and peppers (green, red and yellow.) In addition, she continues to trim and care for her mini banana plantation which was planted a little over a year ago. We look forward to a nice harvest of regular bananas as well as apple bananas we transported from Belize a few years ago. Nothing like fresh veggies!
The lemon trees on the farm have been giving us an almost endless quantity of lemons. For some reason they are larger than in years past. As usual they make for great lemonade. We mixed it with rum last week and discovered it makes a drink that is close to a great margarita! Yum.
Have visitors on the farm this week from Idaho. They are a young well educated couple. The young man is on sabbatical from his public school counselor position and she works from the internet as a personal counselor. They are very pleasant, have two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and seem to be having a blast. Headed south I think to Belize and Guatemala eventually.
Kate and I like to share what we call, "The most interesting thing we saw today," after our outings. I would like to share a few that might be fun. The other day Kate saw a farmer walking two large oxen in the center of our village. What was odd was that as he encouraged them with a stick, he was listening to music via ear phones on his MP3 Player! Talk about merging cultures! I was entering the little store (tienda) up the street when a small boy (whose parents can't afford to send him to school) walked up. By all appearances he is a shirtless barefoot street urchin who just hangs around most days bored out of his mind. Just when my brain was moving in the direction of parental neglect thoughts, a curious thing happened. This little guy stopped at the front of the store and carefully wiped his bare feet before entering the store! Obviously his family has taught him well. They must have class. They are just dirt poor. Sad yet uplifting at the same time.
Am following the Michigan State Spartans fortunes in football this fall and (as usual) anxiuosly await basketball season. We should be great (as in good chance for the Final Four) again this year and have some of the best players in the country. Great fun. We get ESPN and its affiliates via our dish network and great internet via our satellite. All the creature comforts without a telephone to bother us! We even have that service via SKYPE when we actually need to call the states. Cost is about 2.1 cents per minute for international calls.
Guess that is about all for this issue.
Hasta Noviembre!
Del
We have been back in Oaxaca about a month now and we have settled into a weekly and daily routine. Three days each week Kate travels to the out lying villages (pueblas) and visits with local artists and purchases work for our internet store and e bay. Sales have been quite good for the first 3 weeks and have exceeded our expectations. Auctions normally close on Sunday (Domingo) evening. I pack on Tuesday and ship at the local post office on Wednesdays.
Thanks to local union problems (and the state's poor handling of them) the city of Oaxaca had many months of traffic, demonstration, and political problems. The result was defeat for the unions and an almost total loss of tourists. Tourism is a major factor in the local economy and U.S. tourists have been scared away by State Department advisories. There are still some European and Canadian visitors but local hoteliers say business is down about 80%. Many hotels and restaraunts have closed and lots of other businesses are struggling or failing. It will take years to recover (or at least that is the local opinion.)
Weather has been great. Thanks to a couple of storms in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Pacific coast we have had a nice extension of the "rainy" season this year. The valley of Oaxaca only averages about 37 inches of rain per year so the term "rainy season" seems a bit overstated for those used to tropical seasonality. In any event it has been great for cooling off the days and keeping things green a bit longer than normal.
Kate has gone bonkers with her gardening. To date she has planted lettuce, tomatoes, sunflowers, potatos, chives, watermelons, corn, cucmbers, parsley, carrots, and peppers (green, red and yellow.) In addition, she continues to trim and care for her mini banana plantation which was planted a little over a year ago. We look forward to a nice harvest of regular bananas as well as apple bananas we transported from Belize a few years ago. Nothing like fresh veggies!
The lemon trees on the farm have been giving us an almost endless quantity of lemons. For some reason they are larger than in years past. As usual they make for great lemonade. We mixed it with rum last week and discovered it makes a drink that is close to a great margarita! Yum.
Have visitors on the farm this week from Idaho. They are a young well educated couple. The young man is on sabbatical from his public school counselor position and she works from the internet as a personal counselor. They are very pleasant, have two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and seem to be having a blast. Headed south I think to Belize and Guatemala eventually.
Kate and I like to share what we call, "The most interesting thing we saw today," after our outings. I would like to share a few that might be fun. The other day Kate saw a farmer walking two large oxen in the center of our village. What was odd was that as he encouraged them with a stick, he was listening to music via ear phones on his MP3 Player! Talk about merging cultures! I was entering the little store (tienda) up the street when a small boy (whose parents can't afford to send him to school) walked up. By all appearances he is a shirtless barefoot street urchin who just hangs around most days bored out of his mind. Just when my brain was moving in the direction of parental neglect thoughts, a curious thing happened. This little guy stopped at the front of the store and carefully wiped his bare feet before entering the store! Obviously his family has taught him well. They must have class. They are just dirt poor. Sad yet uplifting at the same time.
Am following the Michigan State Spartans fortunes in football this fall and (as usual) anxiuosly await basketball season. We should be great (as in good chance for the Final Four) again this year and have some of the best players in the country. Great fun. We get ESPN and its affiliates via our dish network and great internet via our satellite. All the creature comforts without a telephone to bother us! We even have that service via SKYPE when we actually need to call the states. Cost is about 2.1 cents per minute for international calls.
Guess that is about all for this issue.
Hasta Noviembre!
Del
Sunday, September 30, 2007
OAXACA and BELIZE SPARTAN: FIRST EDITION
Thank you for visiting this site. Welcome. This is the first of what I hope to be many entries sharing information and asking questions about the wonderful state of Oaxaca, Mexico and the intriguing land of Belize, Central America. It is hoped the reader will find useful and sometimes humourous thoughts.
My wife Kate and I (along with our two golden retrievers) just returned after being in the States for an extended period. It is great to be back. The majority of time was spent in California from the Oregon border to San Diego while we acted as consultants for a company that operated multiple RV parks. It took just 18 days driving from the San Francisco area as we decided not to sight see due to home sickness. There is still so much to see in this wonderful country and now we have more travels to which we look forward. Because we camp (either in a tent or in a tiny trailer) we are becoming quite familiar with campgrounds and travel routes which might be useful for others to know about.
For those who are unfamiliar with Oaxaca, it is located about 250 miles southeast of Mexico City. It is the name of one of the Mexican states and also the capitol city. Oaxaca, Oaxaca is our nearest big city. With just over 500,000 people in the immediate metropolitan area it is a major trade center for southern Mexico.
Our caseta (cottage) is located in a small village at about 7,000 feet elevation and overlooks the city. It is quite lovely at night as the lights fan out over the huge valley below. The weather is perfect. June through September it typically rains for about 45 minutes in the afternoon. October through May is dry. It seems never to exceed 85 degrees farenheit or drop below 50. March and April are the warmest months with lows usually in the 70 degree range.
While traditionally a major tourist area you will not find many caucasians living here. It is not along main travel routes and lies among several mountain ranges which makes automobile travel challenging at times. For example, one of the best surfing areas in the world "The Mexican Pipeline" is just 120 miles south on the Pacific Ocean. It takes 6 1/2 hours to drive there!
The state of Oaxaca (along with Chiapas to the southeast) is one of the poorest states in Mexico. As of this writing the average wage is about $5 per day U.S. This might seem depressing to most "gringos." The simple, family oriented and agricultural lifestyle which accompanies these low wages, however, has some advantages. The rent for our home is $175 US per month including all utilities. (See photo) Eggs are 9 cents each and laid fresh daily. Filet mignon is $2.50 US per pound. Fruits and vegetables are so inexpensive you might just call them free! Lemons and limes are free from the trees outside year around. Taxi fare is $3.50 to just about anywhere. Bus fare is 30 cents. Of course certain staples should not be excluded. Cigarettes are $19 US per carton and rum is less than $6 US per bottle. Liquor (other than Scotch) is hard to come by sometimes. First run movies cost about $3.25 US to attend and are available in English with Spanish sub titles. DVDs and CDs are $1 each.
Having been raised in Michigan the closest comparison I can come up with about daily life in Oaxaca is that it is like life was on the farm in the 1950s. There is no crime to speak of and everyone is friendly and helpful. Spanish is a good thing to know (Kate and I are learning slowly) but certainly not required. For those who need to be bilingual, there are many many inexpensive schools available in town. So the bottom line is this: If you yearn for the 'good old days' when life wasn't very complicated, people were nice, children were fun and the phone didn't beep, Oaxaca may be a real nice place for you.
These are my initial comments. Hope you find this article and future editions useful.
My wife Kate and I (along with our two golden retrievers) just returned after being in the States for an extended period. It is great to be back. The majority of time was spent in California from the Oregon border to San Diego while we acted as consultants for a company that operated multiple RV parks. It took just 18 days driving from the San Francisco area as we decided not to sight see due to home sickness. There is still so much to see in this wonderful country and now we have more travels to which we look forward. Because we camp (either in a tent or in a tiny trailer) we are becoming quite familiar with campgrounds and travel routes which might be useful for others to know about.
For those who are unfamiliar with Oaxaca, it is located about 250 miles southeast of Mexico City. It is the name of one of the Mexican states and also the capitol city. Oaxaca, Oaxaca is our nearest big city. With just over 500,000 people in the immediate metropolitan area it is a major trade center for southern Mexico.
Our caseta (cottage) is located in a small village at about 7,000 feet elevation and overlooks the city. It is quite lovely at night as the lights fan out over the huge valley below. The weather is perfect. June through September it typically rains for about 45 minutes in the afternoon. October through May is dry. It seems never to exceed 85 degrees farenheit or drop below 50. March and April are the warmest months with lows usually in the 70 degree range.
While traditionally a major tourist area you will not find many caucasians living here. It is not along main travel routes and lies among several mountain ranges which makes automobile travel challenging at times. For example, one of the best surfing areas in the world "The Mexican Pipeline" is just 120 miles south on the Pacific Ocean. It takes 6 1/2 hours to drive there!
The state of Oaxaca (along with Chiapas to the southeast) is one of the poorest states in Mexico. As of this writing the average wage is about $5 per day U.S. This might seem depressing to most "gringos." The simple, family oriented and agricultural lifestyle which accompanies these low wages, however, has some advantages. The rent for our home is $175 US per month including all utilities. (See photo) Eggs are 9 cents each and laid fresh daily. Filet mignon is $2.50 US per pound. Fruits and vegetables are so inexpensive you might just call them free! Lemons and limes are free from the trees outside year around. Taxi fare is $3.50 to just about anywhere. Bus fare is 30 cents. Of course certain staples should not be excluded. Cigarettes are $19 US per carton and rum is less than $6 US per bottle. Liquor (other than Scotch) is hard to come by sometimes. First run movies cost about $3.25 US to attend and are available in English with Spanish sub titles. DVDs and CDs are $1 each.
Having been raised in Michigan the closest comparison I can come up with about daily life in Oaxaca is that it is like life was on the farm in the 1950s. There is no crime to speak of and everyone is friendly and helpful. Spanish is a good thing to know (Kate and I are learning slowly) but certainly not required. For those who need to be bilingual, there are many many inexpensive schools available in town. So the bottom line is this: If you yearn for the 'good old days' when life wasn't very complicated, people were nice, children were fun and the phone didn't beep, Oaxaca may be a real nice place for you.
These are my initial comments. Hope you find this article and future editions useful.
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