ALMA-RIACHI – Music That Runs Deep

LUCKY SO-AND-SO
Last night I celebrated my eightieth birthday here in enchanting Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico. While several of my loved ones have visited Sally and me here, I’ve dreamt of someday bringing the whole clan down together. This was the occasion.

It took a bit of planning to get everyone transported, lodged and fed, but the real fun was creating and carrying out a theme and lining up a few key events we hoped everyone would enjoy.

The focal point of my vision was that, halfway through my birthday dinner, folks might hear faint strains of mariachi music wafting into the open-air restaurant from about a block away. I’d interrupt the conversation and say, “Do you guys hear that? Some lucky so-and-so is getting a mariachi serenade.”

The sound would get closer and closer until everyone realized they were actually coming to our restaurant. And then, Oh, my God, they’re now (all nine of them: guitars, fiddles, vihuela, vocalists and horns) lining up in front of our long table!

That vision played out perfectly.

GRITOS AND LLANTOS
I’ve heard enough mariachi—from the scores of bands duking it out musically around Garibaldi Square in Mexico City, to pick-up groups and stage performances, to a 20-piece super band arriving at 5:00 AM to wrap up an all-night graduation party—to have witnessed the passion Mexicans feel about this music.

I’ve seen men’s chests swell with the national pride and personal passion it evokes, the full-throated way they belt out lyrics they know by heart, the heartfelt gritos of defiance and llantos of ardor and pain.

IMAGE: Austin American Statesman

I now feel some of that emotion myself whenever I hear this stirring music. It’s like I’ve absorbed it through osmosis. I know the lyrics of some songs and can sing along, at least to the refrains. Mexicans love that I know who Vicente (El Rey) and Alejandro are. It all touches something deep in my spirit.

So tonight, I’m standing here, my dearest loved ones surrounding me, facing these splendid musicians—Los Torcazos. And my eyes well up with tears. I can’t hide the emotion each song kindles. Guadalajara. Por Tu Maldito Amor. Como Quien Pierde Una Estrella.

And I can’t deny wishing I could maintain the valiant, stoical façade of a proud Mexican charro. But my face gives me away.

TOO MUCH FOR ONE LIFE
So afterward I follow the band down the stairs to pay the balance of their fee (and a well-deserved tip). I shake the hand of their dashing lead singer and manager, Francisco, thank him and hand over the pesos. And I feel I must try, somehow, to explain my emotions.

Here’s a rough translation of what I say: Francisco, I decided, twenty-plus years ago, to junk the German I’d grown up with and learned in school and, as a 55-year-old, take up Spanish. Why? Because I loved the music I hear in its sounds and rhythms. The poetry I feel in its words. The way it opens doors to the people and culture of this great country—including this colorful mariachi tradition.

And because I know, deep in my bones, that I’ve been a Mexican in a previous life.

I couldn’t swear to it, but I think Francisco teared up just a little too. He turned and waved…and then they were gone. But the moment, the memory, that’s mine for the rest of this life...and just maybe into the next.

GUATEMALA – Land of Eternal Spring…and Volcanoes – Part III

(PART THREE OF THREE PARTS / For part one click HERE; for part two click HERE)

ATITLAN
On my second Friday of school I skip classes, and Amanda and I board a group shuttle bound for Lake Atitlán. An hour later, after our humorless driver finally fills 15 of the 14 seats in the van, we actually get out of Antigua for the two-plus-hour drive west-northwest to the lake.

Lago Atitlán, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, does not disappoint. Formed in the caldera of a mega-volcano that erupted 84,000 years ago, the 56-square-mile, 1,100-foot-deep lake is flanked by several 10,000-foot classic, cone-shaped volcanoes.

People are drawn to Atitlán not just by its stunning beauty, but also by the area’s reputation as an energy vortex, said to be one of just three such spiritual hotbeds in the world—along with Peru’s Machu Picchu and Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza.

  More than any "point of interest," any tour,
  any photo op, this is the kind of magic that
  defines travel for me.

The lake is surrounded by eleven towns and villages, each with its own distinct flavor. Panajachel is the largest, busiest and grittiest, serving as the main road terminus for all the rest. From there, a busy network of water taxis connects them all.

San Pedro is known as the backpacker’s mecca, with lots of hostels, clubs and bars and a lively party atmosphere.

San Marcos has a new-age, hippie vibe, with shamans of every stripe, and lots of touchy-feely offerings like yoga, naturopathic foods and drink, healing centers and Reiki and massage parlors.



San Juan is one of the most colorful villages on the lake, with vibrant murals and other public art. Here the Mayan descendants and their Tz’utujil and Kaqchikel cultures are more obvious than in the other villages.

Santa Cruz is a relatively quiet alternative with few conveniences, but superb views of the volcanoes. (This is where Amanda and I stay--at La Arca de Noé, Noah’s Arc, a collection of rooms and separate casitas stair-stepping up the steep hill, some with nice decks overlooking the lake.)

                               

Our last night in Santa Cruz, we tuk-tuk a ways up the steep main street to a small restaurant that someone's recommended. Besides the family that owns it, we have the place to ourselves. Just as we're finishing our meal, we hear the happy birthday song from the other room.

Peeking through the doorway, we see a little girl sitting at the counter with a birthday cake in front of her and the whole family gathered around singing to her. She's eight.

We join in and offer our best wishes to the cumpleañera, and then return to our table. Just as we're asking for the check, one of the kids comes out and shares slices of the birthday cake with us.

More than any "point of interest," any tour, any photo op, this is the kind of magic that defines travel for me.

(I wish I’d spent more time researching the other villages. If I had, we’d have known that the gauntlet of commercialism we encounter right off the boat dock is not the town. To see slices of life like that sweet little birthday party, or public markets, or church services, one has to walk or tuk-tuk a ways, in some cases nearly a mile, up the steep flank of the caldera where most Guatemaltecos—and real life—reside. Maybe next time.)

    Many people, while chatting within their
    families or with fellow workers, speak their
    indigenous languages.

MEXICO IT IS NOT
It’s hard for me, a frequent traveler to Mexico, not to compare Guatemalan life and culture. The first difference that strikes me is that Guatemalan culture is far more indigenous. Around 43 percent of the Guatemalan people are indigenous, while just over 15 percent of Mexicans are.

While most of Mexico’s pre-colonial roots are Aztec, a warrior civilization with strong religious and mythological aspects, Guatemala’s are Mayan, an older, more peaceful, more intellectual culture.

The currency of these ancient traditions is obvious in people’s dress. At first I think it’s just the street vendors who wear the intensely-colored trajes / clothing. But I see many others, including whole families, wearing the striking woven and embroidered cortes / skirts and huipiles / blouses as they walk around town.

PHOTO: Trama Textiles

The colors are amazing. Intense. Each hue and each design element symbolic. The artisans’ markets are full of the fabrics, fashioned into every imaginable item, from clothing to table runners to tea cozies to men’s ties.

Another difference is the language, which I find quite easy to understand, even when talking with folks on the street. They speak more slowly and enunciate more clearly than the average José in Mexico. That said, I observe that many people, while chatting within their families or with fellow workers, choose to speak their indigenous languages.

Of course, there are quite a few Spanish words that differ from those used in Mexico for the same things. Enough for a language learner like me to get into trouble if he's not careful. But I get through my visit to this enchanting country without exclaiming to anyone that I’m pregnant (embarazado), as I once did in Mexico.

    Pretending to understand any culture
    based on seeing just small parts of it is
    pure hubris.

JUST A TASTE
I'll never forget a friend's slide show I once viewed. He'd just returned from a ten-day trip to Kenya. His narration was full of conclusions like, "Africa is..." and "Africans are this or that." And it struck me as so presumptuous.

Pretending to understand any country, any culture, based on a vacation, or on seeing just small parts of it, is pure hubris. 

So, as I continue chipping away at my goal of visiting every Spanish-speaking corner of Latin America, I’m glad to check off Guatemala. The places I saw are lovely; the people I met are kind and generous.  But all I can really say is that I've tasted it; I've sampled a few of its many flavors; and I leave hungry for more.

(FOR SLIDE SHOW CLICK HERE)

GUATEMALA – Land of Eternal Spring…and Volcanoes – Part II

(PART TWO OF THREE PARTS / For part one click HERE)

FOLLOWING MY NOSE
After each weekday morning session at school, I walk back toward the center of town, thinking along the way about a point of interest I might set as my destination that afternoon.

One day I just happen upon the bustling fresh produce market, a ramshackle assortment of impermanent stalls peddling photogenic piles of fruits and vegetables. Some have umbrellas or tarps to keep the drizzle off. A few have tables, but most just lay out their goods on the ground in plastic bowls and bins.

Another day, I head up to Cerro Santa Cruz, a scenic overlook with wonderful views of the city with Volcan El Agua looming in the background. When I get there with Amanda, the volcano still hasn’t shed its hat of clouds, but we wait an hour or so, and finally we can see the whole classic, conical shape, right up to its dimpled crest.

    "Funny, it doesn't look very active to me,"
    she says. At that very instant, it erupts.

On our way down, Amanda catches a glimpse of what she thinks might be the other of Antigua's best known volcanoes, El Fuego, The Fire, which we've heard is active. "Funny, it doesn't look very active to me," she says. At that very instant, right when we're looking at it, it erupts. 

There's just the one thick, black plume, and soon it dissipates. I guess these brief emissions, maybe a couple every hour, are why El Fuego is not considered dangerous. Instead of building up true explosive power, it lets off steam gradually, in these "burps."

I easily take in the best-known photo ops around the city: the Santa Catalina Arch, La Iglesia de la Merced, the Colonial Art Museum, several colonial-era ruins, and of course Plaza Mayor, where a convivial blend of locals and visitors enjoy themselves and their loved ones, and vendors of everything under the sun deliver their best—often quite persistent—pitches.

(Throwing off my navigation for the first few days is the fact that the park, this obvious hub of city life, is not the nucleus of its street numbering system. “Central” Park lies at the intersection, not of First Avenue and First Street, but Fifth and Fifth.)

  Before we know it, we’re inside, tequila shots
  in hand, feeling like part of the family.

HAPPY HAPPENSTANCE
Wherever I travel I often stumble upon some of my most interesting and memorable experiences when I have absolutely no destination in mind, simply walking in any given direction until something catches my eye, ear or nose. In La Antigua these gems include off-the-beaten-path art workshops and studios; Santa Ana, a neighborhood sprinkled with very nice, high-end boutique hotels; serene inner courtyards; some nice restaurants; birthday parties, weddings and quinceañeras.

   

Another of my tricks for witnessing real life and connecting with the locals is to simply sit in one place and wait for the opportunities to come to me. Several vendors in Plaza Mayor, realizing after a few minutes of hard sell that I’m really not going to buy anything, strike up conversations with me, and soon we’re on a first-name basis.

By the way, I ask them and other Guatemalans—shop owners, tuk-tuk drivers, my teacher—what they think about the political situation. None of them can stand the current president. They support the protests, but say they’re resigned to living under a corrupt, oppressive government. I realize how lucky we are in the U.S. to still have—however tenuously—the apparatus to maintain free and fair elections.
 
THE INNER SANCTUM

One evening, as Amanda and I explore some back street, we happen past the open door to a tiny pub—by tiny I mean about the size of smallish bedroom. Inside, a group of locals—five or six men and one woman, all in their 30s—huddle around the bar, boisterously gabbing and laughing. They’ve obviously had a few.

One guy spots us in the doorway and cheerfully waves us in. Amanda, God bless her, is always up for an adventure. Before we know it, we’re inside, tequila shots in hand, feeling like part of the family. It’s one of those situations where it feels like my Spanish opens some doors. Everyone wants to know where we’re from, how we’re liking their country…and how I learned their language.

     The many dining options around town
     make the place feel more cosmopolitan
     than I’d expected.

MORE THAN RICE AND BEANS
My Guatemala dining experience spans many cuisines. My first night, too tired to be searching for a good dinner, I settle for the nearby Pollo Campero, Guatemala’s version of KFC. But, with big, tender, juicy pieces wrapped in a delicious, crispy, non-greasy coating, it turns out to be some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had.

Other days I seek out restaurants touting comida típica—typical food. There I find those good old Central American staples, rice, beans, a few tidbits of meat and perhaps a few spears of grilled plantain. Unlike some of the neighboring countries, though, I find potatoes in or around many dishes (a blessing to one who--blasphemy alert--doesn't care for tortillas).

I also discover pepian, one of the oldest dishes in Guatemalan food heritage, borne out of the fusion of Spanish and Mayan cultures. It’s a savory soup/stew whose rich, complex broth reminds me a bit of Mexican moles. (I don’t know if there’s an etiquette for eating pepian, but the chunks of beef or chicken, carrot, squash and potato are so big I have to move them to the plate to cut them up.)

I find a nice paella at one restaurant, some Mexican-style chilaquiles at another, and a wonderful Japanese meal at a third. Still more dining options around town make the place feel more cosmopolitan than I’d expected.

On the other hand, the presence of many American fast food chains is a disappointment: Domino’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Starbuck’s…and, yes, McDonald’s. I have to avert my eyes to sustain the reality that I’m in another country nearly 3,000 miles away from home.

One of my favorite dinner places—and Amanda’s too—ends up being Hector’s Bistro, whose varied, international menu, superb food quality, excellent service and beautiful courtyard setting earn four visits.

I can’t talk about food without mentioning the sixth basic food group: coffee. Both Amanda and I note that most of the brewed java we’re served is nothing to rave about. I am, however, able to wrangle pretty decent lattes from a couple of shops. (I wonder if Guatemala, like Costa Rica, saves its best grades of coffee for export, leaving citizens with something less.)

(FOR PART III CLICK HERE)

(FOR SLIDE SHOW CLICK HERE)

GUATEMALA – Land of Eternal Spring…and Volcanoes – Part I

(PART ONE OF THREE PARTS)

It’s November and once again the cold and gray here in Minnesota, USA have rekindled the wanderlust. So I’m off to Guatemala—for no better reason than that I’ve heard it’s beautiful and I know several people who’ve been there—and loved it.

This region, much of it forested and lying at elevations above 5,000 feet, has an ideal, spring-like climate all year round. That’s why Guatemala’s known as “The Land of Eternal Spring.” And why it’s ideal for travel.

Oh, and I hear the way Guatemalans speak Spanish is relatively easy for a Spanish learner to understand.

You see I’m sticking to the tried-and-true format I’ve used for most of my Latin American adventures. I find what looks like a good language school; I sign up for a couple weeks of intense one-on-one classes; and then I see if I can find decent lodging and flights.

This affords me a ready-made home base, a circle of potential friends, and a focus for days that otherwise might overwhelm me with options.

An unexpected highlight of this trip is that my daughter, Amanda, has decided to fly down from Boston and join me for a week.

 I’m easily disoriented. Until I realize that
 El Agua, the most prominent of the volcanoes
 surrounding the city, lies due south.

POLITICAL INTRIGUE
As late as two weeks before I leave home, I’m unsure if it’s really wise to go. Not for concern with my and Amanda’s safety as much as with our ability to get around—even from the airport in Guatemala City to Antigua, the town where we’ll spend most of our time.

The problem is that, since last June’s general election in which the progressive, anti-corruption candidate for president easily prevailed and the sitting president seeks to invalidate the results, working Guatemalans, led by several well-organized indigenous groups, have been protesting by, among other tactics, setting up roadblocks around the country—as many as 70 at one time. 

Fortunately, one of my neighbors works for a local college’s international program, which sends student groups to Guatemala. She’s been able to get up-to-date, first-hand information, and informs me that the protest organizers, seeing that the current government plans to come down hard on them, has switched its focus from rural highways to Guatemala City’s government-buildings zone.

As it turns out, we encounter no protesting of any kind, anywhere we go.

GETTING MY BEARINGS
I arrive in Guatemala City just after dark in about as good shape as one could expect after a 12-hour day of travel. My destination—where my Spanish school is located—will be the former colonial capital, La Antigua Guatemala, a mile-high city of 50,000 surrounded by volcanoes just west of Guatemala City.

My ride, a private shuttle arranged by my Antigua hotel, is right where he said he’d be, and after nearly an hour in surprisingly slow traffic for that time of day, we pull up to my home for the next two weeks, the Posada de la Luna, a lovely, unpretentious little hotel with just seven rooms less than a mile from the town’s Plaza Mayor or central park.

(It’s nice arriving on a Friday, leaving me the whole weekend to explore and get oriented before my classes begin Monday morning.)

La Antigua, at least size-wise, is a wonderfully walkable town. Stroll about a mile in any direction and you’re in the suburbs. So, making Plaza Mayor the hub of my wanderings, I trace “spokes” out from there in the four cardinal directions.

At first, what with all there is to see and photograph, I’m easily disoriented. Until I realize that El Agua, the most prominent of the several volcanoes surrounding the city, lies due south. 

Speaking of the volcanoes, I’m disappointed not to actually see any of them in its entirety for the first four days of my visit. The rainy season here should be over by now, so I’d expected more sun. Locals explain that the cool (mid- to upper-60’s) temperatures, low cloud cover and frequent drizzles and mists are due to an unusual cold front affecting all of Central America.

    We walk to El Jardin, a botanical garden
    where all the school’s classes take place.

BREAK A LEG
As easy as it is to reach any corner of Antigua walking, that’s how treacherous the footing is. Every single street and many of the sidewalks are paved in cobblestones, and, with the frequent light precipitation, they’re wet. 

A tourist gawking and taking pictures on that terrain is a recipe for a turned-ankle disaster. So I’m constantly reminding myself: Want to look? Stop! Want to snap a photo? Stop! (Turns out that’s impossible, so it’s just pure dumb luck that I avoid a sprain.)

ANTIGUEÑA SPANISH ACADEMY
My first Monday of language school I head to the address where I think my classes will be held. Instead, I find a cramped little second-floor office with a line of about 50 Guatemalan women—and a few men—winding down the stairs and out to the street.

Turns out this is just the administrative office, and these are the teachers, waiting to be assigned their students for that week. I pay my tuition for the first week and then meet my teacher, Sheny. She takes me back down the stairs and we walk nearly a mile through the back streets of Antigua’s northwest corner to what they call El Jardin, The Garden, where all the school’s classes take place.

It’s kind of a small, enclosed park, a bit like a botanical garden. Not one with identified plant species, but it’s lush with tropical foliage and flowers: palms, bromeliads, orchids and other gorgeous flowers. And there are a couple of two-story buildings with broad, open-air, tile-floored galleries.

During breaks students and teachers gather in groups, stroll around the gardens or climb a spiral staircase to a rooftop terrace. There's also a snack bar.

Every Spanish school I’ve ever attended offered both group and individual classes. But every school in Guatemala, it seems, provides only one-on-one instruction. Also, those other schools have usually had somewhere between ten and 20 students. So I was surprised to find El Jardin’s buildings and paths lined with at least 60 card tables, a student and a teacher at each one.

Sheny is a fabulous teacher. By the time we get to El Jardin that first day, she’s already identified my weaknesses, and devises lessons and drills to nudge me closer to my goal of fluency…whatever that is.

We also hit it off personally, sharing loves for sports, Nature, pets and of course language. (She has several dogs, a couple of cats and a charismatic, blue-eyed tortoise named Tuguis.)

Sheny’s skill and easy manner make conversation quite easy, but four consecutive hours of one-on-one language learning is still exhausting. So, toward the end of each morning’s work, we unwind with a game of Scrabble—in Spanish, of course. I don’t mean to brag—okay, I actually do—but I beat her like six out of eight times! She says I have a good vocabulary.

(FOR PART II CLICK HERE)

(FOR SLIDE SHOW CLICK HERE)

Volcanes del Corazón – Guatemala, November, 2023

It’s November and once again my wanderlust has lit its fire under me. 

I’m off to Guatemala. For no more of a reason than that I’ve heard it’s beautiful and I know several people who’ve been there—including one family member on whom the place has had a life-changing effect.

The focus of my trip is twofold: First, my daughter, Amanda, will be joining me for a week; second, I'm enrolled in Spanish school, continuing my dogged quest for fluency.

We're based in the beautiful former colonial capital, La Antigua Guatemala—or simply La Antigua—where, after my morning classes, we explore the town on foot. Then, during the weekend between my two weeks of school, we head for the drop-dead gorgeous Lake Atitlán.

I'll be posting a more detailed reflection of the experience, but for now here's the story in pictures—my ten-minute slideshow.

TAKING THE HEAT – The Price of Decorum

As much as I’d love to be Mexican (I’m convinced I was a Mexican fisherman in a previous life), I’m occasionally slapped upside the head with the reality that I am not.

                                    ~   •   ~   •   ~    

I’d arrived in the central Mexican city of Puebla with my friend and Spanish tutor, Carlos, looking forward to a week of exploring this grand old colonial city and its surroundings with him.

Carlos, born in Puebla, had also brought his wife and kids, planning to stay with relatives and spend time, between our outings, with them and other family members who live in Puebla state.

But that very first night, on my way to dinner in my hotel, I received a call from Carlos. His ten-year-old son had just suffered an attack of acute apendicitis and was going to be in the hospital for a few days. Just like that, our Spanish-learning-on-the-fly itinerary evaporated, and I was on my own for the rest of the week.

That’s okay, I thought. I’ve spent countless days exploring various Latin American locales by myself. I can do this.

      Turns out I’ll be dining solo…
      with an audience.

FAMILY
But in a twist I found incredibly sweet—and typically Mexican—Carlos had other plans for me. The next morning my phone rings, and it’s one of his cousins wanting to know if I’d join him for an excursion to nearby Cholula, with its monumental cathedral, world’s most voluminous pyramid and stunning view of the nearby volcano, Popocatepetl.

Next day, it’s another of Carlos’s cousins, offering to show me around Puebla city. And so on…

Later in the week I’m invited to a nephew’s small, suburban townhouse for dinner. I arrive by taxi at about 6:00 and there’s Manuel and his wife, Isabel, welcoming me as if I were an old friend of the family.

After polite greetings from the couple’s two small children and a bit of conversation over a beer, Isabel gestures toward a small table near the kitchen. Weird, I’m thinking, it’s set for just one person. Well, it turns out the whole family’s already eaten and I’ll be dining solo…with an audience.

Isabel has devoted the afternoon to preparing the beautiful signature dish of Puebla. Chiles en nogada is a seasonal recipe consisting of fist-sized poblano chiles stuffed with picadillo, a thick, savory meat stew, then slathered in snow-white walnut cream sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

As blown-away as I am by the presentation, I’m apprehensive about sitting down with the whole family just watching to see how much I enjoy the amazing meal they’ve worked so hard to prepare for me.

It’s a very warm afternoon, and I don’t think the lower level has air conditioning, so I’m already sweating. Uncomfortable as I am, I’m even struggling with my normally decent Spanish.

PRAISE THROUGH GRITTED TEETH
I lift that gorgeous first bite to my mouth and…Wow!, this really is delicious! Or so I think for about ten seconds. That’s when the heat kicks in.

    I figure a big swig of my beer will
    douse the fire, but it’s like pouring
    gasoline on it.

Poblano chiles are supposed to be relatively mild—about half as hot on the Scoville scale as jalapeños. But this must have been an unusually hot one; to this gringo’s innocent taste buds, it might as well have been one of those infamous ghost peppers.

If I was a bit uncomfortable before, I’m now feeling like a lobster dropped into boiling water. And that’s about the color my face is turning.

Of course, I’m gushing praise for the food, smiling and nodding my approval, but inside I dread the ordeal suddenly facing me. You absolutely have to eat at least 80 percent of this ample serving of food—and look like you’re enjoying it—or risk offending this very nice, very generous young family.

I’ve worn my nice, semi-dressy, white guayabera shirt, and by the time I’m half-way into the ordeal, the sweat’s rolling down my body, wicking into my shirt wherever it touches.

Wait, maybe a big swig of my beer will douse the fire…oh, my God, it’s like pouring gasoline on it. What I’d give for a dollop of yogurt!

IT’S ALL GOOD
Needless to say, I survived the evening. And I’m proud to say I finished nearly all of that beautiful chili en nogada. I was happy (to be done with the ordeal); my hosts were happy (that I “liked” it); and I’m sure all of Mexico was happy that they still needn’t call me one of their own.

What do you think? Did this recall any of your own cross-cultural mishaps? We’d love to hear from you!
 

Oaxaca En Mente / Oaxaca On My Mind - Part 5

PART 5 OF 5 PARTS

ART AND HANDICRAFTS

Not everyone agrees on which art form best exemplifies Oaxaca. But for me it’s alebrijes, those fantastical, intricately painted wooden figures often combining features of different critters. Some say they represent spirit guides.

Pedro Linares

As much as I’d love to think the art form originated in Oaxaca with the pre-hispanic Zapotec or Mixtec cultures, the idea actually dates from the early 1940s and a Mexico City cartonero, or garbage collector, named Pedro Linares. The story goes that Linares, while in a fever-induced coma, dreamed he was in a magical forest, visited by surreal mash-ups of various animals. Some of them uttered a strange declaration: ¡Alebrije!

When he recovered he decided to give form to those visions, crafting the figures out of paper scraps and wheat glue.  

Then Linares’s work was discovered and afforded some exposure by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. But it was only decades later, in the 1980s, that Oaxacan artisans, already carving various figures out of Copal wood, saw Linares’s work at an exhibition and began adopting its whimsical interpretations and vivid coloration—and the name alebrijes. *

I’m determined to take home a nice alebrije as a souvenir of Oaxaca. So I’m especially aware as I pass the many shops and street stalls selling them. There’s obviously a wide range of quality—and prices. So when the opportunity to learn more about the art form presents itself I jump on it.

That Friday, skipping my usual morning Spanish class, I head to a village, about 20 miles southwest of the city, called Arrazola, one of the two places in Mexico best known for the quality of its alebrijes.

      He induces chemical reactions...
      to make one color dramatically
      turn to another.

A young man in one of the talleres, or workshops, leads me through a stunning gallery of the finished product and into the family’s sunny, wood-scented studio. There he shows me the whole production process, from selecting, curing and priming the protium copal wood, to dreaming up the designs, to making the super-bright paints. 

He demonstrates how they make the colors by combining minerals with various raw materials, like oils or pulverized cochineal—a tiny, brownish scale insect widely used in red dyes, including those found in foods and beverages. He also induces chemical reactions, using readily available substances like lime juice, or even mezcal, to make one color dramatically turn to another.

He rubs these substances onto a rough sample shark figure, where the colors seem to materialize magically—even one combination that results in a surprisingly bright, pure white.

The muchacho explains how each critter they make represents the spirit essence of people born on a specific day of a specific year—even a specific time of day. In a tattered little book, he looks up my birthday and proclaims that my optimal spirit guide is the tortuga, a turtle.

While I realize this may be just a clever marketing pitch, I totally buy it and want to take home a really nice turtle. But even a small one, about the size of my hand, is priced at $5,000 pesos, or about $250, which I decide is a bit more than I want to spend.

My tortuga – made by a master

My patience pays off, because just two days later, in the sprawling artisans’ bazaar just erected on Alcalá, I meet Hedilberto Olivera, one of the most famous artists from the other village most famous for its alebrijes, San Martin Tilcajete. His work is incredible, smoothly carved, solid and intricately painted.

And…he has a tortuga of the same size as the one I’d passed up in Arrazola. And it’s only $150 usd. Deal!

The bonus is I get to chat with the artist, who seems delighted that this tall, very white old man speaks his language. I always enjoy this kind of personal, heartfelt transaction. (Ironically, after getting to know Hedilberto, I’d gladly have paid him the same 5,000 pesos I’d denied the nameless kid in Arrazola.)

Ceramics
Spirit animals aren’t the only art form to celebrate in Oaxaca. There’s also the pottery. In Santa Maria Atzompa, I visit the workshop of a family that makes elaborate, brown terra cotta pieces—most of them decorative figurines bedecked in hundreds and hundreds of little ceramic flowers.

The woman who welcomes us is, I suspect, a member of the Blanco or Vásquez families, whose antecedents established their signature style and brought world-wide renown to their village. With her two-year-old daughter looking on, she takes a few lumps of clay, which is dark gray when wet, and demonstrates how to make a small figure—a sort of demonic man-beast-spirit amalgam with horns and a tail—and a few small flowers.

Textiles
The next of Oaxaca’s outstanding handcrafted arts that I’m able to glimpse this trip is its sumptuous textiles. Many shops and galleries display gorgeous bags, table runners and, certainly the best known of Oaxacan weavings, the tapetes, or woolen rugs, with their rich colors and distinctive Zapotec motifs. (Sally and I already have a beautiful tapete which we bought from a Oaxacan weaver in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero.)

Some of the shops even feature their own pedal looms, though I don’t get to see the weavers in action.

For a broader sampling of the state’s textiles traditions, I visit the Museo de los Textiles, which exhibits works of weaving and embroidery in scores of distinct styles representative of various parts of the state.

They range from the Mazatec style embroidery—from the northern part of the state bordering on Veracruz—with patterns of animals and flowers rendered on white cotton muslin skirts and blouses; to a slightly more refined gancho style—from the eastern Istmo region; to very fine, tightly-woven, muted-color wool ponchos and serapes—from Teotitlan del Valle. 

Graphic Arts

Tlachiquero: one who
extracts agave "honey"

There are so many nice little galleries and workshops around Oaxaca’s historic center that it’s hard to walk a block without passing one. Alebrijes, pottery, textiles, and lots and lots of graphic art, which this former graphic designer especially appreciates.

I also wander into the elegant Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca, where an elegant young woman shows me around the exhibits, including some impressive old lithograph, etching and letterpress presses.

I decide not to spend a lot of time in the crowded print galleries, but I do manage to find a very nice, packable-size print, a composition of various Día de Muertos themes, at the El Pinche Grabador Gallery.

As with the other aspects of Oaxaca’s feast for the senses, I only have time for a few tastings of its art and handicrafts, and I’m leaving still hungry for more. Next time, I'll sample more: painting, basketry, black (barro negro) pottery, jewelry...

* Wikipedia