Guelaguetza in Oaxaca

Wow...Oaxaca knows how to party! We got here last Saturday and almost didn't find a room. Right now is the Guelaguetza festival...also known as "The Monday's on the Hill"....this is an annual festival where all the 7 regions of Oaxaca are represented by dance, music and singing. In Mexican culture, there are generally a few families in each Puebla who are designated as the people who help out others when there is a death, birth or marriage. They give gifts and help out others. In the Guelaguetza, the dancers throw gifts of food to the crowds.

We were lucky to find a room at Hostal Don Mario, which is a nice little place for $200 pesos a night. It's about 8 blocks from the center of town, but the walk is through the touristy shopping district. One nice thing is that from the street we are on all the way to the Centro the streets are pedestrian only, so there are literally thousands of people milling around. There is impromptu music all the time, and dancing, and vendors with everything imaginable. Lots of people from the outlying villages come into town and they are dressed in traditional clothing that is so colorful. Each outfit represents where they are from and what their craft is.

We met a lady who makes rugs by hand and she showed us how she weaves them with wool and how she dyes the wool with natural colors. There is a little bug that they catch and when it dies and dries out they crumble it and mix it with water to make red. For orange they mix lemon juice to it and for purple they add some bi-carbonate. She let me mix it on my hand and it was stained purple for two days!! Her rugs were truly a work of art and she puts her initials and her family logo in the corner. If I had room in my pack, I would definitely buy one!

Every night they have been having fireworks. One night we thought the fireworks were in one area and were heading there when we stumbled across where they really were. We were waiting there when a young guy about 20 approached me and asked if I spoke Spanish. I said I did and he invited us and any other tourists to come up on his roof to get a better view of the fireworks. We gathered about 8 people and headed up. Apparently they usually have friends and family over to watch the fireworks, but this year they didn't so they thought they'd let some gringos check it out. It was SO COOL!!!! We sat on the edge of the roof with the fireworks right below us. The first one they lit off was a butterfly that opened and closed while a big flower spun behind it. Let me tell you, the Mexicans know parties and they know fireworks!! There are several men who put on a little bull costume that is adorned with fireworks and they run around and into the crowd and people play "bullfight" with them...it's quite entertaining.

Another night we watched fireworks and they had strung the whole church and centro with fireworks overhead. We were standing below them when they lit them and had to run to get out of the way of the falling fire!! It was as bright as day!

I've been searching for a journal that I can write and paint in, but have had no luck!! I found them in SMA right at the beginning, but thought I'd find them easy as pie elsewhere. Teaches me!! I've been looking high and low for three weeks to no avail.

Sierra's Spanish is picking right up and she's doing great. I think she's enjoying being able to communicate in Spanish.

There is a political problem in Oaxaca right now and I'd asked several people about it, but no one seemed to know. It has something to do with the government locking up the journalists. Anyway, as we sit here, there is a huge demonstration going on for this reason just right outside. It is pouring down rain and the people are shouting and waving banners. It's kind of exciting!

This morning, in search of my journal....we went to one of the markets and Sierra wanted some pineapple (the fruit is unbelievable here!)...she just wanted a little peice, so we went to buy it and the lady gave it to her for free. Wasn't that so sweet??

Speaking of Sierra...she gets quite a lot of attention everywhere we go. She's so beautiful and her sweet heart just shines through. I get a lot of comments about how smart she is, and how pretty and how sweet. I just love it! She is really getting more comfortable with Mexico and with traveling, which just warms this mama's heart.

Oaxaca is famous for coffee, chocolate and molé...I really like the coffee and the chocolate (especially their hot chocolate!), but the molé is not my thing. It's intensely popular, but just not for me. It was here that chocolate was discovered...a very important and fantastic discovery if you ask me!

Tonight we leave for San Cristobal de las Casas, which is in Chiapas. We hope to get deep into the jungle and to find some Mayan villages to spend time in and to find some MONKEYS!!! We also might see Toucans, Alligators and Jaguars, as well as a myriad of other animals, birds and exotic flora and fauna.

Still having trouble getting photos downloaded, so it may be a bit before I can get that figured out. As soon as I do, I'll load a bunch!!