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Post by bixaorellana on May 3, 2009 23:08:35 GMT
Today is May 3, day of the Holy Cross and the day set aside to honor people working in the masonry trades.
My landlord, who is a mason, came over earlier to set my hammock hooks for me & to invite me to the fiesta.
I live in a very large family compound, only two houses of which are occupied. The empty middle one has a nice-sized carport, and that's where the party was set up. My stomach has been upset for a couple of days, so I decided not to go. However, the landlady brought me a big covered plate and a huge mound of tortillas later. The plate turned out to contain beautifully tender goat meat, which will have to be enjoyed tomorrow.
Right now the sky is lead-colored and the wind is blowing very hard, but the sun is out. As I lay on the sofa reading, I was charmed by the loveliest singing. All the gathered masons are singing old traditional Mexican songs, interspersed with that Mexican yelping & shouting I love so much. The dog is doing his best to ignore the loud fireworks, and I'm rather basking in the sound of people having an innocent good time.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2009 23:23:58 GMT
I really needed to hear that you're in a good place. It sounds just lovely.
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Post by lola on May 3, 2009 23:29:33 GMT
Cabrito? Suckling kid? Sorry you're not up to it, Bixa. Feel better soon.
Family compound sounds wonderful. My idea of the way to live. I hate being separated from my brothers and mother, would love to live all together but in own casitas.
You don't mind if I come hang around there for awhile after my little stay in Montmartre? I hear your neighborhood has vacancies.
We live next door to a large loud fun loving family that I actually like except when they sit out on their porch late at night taking the night air and socializing. The barmistress-like cackles, good natured talk that echoes into our bedroom, and the clinking of beer bottles tossed into the trash can aren't conducive to sleep. We have our windows open for the same reason they want to sit outside.
The skies are leaden here, too, but I picked a big handful of lilies of the valley today, and the peonies and irises are starting to come in nicely.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 3, 2009 23:56:09 GMT
Come on down, Lola ~~ I'm sure I can arrange for the empty house for you, or find a nook in my own casita. I find almost nothing prettier than the skies of Oaxaca during the rainy season. It's actually extremely quiet here most of the time, with lots of birdsong as the predominant "noise". The lads are moving towards more whooping & less singing right now -- perhaps beer is involved? No matter, they work really hard & deserve their special day. It's been forever since I've seen peonies or lilies of the valley blooming (*takes deep, imaginary sniff*).
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2009 4:47:18 GMT
The day of the Holy Cross? Sounds like they will make any excuse to have a party. It seems to me that a day with that name should honor carpenters and not masons!
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Post by lagatta on May 4, 2009 13:12:00 GMT
But aren't carpenters honoured on St-Joseph's day?
Yes, this sounds lovely.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 4, 2009 17:10:11 GMT
The day of the Holy Cross? Sounds like they will make any excuse to have a party. It seems to me that a day with that name should honor carpenters and not masons! The thing about Mexicans is that they work really, really hard -- too hard by our first world standards, so deserve some fun. Why the day honors masons: Holy Cross Day is celebrated everywhere in Mexico on May 3. Curiously, it has become the feast day of masons. Here's the story why.
Faithful Catholic Spaniards used to adorn a cross with flowers on this day and place it on top of their houses. Later, the Spanish missionaries brought this tradition to our country.
Since in the early years of the Spanish colonial period in Mexico, most churches were still under construction, on May 3 the priests asked the masons to make crosses and put them on the highest point of the building. Over the centuries, masons came to make this their own celebration, and they and their families now have a special feast on this day. (from this website) The crosses, which nowadays are put put atop all buildings under construction, remain there forever, becoming more weathered with time. It's a particularly big day in my area, since the full name of the town is Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán. The mototaxi stand here is the stand of Sta. Elena (St. Helen), finder of the true cross.
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Post by Jazz on May 4, 2009 19:02:39 GMT
The idea of living in a family compound is quite foreign to my culture and it sounds wonderful. The only time I think we came close to it was during WW2. You caught me totally off guard when you announced you were moving, but you sound happy. Do you have a garden in your new home? I remember the photos of your other garden and it was very beautiful. Are you buried under mountains of boxes or have you 'made yourself at home'?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 4, 2009 20:10:36 GMT
Well, I've lived in a compound before & swore I never would again. However,-there are only two inhabited houses in this compound -- mine & the one at the far opposite end, screened from my view by trees -- it seems okay.
I didn't post much about house-hunting because I was pretty demoralized. Still, I think I'm better off in the new place. I made the last garden from scratch, so I can do the same here.
Mostly I've just "sketched in" my living areas. The interior badly needs painting, plus I am sick of not having enough storage. I've left lots of things in boxes & suitcases until I can get a closet/cabinet thing built.
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Post by spindrift on May 14, 2009 22:27:01 GMT
I am glad to know that you're settled, Bixa, and that you have good supplies of electricity and water. Your address has changed but has your telephone number changed too?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 15, 2009 0:16:52 GMT
It's the same phone #, Spindrift. I'm not that far from where I lived before -- can even walk there across the hills.
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Post by spindrift on May 15, 2009 7:42:43 GMT
Thanks for telling me ;D
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2009 7:55:17 GMT
Your new place sounds nice. Do you still have a good sized garden?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 15, 2009 13:28:20 GMT
I found out something interesting about my house from the landlord the other day -- from the horse's mouth, so to speak. First, some background: The property is several contiguous lots in a very lightly settled section in the hills. There are three nicely made houses of block on it -- mine at one end, and two others right next to each other at the other end. There are also some ramshackle outbuildings scattered about, as the landlord is a contractor and stashes stuff here plus likes to make stuff out of iron. None of this is very tidy. Anyway, my house and the middle one have been empty for a number of years -- 5 or 6 for mine, and I don't know how long for the other one. The landlord said that he let them stay empty because the property was just meant for his children (grown, with kids of their own) and he didn't want just anyone here. It turns out that my house and the other were both occupied by his sons and he threw them both out for drinking! So, there is a good bit of ground around my house and he's indicated I can do what I want with it. It's very stony, gritty soil and of course there is a water shortage, so I'm going to have to think very hard how I want to proceed. There's nothing on it right now except for trees and some sparse, wiry weed grass.
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Post by spindrift on May 15, 2009 20:57:13 GMT
Is your camera operational? I'd love to see a picture of the ground - your potential garden.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 15, 2009 21:40:47 GMT
Okay ~~ everyone cross fingers and think good thoughts ........... yesterday I took the camera to a repairman. I spoke to him this morning and he said the camera is fixable, then quoted a price far higher than I wanted to pay -- about half of what the stupid camera cost. I waffled & he came down slightly on the price. Factoring in that all cameras here cost twice as much as they do in the States and that there is far less choice, and also that I couldn't buy any new camera for the repair price, I went ahead & said yes. I'm supposed to get it back tomorrow morning. Watch this space.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 17, 2009 4:35:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2009 20:29:24 GMT
I love the cactus plants, my favorite type.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 4, 2009 6:25:05 GMT
I think it was HW who asked in "Hi-xo the Hills!" when it would get green around here, & I said almost immediately after the rains started. Here's some proof, taken day before yesterday. You'll see they were taken from more or less the same spot as the penultimate one above. You'll see some local wall art in the second one, as well.
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Post by spindrift on Jun 4, 2009 19:15:03 GMT
Bixa - the images have gone!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 4, 2009 21:01:35 GMT
Spindrift, the images I put in this thread are still here. There might be a bit of confusion because I put the two most recent in this thread, but in response to a comment made in the Hi-xo the hills thread. Are those maybe the images you meant?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2009 4:34:37 GMT
Here are a few more bits and pieces about where I live. Saturday goats were slaughtered and cut up here on the property. It was over before I knew it ... except for the last goat, who did not go gentle into that good night. I had a brief, intense flirtation with vegetarianism. There is a large shack across the big driveway from my house where my landlord, who's a contractor, stores some of his stuff. A tarp over-hang was rigged for the butchers, to protect them from the sun. Ginger was intensely interested in the proceedings. This picture was taken with zoom from my porch. You can see every fiber of his fuzzy being concentrated on the table of meat: He scores!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2009 4:39:36 GMT
Maybe he'll learn to slaughter goats himself next time.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2009 5:05:24 GMT
I took some pictures of the wild plants around here this afternoon. It was overcast & windy, so these aren't the greatest. The first few are right outside my gate. This is a wild zinnia. They're called "gallitos" here -- little roosters. They've just started emerging, but can be quite dramatic en masse. You can see them here peeking out around the lantana: This is my little wild patch of epazote. I'm trying to get some going good in my yard so I can be assured of a supply sans dog pee. Speaking of the food supply, this impressive nopal cactus (@9'high) is down a little track from my gate. I've seen a little girl gathering it, so I leave it alone. This is a culinary herb -- can't remember the local name for it, but it's obviously a relative of lantana, with a bright, clean, oregano-ish flavor and scent. It grows all over the place around here. These are common roadside weeds:
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2009 6:12:55 GMT
We continue our walk, striking out across a field to a road at the foot of these hills ~ The rains have been so late and infrequent this year, that these black-purple pea flowers are only now emerging. We make the loop and start towards home, pausing by a tumble-down adobe house that always intrigues me because of all the plants around it. Here is a cassia: planted near this lucky nut (Thevetia peruviana) <-- a companion lucky nut, Thevetia neriifolia. Pomegranate bushes are very popular around here. Several nopal cactus are planted at the base of this one. This specimen shows an infestation of cochineal, from which the famous red dye is made. If you scrape one of those bits of white fluff with your fingernail, it releases an intensely dark purple, staining liquid. Oleanders in full bloom are so pretty. On the right you can see the ubiquitous guaje. There's a whole grove of them in my yard. As I snapped the oleander, this little dove obligingly alit and posed for me: Here is a young pirul, which retains its beauty as it grows into a towering 50 foot high tree. Almost home, I stop to admire the bougainvillea in the giant euphorbia tree ~ and the delicate rosa montana over a neighbor's gate ~ Standing in the street as I get the key out, I look up at my porch ~ At the opposite end of the porch, right at the entrance to it, is a very bushy loquat in full bloom. I wish there were a way to convey its soft, sweet scent, a constant delight.
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Post by imec on Jun 16, 2009 12:16:31 GMT
What's epazote, and why do you need a supply?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2009 13:03:53 GMT
Wonderful pics Bixa,you have really acquainted yourself quickly with the flora and fauna. The "lucky nut"peruviana and it's companion in peach are exquisite. What was the cacti being gathered for? It seems so late for the loquat to be just blooming,I thought somehow you were ahead of our bloom season. Ours have fruited and gone now. You and your epazote ,I can't imagine this plant without visions of you dive bombing for it!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2009 14:56:37 GMT
Great idea, Kerouac. Maybe I can post some pictures of me being tarred and feathered after my dog starts killing goats. Thanks, Casimira. The pads of several varieties of opuntia are a common and important part of the diet in Mexico. Every single market will have several ladies peeling and selling cactus. However, if you live near a stand of nopal cactus, it's easy to gather and de-spine your own. Imec, thanks for reminding me I didn't provide a clickable link above. (fixed now) Epazote is a wild plant much used in Mexican cooking. It has a strong, like-nothing-else scent and flavor. A plant nursery in your area probably offers it for sale. It retains much of its flavor when dried. The thing to remember with it is to cook it very lightly as the taste changes when over-cooked, and not in a nice way.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 20, 2009 4:58:20 GMT
Today I had to stop weed-whacking the overgrown grass when it started to rain pretty hard. No matter, as when it cleared it was so beautiful out. I love how the mountains look closer after a rain, and the way the fog and clouds lie in the valleys . Thoroughly relaxed by all this quiet, bucolic beauty, I began watching a movie. I had to strain to hear it though, as some monster piece of machinery was being ground and revved very close by. An investigative trip to the porch revealed this screw-up: Hard to figure how he managed that, but by the time I looked, he'd managed to dig himself in really well. I guess the kibbitzers persuaded him to wait for help, which soon arrived. It was lucky for the truck driver that road work was going on nearby. Here the equipment operator is getting into position behind the hapless truck. In short order the truck was up on the road again. Who says country life is dull?!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2009 17:07:01 GMT
I just discovered this part today. It's great! It's almost as good as the traffic accidents out my window. But since I got the double-glazed windows, I only hear the crash about 15% of the time.
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