Good Friday & Easter 2012, Oaxaca

[bixaorellana]

I had to go to Llano park on Thursday to meet someone & took the same route shown here. The city was practically deserted and silent on Thursday. Not so on Friday!

Stopping to admire a venerable jacaranda in el Llano, with a kid version next to it ~~

Are they having a happy Easter?


Incidentally, I found out how they dye chicks. The kid who had them for sale said it's done with gas! He showed me the stains on his tennis shoes he got helping with the endeavor. He claims it has no effect on the chicks & goes away after three months, when presumably they molt.

Heading back to the pedestrian street, there were displays of blooms to admire. The pine behind them is a rare sight here in the valley.


Tons of people on Alcalá, plus some loud canned exotic music ~~


What's going on?

[bixaorellana]

Continuing down the street, we run into the preparations for the Procession of Silence. No, we won't be staying for it this year, but it's a great opportunity to see all the banners close up.

Hardly anyone around us was speaking Spanish. They were all conversing in indigenous languages.

[bixaorellana]

Across the street, at the Templo de Sangre de Cristo ~~

fascinated by the work on the banners ~

[bixaorellana]

]

[bixaorellana]

People waiting for the procession ~


Moving down Alcalá ~






A jog past the north side of the cathedral, & we're on the Alameda ~




A glance westward on Independencia before proceeding on to the zócalo ~~


After beer & botanas at a nearby watering hole, we return to the southwest side of the zócalo to wait for some people.
This band was still playing from when we passed through the first time -- quite nice!




I kept trying to get a good shot of the musical interaction between these two band members. That's how I got the photo that came out best of all the day's pictures, thanks to a kid passing with a balloon.

[bixaorellana]

I was grateful for the band because it kept us from getting bored while waiting. Hope it helped these cops ~


They're all staring across the street. This is their view:


People passing back & forth in the zócalo ~


Ah, here come the performers we saw up by Sto. Domingo.


I could hear most of what they were saying, & they seemed to be genuinely asking directions,
although they might have been messing with the cops a little.




That's it!

[Kimby]

I guess Easter is a big deal in Catholic Mexico. Thanks for this slice of life report, bixa.
Happy Easter.

[tod2]

Wonderful, wonderful photos Bixa! You really got some brilliant shots. I loved the close-up detail photos. Just that look on the face of the cop spoke a thousand words

I'm glad you told us about the chicks - it's ingenious and far better than being dunked in a bath of dye!
Are they selling them to the kids? (who will no doubt squeeze the life out the little dear)

The scene with the clowns putting the little boy on his shoulders was magic - you can just see the sheer delight on his face.
I wonder if Koloagirl will be able to tell us which Hawaiian island is depicted on the shirt of the cool dude in the band!

Thanks so much for taking us to the celebrations and Happy Easter egg Bixa!

[Deleted]

Easter in Mexico looks like a very confusing holiday to me -- cruxifictions, crowns of thorns and hearts pierced with seven swords, along with unicycles, jugglers, clowns, balloons and music. And of course painted baby chicks.

The Day of the Dead makes a lot more sense with the concept of making fun of death and rejoicing in the lives of the departed.

But of course, it looks like Mexico likes any excuse to have a party, and that is excellent as well.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks all! Tod, wonderful encouragement --

Semana Santa -- Holy Week-- is a huge deal all over Mexico. In terms of family vacation time, it's like Thanksgiving & Christmas rolled into one. The zócalo was crammed with tourists from all over Mexico, plus quite a few foreigners. We met a young couple, she was from Ohio & he from Brazil, who arrived here Friday without knowing the impossibility of finding a hotel room in Mexico at this time.

You see I didn't include any shots in Llano park besides that tree. The food stands, kiddie rides, etc. there were a duplication of Guadalupe Day in the park. (here, #s 28 -- 30)

Besides being a traditional vacation time, it's a celebration of faith for the genuinely pious.

As I type this, a loudspeaker in front of the house is asking people to go to the chapel to help carry the statues or floats. Must go look!

[lola]

Oh, amazing, bixa. (or may I say Amazing Bixa?) Thank you for this.

I love the banners. The coins are such a cool touch.

Catholicism queries: Does that shade of purple mean Lent there too? Would the seven swords in the heart make her a Mater Dolorosa? (Motherhood enables one truly to understand that image.)

Have you gotten to where you have picked up some of the indigenous words?

[Kimby]

Apr 8, 2012 7:43:52 GMT tod2 said:

I'm glad you told us about the chicks - it's ingenious and far better than being dunked in a bath of dye!

I would have guessed they injected the fertilized eggs with dye then let them grow and hatch multicolored. How do they do it with gas?

[Deleted]

I'm imagining more a can of spray.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks so much, Lola! Yes, purple is the universal (ahem) color for Lent, as far as I know.

I'm not sure about the Mater Dolorosa. I know the seven swords are for the seven sorrows of the Blessed Mother, so you're probably right.

Oh, ha ha ha on the indigenous words! I can't even pronounce most of them. The only ones I know are the ones that have become part of Spanish here -- cempoalxochitl for the marigold flower, or chapulín for grasshopper, for instance. (Xochitl = flower in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Cempoalxochitl is pronounced sim-pwah-sue-cheel in contemporary Mexican Spanish.)

Kimby, that's how I found out about the gas. We were looking at the chicks & Charlie told me the eggs were injected, so I asked the kid & he told me about the gas. I asked if he meant spray & he said no. So I said, "You mean like air?" and he said yes. I can't imagine how that would work.

Spray makes more sense, but surely it would kill the chickens. The clucker gas chamber I'm imagining as an alternative doesn't sound all that salubrious, though.

At any rate, by the time I finished typing my previous message & went outside, the statue of Jesus was already out of the chapel. There were tons of people. They came from the surrounding colonias as well.

Here ~~ see for yourselves ~~


Go full screen, please, for the full experience.

[Deleted]

"Jesus was out of the chapel" -- is that like "Elvis has left the building"?

[bixaorellana]

Heh, heh. Well, Elvis had to sneak out the back way to avoid the adoring fans. This was all out in the open, with no fear anyone would break the window of the limousine or anything.

[nycgirl]

Those chicks are too adorable! I just hope that the kids bringing them home don't get rid of them once they lose their cuteness. I read that abandoned chicks and rabbits are a problem after Easter.

These are lovely photos. As always, I really enjoy the colors and bustling atmosphere of Oaxaca.

Love the Spiderman shot. Glad he made an appearance.

[lugg]

I love that there are so many colours everywhere , the buildings , the clothes people are wearing

At first glance I thought the chicks were toys

[mich64]

I just am so happy to see how your community gives all their efforts to celebrate every occasion. People put a lot of work into presenting these festivals and it seems they never run out of volunteers. My favorite photo is the third one, the purple trimmed house and gate with the purple flowered trees above. Great report Bixa!

Cheers