Oaxaca, Mexico–Safety 2009

The news is alarming and the media is giving hyper-attention to the drug cartel killings and kidnappings happening in the states that border Mexico and the U.S.  The media talks as if this was a universal problem across Mexico — and this makes me angry.  Yesterday, I listened to the Diane Rehm show on NPR while driving my car on the interstate.  Guests and callers talked about Mexico in sweeping terms and the more they talked the more  frustrated I became.  Parents called in asking if it was safe to send their college children to Mexico to study language.  I wanted to call or email the show (difficult to do when driving) to protest the perception promulgated that Mexico is not safe.   The situations hyped by the media are localized and most often between warring drug factions.  The very, very wealthy in Mexico City are concerned because they have always been at risk for economic kidnapping for ransom, and now with the increased drug violence, they are more at risk.  This does not trickle down to affect the average traveler like me or you.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article (a random WordPress link is below) by Jack Kurtzman saying that Mexico is on the brink of collapse and attributes this to failed state control of internal corruption and lack of economic well-being for its citizens.  In my view, his assessment is over-reactive and full of half-truths.  Mexico’s economy is closely tied to that of the U.S. and was healthy and on the upswing until our banking collapse.  NAFTA, too, has done muc to erode the Mexican economy and the well-being of its citizenry, making it more vulnerable to the drug masters on both sides of the border. The U.S. has as much responsibility if not more for the current state of border affairs.  The market drives demand in a capitalist economy and there is much demand for drugs in the U.S.

I’m not saying there isn’t a problem or that we shouldn’t be concerned.  I am saying that Mexico deserves our support and attention, and the worst thing we can do is over-react.  I also pose this for consideration:  For those of you who have not been to Mexico, ask yourself if you are influenced in your perceptions by popular stereotypes that portray Mexicans and Mexico with negativity, especially since undocumented immigration has been a hot political potato in recent years.

I live in Oaxaca in a Zapotec village part of the year, and travel back and forth from North Carolina several times a year, often by myself.  It is perfectly safe.  I travel by bus all over southern Mexico, from Puebla south, and it is perfectly safe.  Often, I will hail and take a taxi on my own, travel via local bus from Oaxaca to Teotitlan, and go to villages independently.  My Spanish is not perfect and I am definitely a middle age gringa.  I am not any more afraid than if I were to travel to Chicago, Los Angeles or South Bend, Indiana.   I am aware of my surroundings where ever I go, and take precautions by keeping my money and credit cards close to my person in a small bag that hangs across my shoulders.  I don’t wear expensive jewelry.  I don’t keep large amounts of cash on me and withdraw what I need frequently from ATM machines.

If you have travel plans to Mexico, please don’t change them.  It is a wonderful place with a rich culture, warm and generous people, and lively traditions.  Enjoy yourself.  I think the fear of the current economic crisis is instilling a fear in many of us that is permeating into other parts of our life … and this might be one of them.  Mexicans, and the Oaxaquenos who I know, welcome us and want us to have a great experience in their country.  Go… and have a good time.

Postscript:  this with sent to me and I thought it is worthwhile to share with you — more perspective on the Mexican safety issue…

BLOG: The Real Travel Story for Mexico by Tim Leffel

http://travel.booklocker.com/2009/03/06/the-real-travel-story-mexico/

Here’s the fundamental problem when it comes to talking about safety, travel, and Mexico: most people are terrible at understanding statistics. This seems to go double for TV newscasters, who will take a sensational soundbite over a reasoned bit of logic any day. Once I dug around in the actual data, most of Mexico is far safer than my own home town–and my own home town is right in the middle of the U.S. pack in terms of crime.

You often hear something like “200 Americans were killed in Mexico in the past four years.” But if you really look into those numbers, as the Houston Chronicle did, you find that all but 70 of those victims were either criminals or were part of a drug buy gone bad. So around 70 completely innocent tourists died—out of 58 million visitors over that time period.

That equates to 1 in 842,857, or 0.0000012 percent. To put that in perspective, those odds lie somewhere between your chance of dying in an airplane crash (1 in 659,779) and being killed by flesh-eating bacteria (1 in 1,252,488).

But it gets even better. Most of the slain Americans were killed in just three cities: the border towns Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo. Things there are truly out of control and it’s a war zone. But if you avoid these border areas where heavily armed drug cartels are at war, your chance of being a victim of violent crime decreases to a statistical point near zero, down there with dying from a deadly rattlesnake bite or from the Bubonic Plague.

Exactly one American on the State Department’s list of deaths was killed in Mexico City over a four-year period. ONE! As best I could tell, everyone who died in the popular resort areas either drowned, wrecked a vehicle, or committed suicide, and again that’s out of millions upon millions of visitors.

So next time Aunt Millie tells you it’s unsafe to spend Spring Break in Mexico because she saw it on Fox News, tell her to go watch her own local news tonight instead and report back on how much bleeding is going on just on the other side of town. The truth is, you’re more likely to get caught in the crossfire of a local robbery at a convenience store than you are to suffer harm in Mexico—unless you walk around wasted in Tijuana and try to score some coke…

NPR News Report, March 18, 2009:  Phoenix, Arizona, has almost as many kidnappings and murders as Mexico City.

Dance of the Feather in Santa Ana, California

Yesterday I had the good fortune to meet Claudio Gutierrez, a 21 year old from Tustin, California, which is between Santa Ana and Laguna Beach.  I met Claudio on YouTube yesterday when he commented on the documentary film we made about the Dance of the Feather  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpr4dBi-6h4 Claudio, whose nickname is Kalo, was born in Teotitlan del Valle and moved to the USA with his family when he was 11 years old.  He’s in college studying design engineering.

Kalo loves everything about his culture and maintains a YouTube page that posts Teotitlan-related videos, especially those about the Dance of the Feather.  He says he never felt so strongly about his town and his culture before until about a year and a half ago when he made a commitment and promise to become a Danzante.   I watched Kalo’s video with awe and saw children and young adults perform the exact same Dance of the Feather in Santa Ana as is performed in Teotitlan del Valle.  His video opens up with a photo of the village church, scenes of Picacho and community life.  Dancers are recognized with their double Spanish names and the names of their padres (parents), honoring the family relationships that keep people connected for generations.  Now, I see, the strong bonds link Mexican families who live in the United States through this cultural dance tradition.  Food, celebration, dance all bring meaning to cultural identity.  One does not need to live in the Oaxaca valley to be Zapotec.

Kalo says, “I feel a very strong connection to my town.  Many times I start reminiscing about the good times that I had in my childhood.  I started to do more research and I feel so proud to be from Teotitlan, especially when I see other people from different backgrounds who are interested in learning about our culture and traditions.

MySpace, says Kalo, is a popular place for young people to communicate.  This is where he has made a page about Teotitlan. “I am just trying to tell our younger generation to be thankful for what we have and be proud of our roots and not forget about it.  There are many young people here who do care about Teotitlan, too.”

Here is Kalo’s link — http://www.myspace.com/teotitlan_del_valle and YouTube page http://www.youtube.comuser/kalo1200

I know that Kalo would love to hear from you and get your feedback.  Please contact him directly.

Oaxaca Tour: Day of the Dead Celebration 2009

Galleries, Villages and Food
7 Days, 6 Nights:  Thursday, October 29 to Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Your Leader:  Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC
Limited to 6 participants

Day of the Dead is on November 2.  There will be lots of festivities in Oaxaca and surrounding villages.  Teotitlan del Valle celebrates this ancient tradition and you’ll be an integral part of it!  You will be based at a lovely family-operated bed and breakfast inn located in this picturesque, rural hillside Zapotec village about 30 minutes outside of Oaxaca city.  This rural rug-weaving village is home to 7,000 people and 2,000 looms.  You’ll personally participate in Day of the Dead traditions, eat the celebratory meal with the family and accompany  them to the cemetery.  It’s definitely a party: lots of flowers, bands playing, children making hot chocolate, and decorated altars that welcome departed loved ones back to earth.

Plus, you will explore nearby villages noted for textiles, woodcarving, and pottery.  I’ll introduce you to my favorite weavers, potters, sculptors, painters, jewelers, and artisans, and escort you to the Oaxaca restaurants, museums and galleries that I love.   Market days in Oaxaca are extraordinary, full of the hustle-bustle of shopping and you’ll discover two of the most famous:  the Friday Ocotlan market and the Sunday Tlacolula market.

See my Day of the Dead blog post: http://oaxacaculture.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/dia-de-los-muertos-day-of-the-dead-in-teotitlan-del-valle/ for a cultural explanation of the celebration.

"Dead" Couple

You will navigate the culture right alongside us!   Only travelers open to a unique and authentic adventure need apply!

Highlights of Your Week in Oaxaca

•    Spend Day of the Dead with a Zapotec family
•    Participate in village celebrations and learn local customs
•    Discover the archeological site of Mitla, a centuries old textile center
•    Explore the Rudolfo Morales murals and museum in Ocotlan
•    Visit a blind sculptor noted for his primitive natural clay figures
•    Savor delicious Oaxaca food and take a cooking class
•    Meet famed wood carvers of San Martin Tilcajete
•    Become acquainted with master Zapotec rug weavers–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHCPpaap3E
•    See how natural dyes are prepared for weaving wool rugs
•    Take part in a private tour of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca
•    Enjoy a welcome and farewell dinner
•    Join Oaxaca Cultural Navigator – Norma Hawthorne

Thursday (10/29):    Arrive in Teotitlan and check into your bed and breakfast after 4 p.m.
Welcome reception and group supper (included), with Day of the Dead introduction and discussion of typical foods prepared

Friday (10/30):    We’ll take you on the road to the Ocotlan market/tianguis, explore craft villages, Rudolfo Morales murals and museum (lunch and dinner on your own)

Saturday (10/31):    Morning cooking class and local market walk, group comida (included), afternoon tour of the village to visit weavers and see natural dyeing demonstrations

Sunday (11/1):    Tlacolula Market, Mitla archeological site and textile market , group comida (included), participate in evening Day of the Dead family celebrations

Monday (11/2):    Day of the Dead Celebrations in Teotitlan del Valle with traditional comida (included) and local family visit to cemetery, participate in Day of the Dead customs (take bread, chocolate, and candles to home altars)

Tuesday (11/3):    Walking tour of Oaxaca: art & textile galleries, museums, chocolate molino, city market; farewell dinner (included) in Oaxaca at a well-known restaurant.

Wednesday (11/4):    Depart after breakfast

The major meal of each day is held mid to late afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. and is called “comida”.  The later evening meal is lighter and occurs around 8:30 p.m.  It is called “cena” (pronounced say-nah).  A substantial breakfast or “desayuno” is included daily.  Seasonal fresh fruits like papaya, mango, melon and bananas, homemade tortillas, local eggs and chicken, homemade salsas add to your dining pleasure.

(Note: schedule may change depending upon ceremonial customs and artisan availability; in such cases, we will substitute with equivalent activities)

Cost $995, includes six nights lodging (double occupancy), six breakfasts, five group meals, a cooking class with recipes, and ground transportation to villages in the Oaxaca valley.

Excluded:  Cost does not include airfare, airport and departure taxes; meals not listed as included; charges for personal items including laundry, alcoholic beverages, optional activities, travel and accident insurance, transportation to and from the airport, tips and gratuities, taxis, museum entry fees and other incidentals.

Deposit and Final Payment:  A $300 deposit will reserve your space.  Final payment is due by September 1, 2009.  After that, refunds are not possible.

Single supplement is available for an additional $150 for the six nights.  Extra nights before or after the tour are $40 per person and must be reserved and paid for in advance, included with your final payment.

Questions?  Contact normahawthorne@mac.com or call (919) 274-6194.  Let me know you are interested and I will email a registration form to you.

Remigio Mestas Describes a Handwoven Textile: Video

I’m experimenting with iMovie and made the subtitles tonight.  Here is a discussion I had with Remigio Mestas when I was in Oaxaca in December 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Z53c-pulA

See complete explanation of Remigio’s work on this blog post:  http://oaxacaculture.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/catching-my-breath-and-catching-up-posadas-remigo-mestas-indigo-tie-dye-workshop/

With me was Martha Sorensen from Santa Fe, NM, a good friend of Remigio, and Eric Chavez Santiago, the director of education at the Museo Textile de Oaxaca.  Remigio works with over 200 weavers, spinners and dyers throughout the State of Oaxaca to create the finest quality textiles that many consider to be museum quality.  Many are located in the remote mountain villages of the Sierra Madre del Sur.  Remigio helps many who need health care, education for their children, and specialized medical treatment.

You can visit Remigio’s shop on Macedonio Alcala in the central historic district of Oaxaca in the patio next to Las Danzantes restaurant.  There you will find extraordinary handwoven and naturally dyed textiles using exquisite traditional patterns and designs that are kept alive by Remigo Mestas.

Learning Documentary Filmmaking in Oaxaca & Bringing It Home

During the week we learned how to make documentary films based in the village of Teotitlan del Valle, our instructors Erica Rothman and Mikel Barton kept reminding us that the experience was more about the learning process than in making a polished finished product.  We reminded ourselves of that over and over (our instructors did, too) as we were challenged by what came our way.  I learned how important it was to shift, flex, adapt, and stay focused.  Others who attended would have their own experiences.

What story would I tell?  Would it be specific enough?  How quickly could I learn, let alone master, the editing software?  Would my Spanish be sufficient to enable me to ask impromptu follow-up questions of the person I was interviewing?  Would I be able to go deep enough to tell a compelling story with the help of a translator?  Can I operate this hand-held video camera without it shaking?  Am I going to get the right b-roll?  Will this story be interesting enough?  Is there enough action?  How do I make subtitles?

The film we made will not win us an Academy Award.  But, that was not the point!  The point was to learn enough to come home and know how to create a documentary film in my own community.

Today, I met with directors of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing Biobehavioral Observation & Nutritional Evaluation Laboratory to tour the facility and discuss donor naming opportunities.  What they do is fascinating.  In a home simulated environment, nurse researchers study the interaction between infants and mothers to determine how early cues influence feeding and early onset of obesity.  Other researchers look at the interaction between depressed mothers and children and how psychiatric mental health treatment can bring about behavioral change in the quality of those interactions.  Other faculty are studying the feeding behaviors of frail and/or demented elders.  Nutritional deprivation in hospitals and nursing homes is significant because of the time it takes for elders to eat.  Another nurse researcher is looking at obesity in children, especially Latino children, and is using the laboratory to capture and assess findings.

What is learned in all the studies will be used to train parents, patients, family caregivers, home health and long-term care workers, aids and medical professionals.  Faculty and graduate students can also be trained.

This is an exploding area in health care education.

Behavior is videotaped in the Observation & Nutritional Evaluation Laboratory, then scored according to a recognition system to validate what behavioral characteristics promote or detract from good health.  Researchers modify packaged systems for specific health behaviors. Video is really important, one director says.  It is minimally invasive and helps to see and examine behavior and environmental interaction.  They also know that there are behavioral and biological interactions.  Body chemistry changes depending upon the environment. They have learned through these studies that both behavior and biology can change.

My wheels are clicking!  They have videotaped footage (b-roll).  They have a professional videocamera and film editing software.  They have people power who know how to do this!  We need to conduct interviews with faculty and subjects, and voila, we’ll have a documentary!  I propose this to them and they’re excited.  This is what it means for me to bring it home!

Dance of the Feather–A Promise & Commitment: Documentary Film

Dance of the Feather: A Promise & Commitment is a short film written, filmed and directed by Betty Hutchins and Scott Switzer during the Oaxaca Documentary Filmmaking Workshop: Visual Storytelling, held in Teotitlan del Valle from January 31 to February 6, 2009.  The film makers explore the meaning of the dance with Uriel Santiago, who expresses what it means to him to be part of this ancient Zapotec and Spanish tradition.  It is ripe with tradition, religious ritual and meaning.  Uriel emphasizes that this is not a folkloric dance but a commitment to God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpr4dBi-6h4

Instructors were Erica Rothman, Nighlight Productions, Chapel Hill, NC, and Mikel Barton, Durham, NC.  The workshop was produced by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC.  We plan to offer a 2010 film making workshop in Oaxaca.  Let us know if you want to join the wait list.

Woven Together: Entretejidos — Oaxaca Documentary Film

This short film was written, filmed and directed by the team of Eunice Hogeveen and Sarah Kennedy Davis and created as part of the Oaxaca Documentary Filmmaking Workshop: Visual Storytelling, which was held in the village of Teotitlan del Valle from January 31 to February 6, 2009.  Enjoy!

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

The film tells the story of an expatriate American woman, Annie Burns, who has moved to a small village in southern Mexico and her relationship with her host Zapotec family.

Instructors were Erica Rothman, Nighlight Productions, Chapel Hill, NC, and Mikel Barton, Durham, NC.  The workshop was produced by Norma Hawthorne and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC.  We hope to hold the next documentary filmmaking workshop in winter 2010.

Weaving a Curve: A Documentary Short Film

Eric Chavez Sosa and I made this six minute short documentary film during the January 31-February 6 workshop held by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC in Teotitlan del Valle.  It was our first film making collaboration and we were definitely novices!   Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHCPpaap3E

“Weaving a Curve” featuring master weaver Federico Chavez Sosa.  He talks about the techniques he learned from his father and another village master who taught him to weave in the style of Francisco Toledo.  At the age of 17, Federico was an expert weaver.  To weave a curve and perfect the technique requires discipline and practice.  He remembers taking the yarn out and trying again, and again, and again.  Federico loves to weave, and the process for him is both relaxing and fun.  He also explains how he uses natural dyes to prepare the wool, another sign of a master weaver.  As the camera pans the village and the sacred Zapotec site of mount Picacho, Federico talks about the meaning of weaving for him personally and how satisfying it is when his work is appreciated by collectors.   For Federico, mastery means the blending of traditional and contemporary designs, the true mark of an artist, and the timeless quality of linking past with future.

Eric and I didn’t have time to finish this piece — it is in Spanish without subtitles.  So, please forgive us and enjoy the visuals if you don’t completely understand the language.  Maybe someday soon, we’ll add the subtitles!

I also want to acknowledge the mastery of our workshop instructors, Erica Rothman of Nighlight Productions, Durham, NC, and Mikel Barton, also of Durham.  They were fabuloso!

The process:  for five days were were immersed in a learning laboratory experience in the village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca.  We after two days of classroom instruction and watching examples of documentary footage, we took to the cameras to practice interview techniques and shooting b-roll.  We had 60 minutes of tape to use with the goal of producing a 3-5 minute finished video.  Unfortunately for us, we used about 20 minutes to practice shooting b-roll which turned out mostly to be sunrise and clouds.  You can see a snippet in our opening scene.

Oaxaca Documentary Filmmaking: The Unpredictable

Stuff happens.  Erica wrote this on the classroom whiteboard about a day into our filmmaking workshop when the lights in our section of the village went out early in the evening of Day Two.  We didn’t erase it until the final day.  We finished the class discussion by candlelight that Josefina and Magda brought to our table — the tall velas from the altar room typically used for ritual life illuminated our classroom.  It was not easy to read the handout material.  This was the beginning of our five day adventure starting on January 31 to February 6, delving into the creative and technical challenges of making a documentary film.  Most of us were novices.  We imagined that we would point and shoot a video camera, do an interview, take some background shots and b-roll, slice and dice to edit (I confess I had no idea about the complexity of this), and put a 5 minute film together complete with audio, visual, title page, credits, and subtitles.  Hah!   We had our practice shoot.  Eric and I diddled around at 6:30 am on the third morning practicing and spent 20 minutes of our allotted 60 minute DV tape shooting clouds and sunrise trying to keep our hands steady so we didn’t get shaky film.  Then, we realized, yikes, we only had 40 minutes left to complete the interview and fill in with whatever b-roll we might need later to complete the story.

Stay focused, we were reminded.  Zero in on your story.  Go for the detail.  You can’t tell a story about the history of weaving in five minutes, but you can tell a story about what it means to be a master weaver, our instructors reminded us.  There are nine dancers who perform the Dance of the Feather.  An interview with one dancer who tells us what performing this dance means to him can convey the sentiments of the group.  The experience of an expatriate American woman living alongside a Zapotec family and how they have formed close bonds is universal among neighbors and friends the world over, and unique for this small village just 17 km outside of Oaxaca city.  There were three teams of two paired together for the week to create the story, develop the scenes, serve as each other’s crew, structure and conduct the interviews, shooting b-roll, selecting music, and edit.  The learning was intense and vertical.

Language and cultural differences challenged and rewarded us.  On Day Five, just two hours before our films are to debut at the premiere screening and fiesta, just as we had wrapped up the final editing and were getting ready to burn to DVD, the electricity went out.  We scrambled.  Mikel said, folks, this is what happens in “real life” on every shoot I’ve been on.  There’s always technical glitches and we learn to shift, adapt, scramble and figure it out.  A group of us climbed in the back of the blue pick-up truck, three computers, blank disks, and power strip in hand, me driving four on the floor, and we head to the other side of town to Eric’s house where we plug in.  Thirty-minutes before the guests are set to arrive at Las Granadas we get a call that the power has come back on.  It’s handy to have Telcel Mexican cell phones!  We have just one more tape to burn and we’re outta there.  At 7:50 p.m. we arrive back at our home base and do a test drive of the final films just as the 30 guests — village and Oaxaca friends and the people featured in our films begin to arrive.

To participate in a documentary filmmaking workshop in Teotitlan del Valle requires a degree of adventure and courage.  The process is fast moving, unpredictable and surprising.  We were suprised at what we discovered and learned about our subjects, our own competencies, and the challenges of working in a foreign country adapting to another culture.  Some of our films are incomplete.  We made choices.  For one team, there was enough time to create subtitles but not enough to write the opening title page and credits.  Another sacrificed subtitles for the title page and credits.  Editing was rough and ready.

Unpredictable.  But satisfying.

Documentary Filmmaking in Oaxaca: Before We Begin

The essential part of creating an extraordinary learning experience is to have everything confirmed in advance.  We still had some loose ends which we discovered on Saturday, the morning after our arrival.  The language and cultural differences created a challenge that even I, a seasoned Teotitlan traveler, discovered.  Mikel had been trying to reach Uriel to confirm his participation in the workshop, though I had secured Uriel’s agreement several weeks ago — or so I thought.  Cell phone service is intermittent here and we can only get a signal standing on the roof of Las Granadas, which means that calls coming in to us don’t always connect since we are downstairs on the garden level.  Then, there is the reliability of Internet usage and whether people check their email as frequently here as we do back in the States.  So, our students were arriving and gathering that evening and we needed to connect with Uriel to know he was confirmed with time for the location scout and the filming the next day.

We climbed into the old blue camioneta (pick up truck), me driving, Erica riding shotgun, Mikel standing on the flatbed, and drove down Ave. Benito Juarez to the home of Porfirio, Uriel’s uncle, where we are to meet Uriel.  It is an extended family compound where sons, daughters, their husbands, wives, and children work.  Uriel is a 23 year old weaver who is part of the family system of production.  His uncle is president of the church committee this year and a very distinguished member of the community.  He is also Eric’s uncle, brother of Eric’s mother, Dolores.  The family systems are closely connected and complex.

We all pull up chairs in the rug room and settle in to the connecting conversations that in Zapotec family life can go on for hours.  How are you?  How is your husband?  Are you well?  It is a back and forth between all who sit, a ritual that we don’t take time for in the U.S.  We are in a hurry.  The students are arriving in an hour and a half, but we cannot rush this.  We are guests in the village and must learn to adapt to the cultural norms of our hosts.  The conversation is in Spanish and I do not claim to be fluent.  I grasp concepts and words and miss a lot and translate some.  But, I do hear that Uriel has not gotten permission from the group leader for the Dance of the Feather to allow him to be in our documentary film and this catches me by surprise.  I assumed that when I confirmed with him in December, we were all set to go — that was two months ago.  We spend the next 40 minutes talking about what has to be done to get the permission, and learn more about Zapotec life in Teotitlan in the process.

The decision making of the group is essential to village cohesion and tranquility.  This is place where no single individual decides for others.  There is group consensus with a lot of discussion around the pros and cons of doing something, and this process for permission would be no different.  There are nine men who are members of the Dance of the Feather group.  Together, they will discuss whether is is okay for their cultural history and traditional dance can be filmed, even as a student learning experience.  So, our next step is to climb back into the truck and go visit the Moctezuma, the lead dancer who originaly assembled the group three years ago, going to the Temple to ask the Committee for the honor and priviledge of being named the official dancers to represent the village.  As tribute, similar to the ancient pre-Columbian practices, they brought mezcal, beer, and ceremonial bread, as an offering of their sincerity.

There are hand-hewn wooden benches under the palapa of the Moctezuma’s adobe house.  We take a seat and begin the explanation of the project again, and ask permission.  I am trying very hard to explain the scope of the week ahead of us:  six people learning how to make a documentary film, teams of two, three subject areas, one of them the Dance of the Feather.  You must write us a proposal and come to our meeting tonight at 6 pm to present it to the committee chair of the group, then the group will talk about it and let you know in a day or two.  I explain that it is important that we know in the evening because if we don’t get permission, we’ll have to shift and do something else.  He says, it can’t be done any other way, but it is important that we show up at 6 p.m. So, that is what we do.

Mikel and I pick Uriel up at 6 and go three houses down from Porfirio’s to the home of Uncle Pedro, who it turns out is the group leader and I have met him before.  He is part of the family!  We stumble along in our Spanish to explain and present the letter I have written in English and presented.  They take notes.  We are careful to be as clear as possible.  I can do pretty well in the present tense, but my anxiety in the moment creates a hilarious jumble of words that is very entertaining to the people across the table!  We hear that the Dance of the Feather is sacred.  It is only danced at official town celebrations.  To create a rehearsal in full dress costume would be a special request.  We make a promise to use the video for educational purposes only and not for any commercial use.  There is a lot of sensitivity in this village about gringos making money from the labor, traditions, and culture of this people.  Exploitation takes many forms.

I invite the entire group to the celebratory final screening of the video on Thursday night in anticipation of YES.  Will there be mezcal, the group leader asks.  Of course, I say.  The best from Chichicapan!  We all laugh.  Later, we get the call that four dancers will participate.  We are ecstatic, relieved and good to go!