Naturally
we ran out of water, and had to buy it from la pipa, just as friends arrived for
a partyClick here to order your copy of Viva Oaxaca//Click here to return to Contents//Click here to return to Viva Oaxaca home page
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OAXACA
The Bahias de Huatulco--the bays and beaches of Huatulco
Xoxocotlan's Day of the Dead celebration
Friday, November 25, 2005--The Sounds of Oaxaca
I imagine that the residents of Oaxaca don't think about its vocabulary of special sounds, but many visitors find them very striking.
The first one we hear every day is "Agua, el agua, el auuugua" echoing into our apartment from the street. It's the cry of the water vendors, trucking and toting heavy garafones (5-gallon jugs) of purified water throughout the city. One of the job requirements must be a voice that can penetrate walls and be heard a block away.
Oaxaca's water system is antiquated at best. The city suffers from a chronic water shortage, so each neighborhood only receives piped-in water every four days or so. Every house or building has a large tinaco (water tank) on its roof, and usually an underground reservoir as well, to try to store enough water to last until the next delivery. Hotels and restaurants frequently run out of water, which means that they have to buy water from la pipa, huge trucks that cruise the city selling water for human use at a very high cost. And even a slight leak can empty a house's tinaco in a few hours. That's what happened to us, just before a party.
Naturally
we ran out of water, and had to buy it from la pipa, just as friends arrived for
a party
Since water is only piped to a given neighborhood every few days, during the intervening time the mains are not pressurized, and water from the soil can seep into them wherever they are cracked or broken. As a result, even though the water that enters the distribution system is purified, it's polluted by the time it arrives at people's homes.
As a result, it's definitely not safe to drink or cook with tap water, at least without boiling it for fifteen minutes or using chemicals to disinfect it.
Instead, most people, visitors and residents alike, drink and cook with bottled water.
Hence the daily water vendors, and their cry of "Agua, el agua, el aguuuua!."
Oaxaca does not have a system of pipes to distribute fuel for cooking or heating. Instead, every house has one or two tanks of LP gas. When one runs out, you can call for a replacement, which usually arrives surprisingly promptly. Or, you can just listen for one of the gas trucks that constantly cruise the streets. They use two distinctive sounds to let you know they're near your house, one sensible and the other slightly humorous.
All the gas trucks drag heavy chains that clink and clank along the pavement. At first I thought this was just to make a distinctive noise, but then I realized that the chains prevent static electricity from building up and possibly sparking an explosion. The clinking and clanking are handy, but secondary.
Just to make sure they are heard, the trucks also have horns that make a sound like a sick cow. I don't know who first decided that there was a link between the kind of gas that you cook your food with and the kind of gas that a cow produces, but someone did, and it stuck.
So, whenever you hear chains clattering along the streets, and moaning cows, you know gas is at hand.
A third distinctive sound is heard only at night--a piercing, steamboat-sized whistle. It's deafening if you happen to be close to the source. These penetrating whistles come from handcarts loaded with cooked platanos ,large bananas, for sale. The carts all have boilers that generate steam to let everyone within blocks know that delicious platanos with cream or sugar are waiting for them.
There are more special sounds of Oaxaca, but you might want to track them down on your own.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Like many Oaxacans, ex-pats, and visitors, we decided this was a good time to go to the beach. Last year this time we went to Puerto Escondido. This year we thought we'd scout out the Bahias de Huatulco, also on Oaxaca's Pacific coast.
A view
along the Huatulco coast
Huatulco is an area of great natural beauty--more than twenty miles of tropical coast, close to the mountains, with nine bays and thirty-six beaches. The region has only recently been developed as a tourist destination. It seems to be far better planned than similar areas we've seen. The big luxury hotels are clustered togetherin one area above Tangolunda Bay. The rest of the region remains far less developed. Visitors can find a place to sleep in anything from luxury resorts to a hammock on the beach.
We decided to stay in a smaller and less expensive hotel, Mission de los Arcos, in the town of La Crucecita. The hotel was comfortable, the staff friendly and helpful, and La Crucecita turned out to be a very pleasant place. It's built around a sizeable central plaza with a lovely church on one side, shops and restaurants on the others. The church has a striking image of the Virgin stretched across the entire ceiling of the church. It reminded me of images of the sky-goddess Nut that the ancient Egyptians painted on the ceilings of tombs.
We spent one day just hanging out by the water, and a second on a festive beach-and-snorkling boat tour. Huatulco is definitely a slice of paradise, with broad white sand beaches, clear blue water that was just the right temperature, palapas for shade, and beautiful views.
Sand,
sea and a palapa for shade in Huatulco
Friends had told us not to miss the Central Aquarium of the Mexican Tourist Center in Mazunte. Huatulco seems to be a major ecological success story. Much of the economy used to be based on the over-exploitation of the sea turtles that come to the beaches of Mazunte to lay their eggs. Today the economy thrives on the eco-tourists who come to enjoy the region's natural beauty and the now-protected turtles. As of 2005, Huatulco became the first touristic community in the Americas to win certification by Green Globe 21as a community devoted to protecting its environment. The aquarium is a center for the study and protection of the region's environment and wildlife, including many species of land and sea turtles.
We were guided through the aquarium by an engaging young biologist who could not have been more excited by her work studying and protecting the turtles. And the turtles themselves were fascinating.
A sea turtle glides by
Huatulco offers many attractions that we didn't have time to try--more beaches (including Zipolite, a nudist beach), windsurfing, sport fishing, rock climbing, horseback riding, and tours inland to cascades and coffee farms. Even so, our brief dip into Huatulco was well worth the winding, seven-hour bus trip from Oaxaca.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
We skipped this week's Sunday concert of the State Band of Oaxaca to explore the town of Tlacochahuaya, just 11 miles from Oaxaca. We knew it had a beautiful 16th Century church, San Jeronimo, but had no idea what it would really be like. On Sunday, the town was restful and quiet, with immovable dogs sleeping in the sun in the middle of the streets.
Mass was being celebrated under a canopy outside the church, because the church itself was being used for a rehearsal of an organ concert scheduled for tonight, part of a yearly series of concerts on the Baroque organs of the State. This let us wander around the church and take photos without disturbing anyone.
The facade of the church is simple and symmetrical, with splashes of deep blue in the niches devoted to holy figures. Radiating strings of flags, flapping in the breeze, added a touch of lightness to the stones.
The most interesting figure on the outside of the church is that of the church's patron saint, San Jeronimo, listening to the voice of God, apparently coming to him through an ear trumpet. Check out the next picture.
That's a raven sitting on the old saint's head, and, I think, a look of astonishment on his face--the saint's that is.
The inside of the church was far more beautiful than I had expected--incredibly ornate, exquisitely painted and decorated, and with some striking carvings.
My large-scale photos don't begin to do justice to the interior of the church; you really need to see it for yourself. Still, a few details will give you a sense of how much faith and art went into this structure.
Just one detail from inside the church at Tlacochahuaya.
With
the permission of the sacristan, we climbed up the very steep spiral staircase
to the organ loft, where a talented organist and baritone were practicing. The
baritone had an incredible voice, which filled the
church as he paced up and back, apparently looking for the best spot from which
to sing.
The most interesting feature of the Baroque organ was the row of faces painted onto the organ pipes themselves, mouths wide open. I don't know how common this kind of decoration is, but I've never seen anything like it before.
Detail from the organ of the Church of San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya
Friday, November 11, 2005
With less going on in the city of Oaxaca right now, people are using this as a time to get away. Some take a bus, van, or small airplane over the mountains to the Pacific Coast, to hang out at the beaches of Puerto Escondido or Huatulco, showing up a few days later looking tanned and relaxed.
We decided to take our first trip to Hierve el Agua, a natural feature 80 km (48 miles) east of Oaxaca. For years, friends have told us we should, but we thought it would be too touristy. They were right and we were wrong.
The road passes by El Tule, with its huge tree, the small archaeological sites of Dainzú, Lambityeco and Yagul, and close to Mitla and the weaving towns of Teotitlán del Valle and Santa Ana del Valle. So a day trip to Hierve el Agua can also include several other interesting sites.
Hierve el Agua is a place where mineral-rich water has cascaded over a cliff for thousands of years. The result is a frozen waterfall of multicolored rock. During the rainy season and for some time afterwards, water collects in pools at the top of the falls, where people can take a swim. I've never taken in dip in a more spectacular place.
(Above, natural "Infinity" pool at Hierve el Agua)
(Right, another view from the pools at Hierve el Agua)
There's a trail that loops to the right from the pools, up and past the frozen cascades in the picture above, down and around its base, and back up to the pool area. The walk takes from forty minutes to an hour, depending on how fast you are going up and down. It provides some spectacular views of the cascades, the unique vegetation, and the surrounding country:
View from
the loop trail at Hierve el Agua
The route to Hierve el Agua also passes through the heart of Oaxaca's mezcal region. We stopped at one of the Beneva mezcal factories, where we were shown the major steps in making mezcal. We saw mounds of the large "pineapples," the sugary heart of the maguey plant that is the basic ingredient of mezcal; the huge pit in which they are cooked and where they pick up mezcal's smoky flavor; the one-horse-powered mill in which they are crushed, the barrels in which they ferment, and the wood-fired alembico (still) which captures the high-powered spirits.
A worker
shovels shreds of maguey out of the mezcal still.
After a very informative tour, we were offered tastes of mezcal, starting with blanco, fresh from the still, then reposado, rested for six months in white oak barrels, then añejo, aged one year, and last (and clearly the finest) the reserva, aged for five to seven years. By the time we left, we were very happy campers indeed.
You can get a very non-commercial introduction to mezcal at the Union de Palenqueros de Oaxaca at Abasolo 510 in the center of Oaxaca. If you drop in, you'll probably meet Francisco Monterrosa Morales, who comes from a long line of palenqueros--mezcal makers. His father is the author of a very detailed book on mezcal that is available at their outlet in Oaxaca, although only in Spanish.
Union de
Palenqueros de Oaxaca at Abasolo 510
Francisco very patiently explained to us the different kinds of mezcal, how they are made, and how to tell if the mezcal you are drinking is the genuine article. According to him, true mezcal, as opposed to mezcal adulterated with alcohol, sugar, and artificial flavors, will always produce a ring of fine bubbles when it's poured into a glass. Sure enough, all of their hand-made mezcals produced bubbles.
We tasted a number of their mezcals, and found we liked their añejo best. It was very smooth and just slightly smoky tasting. In contrast, we found that the highly touted and more-expensive tovala, made from a type of maguey that only grows wild in the mountains, tasted too much like turpentine for us to appreciate. However, its very striking flavor made us realize that some of the more commercial tovala mezcals that we've tasted probably were not the real thing.
Saturday, November 5, 2005
It's almost as though Oaxaca is breathing a sigh of relief now that the excitement of the Day of the Dead is fading away. People are taking down the altars they so carefully created and getting back to their normal hum of activity.
Last night the zócalo was a particularly lovely place to be. It was a clear, dark night with a new moon hovering in the west, and a perfect temperature. Oaxacan families, young lovers, and groups of tourists from all over the world strolled through the zócalo, every corner of which had its own group of mariachis or trovadores playing traditional songs.
Oaxaca's next big set of celebrations starts in early December, with the Fiesta patronal de la Virgen de Juquila, on December 8, followed ten days later by the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Soledad. On the 23rd, the zócalo will be ringed by booths displaying the amazing carvings and creations of the famous Night of the Radishes. During the last two weeks of December, various groups will organize posadas--beautiful processions in which groups of people carrying candles go from house to house singing a traditional Christmas song asking for shelter--posada. And on the night of the 24th, dozens of calendas--processions of floats, marchers and musicians--will converge on the zócalo in an explosion of color and sound. There's a lot to look forward to.
Nativity scene from the Night of the Radishes
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
The Day of the Dead celebrations are winding down. Yesterday's tradition meal of mole was followed by today's meal of tortillas enmoladas--tortillas smothered in still-delicious mole from yesterday. Oaxaca was eerily quiet today, with almost everyone in their own houses, sitting by their altars and visiting with lost loved ones. This evening, the Panteón General of Oaxaca gradually filled up with people coming with flowers and music to their family gravesites. It was far different from the strange and magical scene at Xoxocotlan last night, but still beautiful.
A family gathers to visit with los difuntos
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
We don't know how many difuntos--the dead--returned to the cemeteries of Xoxocotlán last night, but we're pretty sure there were far more vivos--live visitors like us.
Despite the overwhelming number of visitors as the night went on, it was still an otherwordly scene, with hundreds of local families gathered around the lovingly decorated graves of family members who have died. The dark cemeteries, illuminated by thousands of candles, were like nothing else we've seen. It was well, well worth the visit.
Candlelit and flower-covered gravesites at the Panteón of Xoxocotlán
Monday, October 31, 2005
The Day of the Dead celebration is in full swing. Just about every house has a beautifully decorated altar covered with offerings for the loved ones who will come visiting during the next few days. People have been buying great bunches of orange and yellow marigolds, whose colors are thought to attract los muertos. Many people will be going to panteones--burial grounds--in Oaxaca or in their own pueblos to decorate the graves of their loved ones, offer them their favorite food and drink, and commune with them. Oaxaca and many pueblos are also scheduling concerts, dances, comparsas--marches, and exhibitions of altars and tapetes de arena--sand paintings.
The city is full of visitors from all over the world, who are scrambling to decide where to go and what to see during the next few days.
Altar ringed by cempazúchitl flowers
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Oaxacans of all sorts are preparing for their Day of the Dead celebrations. Abastos and the other markets are full of booths selling Catrinas (fanciful skeletons of elegantly dressed women), calaveras (skulls) made of sugar, chocolate, or candy covered with seeds, tiny altares (altars) with miniature offerings for the dead--fruit, flowers, mezcal, tamales, as well as real fruits, flowers, and other offerings that people will put on the full-size altars they are assembling in their homes. Vendors sit amidst mounds of cempazúchitl flowers--orange and yellow marigolds with a distinctive smell. Their colors are thought to be most attractive to los muertos.
Los
muertos in sugar--at Abastos market
The day of the dead is a uniquely Mexican celebration. It combines indigenous traditions from time immemorial with the Catholic faith brought to Mexico by los conquistadores 500 years ago. The core belief is that loved ones who have died can come back to visit at this time of year. And, much like the beliefs that led the ancient Egyptians to bury their dead with all the food, drink and other supplies they might need in the afterlife, Oaxaqeños provide their returning loved ones with things they particularly loved in life--favorite foods, fruits, candies, tobacco, mezcal, you name it.
Ceramic calaveras--skulls--at Abastos
The city has not had that many tourists for the last month or so, but is filling up as the Day of the Dead approaches. Many hotels and B&Bs have built or are building their own altars, in many cases inviting guests to add some offerings of their own. In other locations, including el Pochote and Llano park, groups are putting on Day of the Dead events. We just caught a guelegüetza--music and dance from Oaxaca's seven regions--at el Pochote.
Altar and tapete sand painting at el Pochote
A night or two ago, La Casa de las Artesanias opened a show of exquisite Day of the Dead figures created by a team of local artists over the past several weeks. Their were dozens of touching, sometimes hilarious figures. This was one of my favorites:
Dancing Day of the Dead figure
Saturday, October 22, 2005
As many of you know, Oaxaca's famous central square, the Zócalo, has undergone a major, and very controversial renovation. The most benign explanation that we've heard for the changes is that the officials in question want to turn Oaxaca into a first world city. Less charitable people point suggest that the massive project probably had more to do with money and politics than with any grand vision for the city.
The "improvements" include the removal--deliberate or accidental--of several of the beautiful old laurel trees that graced and shaded the Zócalo, and opening it up by removing curbs and extending the new paving scheme to include the streets that bordered it.
The net result, as one friend pointed out, is that Colonial Oaxaca now has a modern central square. It's not as inviting, beautiful or romantic as it was, but, luckily, it still works. People still meet there, stroll through it, sip coffee or Oaxacan hot chocolate at the cafes that border it, or just sit and and take in the scene.
"We are working to improve the Zócalo."
There are many things in Oaxaca that really need improving, such as the sidewalks, the water system and the traffic. The Zócalo, unfortunately, was not one of them.
Click here to order your copy of Viva Oaxaca.
Click here to return to Contents.
Click here to return to Viva Oaxaca home page.