Art & Culture

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Hola amigos!

This week has been jam-packed with art class, starting on Monday when we met Corrine Glesne, our professor for the rest of the term. We have spent full days going to museums, visiting with artists, and learning about how intrinsically linked the cultures of Oaxaca are to the arts.

Monday morning we switched gears and began with an art project. We made journals to record all of our art work and to keep note of our time here. We all had a lot of fun with it, and quickly put them to good use. We spent the other half of Monday visiting galleries in the city and taking note of the work. We all enjoyed exploring the city a little bit and examining the art we have become accustomed to seeing everyday.

Tuesday began bright and early with a field trip to Ocótlan and San Bartolo Coyotepec. In Ocótlan we visited Rodolfo Morales’s house who dedicated his life to art although he was discovered later in his life at the age of 50. Morales has given much back to his community and has opened his house to share his work. Over a period of 20 years, Morales painted murals on the walls of the town hall depicting the culture and lives of the people in the community. We left Ocótlan after a delicous lunch in the market.
We then went to San Bartolo Coyotepec to learn about black pottery. We sat with an 88 year old potter, Doña Sofia, while she made a pot from hand. The black coloring comes from the firing process where very little oxygen is allowed in the oven. After a long day, we went back to the city feeling excited about our new art class and the rich Oaxacan culture we are gaining a better understanding of.

On Thursday, two groups of nine and ten students visited the workshops of lithographer and painter Enrique Flores,
and of "up-cycle" artist Claudia Vargas.

At Flores' studio in Huitzo, demonstrations of the lithograph-making process were given and we were gifted with our own prints at the end of the visit. Students participating in the workshop at Vargas' home in Oaxaca City, created their own pieces of recycled art, crafting mirrors framed with colorful trash-candy wrappers, tin-can covers, etc. Most agreed that attending these workshops and witnessing these unique Oaxaquenos' art in person was an enlightening and enjoyable experience.


The next day, five groups presented their research into the lives of Oaxacan artists. The subjects ranged from sculptors to recycled art to printmakers, and included Enrique Flores, Claudia Vargas, Felipe Morales, Filemon Santiago and Carlomagno Pedro Martinez. Students related the life and themes of the artists, often accompanied by picture slides and in one event, through the reading of an illustrated children's book.


It was gratifying and almost surreal to learn
about these gifted individuals by whom this city's culture is daily being transformed.


We have already learned so much in this one week,and we look forward to the coming week where we will continue to visit and learn about the art and culture of Oaxaca.
Con mucho amor,

Lindsy, Renna, and the rest of the crew

Apoala: Las Cascadas, Grutas, y Geologia

Hola from Oaxaca!

This last week has been an interesting one, starting on Monday with a three-day geology trip to Apoala, a pueblo about three hours away from the city. It is a beautiful little town that is basically constructed around a stream that runs down from a mountain, through the valley, and culminates in a gorgeous waterfall at the end.

We spent our first day taking a guided tour of the area while Barry pointed out the important geological features. The second day began with a hike down to the waterfall, where we splashed around in the beautiful, albeit freezing, water. After lunch that day, we split up into four groups to begin our research projects. Each team investigated a certain aspect of the valley, trying to determine what geological processes had occurred in the area. We felt like real scientists, trekking around collecting data and making hypotheses. It was a great hands-on activity that really brought the subject to life. The next day, Wednesday, we presented our findings to Barry and the rest of the group, discussing what we had seen and recorded. Afterward, we piled in the vans and headed back to the city.

That night, we actually managed to get the entire group together for Hannah Beal’s birthday dinner. We went to La Biznaga, a fun and delicious restaurant in the city. Afterwards, some people went home, and some people went out dancing, but it was great to be able to celebrate together at dinner.

On Thursday, we had our final geology lecture with Barry. We learned about the geological evolution of Oaxaca, which was especially interesting since we’d seen a lot of the places during our excursions. It was a nice way to wrap up the class.
On Friday, Barry answered our remaining questions, and then let us out a few hours early to go enjoy the city. We all left feeling like we had a great understanding of the geological makeup of this beautiful place in which we’ve been living for the last few months.

This weekend brought relaxation and downtime for most members of the group. A few girls even went to the baseball game yesterday at the Oaxaca Guerreros stadium. It was a great cultural experience, even though the players were pretty awful. Other students ventured out to the Tule Tree, a giant, breathtaking tree that has become a big tourist attraction in Oaxaca. All in all, we enjoyed our free time in our own ways this weekend.

Tonight, we are having a potluck dinner to send Barry off with memories of good food and fun. Tomorrow, we have our first day of art class with Corrine Glesne. We are all excited to see what’s in store for us next!

Adios,
Erin, Kiren, and the rest of the group!

Las Grutas

Hola from Oaxaca!

Our second week of geology started bright and early Monday morning with our first real assignments. We debriefed about our past three field trips and wrote up lab reports with our findings. On Tuesday, we continued to work on our lab reports. After class, Mary Lucia surprised us with a celebration cake, which commemorated our 60 something day of being in Oaxaca (we have yet to find the significance of this number though!). We all commented on things we wish to celebrate about our time in Oaxaca thus far and everything to come. Early Wednesday morning, we left for our overnight geology field trip to San Sebastian de Las Grutas, which was about two and a half hours from Oaxaca City.

When we arrived, we put our stuff down in our cabañas and explored our new surroundings. For the first time in what seemed like forever, we were surrounded by big trees, a lot of green, and even a fairly sizable stream. We immediately began to explore, wearing our rugged gear, of course. After our explorations, we were served lunch of egg soup at a at a local family's house up the hill from our cabañas.

Following lunch, some of us took a little bit of a siesta while others continued exploring. We then walked up to the mouth of a cave for a guided tour of images in the rocks and explanations by Barry. A man from the pueblo guided us through the cave with his lantern powered by a car battery encased in wood with a handle for carrying. He pointed out the different formations with names like "the eagle", "the monk", or "the rhinoceros". His role as a guide was his tequio or service to the community. The cave was huge and seemingly endless and the chill inside provided a welcomed change from the usual hot climate.

When we returned to the cabañas, most members of the group either explored more or played some bonding games that we learned from our camp counselor group members. We then walked back up the hill for a delicious dinner of chocolate y pan dulce, followed by tlayudas, a group favorite, and quesadillas with incredible condiments—homemade salsa, which was unexpectedly very spicy, and some of the best guacamole we have ever tasted. The night ended with a spectacular campfire, thanks to some of our rugged group members, complete with impossible riddles, creepy ghost stories, and songs by Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Carley Simon, Simon and Garfunkle and many more. The only thing missing was roasted marshmallows, which had mysteriously disappeared from our cooler while we were at dinner!

On Thursday morning, we woke up, went to breakfast up the hill and then got to work on a geology lab. Our trip to San Sebastian de Las Grutas couldn't have come at a better time. We all needed a chance to spend time together and see a little bit of green, which is exactly what our trip provided, along with some quality time with some cool rocks, which is needless to say.


We left to return to the city around eleven thirty or twelve so that we would get home just in time to have comida with our respective families. On our way to school on Friday, we were all pleasantly surprised to encounter hundreds of adorable kids dressed up as animals, princesses, recycling bins, and many more creative costumes, to celebrate “Samaritan Day.” This day marks the beginning of spring and is also celebrated by all the stores giving out different kinds of fruit-flavored water to anyone passerby. It is a custom in Oaxaca City celebrated on the fourth Friday in Lent. The tradition is based on the parable of the Good Samaritan.In geology class that day, we learned all about earthquakes and how they are formed.

On Saturday, there was an alternative technology workshop at Santo Domingo that was sponsored and organized by Universidad de La Tierra, or UniTierra for short, and CEDI (The Center for Intercultural Encounters and Dialogues), which are the organizations and school that were founded in part by Gustavo, our Anthropology professor. Many other booths were of places we had visited previously during our time here. Other than the workshop, which was attended by some members of our group, we have all had a fairly relaxing weekend, catching up on sleep and work, and gearing up and getting excited for our three day field trip to Apoala with Barry starting on Monday.

Hoping all is well and starting to warm up in the North!

Con paz y amor,

Molly and Carey

Rocks!

Last week we re-entered, in many ways, Western Civilization. The city of Oaxaca with its paved roads, its tourist hordes, and its urban population was a radical departure from the previous week spent either in Teotitlan or Zimatlan. Coming back produced a feeling of relief for some of us, and a minor culture shock in others.
However, Monday we were offered the opportunity to shift gears once again- moving from the rapid pace of city life to the incredible patience needed to understand geologic time. A new and exciting character, fully academic but quick with a smile and a joke, stepped into our life- Barry Doolan, our fantastic geology professor. Geology class began on Monday with an exercise to understand the global aspect of geology. We split up into teams- The vulcanologists examined a global map of volcanic eruptions, the geomorphologists a map of elevation and landscape, the seismologists a world map depicting recent earthquakes, and the geochronologists a map depicting the ages of the world´s seafloors. Comparing these to a planetary map of tectonic plates, we drew conclusions about the nature of plate boundaries; then worked together to formulate theories that would explain for the different geological activity observed. Understanding the nature of how plate boundaries and faults work gave us a backbone in which to apply our local discoveries and observations.

Thursday, we went to an outcrop on the sides of a busy street in the city. We learned how to measure the strike and dip of points on the outcrop with compasses. We investigated rock particles and crystals with our new hand lenses! Friday, we took the vans out to a quarry where rock is being cut for building stone. We found the fault line and took strikes and dips--while the men working there looked at us with puzzled faces. We stopped for lunch and attempted to find our final destination, yet the road was impassable on four wheels. Instead we hiked around and found a running creek (rare in the dry season!) and identified some billion year old stratified rocks in the water.
Saturday, we had another trip along the road to San Joyctlan. We stopped in five places slowly investigating how the Oaxaca, Todos Santos, Chalcatongo, and Jaltepetonga complexes all meet each other in fault lines along the road. We learned how to compare metamorphic and sedimentary rock, and how to test for limestone (calcium carbonate) using hydrochloric acid.
Along the road we were investigating the rock wall exposed on the side in the blazing southern sun. Three children were curiously watching us after dismounting their horses. After running away and quickly returning they said their mother wanted to invite all of us over for water. That's Mexican hospitality for you. We all followed the children and their mom brought out chairs and water and offered to make comida (lunch) for all of us! We had to kindly decline the offer as we were on a mission, a schedule not always accommodating to "Mexican time". We stayed and talked for a bit to this gracious family as the little children stood in line next to their mother to listen.
At the end of our day after discovering some enormous and interesting fault lines along this long uphill country road, we went out for comida as a group in a pueblo outside of the city and then headed back into town.

Now, with one day off, we will head into week 2 of rocks! Hope all is well in your lives. We send warmth and light your way.

Cheers,
Liz, Keith, and Mollie

Bii Dauu

Our group spent the week in Teotitlan del Valle working with Bii Dauu, a collective of Zapotec weavers. The group cultivates many of their own plants to create natural dyes. Using these dyes, they color the yarn for their traditional tapetas (rugs), bufandas (scarves), and bolsas(purses), among other things. We spent the week working on the huerto (the field) and watching various demonstrations about the dying and weaving processes.


Relaxing in the Huerto on the last day. From left:
Andres(the land donor), Renna, Carey, Juan Carlos (Bii Dauu member),
Maggie, Javier (Bii Dauu Member), Erin, Molly, Meg (click on any picture to enlarge)

Over the course of five days, we learned a great deal about not only agriculture and art, but community and friendship as well.

Bii Dauu was created in 2004, and has continued to evolve ever since. Their main goals are to use all natural dyes in their products to protect both the environment and the health of the people in the community. While they do grow many of the plants used in their dyes, they hope to continue to expand the range of what they are cultivating. Currently, they grow the nopal cactus, on which the cochinilla insects live. These insects are used to make red dyes. Bii Dauu also grows pericon, which is used to make yellow, and pomegranates, which are used to make yellow, green, or black dye. All of these plants are grown in the huerto, a small plot of land that was donated by a family member of a group associate. We spent the week learning about and helping to tend to these plants.

Our days began early with a light breakfast at 6:15, after which we headed out to the huerto to begin learning and working with Juan Carlos, one of our main guides, Mariano, the president of Bii Dauu, and many others. We spent several mornings making compost, watering plants, and

preparing the biofertilizer--a mix of garlic, alfalfa, chiles, and aloe that helps repel insects and keep the vegetation healthy. At 10:30, we would go back to our houses for our first lunch--usually a large, delicious, traditional Oaxacan meal. We would rest or spend time with our homestay families until 1:00, when we would meet at the Bii Dauu headquarters to have two hours of demonstrations. At 3:00, it was time to go back to our houses for our second lunch of the day--another delicious meal during which we spoke with our families and learned about their culture. After another short rest, we would return to the huerto to finish up the day´s work. One afternoon, we used this time to visit the town´s new recycling center and help them sort their plastic and glass. At 7:00, we finished off the day with dinner at home, after which we went to bed tired, happy, and incredibly full.

Although the work itself was enjoyable, it wouldn´t have been nearly the same without the incredible personalities of the Bii Dauu members. Our group of seven quickly bonded with them, leading to a week of laughter and sharing. Many of them were eager to learn English, giving us the opportunity to teach them many words, both serious and funny. A day of work in the huerto would not have been complete without our sing-a-longs, sometimes accompanied by the guitar sounds of Juan Carlos. One of the group members, Gervasio, told us that the best part about working with a group is that you get to laugh all of the time. After this week, we certainly agree. These people showed us that work doesn´t always have to be a painful thing or an obstacle to accomplish before you get to have a good time. It doesn´t have to be all about efficiency or flawlessness. With the right attitude, work can be a fun way to connect with your group and strengthen your community. We all built friendships with the members of Bii Dauu that we hope will last throughout our stay in Oaxaca and thereafter.

The lesson we learned about laughter led us to consider the fundamental element of a group such as Bii Dauu--community. We talked about this concept frequently in our Anthropology class, so our questions and ideas about it were still fresh in our minds as we headed into the week. What we found in Teotitlan was a community fortilized by people with a common goal: the health of the people and land as well as the preservation of their culture. For most of the Bii Dauu members, Spanish was their second language. They primarily spoke Zapoteca, their ancestral tongue which is no longer taught in schools. For them, it is very important to preserve this language, as it holds so much of their culture. They teach it to their children, hoping that it will be carried on. This is just one example of the many ways in which they work to strengthen their community.

On the last day, the members threw us a grand fiesta, complete with singing, gifts, and more food than we´d ever seen in our lives. All of the traditional staples were there--tamales(made with a chicken that Liz helped to prepare!), tortillas, atole(corn milk), pozole soup, salsa, and more. After enjoying the delicious comida, we gave them a small presentation, for which we had all prepared speeches in Spanish. For us, our families had prepared various gifts to commemorate our time in Teotitlan. We sat around for several hours afterward, singing American and Mexican songs and joking about the week that had passed. We left feeling both sad and satisfied, knowing we had learned alot but not being quite ready to go.

Fortunately, the members of Bii Dauu missed us as much as we missed them. This Monday, back in the city, we were scheduled to give a presentation to the rest of our group about our week in Teotitlan. As we were preparing to start, Mariano and Juan Carlos walked in with Margarita and Procoro, two other group members. They had come all the way from their pueblo to see our presentation. It meant a lot to us that they took the time to come, and we hope to return to visit them in the near future.

Making funny faces(well, some of us) in the Bii Dauu headquarters. From left, top: Javier, Renna, Molly, Mariano(the president, whose head is poking out in the back), Meg, Carey, Erin, Liz, Maggie, Rafaela; Bottom: Fausto, Procoro, Gervasio, Chucho

La Soledad

Click on any photo to enlarge
For our Service-Learning week, Hannah, Jesse, Andrea, Kiren and Keith chose, to work with Centeotl, a community organization, located in Zimatlan, about 45 minutes south of Oaxaca city. Our work week would be spent in the Sierra Sur mountains, within the hidden village of La Soledad.

Upon arrival in La Soledad on Monday we were expected to give a presentation to the La Soledad community and the focus has something to do with water. We were all a bit uneasy at we were going to be doing in the coming week. Following weeks of working with Gustavo Esteva, the idea of a bunch of American college students trying to help a community through a development organization (Centeotl) seemed to go against everything we had been discussing and understanding. We arrived in Zimatlan, where we would be spending our nights, and went to bed unsure of what the week would bring.

Monday morning (and then every morning!) we arose and headed to the market, a block-long gymnasium type building with pigeons roosting in the crossbars of the high ceiling. Navigating our way through the stalls of veggies and fruits, which at this time in the morning were just opening, we sat down at a counter and ordered hot chocolate y pan dulce (sweet bread for dipping), a common way to start the day off around here. After eating some eggs (huevos rancheros and huevos mexicanos) and feeling quite stuffed, we walked across town to the Centeotl headquarters, passing through the large and newly renovated zocalo, a hub for social interactions throughout the day.

Arriving at Centeotl, we were greeted by Nicandro, our guide for the week. Nicandro and Chuy, the director for Centeotl, gave a Power-Point about Centeotl and its commitment to conserving natural resources in villages and helping them build community autonomy and solvency through different projects.

After the introduction, we all piled into a silver camionetta (pickup truck), and we left for La Soledad. Winding up along the river into the mountains, the air dusty with the red soil kicked up by the truck, it was clear that this was the height of the dry season; the trees were bare, gnarled, and sparse, the cornfields were fallow with last years dry stalks standing up at angles, and the river was barely flowing. After winding back and forth up a hill, we arrived at on a concrete platform built into the hill and surrounded by small, mostly one-story houses, a medical center, a community jail (empty), a store, and some other buildings. This was La Soledad, nestled along a fairly steep tributary running down to the river, with homes extending far up the mountainsides, connected by footpaths.

"The group", the community members working with Centeotl, had been expecting us, and came to greet us as we hopped out of the truck. Fifteen women, all very short with deep tan and tough skin, wearing teal blue aprons and skirts with jelly sandals, and two men, also short with cowboy-style hats greeted each of us with a hand shake and a “Buenos dias”. Nicandro told them that we “don’t eat people” and everyone laughed.

First we toured their community and the projects that they have been working on. Dodging burro poop on the winding paths, we noticed many composting toilets (dry bathrooms), one of the Centeotl projects. We came upon a field planted with amaranth, a protein rich grain, another Centeotly supported project. Fish ponds were also constructed to raise mojarra, a type of bass, used for their own consumption as well as a source of income. The community also has a reforestation project complete with a shade house to grow tree seedings. Many of the trees have been lost to clearning to grow crops or harvested for firewood. Finally, we stopped at the taller de jugetes (toy workshop), where children and adults alike make and paint wooden birds and butterflies to sell.
We spent the rest of the day and the next day split into two teams with the villagers to explore and document the water sources of the community or “ojos de agua”, the eyes of water. We took many pictures of the “ojos de agua” and the surrounding area. Upon arrival back at the hotel, we debriefed and talked about how the people were very aware of what was going on with their water, the importance of keeping it clean and the impact of deforestation.

The two groups visited a total of eight springs, in some cases bushwacking down steep slopes in order to find the springs. Many time during out long hikes, we would sit and rest and chat – there was no hurry. Through this, the villagers' hospitality became more and more evident.

As we talked, began to recognize that through our presence in the village and our interest in the community projects, we were shining a light on how much the people had already accomplished. We realized that what we thought would be a “presentation” would now be a conversation with the community. Through conversation two very different cultures could learn from each other, a necessity for peace and understanding in this increasingly globalized world.

Wednesday is market day in Zimatlan and the streets are closed for blocks and villagers come from all over to set up stands. We did not go to La Soledad because the entire village came to Zimatlan for market day. We spotted some women from La Soledad, who were bursting with excitement to see us.

We spent the rest of the day and deep in to the night working on our “presentation” for the community the next day. We created a poster with all the pictures of the 10 different springs we had visited with a topographical map of the area in the middle. Reforestation in La Soledad is of the utmost importance in order to keep a steady supply of groundwater, but due to soil conditions, villagers only had a narrow window of time in which to plant. A second poster was created illustrating the use of compost from the dry toilets to produce healthier and stronger trees that could lengthen their growing season.

As we talked about our “presentation” we came to see our role in the community as a reason for the community to come together and talk about their water and the future. Although conditions were not dire right now, there was an overwhelming chance that they will only get worse.

On Thursday we learned to make tortiallas. Evidently, when you are able to make a tortilla that puffs up while cooking, you are ready to be married. Then we entered the toy workshop and painted birds and butterflies for 4 hours. After comida, it was time for the community meeting. Our role was to share what we had seen and to get the conversation going. We spoke about what we heard from the community members, what we saw, and about our experiences. We also shared with them our visit to San Andres Huajapam, a reforestation projects that reinvigorated their wells in only five years. As the discussion came to a close, Tia Rica, a woman in the village, stood up and spoke passionately about the need for La Soledad to come together and start planning and implementing these projects right now. Nicandro did a wonderful job of connecting everything together and spoke about identifying next steps with the community. The atmosphere was moving, and after we were done one of the women asked if she could keep the "Abono es Bueno" poster to share with other community members.



We returned for our last day in a whirlwind of tortilla making, painting the birds and butterflies and shared a huge feast with fresh mojarra fish from the community tanks. We were invited to return the community and will attend a communion there March 15th.



On top of the beautiful experience of getting to know the people of La Soledad, our time in this community was the perfect end to Gustavo Esteva's class. We learned about a different form of development. Organizations like Centeotl worked to develop community autonomy, as opposed to developing integration into the "globalized world".

Some more photos:

VIDA NUEVA

For our service learning week our group went to Teotitlan de Valle where we lived with the women of Vida Nueva and their families. Vida Nueva is a weaving and natural healing cooperative that was started in 1996 and is comprised of Zapotec women.



The temazcal at Vida Nueva (click to enlarge photos)

The mission of Vida Nueva is to create economic opportunities for women, to serve their community, and to preserve their Zapotec heritage.

We went with the initial expectation of building a temazcal. We stripped bamboo for the frame and collected river stones that would heat the temazcal. However, much of the work was completed by two people experienced with adobe and this type of building. Much of our week was spent with the women of Vida Nueva who welcomed our group into their homes and lives, showing us the true spirit of Zapotec hospitality.

Over the course of the week, we took part in the building of the temazcal and learning about the natural healing process. Most of all we experienced what it mean to be part of a Zapotec family and community.

Pastora, the founder of Vida Nueva, is also a curandera, a traditional healer, who taught us about natural healing and led a group limpia for us. A limpia is one of the natural healing practices that has been practiced for countless years in indigenous communities in Oaxaca to purge negative energy. She also introduced us to the practice of temazcal. A temazcal is a traditional type of steam bath that is used for both healing and ritual purposes. It is a small square structure with one entrance made out of stone and adobe. A fire heats volcanic rocks, which are then doused in cold water to create steam. After exiting we were wrapped in layers of blankets and rested until our body slowly reached normal temperature. After, we were taken care of by our host mothers and the experience was unbelievably cleansing.

The lives of the Vida Nueva women are invested completely in their families. They spend much of their days laboring tirelessly in their homes--preparing all of the food from scratch for the meals, washing all of the clothes by hand, tending to the animals, collecting firewood-- in order to keep day-to-day life sustainable. Every morning, we would go to the mercado with our mothers to purchase the ingredients, which would be made into our desayuna, comida and cena for each day. The trip to the mercado plays a large role in this community in the daily routine of the women of Teotitlan.

Another daily practice we experienced was tortilla making. On tortilla days we would wake up early to go and grind the corn. The corn kernels are ground with water, which transforms the corn into thick dough. The dough is then taken home and ground again with a mortar and the rolled into patties. The patties are then pressed and placed on a comal over a fire. Some of us also spent a whole day making tamales. The families themselves grew most of the ingredients for the tamales. The first step was to make tortillas and then we had to make the sauce filling and wash the leaves that held everything together. The sauce consists of gaujuilo chili, water, oja santa and masa blended together. Then we steamed them and twenty minutes later sat down to a huge feast.

Historically, in Teotitlan, men were the weavers of the tapetes and it has only been in the last 55 years that women have started weaving. Weaving serves as a main source of income for the women of Vida Nueva, but more importantly it carries the rich traditions of the Zapotec culture. The women take pride in their use of native plants and cochineal insects to create natural dyes, just as their ancestors did. They create a variety of colors, card and spin wool, use ancient designs, create new ones, and weave the beauty of their heritage into each rug. Each rug is 100% wool, and created entirely by hand, in a process that can take many days, weeks, or even months.

At the end of the week we shook hands for the last time. After exchanging our stories it felt like we could never return the favor they had given us. We had the experience to walk behind these women, to meet their community and see the changes that they are making. We heard of their struggles and their hopes while kneeling hours on hard dirt and over feasts of food they had grown themselves. We were reborn and crawled out of the temazcal to be wrapped and pampered by their strong hands. We had a fleeting glimpse of the world of mexico profundo and were nurtured by its raw and natural rhythm. We witnessed the time and emotion that went into their craft. We left with tears in our eyes, gratitude in our hearts and tamales in our stomachs.

Arielle, Hanna, Jordan, Lindsey, Mac, Mollie, and Natalie

Casita, Service Learning, and Geology on the Horizon

This week has marked the end of our first block of classes. In the absence of Gustavo’s lectures, we spent the week in meetings planning for next week’s service learning trips and hammering out the various directions and concerns of our Self Directed Learning Projects.

On Thursday we drove out to San Pablo Etla and visited “Casita” to learn about their work with alternative technologies. ‘Casita,’ meaning little house and was appropriately named for its’ size. Coming from different parts of Mexico and the US, the four people who started the workshop purchased land in a small community. They began building in Diamante, a community sandwiched between two municipalities, a busy highway, and the runoff of the mountains behind them. Christian, one of the four, walked with us and explained some of the problems he has observed, since joining the community 2 years ago. As we have seen in many other situations, water has been the source of many headaches here. While the roads were dry and dusty during our visit, when the rain comes the area floods and creates health hazards. Wedged between two municipalities, the small community lacks sufficient attention to receive essential basic resources. The community joined together and dug ditches to help alleviate the water problems. They also built a park from recycled materials and installed streetlights throughout the community.

The focus of Casita’s work extends beyond this community and across international borders. Their mission is to invent, build, and teach about bike machines and other alternatives, such as dry/composting toilets. They advocate for appropriate technologies that support autonomy and independence. The bicycles power water pumps and grinders as well as juicers and blenders. During our visit they made us comida and used their bike powered blender to mash the beans for the Tlyudas and then mix the watermelon and sugar to make delicious fresh smoothies. Though they showed us a short film about their history, we still had many questions about what they were doing and what their role was in the community. Unitierra, an alternative education group, hosted a series of videos that night that clarified these points of concern and explained Casita’s role.

We also had the opportunity to learn how to work with adobe. We chopped straw and used our feet to mix the adobe and then applied the adobe to the walls of their dry toilet.







Mixing the tierra, lime, and straw to create adobe.










Leaving our memory behind as we created designs that were embedded in the adobe walls.










Friday was our last day at our language school, Solexico. We finished classes and indulged in a huge chocolate cake and school-wide rounds of “happy birthday” in Spanish, English, Dutch and German to celebrate the February birthdays of Jesse, Arielle and Macky. So while anthropology and Spanish have come to a close, an exciting week of service learning projects and the start of Geology await us on the horizon!
Wish us luck in Vida Nueva, Bii Dauu, and Centeotl!! On to our next adventure
Jess and Mac

Migration, Weaving, and Basketball

Hola family and friends! Maggie and Hannah B. will be your lovely blog writers for the week:

The city center (the zocalo) was buzzing all week in anticipation of the second annual APPO (La Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, a grassroots organization) congress. People from all over the state are convening to discuss the future of APPO and its horizontal structure of organization.

A woman grinding cochanilla, a small beetle
that thrives on Nopale, a cactus. The beetle is ground
and is used to dye the wool a beautiful red. (Click
on any photo to enlarge)

In addition, this was our last week of classes with Gustavo. The week included discussions about migration, Mexico´s deep culture of corn, and a definition of the common good. As usual he pushed us to think outside of our usual realm of ideas. We learned the effects of GMO (Genetically Modified) corn on the enormous bio diversity of corn in Mexico. Oaxaca is said to be the place where corn was first created. As we have been experiencing in our daily corn tortillas, we also talked about the role of corn as a staple food in Oaxaca. Gustavo also talked to us about the creation of a ´´common good´´ through friendship, which is a big theme in his lectures. Together with a few friends it is difficult, but possible, to share a definition of what a good life is. This takes time, and the definition is flexible.

Our final class, on Friday, was preceded by a two day stay in the village of Santa Ana de Valle. Our time there directly illustrated the drastic effects of globalization and migration on a Oaxacan village.

Learning to spin and card wool.

The livelihood of the village relies heavily on the revenues from the artisan rugs made there. Unfortunately the rug making is no longer a sufficient source of income, and one third of the population migrates both nationally and internationally. Many young people go to the United States or to Mexico City. Our main host in the village has several children in the USA and when he began his introduction of the town, he assured us that it was not a ghost town.

And we visited a curandera and students
were able to receive a "limpiar" or cleansing.

We all stayed in homes of the village. We visited a rug maker and saw a demonstration of the entire rug making process, from shearing the sheep, to dying the wool with ground up cactus larva, to the weaving process itself. A good sized rug takes a average of twelve full days and sells for a mere 900 pesos (about 80 dollars). We also visited the only traditional candle maker left in the town who demonstrated the process of creating highly ornate candles used for special occasions.
We ended our time there discussing the effects of migration on the town with Gustavo. He asked us what we would do if our lives had begun in this village, faced with the challenges of a dying craft and drastic population drop. We thanked him and said our formal goodbyes. However, he will be around assisting many of us in our independent projects, or even just to talk if we want.


These candles are made for religious ceremonies as well as used for when a man asks for a woman's hand in marriage.

We arrived back to the city Friday night, and Lindsey´s visiting boyfriend, Byron, made us a delicious meal of avocado salad, cheesey rice and tostadas to name a few of the many dishes. We were all very grateful. Afterwards, a few of us hoped on a bus and went to the beach for the weekend, which is where we are writing from now.

The day at Sta. Ana de Valle ended
with a spontaneous game of basketball with
some young men and boys from the pueblo.

Time in Oaxaca is flying by quickly. It is hard to think that one class has ended, and in a week, Spanish will also be over. We are still learning so much and will keep you posted on the coming weeks!!!!

Maggie and Hannah B.

Conversation, comida, and curanderos!

Hola from Oaxaca!

This week was full of conversation and great food. Monday in Gustavo's class we further discussed the political history of Oaxaca and Mexico as well as the Zapatistas and APPO. On Wednesday our conversation continued leading to a discussion regarding issues with genocide.

We were lucky enough to enjoy a visit from Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino. She is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Professor in the Department of Medicine at UVM. She is also the head researcher and founder of Vtrim, a behavioral weight loss program. Jean was in Oaxaca doing research about different aspects of Oaxacan nutrition. Continuing with our group projects the food group accompanied Jean and Cynthia to a clinic on the other side of the city that offers care to low income patients and does medical outreach to rural communities. We learned a lot about how the face of food related diseases like hyper tension, obesity, and diabetes are changing due to an influx of the fast food lifestyle as a result of globalization. We also learned that many people in Oaxaca use traditional healers because they are still culturally relevant, often more accessible, and less expensive than conventional medicine.

Thursday for our weekly field trip we had a delicious comida at Gustavo's house in San Pueblo Etla about half an hour outside of the city. We took a tour of his and his neighbor's land where they have a substantial organic nursery as well as some goats, turkeys, and rabbits. Gustavo and his wife Nicole live in a beautiful adobe house which Nicole designed. We talked a bit about creating an alternative "good life" and how by development standards they are considered poor because they don't have a flushing toilet (they have a composting dry toilet) and they aren't hooked up to the water system (they get their water from a natural spring), but they live a more simple, sustainable, healthier life. Nicole prepared us a tremendous feast of tortellini, beets and carrots from her garden, deviled eggs, fresh salad (also from the garden), a multitude of other fresh creations, topped off with a mango pudding and fragrant coffee for dessert. Maybe now we are starting to grasp the concept of comida...After we were all sufficiently stuffed we discussed Gustavo's experience and opinions regarding health care.

Friday about half the group along with Cynthia and Jean traveled 3 hours outside the city to a town in the mountains to visit a curandero, a traditional healer. We learned about the concept of hot and cold foods, different methods of diagnosis using an egg, incense, or reading the pulse, and saw a temezcal- a sauna like structure which originated with pre-hispanic Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica and often used after giving birth. It was an intensive and rich learning experience. This was an intense and rich learning experience.

Valentine's Day in Oaxaca is an occasion not to be missed! Between the hundreds of balloons that seemed to pave the streets, the traditional parades with big brass bands, and an abundance of couples, love was definitely in the air!

Water from Stone

Hello All!

Monday was a holiday here and we started our week on Tuesday. We are adjusting well to this new fascinating culture and our classes. Spanish classes are great fun. In Gustavo Esteva’s class this week we discussed the concept of communality and friendship. We learned the importance of the concept of friendship when forming community or a commons. What Gustavo conveyed is that friendship provides a base of relationships which provides a base for communality and common interests. It is through friendship that we begin to understand common interests and our own responsibility within our own community be it your town, organization, or your student compadres in Oaxaca.
On Thursday, we took a field trip to San Andres in Huyapan. In this small Zapotec community and growing bedroom community, we explored an area of land where the Zapotec owners are using techniques to reestablishing grown water into the aquifers down below. Amazingly, several men in the village have hand built long foot deep terraces (looks like topographic lines) all along the mountainside to slow down the torrential rains when they come which allows the water to seep in. They have also planted reed-like vegetation along some of the deeper earthen culverts that prevent erosion and again slow the pace of water runoff. Some of the water is captured in small ponds and is pumped into a green house in order to grow both tomatoes and native tree saplings of the area for reforestation. This center is a demonstration site where people from other villages come to learn different ways for restoring and sustaining sources of precious water in their communities.

Back in town, some of us visited an art opening on Friday. ASARO, a local graffiti collective, displayed a series of silk-screened t-shirts about Palestinian resistance. Their main idea is to pass on political messages to the community through their artwork.

Part of Gustavo’s syllabus includes a small group project. This week we broke off into groups and began the process of research. The five topics of the small groups include Oaxacan art, education, mobilization, food systems, and healthcare. As of now every group is defining their thesis and research methods. In the next month, groups will explore their questions through hands-on studies within the State of Oaxaca.

Tonight, Sunday, we are gathering for dinner at Mary Lou’s apartment to celebrate Jess’s and Ariel’s birthdays. Jess’s birthday was the 5th and Ariel’s is the 9th. Dinner gatherings are a good time to catch up and spend some quality with the community we are creating in Oaxaca.

Peace and warmth from south of the border. Hope everyone staying warm in the north!

Meg and Jordan

Mexico is wonderful and warm

Hierve el Agua (click to enlarge photo)

This week marked the beginning of our Spanish classes and Anthropology course with Gustavo Esteva. On Monday we split into small groups of 4-5 people at Solexico Language School. Five days a week, three hours each morning this format will be repeated. By many accounts the Spanish instruction so far has been helpful and fun, with the instructors incorporating games, field trips, and conversation into the grammatical lessons. On Mondays and Tuesdays we have Gustavo's class directly after Spanish, where we have so far discussed culture and current politics in Oaxaca, as well as a "salad" of other topics which arose in the first week of our meetings. A few of these spare but important topics have been farm subsidies, "what is neoliberalism", and healthcare. In the future we will also be holding discussions on: Power, Social Transformation, Personal Agency, Helping (Right of Intervention), Zapatistas, Culture Issues, Ways of Knowing/Alternative Forms of Education.

Typically after class we go back to our houses for most important meal of the day, or comida. Comida is usually taken around 2:30 or 3:30 in the afternoon, then we are free for the rest of the day to explore the city, take salsa, or yoga classes at Solexico, play soccer, take in a free movie at the open Pochote Organic Market, or sleep!

This Thursday we took a field trip to CASOTA, in place of Gustavo's class in the afternoon. CASOTA is a collective, autonomous space which features free showings of documentaries/cultural programs, grows a community urban agriculture garden on its roof, hosts visiting activists in their 5-cot dormitory, and runs a cafeteria which serves full, nutritious meals to low-income oaxaqueños. Collective members described the space's purpose to create an autonomous area in which people can be self-sustaining.

Besides our classes, we've also been learning a lot by walking around the city and talking with local Oaxacans. This past weekend some of us went to Hierve el Agua which is this little town with beautifulnatural springs. The bus ride was interesting to say the least--we took a little pick-up truck up and around the mountain for an hour to get there--but it was definitely worth it. The springs were absolutely beautiful and it was a nice change of pace from the busy city.

Besos de Oaxaca (Kisses from Oaxaca),

Lindsy & Renna & the rest of the UVMers

Back in the City

Hola from Oaxaca! We returned to the city from our retreat on Friday. As we settle into our homestays, we thought we would give an update of our first week in beautiful Mexico.

For the last week, we have been at a retreat center in San Lorenzo de Cacaotepec, about thirty minutes outside of the city. In the mornings, we received cultural, political, and historical briefings with Gustavo Esteva, which were interesting, challenging, and insightful. Several afternoons, we had guest speakers elaborate on the culture of Oaxacan communities. We also participated in team building exercises with Sergio, our guide from Universidad de la Tierra. UniTierra is a learning center in the city with no teachers, no classes, and no grades. Our other guide, Luisa, also works with UniTierra.

Last Friday, we went on a unique tour of the city that was based on different neighborhoods and socioeconomic classes. Our tour was cut short because the teachers in Oaxaca had organized a protest in which they blocked off many of the main streets. It was a peaceful demonstration that occurs annually as a method of salary negotiation with the state. We did not see much of the action, but it was interesting to talk to locals and hear their take on the situation.

Later that night, we arrived at our retreat, Casa Hacienda el Encuentro. The rooms were simple yet charming, and our meals were delicious and authentic. We spent Saturday working on group-building and adjusting to the new setting.

On Sunday, we went to Monte Alban, the oldest Zapotec ruins in Oaxaca. The scene was breathtaking: you could see all three valleys that surrounded Oaxaca city. We had a wonderful tour guide, who elaborated on the different types of trees, construction, astronomy, and traditions. After a traditional lunch of mole and rice pudding in the city, we went to El Museo Cultural del Santo Domingo. This incredibly expanisive musuem houses much of the jewelery, books, and other artifacts found in and around Oaxaca.

We spent Monday in classes and orientation at the retreat center. On Tuesday, we attempted to watch the inauguration via satellite. It was shaky, but we caught a bit of the speech. It felt like the old days, gathered around a radio, hoping the connection wouldn't fade. Later that day we went on a field trip to San Augustin Etla, a village near the retreat. We went to the home of two women, Rosario and Lydia, who live almost entirely self-sustainably. Their house is made out of adobe, replete with compostable toilets, water jugs for windows, and furniture that they had contstructed themselves. They grow their own vegetables, both outdoors and in a small greenhouse. They also work with local women in the area to prevent domestic violence. Rosario and Lydia were incredibly inspiring and intelligent, and the trip was enjoyed by all.

Wednesday brought challenging classes with Gustavo, which left everyone a little pensive and overwhelmed (in a good way). We spoke of the challenges of sustainable development and the perpetuation of capitalism under the guise of globalization. That afternoon, Nicole Kast, a recent Swarthmore graduate, spoke to us about the culture of indigenous Oaxacans. Nicole recently moved to Oaxaca and is a history teacher and anthropologist.

Thursday, Gustavo answered questions that we all had about the readings he had assigned about Zapatistas and the Oaxaca commune. We then heard from Ruben Valencia, a community leader for young adult activists. After we ate lunch and laid in the sun for a while, Benjamin Maldonado spoke to us about the cargo system in traditional communities. In the cargo system, community members are assigned certain jobs or positions which they must complete in order to move up the ladder and gain respect. This is a way to maintain communal bonds and ensure that the work will be completed.

On Friday, we had our last session of orientation with Gustavo and Mary Lou. After lunch, we hopped on the buses back to the city, where we waited anxiously for our homestay families to pick us up. It felt like the first day of kindergarten all over again. Our families met us with open arms and warm smiles, making us feel at ease in our new homes. The last two days have been spent relaxing, exploring the city, and getting acquainted with our families.

Tomorrow, we start class at Solexico. We will have Spanish in the morning followed by Culture, Sustainability, and Social Change in Oaxaca with Gustavo. You can expect to hear more from us within the coming weeks. We will be dividing up the task of blogging between the homestays, so everyone's voice should come through eventually.

Adios!
Erin, Kiren, and the rest of the group!


(You can click on these pictures to make them bigger)






This is our tour guide at Monte Alban. He was very animated and knowledgeable of the local ecology and history.





This is the group at the retreat center.








This is the courtyard of the retreat center, where we spent time eating and soaking up the rays.