today was quite an interesting day for a number of different reasons . . . we hired a local taxi driver, federico, to take us out to some ruins and a town famous for its weaving. we had made these arrangements a few days ago, but since meeting our new friends, mitch and Karen from philadelphia, we invited them to join us for the day and they accepted.
as we were leaving the city federico stopped and pointed out a mural depicting the life of a past president of mexico, benito juarez, who was a local zapotec indian and served five terms from 1858 to 1872. the mural is a mosaic and completely constructed of tiny little tiles. . . very beautiful. he also told us the current president, felipe calderon, would be in oaxaca today for the dedication of the university and some other official business.
we visited two more ruin sites today . . . mitla and yagul. they were spectacular in their own way . . . it is interesting to note some similarities to the ruins we saw earlier. the basic layouts are all similar as obviously they all take advantage of whatever high ground they have to provide defences for the settlement. they also all feature ball courts where a type of handball was played. even though they have discovered these ball courts at all of the ruin sites we have visited, no one is really sure of the rules or even how the game was played . . . another mystery, I guess. if you have an archaeological bent and a strong imagination, you could probably write about these games, make up a good story and become famous for it. at yagul, nellie was able to follow a rocky path leading and climb to a higher vantage point looking over the entire site and the surrounding valley. federico joined her and they reported to the rest of us that the view was spectacular.
we went on to teotitlan, where federico lives. here every household is involved in the weaving business . . . and the people here are relatively well off as a result . . . rugs, table runners and wall hangings. federico, when not driving taxi, is also a third generation weaver. today he has brought along some of his own creations in hopes of a sale. these are very labour intensive, and in federico’s case, often taking as long as one month to produce just one rug. they can be very pricey items.
we stop for lunch at a spot recommended by mary jane and we invite federico to join us. he is very grateful, almost shy about accepting. he most certainly enjoyed his feast though as he cleaned off every scrap on his plate and finished most of the contents of a basket of tortillas as well. as mitch explained to him . . . he left a ‘very happy plate’. he obviously doesn’t get to enjoy a meal like this every day. after lunch, we head off to the home of an aunt of federico’s where he has arranged for a demonstration of the process of dying the wools used for the weaving. he very quickly sees that she has not waited for us as the house is empty. scratching his head, he heads back out onto the road and we right away see a fellow he knows. speaking in zapotec . . . his native tongue . . . he arranges that we can stop at this fellow’s place to get the promised demonstration. here we meet demitrio and his wife who have a small factory at their home, as well as a few rooms to rent.
‘cochineal’ dye is the source of the bright reds in many of the oaxaca weavings. it is produced from the bodies of the scale insect, which thrives on the thick leaves of the prickly pear cactus. because it is a natural product . . . as opposed to synthetic . . . it is also becoming more popular in north america as a natural food and for use in cosmetic coloring (lipsticks for example). there are cochineal farms in the area southwest of oaxaca city. between demitrio and his wife, we are shown the whole process of the crushing of the insect and the effect of adding a little citrus juice and/or baking soda. by controlling the ph level of the solution they can produce up to 160 shades of red. all the other colours they use at this shop are produced only from other natural sources.
we finished the day at tule, home to the famed ‘el tule’, the largest tree in latin america, and possibly the oldest. this gargantuan mexican cypress has a house sized trunk and branches that reach 15 stories high. the claim is that the huge tree is about 2,000 years old. i guess it’s possible . . . but do they use carbon dating? who knows. i always thought you had to count the rings to date a tree, and of course if you had to cut the tree down to do so . . . it would become the worlds oldest, used to be living, now dead, tree. anyway, it is spectacular and bigger even that the balboa trees we saw in africa.
after supper I could tell you that we went for a stroll and cappachinos and a shared dessert . . . but . . . if you’ve been reading along with us, you already know that.
as we were leaving the city federico stopped and pointed out a mural depicting the life of a past president of mexico, benito juarez, who was a local zapotec indian and served five terms from 1858 to 1872. the mural is a mosaic and completely constructed of tiny little tiles. . . very beautiful. he also told us the current president, felipe calderon, would be in oaxaca today for the dedication of the university and some other official business.
we visited two more ruin sites today . . . mitla and yagul. they were spectacular in their own way . . . it is interesting to note some similarities to the ruins we saw earlier. the basic layouts are all similar as obviously they all take advantage of whatever high ground they have to provide defences for the settlement. they also all feature ball courts where a type of handball was played. even though they have discovered these ball courts at all of the ruin sites we have visited, no one is really sure of the rules or even how the game was played . . . another mystery, I guess. if you have an archaeological bent and a strong imagination, you could probably write about these games, make up a good story and become famous for it. at yagul, nellie was able to follow a rocky path leading and climb to a higher vantage point looking over the entire site and the surrounding valley. federico joined her and they reported to the rest of us that the view was spectacular.
we went on to teotitlan, where federico lives. here every household is involved in the weaving business . . . and the people here are relatively well off as a result . . . rugs, table runners and wall hangings. federico, when not driving taxi, is also a third generation weaver. today he has brought along some of his own creations in hopes of a sale. these are very labour intensive, and in federico’s case, often taking as long as one month to produce just one rug. they can be very pricey items.
we stop for lunch at a spot recommended by mary jane and we invite federico to join us. he is very grateful, almost shy about accepting. he most certainly enjoyed his feast though as he cleaned off every scrap on his plate and finished most of the contents of a basket of tortillas as well. as mitch explained to him . . . he left a ‘very happy plate’. he obviously doesn’t get to enjoy a meal like this every day. after lunch, we head off to the home of an aunt of federico’s where he has arranged for a demonstration of the process of dying the wools used for the weaving. he very quickly sees that she has not waited for us as the house is empty. scratching his head, he heads back out onto the road and we right away see a fellow he knows. speaking in zapotec . . . his native tongue . . . he arranges that we can stop at this fellow’s place to get the promised demonstration. here we meet demitrio and his wife who have a small factory at their home, as well as a few rooms to rent.
‘cochineal’ dye is the source of the bright reds in many of the oaxaca weavings. it is produced from the bodies of the scale insect, which thrives on the thick leaves of the prickly pear cactus. because it is a natural product . . . as opposed to synthetic . . . it is also becoming more popular in north america as a natural food and for use in cosmetic coloring (lipsticks for example). there are cochineal farms in the area southwest of oaxaca city. between demitrio and his wife, we are shown the whole process of the crushing of the insect and the effect of adding a little citrus juice and/or baking soda. by controlling the ph level of the solution they can produce up to 160 shades of red. all the other colours they use at this shop are produced only from other natural sources.
we finished the day at tule, home to the famed ‘el tule’, the largest tree in latin america, and possibly the oldest. this gargantuan mexican cypress has a house sized trunk and branches that reach 15 stories high. the claim is that the huge tree is about 2,000 years old. i guess it’s possible . . . but do they use carbon dating? who knows. i always thought you had to count the rings to date a tree, and of course if you had to cut the tree down to do so . . . it would become the worlds oldest, used to be living, now dead, tree. anyway, it is spectacular and bigger even that the balboa trees we saw in africa.
after supper I could tell you that we went for a stroll and cappachinos and a shared dessert . . . but . . . if you’ve been reading along with us, you already know that.
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