Sunday, October 27, 2024
Breakfast was at 7:30 a.m. today with all the participants wandering in at various times.
WALKABOUT #5
I decided before the workshop begins I was going to take a walkabout in the east side of the Xochimilco neighborhood.
This year there would not be much Halloween in the Dia de los Muertos celebration
but here is a crossover example in a hotel window
Some of the art work I have seen before;
here is what I don't like--tagging on the art
This little fella accompanied me on my walk for awhile
The workshop began at 10:00 a.m. today. Here is the class description: “So, I used to think Mexican Loteria Cards were like mystical fortune-telling tools, predicting love or possibly summoning El Diablo (the devil). Turns out, they’re really used as a more vibrant form of bingo as well as a learning tool for kids. But regardless of their use they are unquestionably iconic in terms of Mexican culture. With this in mind, this year’s Oaxaca Day of the Dead workshop will use these as our artistic template. We are going to assemble our own funky 3-D Loteria cards using random bits of this, that and the other thing, and a touch of paint! You can create as many as you like with the card subjects of your choosing. Have a bit a fun…a watermelon card might be a bit ho-hum so why not go for El Vampiro or perhaps something peculiar like El Pepinillo Bailando (the Dancing Pickle). The world is your oyster…(La Ostra…just in case you were wondering).”
Mija welcomed everyone to the workshop. Michael did an introduction to the loteria game and then we were off and running.
My workspace
For lunch today we walked to the organic market again and I had turkey soup.
At 4:00 p.m. when the day came to an end, Michael and I hopped into a cab and took a 20 minute ride to the nearest Home Depot to stock up on a new Dremel (the ones in the class room today proved unreliable), a hammer, more caulk and some bolts. A cab ride to the hardware store, waiting for us, and the return ride cost us $10 US. I need to move here.
Michael and I walked over to "French Fryville," or La Terraza de Barro for drinks. Up on the third story balcony where we sat was so cold later I had to walk back to the hotel to get my sweater and suit coat. The wind here makes it pretty chilly at night (50’s). We moved into a sheltered area of the restaurant and ended up with about a dozen workshop attendees or dragged along spouses for our nightly meal.
WALKABOUT #6
After the meal I walked down to the zocalo and did not get back to my room until about 10:00 p.m.
During this celebration the city builds a market on the alcala that has to be transversed to get to the zocalo.
The Santo Domingo
I think I have photographed this musician every visit to Oaxaca
Monday, October 28, 2024
After breakfast at the hotel today I walked east into the Jalatlaco barrio.
WALKABOUT #7
The second day of class begans at 10:00 AM. My lunch today was a torta from the sandwich cart on the far side of the park. By 5:00 p.m. I had my first Loteria card done.
We headed over to Casa Crespo (where we had our opening dinner) for a class on making Oaxacan chocolate.
Casa Crespo's ofrenda
Father Wayne blessing the chocolate
Because the last component of the chocolate workshop was a piece of chicken in chocolate mole, I decided to use that as my dinner so I could head back to my room for game three of the World Series.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
After breakfast this morning I heard the sound of comparsa right by our hotel. This was most likely a local school celebrating the mixture of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.
At 9:30 a.m. it was time for our excursion to the village of San Andres Huayapam. I got in my usual seat on the vans but these vans were different from the first excursion--tinted windows. It made my Out the Window shots even harder to accomplish.
OUT THE WINDOW #4
We arrived a little early to the village of San Andres Huayapam so there was time to do a mini Walkabout.
WALKABOUT #7
Our goal was the home and studios of painter Jean Foss and the momo maker Chucho Lopez Gonzales.
The guitar was impossible to ignore while we waited.
Jean Foss has been living and painting in the Oaxaca region for decades.
A piece by Jean
We got to tour Jean's studio
We moved out to the workshop area where Jean gave us a tour of her portfolio.
We were in the workshop of momo maker Chucho Lopez Gonzales who gave us a demonstration of the paper mache work that he does to create the giant puppets known as momo.
A small work by Chucho
A large work by Chucho
Then it was lunch at Luz de Luna. The restaurant features the work of Jean and Chucho.
Before we left I got off a few "local" shots from in front of the restaurant. Less a walkabout and more a standabout.
We headed to a “magical” setting in San Andres Huayapam, the orchid sanctuary La Orquideario Encantada. The orchid master in this sole proprietary business is Octavio Gabriel Suárez.
It's a jungle out there
Known to us as "the bridge of death"
Although blooming season was over there was still a few flowers to be found.
This impressive creature was waiting on the path for us.
When we got back to Oaxaca Jaurez, we went to French Fryville for drinks and food.
That night, I walked down to the zocalo to see how the energy is building for the upcoming holiday.
On the zocalo there was a dance performance.
I was heading up the alcala back to the hotel when to my left I heard the familiar strains of a la calenda.
Nobody but me seems to be fazed by how close this fire comes to my face
This might be my favorite shot from the whole trip
No matter how much hub there is in the bub this guy keeps right on playing every night
By this time of night I was so tired that I was thinking this young dude has the best job in Oaxaca.
