Alex and Stephanie

August for teachers is like January for regular people – a new year, a fresh start, and lots of resolutions. Number one for me is to actually keep this blog updated regularly. Do me a favor and leave a comment if you look at it – that will help me keep my motivation up!

After a wonderful visit back in Colorado, Alex and I kept busy during our summer weeks here in Mexico, finally taking real steps to improve our Spanish. At the beginning of August we took an overnight bus to Oaxaca City in the state of Oaxaca (pronounced wah-ha-ka) – a six to eight hour ride south-east of Mexico City. We had visited Oaxaca before, last February, but this time we were enrolled in the Instituto Cultural Oaxaca where we would spend a week living with a local family and taking daily Spanish language courses.

It was a fabulous week. Oaxaca City is beautiful – full of native and colonial culture, with cobblestone streets lined with great restaurants, cafes, art galleries and bustling markets. Oaxacan food is famous in Mexico for its varieties and incorporation of traditional ingredients like chocolate with cinnamon, tamales wrapped in giant banana leaves,  or salty, crunchy chapulines (grasshoppers).   There were also several festivals taking place while we there. One was called the guelaguetza and is a centuries-old celebration of traditional dance and dress from the many ethnic groups who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. Fireworks went off every night, and during the weekend there was a sound and light show at the main cathedral where images of typical Oaxacan art were projected onto the face of the building while a symphony accompanied narration of local legends. Very beautiful.

The other was a mezcal fair – mezcal is sort of tequila’s little brother, an alcohol derived from the same type of plant but prepared slightly differently. Like tequila, some mezcals are great, others might kill you, and this fair gave out samples of all kinds. Very dangerous.

We also visited several archaeological sites, including Alex’s current favorite, Monte Alban. Like the pyramids of the sun and moon near Mexico City (Teotihuacan), Monte Alban is a huge complex with numerous temples, pyramids, and even a ball court or two. What makes this place even more beautiful, however, is the fact that it is built entirely on the top of a mountain, commanding an incredible view of the surrounding valleys and mountain ranges. It is one of those places that is hard to comprehend, particularly after being told that it was constructed without the use of machines, wheels, or even metal. Crazy.

Alex exploring the tomb

Plus, we also visited two sites we had never before seen, Yagul and Mitla. The great thing about ruins in Mexico is that you are allowed to climb all over the place with very few restrictions, so that you can get up close and personal with most buildings. We were especially excited to be able to go into several tombs at the other sites, making us of course feel very much like Indiana Jones and therefore very happy.

Of course, all that sightseeing and food-eating was really just a side perk. Our main intention was to learn Spanish, speaking and listening and reading and writing as much as possible. And we did! The institute was excellent – not perfect, but very organized and well-thought out, pushing its students to immerse themselves in the language most of the day. I finally really understand the difference between ser and estar, Alex has an improved grasp on the subjunctive, and we can make our own chilequiles or quesadillas con flor de calabaza. Our homestay family was very kind and hospitable, and very insistent that we speak puro español in their house. We learned a lot, but best of all we realized that our year here truly has improved our comprehension of this language and that we are beginning to be able to communicate more than just very basic requests.

So, now on to year two, with new goals, a new apartment, and hopefully more frequent and consistent blog posts!

Halloween is a thing down here in México, but not as prevalent as in the states. Last night I saw some trick-or-treaters but less than half of them were in costume … and Last night was November 1. I didn’t really investigate. Halloween occurs right before a two-day celbration of the dead that has strong native roots but happens on two catholic holidays: All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day.

To celebrate the dead, ofrendas are made. The word means ‘gift,’ but an ofrenda can range from a small pile of sugar skulls and flowers to a large display of skeletons and artwork along with whatever the deceased liked to eat (or drink).

I am sure that there are private ofrendas, but they are celebrations, and are set up for others to see. Here in the city, there is a large collection of room-sized ofrendas in the Zócalo, or the old town square, which is an enormous open space in the historic center of town. They are there for several days, and I went down on Oct 31 to see the mega ofrenda. There were tens of thousands of people, many of them packing themselves in to see the various ofrendas.

The main street leading up to the Zócalo had this gate for your entrance. This gate was easily 30 feet high. Lights swirled and changed color. There was also a lightning storm happening in the background, but I didn’t catch any good ones. To the right of the main entrance is another entrance to a series of ofrendas and artwork.

Behind the main gate was the mega ofrenda. I think it was 40 or 50 feet high. It was tree-like, with the obvious skully head and it was covered in smaller Aztec designs. In teh background of both images is the large church at the far side of the plaza. The gate’s shape is inspired by these old churches with small crosses at the tops of small towers.

There was one large stage with a statue of the Aztec mother goddess, Coatlicue, one of my favorites (in yellow, below). You can see the original statue at the Anthropological museum. She has two snakes for a head, a skirt made of snakes, skulls front and back, and clawed feet, and there are loose human hearts in there somewhere, too. Behind her are rows of skulls. If the have Mother’s Day down here, I’m boarding up the windows.

On this stage, there were Aztec dancers and drummers with enormous feathered headresses.

In addition to all this was a large temporary flower bed, maybe about the size of half a football field. The line to go up onto a platform to see it from above was too long. There were a few tents that covered stages where Posada-esque dancers twirled, and a few dozen more ofrendas, put up by local organizations such as student groups or churches or even immigrants. I remember one Egyptian ofrenda that consisted mostly of chanting and was very popular.

It was very crowded, but there was a lot of work put into each ofrenda. Gracias!

Please remember, folks, this blog is fueled by comments.

This morning, just before sunrise, someone set off 8 or 9 loud fireworks about a block away. They were the kind that shoot up and explode high in the air. Maybe they were worried about their neighbors over-sleeping, or wanted to keep the guards at los pinos on their toes.

Also, our kitten fell in the toilet.

That is all.