Film Making Workshop: Visual Storytelling — February 19-26, 2010

TWO SPACES LEFT!  Register Now.

Novice to Intermediate Levels Welcome!

For seven days, from Friday evening, February 19, to Friday, morning, February 26, you will immerse yourself in the art and craft of documentary film making in the indigenous Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. There are 7,000 people and 2,000 looms in this famous rug weaving center situated 15 miles outside the colonial capital of Oaxaca City. This learning laboratory opens your eyes to new perspectives. A core aspect of this workshop is to encourage you to take the skills and insights you gain through this cross-cultural experience back home to document your own community, culture, or advocacy project with fresh vision.

Creating a documentary is much more than learning how to point, shoot and edit. Capturing the unique voices of your subjects is at the heart of the work. Topics may include the intimate rituals of daily life — making tortillas from scratch, preparing natural dyes, the voices of women, celebrations and life cycle events.

Newsflash: Artist Panteleon Ruiz, a renowned Zapotec painter who incorporates natural dyes in his oil pigments, will be one of the subjects for the film workshop!

You will work in small groups, guided by expert faculty who give you the creative freedom to produce a 3-5 minute short subject film. A celebratory final night viewing will showcase everyone’s work.

Here’s the REGISTRATION FORM: Go to the BLOGROLL for the link

Here are the three films produced at the last workshop:

Weaving a Curve (English subtitles)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxgxcMQlQZM

Dance of the Feather: A Promise & Commitment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpr4dBi-6h4

Woven Together: Entretejidos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwxuUb6fPL4

You will:

• Explore the creativity, challenges and ethics of telling a compelling story
• Learn the steps of documentary film production from start to finish
• Develop the technical skills for video and audio recording
• Edit the raw footage into a rich narrative using Final Cut Pro

This is an excellent opportunity for those who want to get a first hand experience in documentary field work — all in a great travel destination.

Being able to tell a visual story via video is a powerful and valuable
skill for staff and volunteers working to raise funds, communicate an
issue, and increase visibility.  The stories we learn to capture on film
in Mexico from an arts and ethnographic perspective can be translated to
the interests we have and issues we face in our own communities at home
or other global sites.It is also a great way to develop a professional skill.  Professional development expenses can be tax deductible (travel and workshop tuition).
Ask your tax preparer/account.

 

After you register, faculty will contact you to discuss your interests and skill level. Then, we’ll send you a complete packet of materials, including a list of what to bring, like your own camera and tapes.  Pre-workshop readings will address: What style of documentary do I want to make? What issues do I need to be sensitive to when entering an unfamiliar culture? What about using my video camera, microphone and lighting? How do we maximize the collaborative process with teammates and crew? What are film production stages? Can I really learn to edit? How do I conduct an effective interview?

What Participants Say…

Erica encouraged me to challenge myself and go beyond what was easy and “routine” for me.  I am really happy with the final piece.  The experience was challenging and VERY rewarding.  A wonderful experience, a beautiful place. –Sarah Kennedy Davis, Kentucky, USA

The experience helped me understand the importance of teamwork. I loved the way Erica explained things. –Eric Chavez Santiago, Oaxaca, Mexico

The instructors were delightful and able to explain to the novice very sophisticated concepts in an understandable way.  I really appreciated Erica’s wise and warm approach to the subject.  The location is picturesque and the family very friendly; the food was wonderful.  Thank you. –Betty Hutchins, Toronto, Canada

Thank you for everything. I learned a lot–interviewing skills and how to use Final Cut Pro.  The multicultural residency enhanced my filmmaking goals because it expanded my experience beyond a controlled environment.  I loved it. –Scott Switzer, Oregon, USA

Thanks for inspiring teaching.  I have an appreciation for what it takes to make a film.  ths is a unique combination of a documentary course in a multicultural setting. — Eunice Hogeveen, Toronto, Canada

When you arrive in Teotitlan, you’ll meet the faculty and we’ll give you your documentary topic. We will pre-arrange your field contacts and provide bilingual translators to accompany you on interviews. You will then work with your partner and faculty to develop the technical and creative approach that best fits your personal and professional goals for the week.

What Is Included?

· Over 75 hours of expert instruction

· “On location” in a fascinating place

· A comprehensive notebook of materials

· Lodging for 7 nights

· 7 breakfasts, plus 5 lunches and dinners

· Bilingual interview translation services

· A DVD of all the films produced during the workshop

· The experience of a lifetime!

Accommodations are in a lovely village guesthouse with bougainville and pomegranate trees. The setting is traditional, yet comfortable.  The Zapotec proprietors are a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law team — gracious hosts and excellent cooks. As guests in their family compound, you will taste delicious traditional foods that Oaxaca is famous for and live with the family during your stay.  An intimate and rewarding experience!

Your Faculty Experts:  Erica Rothman and Jim Haverkamp

Erica Rothman, LCSW, is a documentary filmmaker who uses her psychotherapy background to understand and capture her subjects with sensitivity and depth, in an intimate and compelling way. As the principal of Nightlight Productions, she has written, produced and directed acclaimed projects, including full-length documentary films, that focus on local and global health care, public policy, the arts and humanities. She received a 2007 Gracie Award for American Women in Radio and Television, and key awards at the Houston International Film Festival. Rothman teaches in the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies.

“I love the collaboration between the people working on the film, the subjects and the content.  I’m excited about this 2010 workshop because Jim and I have worked together for over five years.  Documentary filmmaking is a powerful way to use storytelling to bring people to action.” – Erica Rothman

Jim Haverkamp is a filmmaker and freelance editor based in Durham, North Carolina.  His short fiction and documentary films have shown at over 50 festivals around the world, including Chicago Underground, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and the Maryland Film Festival. He has taught filmmaking at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, and was awarded a filmmaking fellowship by the North Carolina Arts Council in 2000.  He teaches at the intensive documentary institute at Duke Center for Documentary Studies for six year. He hold the B.A. American Studies, University of Iowa.

Cost and Registration: $1795 per person, double occupancy, including food and lodging outlined above. A $500 deposit will hold your reservation. Workshop limited to 6 people.

Contact: Norma Hawthorne, (919) 274-6194 or normahawthorne@mac.com to register.

Presented by: Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, www.oaxacaculture.com and http://oaxacaculture.wordpress.com

How to Register  Workshop cost is $1795 per person, double occupancy. Single supplement is available at $300 per person.  Please print out and complete the registration form and mail it with your deposit. Registration form:  www.oaxacaculture.com

Deposit: A $500 deposit will reserve your space in the filmmaking workshop.

Final payment is due 30 days before the start day of the workshop. If the balance is not paid by this time, then we reserve the right to treat the reservation as cancelled. Any registrations made 30 days or less before the start of the workshop must be paid in full at that time. If cancellation is necessary, cancellation notice must by made in writing by email.  Deposits are refundable, as follows:

Deposits may be refunded:

*Up to 30 days before the workshop start date, less a $100 cancellation fee.

*After that, deposits are not refundable.

If cancellation is necessary, you may apply the deposit to a future workshop. We reserve the right to cancel or reschedule workshops, in which case you may choose a 100% refund or apply the tuition to a future workshop.

Personal checks are accepted. We also accept payment with PayPal. Contact us for details: normahawthorne@mac.com

Documentation: U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico are required to carry a current passport, valid for at least 3 months after your re-entry to the U.S. It is your responsibility to carry proper documentation. If you are not a U.S. citizen, contact the Mexican embassy, consulate or a national airline of Mexico for entry requirements.

Trip insurance: PLEASE consider purchasing travel insurance. Unforeseen circumstances of getting to Teotitlan del Valle could cost you more than you expected. In the event of an emergency or natural disaster caused beyond our control, trip insurance will cover any unexpected expenses.

What is NOT included

Transportation to Mexico, Oaxaca and Teotitlan; gratuities and fees; local bus and taxi fees, trip insurance, medical expenses, hospitalization, any other fees; evening dinner in Oaxaca, liquor; optional side trips and excursions; extensions to your stay.

Schedule  Upon registration, we will send you an outline of the week’s activities.

Friday: Arrive in Oaxaca and take a taxi to your B&B in Teotitlan del Valle. We’ll provide you with directions and how to get from the airport to the village. We will meet together in the courtyard at 8:00 p.m. for a welcome reception. Saturday: Meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Workshop starts at 9:00 a.m. and continues through the day into the evening.  Sunday-Friday: Each day is planned with different activities to enhance the learning process. The workshop day typically begins at 9 a.m. after breakfast and continues, with meal and snack breaks, through the evening. We will take one late afternoon and evening “off” to go into Oaxaca City for comida together and to explore the sights. Saturday morning: Breakfast, summary and evaluation. The workshop ends by 10:00 a.m.

Send your registration deposit with your name, address, telephone, cell phone and email address, and a brief statement about why you want to attend this workshop and your experience, to:

Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC, 110 Blue Heron Farm Rd., Pittsboro, NC 27312

Questions?

normahawthorne@mac.com or (919) 274-6194

We also offer weaving and natural dyeing workshops in Teotitlan del Valle!

How to Get to Oaxaca for Under $600 Round Trip

It’s always cheaper to fly round trip into Mexico City and then figure out how to get to Oaxaca from there, albeit the bus ride is six hours long and rather boring unless you have your computer or are into a good book.  And, it’s much cheaper to book three months in advance and go during off-season, which would be between January and March.  Of course, if you live in the cold northern hemisphere, this is exactly the time you want to be in Oaxaca.

Erica, Jim and I just booked our tickets on Continental Airlines for the documentary film making workshop we are teaching in Teotitlan del Valle from Feb. 19-26, 2010.  We could not find a round-trip ticket to Oaxaca for less than $900 each (including taxes and fees) anywhere on the Internet.  I told Erica and Jim that I was finding $340 RT fares to Mexico City (our flights originate from RDU).  The trick was how to get to Oaxaca without spending hours on the bus.  Erica had a brilliant idea.  She checked out in-country flights on Mexicana from MEX to OAX and discovered that we could make easy connecting flights for $200USD round trip, including taxes and fees.  We did all this online.

That brought our fare in under $600 each, which saved us over $300 on each ticket.  A deal in anybody’s book!

Note:  Beware of the prices quoted on many internet sites.  Often, the low fare that is published is for one-way only (I found a lot of those).  When I went to book is when I discovered the price doubled, and on top of that the taxes and fees were added on.  Hotwire.com is one of the few sites that do not add on taxes and fees; what is published is the total REAL price, and I appreciated that.  Another reliable site is Travelocity.com.  Some people tout cheapoair.com but I find that their fees are higher than other sites.

Oaxaca Tour Guides, Taxi Drivers, Commissions and Fair Trade

I am prompted to write this blog post after receiving a comment from a recent Oaxaca traveler who asked his hotel to hire a taxi driver to take him to Teotitlan del Valle and other villages for an authentic shopping experience.  This person, on a previous trip to Oaxaca, had taken a company tour and said he was frustrated because the tour operators had a set schedule with brief, predetermined stops.  He suspected that the tour operator received a commission on rug prices that were inflated, and he was right.

What the traveler wasn’t aware of is that the hotel who pre-arranged the taxi driver during his recent Day of the Dead return visit to Oaxaca will likely have taken a share of the commission on any sales made during the day-long excursion, in addition to the fee charged for the taxi services.   This is standard practice in Oaxaca.  My best recommendation is to know where you want to go in advance and go out on the street, hail a taxi and negotiate the price.  Typical hourly rates are 120 pesos and you can engage a driver for the entire day.  When you go into your artisan’s workshop, ask the driver to stay in the taxi and wait for you.  Don’t pay until the day is over.

I hesitated to publish the traveler’s comments, afraid that this would constitute an endorsement by me of this hidden practice that few tourists are aware of, and does not support my commitment to Fair Trade.  Fair Trade means that the “middle man” is bypassed, kick-backs are nil, and that all tourist dollars land directly in the hands of the artisan who created the art.

Admittedly, even great artisans will participate in this commission scheme.  When the tour buses pull into the famous artisan’s restaurant and gallery, the driver and tour organizer will likely receive a commission.  So will the taxi drivers who bring prospective clients to the famed carver’s house/gallery in San Martin Tilcajete.  So will the taxi drivers who deliver customers to the big houses on Benito Juarez Ave. leading into Teotitlan del Valle to buy rugs.  Watch out of the corner of your eye when the driver hangs behind to negotiate the commission while the visitors are observing a natural dye or weaving demonstration.

Commissions in the Oaxaca valley can range from ten to forty percent.  This is a hefty chunk of change and many families depend on this system to keep their wives and children eating.  Yet, the artist who actually created the work will receive a fraction of what the visitor has spent on the purchase price.  Frequently, especially at the well-known “big houses,” rugs or carved animalitos are created by contract weavers who are paid by the piece.  If a rug sells for $350 USD, you can bet that the weaver may have been paid $90 for a week’s worth of labor.  Not every master artisan will participate in this system, preferring to have fewer sales than to give forty percent away.

If the system is going to change, then tourists need to do their homework and identify in advance the craftspeople they want to visit.  Visit museums and galleries and ask who are the best crafts people in each village.  Go into a village and ask around for the name of the artist and where s/he lives.  Ask the village moto-taxi driver or the convenience store clerk or at the crafts cooperative in the zocolo open-air market.

Put your pesos into the hands of the people who make the art.  Avoid paying middlemen, and don’t kid yourself if you hire a taxi driver recommended by your hotel.  If you do, then you can unwittingly become part of supporting the patronage system.

Book Review: The Life and Times of Mexico by Earl Shorris

If you are a repeated visitor to Mexico and you are interested in a historical, social, political, cultural, artistic commentary, then this comprehensive, 700+-page tome by Earl Shorris is a must read.   Shorris’ insights into why Mexico works the way it does is rooted in its experience as a Spanish outpost in the New World, an inherited conservative legal system rooted in a Latin judicial system, and Olmec creativity and Aztec stratified hierarchies that adapted to conquest.  There is so much going on in this book that it can be at times overwhelming and dense.  It took me over a month to read it, but it was well worth the investment of time.

If I were a psychologist, I might draw the conclusion that today’s Mexico is a bi-polar country, torn between its indigenous and Spanish heritage, and the tension of identity that this creates.  Shorris talks about the metiszo or mestizaje, the Mexican who is the blend of Spanish and indigenous parentage, and the self-love/hate relationship that that promotes and promulgates.  He discusses why it was so easy for the red-bearded Cortes to be embraced as the Quetzalcoatl, and how the Aztec emblem of the double-eagle which was also the coat of arms of the Spanish crown, became common symbols that were embraced by the conquered.    When I toured the Ex-Convento Santa Rosa in Puebla recently, there was a clay sculpture that embodied this history.  The base was adorned with Spanish soldiers and Aztec warriors, depicting the conquest of New Spain.  At the top was La Malinche and Cortes, arms outstretched to heaven, holding a baby that represented the blending of the two and the future of the country.  La Malinche was Cortes’ mistress who served as his translator and betrayed her people.  These figures could be the Virgin Mary or the Virgin of Guadalupe and God, bringing forth the Baby Jesus who would become the saviour.

There remains in Mexico today a social class system based upon heritage.  Criollos are those of “pure” Spanish descent.  The mestizos are the mix of Spanish and indigenous.  The indigenous, or indians, are usually darker, rural and less educated, with less access to social services and opportunities.  Skin color can define a person’s opportunity to succeed and advance.  The social movements that have turned to street activism are the result of a closed system where democratic principles are difficult to actualize.   As Mexico seeks to expand it’s international partnerships with other nations, it will begin to break loose from the domination of its northern neighbor.

NAFTA, economic opportunity, immigration, the economic engine of Monterrey, Carlos Slim Helu (owner of Telmex and one of the richest men in the world), the 70-year “presidency” of Porfirio Diaz, the political leadership decisions to create Mexico as a labor market rather than a manufacturing/production market, the 1910 “revolution” and implications for democracy, and the incredible literary and arts contributions made to the world by Mexican writers and painters are all discussed in this extraordinary book.

When I read Shorris’ perspectives about the dream imagery of the ancient Mayans, Aztecs and Zapotecs that have influenced contemporary artists, I understand how my friend Pantaleon Ruiz Martinez in the village of Teotitlan del Valle is bringing forth the soul of his people to convey floating people, animals and symbology on canvas.

There is so much more than what I have touched on here.  Please pick this up and settle in for a good read.  You will love and understand Mexico so much more for it.

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Mexico-Earl-Shorris/dp/0393327671

http://www.amazon.com/Earl-Shorris/e/B001HD433E/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Airfare Bargain Discounts to Mexico: What’s True, What Isn’t

We were trying to book a “last-minute” trip to Oaxaca over winter break and having no luck with “good” fares, ie. those under $600.  Indeed, prices were veering upwards of $900-1200 per ticket.  Okay, granted, we are less than five weeks away from our intended departure date and there is a penalty for waiting so long to decide whether we were going again.  I think we spent a good six to eight hours traveling around various travel sites to compare prices and schedules and determine whether the published fare was what it would actually cost us once the taxes and fees are added on.

Our preferred routing has been on Continental through Houston which is the only airline that has a direct flight to Oaxaca.  However, the hefty cost was prohibitive.  We searched Travelocity, American Airlines, Expedia, CheapOAir, and Airfare Watchdog, finally landing on Hotwire where the published prices include all taxes and fees (no hidden costs here).  On the others, the enticement is a low fare until you go to book and discover that $110 to $160 can be added on, or the price quoted is only for one-way!

We decided to book on Hotwire to Mexico City where we found a round trip fare for $438.  We’ll spend the night in Houston for $45 (with our AAA discount) at a Knight’s Inn three miles from the airport, and pick up the morning flight to Mexico City.  From there, we’ll take a $5 taxi to the CAPU bus station and take a $35 first class bus (TV and toilet) to Oaxaca and get in in time for dinner.  Our total savings will be around $400 plus or minus.  Not bad for a bit of online fare sleuthing.

On the return trip, I’m planning to bus from Oaxaca to Puebla, spend the night and pick up another Talavera ceramic plate or two.  Four hours via bus from Oaxaca to Puebla, another hour and a half from Puebla to Mexico the next day.

 

 

Dissing Talavera Armando, Los Sapos, Puebla

It was going to be touch and go, I just knew it.  I could imagine the luggage I left back in Oaxaca, filled to the brim and getting heavier in my mind’s eye.  That’s why I decided to ask Talavera Armando to ship the three plates, bowl, and six small tiles I bought.  How much, I asked, would it be to send these by air freight.  Fifteen hundred pesos, she answered.  She pointed to the maestro who was in charge of shipping, saying that he does this every day.  Barbara pulled out her iPhone with the instant currency converter app and showed that the cost would be $123 USD.  We gulped.  Then, we thought about what it would mean to jam these things into our luggage, which was already at risk of being overweight, and decided to take the plunge.  Okay, we said and forked over our pesos.  It’ll arrive by Monday, she said, four days from now.

Back in North Carolina, I waited.  Then, we got a call from FedEx.  Talavera Armando had not transcribed my address correctly, even though I had printed it clearly enough.   My husband, who received the phone call, corrected the address and today, four days later, we received the package.

Gleefully, I just opened it only to find the poorest packaging possible, a bit of bubble wrap protecting the fragile contents, in a box much too small to safely cushion each piece.  In fact, the dishes were wrapped together with only a thin veneer of bubble between each of them, and there was no tape to keep the bubble wrap secured.   When I saw that, I was not surprised to see that the contents arrived broken.

Lots of things work in Mexico.  This didn’t.  I have filed my FedEx claim, but who knows?  Meanwhile, the $123 we paid for shipping and handling (most of which probably went to the “handling” or the “packaging” was a way for Talavera Armando to put a few extra dollars in their pocket.  I’ll know better the next time.

Meanwhile, everything I packed myself and shipped home in my suitcase came undamaged.  The safest bet is to use Mail Boxes Plus or Mail Boxes Etc.  They do a great job from their franchise in Oaxaca.

Whirlwind Day Two Shopping in Oaxaca — If it’s Friday, it must be Ocotlan

Sheri picked us up in her white van at the pre-determined 9 a.m. hour, early by Oaxaca standards, though the streets were already abuzz with honking vehicles.  Our first stop was the ATM (exchange rate 13.12 pesos to the dollar) to stock up again for the day long adventure down the Ocotlan highway.  We passed the airport and headed south along the valley highway that leads to some incredible crafts villages, stopping for gas at Pemex the state-owned oil company.  The earlier the better along this road because the Ocotlan market attracts people from throughout the region whose motivations are to shop for the sheer pleasure of it or for survival needs of buying and selling everything from oilcloth table coverings, hammocks, woven baskets, pipes and gaskets, kitchen utensils, leather belts, children’s plastic shoes and everything else under the sun, including live turkeys raised for market, feet bound in twine so as not to escape.  The van boasted New Mexico license plates, a good fit for around these parts, although vehicles are brought down from every state in north America to be bought, sold and traded.

We circumvented the hubbub, stopping first at the three Aguilar sisters whose shops you might miss if you didn’t pay attention.  They are on the right side of the road heading into Ocotlan, about three blocks before arriving at the zocalo, market central.  This is true folk art at its best.  Josefina sits with legs tucked under her on a padded blanket in the courtyard of her home and sales area forming figures out of soft clay that will later be fired in a kiln that may not reach more than eight hundred degrees.  Grandchildren dart around playing with kittens.  Sons and daughters participate in the clay forming and painting.  Tourists from all corners of the earth stream in and out.  This is a famous stopping place for collecting Oaxaca art, yet the prices of the pieces match the humble working and living space:  smaller figures range in price from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pesos.  That translates from about twelve to twenty dollars each.  Collectors and dealers buy, pack and resell these figures in the U.S. for triple or quadruple the cost.

Next door, sister Irene sculpts hot women of the night and paints their hair yellow, applying blue glitter to create a dress, bosom prominent, one arm on hip, the other akimbo sporting a cigarette, a snake boa wrapped to cover cleavage (just barely).  Imagination flies.  A muerta, not yet painted, bares her skeletal teeth and she flaunts a haughty lilt of the head topped with a wide-brimmed hat to shade her from the strong sun.  How will I get these home?  I ask myself as I consider a purchase.  Oh, don’t think about it, I answer silently.  Go for it anyway, and I do, and because of my magic packing suitcase, everything arrives undamaged.  My prize possession from Guillermina is a skeletal crone whose flowing dress is painted black.  The hem is adorned with cream colored skulls, a red spider crawls along the folds of her skirt, a black shawl frames the sinister face.  Dia de los Muertos is characterized by underworld forms.

Forgive me if I repeat myself.  The impressions of Oaxaca are continuous revelations in memory.   As we head back out of town, we make a left turn almost immediately onto the side road leading to San Antonino, where I want to relocate Don Jose Garcia, the blind potter.  We go down a ways, turn right, make an immediate left at the next street and look for the clay animals that hang over the door to the courtyard that signals we have arrived.  A dog barks.  The door is ajar.  We ring the bell and step inside to be welcomed by the family.  Life-size clay figures cluster around the patio, are tucked haphazardly into corners, are laying on their sides — humans, animals, children.  We are greeted by Don Jose and his wife who guide us into the workshop packed with more sculpture, wall to wall, like the clay soldiers of Xian, men, women, and children stand or kneel side by side, almost alive, waiting to be adopted and taken home.

These pieces are glorious, primitive, raw clay, unglazed.  Some are rough.  Some are polished.  Each with a unique expression that conveys individuality and personality, a special quality that Don Jose has breathed life into as he forms the clay, braids the hair, fashions the nose, tilts the neck, arches the brow or mustache.  These are heavy pieces, primitive.  To ship them would require a crate and an investment of hundreds of dollars.  We admire and take our leave.

Hungry, our next stop is at Azucena where Jacobo Angeles operates a fine restaurant that caters to tourists and tour buses, Elderhostel, and other forms of non-adventure travel.  This is good for San Martin Tilcajete business, since Jacobo represents many of the finest carvers in the village.  On this day, there is a special exhibition of regional folk art on the grounds of the restaurant and gallery, a perfect opportunity to pick up another carving, to eat and drink well, and to make a necessary bathroom stop.

We backtrack to Santo Tomas Jalieza to visit Abigail Mendoza and her family at Nicolas Bravo #1.  On backstrap looms, they weave fine cloth with intricate figures that are fashioned into handbags, belts, wrist bands, table runners, and placemats.  Abigail does the finish work for the rugs woven by Arnulfo Mendoza and Tito Mendoza.  This is among the finest quality backstrap loom weaving you will find anywhere in the Oaxaca valley.

By now, it is five o’clock in the afternoon and the light is beginning to wane.  We travel along the highway back to Oaxaca with a trunk full of goodies, ready for a fresh mango margarita and guacamole at La Olla.  Descanse.

Puebla Recipe: Sopa de Pollo con Flor de Calabassas OR Chicken Broth with Squash Blossoms

We ate this for a late supper (cena) at El Mural de Los Poblanos restaurant in Puebla.  It was delicious.  The best I could do was identify the ingredients and try to recreate this at home.  The soup bowl came with the chewable ingredients mounded in the center, about 1 cup per bowl of broth.  Our server poured the steaming clear chicken broth into the bowl from a covered pitcher, designed so that the diner would be served the hottest soup possible.  I loved that idea.

Ingredients:

• Cubed queso fresco (the white, firm Oaxaca-style cheese)
• Baby zucchini cubes
• Diced green pepper
• Sliced mushrooms
• Fresh corn kernels (use frozen, then thawed,  if fresh is not available)
• Squash blossoms
• Bits of fresh spinach or chard
• Hot chicken broth, pre-seasoned with salt, pepper, a bit of ground chili for bite

Serve with hot, crusty french rolls and butter and a glass of chilled white wine.

On Leaving Mexico: Travel Diary November 2009

There are one hundred fifty-five pesos in my pocket, equivalent to about twelve dollars.  Just enough left after paying 385 pesos or $25 USD for my extra bag.  Take your pick.  One weights fifty pounds exactly and the other is thirty eight pounds.  The smaller duffle is packed to the gills with soft clothing.  I can barely close the zipper.  I wore the same black pants and two different shirts for a week, so why did I bring all these extra clothes?  It sure didn’t seem like much when I left home.  Space, like time, is precious.  The biggest bag is hard sided and measures thirty inches high by 23 inches wide by twelve inches deep (deeper when unzipped to expand) .  When I install a sturdy woven bamboo basket inside to create a rigid barrier, it becomes a great shipping container for ceramics and alebrijes.  This bag weight in at fifty-one pounds, one pound over limit.  Not even a smile and a plea to let it go worked, so I removed a small bubble-wrapped package from the cache of like wrapped packages, and stuffed it into my carry on.

Now, we are all tucked away in the Continental Express jet to Houston, two hours and seventeen minutes away.  Palms and blooming orange jacarandas line the runway.  The sky is pure, clear blue, without a cloud, transparent to heaven.  It will be another beautiful day.

Mexico Safety November 2009

We walked at night arm-in-arm through the streets of Oaxaca and Puebla, two women, sisters of middle age (though, of course not looking it), linked together now though one from the east coast, the other from the west, coming to a common meeting place to travel together.

Mexico is a place for strolling and we walked together from dusk into the evening to darkness, some nights until eleven or twelve with no fear, no worries.  We traveled round trip by bus from Oaxaca to Puebla, negotiating taxis and bus stations, two among a handful of gringos without getting sick or encountering aggression.

In some of the higher end hotels and restaurants, chefs and wait staff still wear face masks, more of a precaution than a necessity I think, or perhaps a PR message to tourists that they are paying attention to public health safety.

Mexico’s economy depends on three things, a three-legged stool of financial security: remittances, crude oil sales, and tourism.  In 2006, federal income from remittances (the dollars Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. send to their families in Mexico) equaled what was earned from oil exports.

The perception of safety is linked to fear.  Perhapss it is fear of the other, of the H1N1 influenza, of drug wars.  Yes, these are real dangers but the prevalence is imagined.

Puebla Revisited November 2009

Puebla is growing on me!  This is the third visit this year and each time, it is a new discovery, a new food to savor, and a return to favorite spots.  I am traveling with my sister who lives in the Bay Area and this is her first visit to Puebla, so I get to play tour guide!  I arranged our stay at Camino Real Puebla, booking online using HotelsDotCom.  The rack rate is about $250 USD per night and we paid approximately $85 per night based on a 13.1 exchange rate.  This hotel is a former convent located two blocks from the zocalo and around the corner from my favorite restaurant El Mural de los Poblanos.  We have a lovely room that was likely a cell for nuns who occupied the 17^th century space.  The décor is colonial with elements of the baroque.  The breakfast is an exceptional buffet.  This morning we had egg white omelets made to order stuffed with huitlachotle (mushrooms and organic corn) and cheese, fresh papaya, guava and orange juice mixed, delicious aromatic coffee,  chilaquiles with salsas verde and rojo, fork tender roasted pork, and black beans.  We started at 9 am and didn’t finish until close to 11 a.m.   Thank goodness this was going to be a walking day, and it turned out that we didn’t sit down to dinner until 5:30 p.m.

After visiting the Museo Amparo, that had an extensive exhibit on performance and political art, strong enough to bring us both to tears (artists expressing themselves about the disappeareds in Chile and Argentina, or the AIDS epidemic, or the environmental degradation of our planet), we hopped a cab needing lighter fare and made our way to Uriarte Talavera.  This was after we had spent a goodly amount of time ogling the beautiful work in Talavera de la Reyna shop that is part of the Museo Amparo.  Next, a taxi ride to the Exconvento Santa Rosa where the famed talavera kitchen is the last part of the hour-long guided tour.  The entry fee is 35 pesos each, and one cannot meander alone or take photos.  Today, our guide only spoke Spanish, so I’m not sure what would have happened if our understanding was more limited.

The Dominican nuns sequestered there in the 17^th century took vows of silence and participated in the rituals of mortification of the flesh.  The superior slept on a wood platform without a mattress dressed in heavy, rough homespun wool year round, and wore a crown of thorns during the day.  Life was interesting then.

Then, we hailed a cab to the area near the new convention center.  Our destination was La Purificadora hotel and restaurant, designed by the famed Mexico City architect Legoretta.  This is a stunning contemporary space amidst historic Renaissance and Baroque buildings, a punctuation mark in spectacular city resplendent in Moorish influences.  This is where we had a unique and innovative dinner:  a trio of appetizers that we shared – tiny squash blossoms stuffed with cheese and deep fried in tempura batter, octopus in a spicy tomato sauce on a homemade tortilla , and an organic mesclun salad with truffle oil dressing served with avocado, grilled tomato, and fresh grilled baby corn.  For the entrée, Barbara had this chef’s version of the same stewed goat in tomato broth that we had the night before at El Mural.  This version was definitely different.  (The great chefs in the city prepare this special dish, Huaxmole or Mole de Caderas, once a year in honor of an ancient pre-Hispanic tradition.)  My entrée with a sea bass steamed over corn husk, topped with onion slivers, chopped red pepper, fresh nopal cactus, and spinach bits.  The sauce was a golden delicate scent of fish broth and cream.

After all this, we decided to walk back in the chill of the evening, strolling in sisterly arm-in-arm, as you soon women do together in Mexican cities, comfortable in their relationship.  It was about ten blocks back to the zocalo and it was a perfect night for strolling, brisk, cool, a bit breezy.  Lots of people were on the street and we felt no sense of being at risk.  Tomorrow morning, we will get up early, take the bus to Oaxaca for our final evening in Mexico before flying home on Saturday.

10 Puebla Favorites:

1. Talavera de la Reyna (Museo Amparo or fabrica/factory in Cholula)
2. Ex Convento Santa Rosa and the Talavera tile kitchen
3. El Mural de los Poblanos restaurant
4. El Camino Real Hotel
5. La Purificadora Restaurant
6. Talavera Uriarte
7. Talavera Armando (request DO4 only)
8. Strolling Cinco de Mayo
9. Everything in the Zocalo, including the Templo Angelopolis
10. Capilla de la Virgen del Rosario (incredible gold leaf and Talavera)