Cantera Real Oaxaca

... local life and reflecting the need for foreign revenue (a prime example being the ‘Frida’ series of sculptures made by one of the Aguilar sisters at the suggestion of a foreign art dealer).

 

It was a bit frustrating to have such a short amount of time in such a sight/sound/smell-filled arena, but we managed.  It felt a bit better when we later made some pretty lengthy stops to a variety of other craft locales.  The first was a women’s cooperative of ...

Today was a great day with beautiful(but hot) weather starting off with another Spanish lesson in the morning. It was a good experience and we all learnt a lot. Everybody was onto it today as it was cooler in the morning than last lesson in the hot sun. we learnt heaps of good phrases that will help us get on well in the Mexican culture. Such as: how to order food and good useful ...

... to get up because we had to move (mike's) fridge, washer, and dryer out of a truck and into the house. I crawled out of bed, and within five minutes of waking up, was carrying a full size fridge into the house. Then, only 20 minutes after being awake, the guy with the truck needed me or AT to go with him back to Mike's house, so he could put a king size mattress in his truck... I offered to go, but then he said I would need to find my own way back home (and since I ...

... this evening under blankets. The Zocalo will have to be vibrant without us. The weather is turning a bit chilly and I'm guessing this is more climate than weather. We are also told that our bus trip to Costa Rica will be very cold because the TicaBus has only one setting for the AC - "Super Arctic". . . . Outside it will be HOT and COLD as the Pan American Highway moves from the coastal plains to the (mile high +) Cordillera(s) and back!

... had a huge political uprising in which the town was upset with the government / governor and graffitied the entire town, with political messages. This artist happened to be one of the head graffiti artists at that time. They spent 4 hours doing graffiti on the wall and then Jen was able to get the artist to draw a skull with butterfly wings and tattooed it to her stomach area. Unfortunatley he was pushing too ***********ly did the outline of the tattoo. She was ...

... invited me to two parties), and have stayed in three different hotels. A lot of this footwork isn't very fun or exciting, but there's a beauty in how easily and quickly it has come together. The only problem is that the part of me that, for weeks, has been saying "I can't wait to be settled down in Oaxaca" is nowhere to be found. I probably should be aggravated with myself, but how was I supposed to know? I've encountered a lot of white ...

... I am not the spirit fan, I will skip this experience and move forward to Mitla. Mitla, another from the incountable monumental sites in Mexico, with a pyramid complex and unique mosaics. And last stop - the waterfalls, called petrified waterfalls, surrounded by mountains and small lakes with hot water.

Another day we explored east from the city to the market of Tlacolula, the weavers of Teotitlan and the ruins of Mitla. There are several other villages and sites of interest along side roads into the mountains, the Sierra Madre del Sur. Tlacolula has the the oldest market is mesoamerica. Each Sunday artisans and farmers and crafters from the surrounding area arrive, almost at ...

... one way, with about 16-18 curves per mile, that adds up to over 2500 curves each way! And then there's the topes! Luckily, going through the mountains, there weren't that many little villages, however, each of those villages had several topes. The grand total was 150, which averaged one per mile, each way! Add that to the 2500 curves, we were happy enough averaging about 30 mph, tops! When we got to Oaxaca, the traffic was totally ...

... it is worth the 8 pesos.

The village of Black pottery is amazins the clay makes the pottery black no dyes You can watch them through a pot. and buy some beautiful things but getting them back home is hard to do unless you can have them shipped, bummer

Hierve El Agua is a day trip from Oaxaca but worth the time plus you can swim and cool of in the beautiful pool on top of the mountain