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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 26, 2011 22:59:41 GMT
I live in a colonia in Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, which adjoins the city of Oaxaca. Even though the municipality of Xoxo, as it's commonly called, is quite sprawled out, the town itself is compact. It's also a nice little walk from my house, and where I walked with my dog on Wednesday. I took the camera along "just in case". Then it hit me -- a small, typical town on a regular day -- that's exactly the kind of thing that makes a good anyport report. Well, I hope you all think so, anyway. Let's go!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 26, 2011 23:20:49 GMT
We've reached the center of town, with the classic Mexican small-town square.The glary patch is a white bauhinia in full bloom. The purple one shows up much better.Naturally there is a stand set up selling aguas (fruit ades) and snacks.The wall to the church and church yard borders one whole side of the square.Another classic of the Mexican town square -- the bandstand ~You may not recognize it, but any of you who followed my muertos 2011 thread have seen this square before. Then, it looked like this:A better shot of the food stand. Everything is so nice & green, too -- the town must water!The flag proudly waves ~and the municipal building is open for business.More to come ...........
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 0:29:55 GMT
The information on this church, and the old ruined one in the cemetery is pretty skimpy. One source (link now defunct) says: "Late 16th century church, 17th century altarpieces". The church currently in use was built in the mid-1600s of the native green stone and was consecrated in 1657. The ruined church is a hundred years older. I suppose that some of the objects in the present church were originally from the older one.
Let's go inside.
There is a holy water font on either side of the door: one with wings turned up ~and one with wings turned down ~These are the doors to the baptismal font area, just to the right after you enter.You can see these vestiges of very old decoration in churches all over Mexico ~A peek inside at the font.Looking from the back up to the main altar. Note the very tall cross on the right.Just past the cross in the previous picture, you can see a big gilded frame. Here's a closeup of it. Those appear to be colonial-era paintings of some of the stations of the cross. It also appears that parts of the piece are missing.Here's the whole thing, next to the side chapel. We'll go in there first, then return to the main church.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 0:40:34 GMT
Altar of the chapel ~You see another of the very tall crosses here, this one with a ladder on either side.Mater Dolorosa
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 1:05:35 GMT
On the opposite wall from the chapel is this small altar, with a very old figure in the center of the arch and a 20th century touch within ~The main altar ~That is St. Helen/Santa Elena, the patroness of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, above the crucifix. St. Helen is traditionally credited with finding the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.Bad pictures, but you can see the antiquity of the statues and paintings in the altarpiece.As I was discreetly trying to get those last pictures, I was distracted by unearthly moaning coming from outside, echoing and bouncing off the plaster of the church -- the sobbing of a bored, tied up puppy.
Oh. Did I make a noise? Did you come out because of me?It's fine. Really. Don't feel guilty on my account.I didn't get a picture of the whole churchyard, but it's huge -- appropriate to a church twice this size. This is pretty common, I suppose because the churchyard was probably the original gathering place in towns.
They obviously still have gatherings here ~Looks as though there'll be seating for everyone, no problem.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 1:25:39 GMT
So here we are back outside, walking around the streets bordering the main square. Here's a miscelánea, the ubiquitous "corner store" of Mexico. This one seems to cater to the candles and candy crowd.Continuing around, stopping to snap the hills in the distance. You can see how dry they are. Security & speed -- can't ask for more than that.This store has hair barrettes, toys, gifts, and pretty much everything for your fireworks needs.I duck into a La Michoacana. It's a franchise ice cream/ices/aguas place with homemade tastes. It's hard for me to pass a La Michoacana without stopping for a lime ice. When I went to share it with Darla, I realized she would have preferred an ice cream. Oh well.It's pleasant sitting here, soaking up the nice day.The snack stand does a steady business. From here you can see part of the mural on the municipal building.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 2:00:25 GMT
There are casas de la cultura all over Mexico, as it's a federal program to promote the arts and traditional culture of the country. I believe this absorbed (& good!) young guitarist was on his way there, as another boy with a guitar case walked by as I was taking pictures. The purple bauhinia ~And a shot of the white one as we exit the square to go see more of the rest of the town ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 2:09:07 GMT
Front wall of a pediatrician's office ~Before you look at at the figure with the wheel, some of you should know that it's a cl*wn.Directly across the street from that fancy wall ~And the side wall of the dr's office ~This puppet is scarier than a clown!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 2:25:52 GMT
Have your next party catered with barbacoa from here ~The cannibalistic Titi urges you to eat his relatives.Dad?! Dad, is that you??! This alternate therapies place not only uses St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases, as their logo, they also feature shamrocks. For luck?If one therapy won't help you, another one must ~Just looking at this makes my teeth hurt!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 2:40:42 GMT
In our meandering, we wind up at the edge of town, right in front of the "new" cemetery. I'm recycling this picture from the muertos thread ~Then we decide to walk back into town by a different route.Bougainvillea spilling over a fence ~And poinsettias, a Mexico native, growing in too much shade, look over into the light ~Stick around, there's more to see .........
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 3:40:06 GMT
What's this ahead? It's the back wall of the old town cemetery, with part of the ruined church showing over it.This church appears in the oldest known map of the Monte Alban area, which dates from 1606. It was called the chapel of San Sebastian and was built between 1535 and 1555 of adobe, reed and thatch. It had a graveyard around it, which became the town graveyard when the chapel was abandoned.
That information, cribbed from wikipedia, is all I know. Was the chapel abandoned because it fell down of its own accord, or because of an earthquake? Well, we'll be taking a closer look & you all can conjecture.
The last time I was in here was the night of October 31, when I stumbled around in the dark & almost broke my ankle. Today there are no live people inside, and the only evidence of life is this little chair & an umbrella stashed by a vendor next to the storeroom door.It looks as though no one has been here for years! You can why it was so much trouble to maneuver in the dark. It's hard enough in the day.October 31 ~ November 23 ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 4:08:19 GMT
I may have mentioned that an American friend who's since moved away used to visit cemeteries with me. We were both always surprised at how abandoned the graveyards often seemed, and even messy in the smaller communities. And seeing this cemetery, I have to admit I was shocked at how completely the visitors to the dead had turned their backs on the graves once the days of the dead were over.
Then it hit me -- they don't bother fixing up the graves on a regular basis because there is no one here! The graveyard is simply the last place the living and the dead "saw" each other, so serves as a rendezvous point when the dead return for their yearly visits. That's quite nice.Every single child's grave in the whole cemetery had candy on it, even the graves of children whose parents must be long dead.
Speaking of which, from what I observed, there are no graves in this cemetery any later than the mid-1970s.
The smoothed concrete, coffin shaped style is quite common throughout this cemetery. Some of them look as though the cement is renewed often. Most of them have no crosses or other monuments, only at most a few words scratched into the tops.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 4:35:09 GMT
Now we're coming up to the front(?) of the church. I don't know what that huge rock is, unless it's something left from pre-colonial times &/or too big to move. There are a couple of older graves here that seem to have been partly buried or pushed by the collapse of the church.This is taken facing away from the church. You can see how earth or detritus from the the church's building materials has pushed this tomb. And in this & the next picture, you can tell the arched entrance to the church is higher the the front part of the graveyard.This is the part that was so full of gringo shutterbugs on the night of October 31. Safety precautions for the public? Naaaaah.Sorry about the color of this photo. I had to mess with it to bring out the detail under the arch. You can see a little of it in the previous picture.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 4:51:21 GMT
The inner part of the peak we could see from the other side of the cemetery's back wall.Coming "outside" again and proceeding along the right side of the church ~This metalwork had come loose and was gently swishing and tinkling in the silent graveyard.Coming around to the back of the church ~This tombstone is heartbreaking.Looking right ~Looking left ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 5:03:09 GMT
Now we've come all the way around the church & are looking toward the front of the cemetery.Almost to the front entrance ~What's this?! An actual bit of color. That sod must have been well watered.We finally get home. Someone who was romping in the dirt had to have a bath & get all tucked up on the big bed.Ohhh, that was a big day. I can't keep my eyes open ......... zzzzzzz
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Post by bjd on Nov 27, 2011 7:59:51 GMT
Thanks for this, Bixa. It does look like a small town -- what is the population? Is it basically a suburb of Oaxaca? Large cemetery though.
I like all the bright colours on everything. But the hills behind being so dry -- I thought it was recently the rainy season?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 8:12:47 GMT
Bjd, there are some stats in the links in the OP, but they're misleading. @66,000 people are reported, but the municipality is hugely spread out. There are not nearly that many right in the little core town. It doesn't take that long to walk from one end of town to the other. And yeah, it's effectively a suburb of Oaxaca, with just a skinny river & the ring road separating the two.
Isn't that something? When the rainy season ends, it really ends. One day there is mud and humidity, the next day dust and panting plants. It's hell on the skin.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 27, 2011 9:22:14 GMT
What a truly amazing photo-essay Bixa! I will be looking at the photos several times to take it all in The immediate thing I noticed about Xoxo was its neat and tidy buildings and the super clean streets! By the way how does one pronounce XOXO? Magnificent flowers on that Bauhinia tree! Am I right in thinking that it is also called the "Camels Foot" tree? Thanks for the walk - it was fab!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 17:08:36 GMT
Thank you, Tod & thanks for reminding me that Xoxo's pronunciation needs clarifying. I know it's not obvious, because people in other parts of Mexico don't always know how to say it.
It's ho-ho, just like what Santa Claus says. the full name would be Ho ho coat lahn.
Oh, that's funny about the camel's foot tree. One of the Mexican names for it is the pata de vaca -- cow's foot.
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Post by lola on Nov 27, 2011 21:24:39 GMT
The reason bixa's so lovable: she spends her time in the land of hugs and kisses.
So much to see on one walk! What does "priista" mean? or am I misreading? Are the paintings of teeth, goats, etc artistic exhuberance, or aids for the illiterate? Your plaza reminds me a little of Taos'.
Are the cross side ladders symbolic, a handy place to store them until it's time to fix the roof, or both? I hadn't seen that before, or anything like the recumbant Jesus on the altar. Great church. I automatically feel a little transported in a place like that.
The ruined church had end walls of stone and adobe, I guess, and sides of just adobe. I'd love to get up there with some fine mud and do plaster work before it melts any further.
Yes, Puppetophobia is coming on fast.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2011 23:05:06 GMT
"Lovable" might be stretching it a wee bit. I have long signed letters & emails with xo. When I moved out here, a friend said I'd need to become doubly affectionate. Re: so much to see on one walk ~~ I hope this encourages people to walk around their own areas & show them off here. My feeling had been "oh, there's nothing special to see in Xoxo", but when I tried looking at it through others' eyes, so to speak, I saw there was a great deal there. Priista is anything to do with this political party: short answer or long answer. About the paintings -- everything gets painted here, including copyrighted, well-known logos. I.e., a Pepsi sign is more likely to be painted on a store's wall than to be a sign provided by the company. The goats, etc., I suppose are versions of those hanging signs over a business showing its purpose. The ladders & tall crosses are ringing some kind of distant bell in my head, but I don't know why. I'm sure the ladders are something symbolic of the crucifixion, as they also appear in that etched window. There are tons of those recumbent Christs in the Puebla thread, but I don't think I've seen one up on an altar before. It's hard to tell if the beams and tarp on the ruined church are evidence of an abandoned recuperation project or what. I am going to start asking around to see if I can find more history on that church. What kind of talisman works against mean marionettes?
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 28, 2011 13:41:15 GMT
Here's a daft question Bixa - how do you pronounce Xoxocotlan?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 28, 2011 17:03:05 GMT
It's still pronounced the same way it was yesterday morning. see reply #18
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 28, 2011 17:08:38 GMT
It's still pronounced the same way it was yesterday morning. see reply #18Doh... Didn't see that (obviously...)
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 29, 2011 17:20:41 GMT
Xo xo xo, it matters not! ;D
Neglected to respond to Tod's comment about how clean the streets are. In Reply #5, the 5th picture, you can see the brooms & bins the municipality uses to keep things tidy. Yes, it is nice. Unfortunately, as soon as you get out of town proper, the litter begins. I've never gotten used to it. Every once in a while in my small neighborhood, there will be a tequio -- group effort -- to spruce up the area. This is great, but it would be even nicer if people would not make mess to clean up.
Tod, sometimes your pictures seem similar to things that might be seen around here. It would be great to see more threads made on just plain everyday life from around the world where anyporters live.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2011 20:40:47 GMT
Tis the season!
I just wanted to say that I loved this thread from the moment it appeared, but I preferred to wait a bit before commenting. This sort of thread is indeed the type of thing that I always imagined that Anyport should be right from the start -- illustrating the interest of what is right around the corner.
There are a zillion sights showing the wonders of the world, and that is what we will automatically be looking for if we make a tourist trip to Oaxaca.... or Paris. The extra element that all of us can provide is the insight to everyday life where we all live -- the ordinary parks, the administrative offices, the vegetation, the basic decorations, the products available in the shops -- these are the things that we will miss if we are only looking at the monuments.
Bixa, your report is the epitome of what we can hope to see at Anyport.
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Post by nycgirl on Nov 30, 2011 16:05:25 GMT
Well said, K.
These photos are amazing! They're just bursting with color. I especially love the photos of Taekwondo building, the folding chairs, and the laundry line.
It's kind of hilarious that someone would want to paint an insidious-looking puppet on a pediatrician's building.
Once again, your puppy is too cute! The saucer-eyed look she gave you outside the church is priceless and the photos of her drifting off to sleep are the perfect way to end the essay. Adorable.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 30, 2011 21:00:28 GMT
Gosh, Kerouac -- thank you! That is greatly appreciated praise, coming as it does from the man who wrote the book on picture thread making.
And I repeat along with you -- please, everyone -- where you live is interesting in & of itself!
You need to come here, NYCGirl, that's all there is to it. I guess the puppet was supposed to be fun and toy-like, but sheesh!
Thanks so much for your appreciation, you picked out my favorite pics!
Darla says thanks, too. She's really responsible for this thread, as I keep looking for new interesting places to take walks now.
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Post by hwinpp on Dec 1, 2011 4:37:31 GMT
For some reason or other the cemetery reminds me of the cemeteries in the town I grew up in in Germany. I can instantly spot a Catholic one.
Thanks for showing us around your barrio, Bix!
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Post by nycgirl on Dec 1, 2011 13:56:53 GMT
Thanks so much for your appreciation, you picked out my favorite pics! I just noticed that these are the ones you posted to the color thread. Nice selection!
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