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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 6:37:34 GMT
It's my favorite time of year again, the days of the dead. I hope you all will walk around town with me and take pleasure as the departed pay their yearly visit to earth. I was out today looking for those students from cobao who starred so wonderfully in my last two reports on this festival, but no luck. I did find some other good stuff, though, so let's get started ☠ Getting ready for the kiddy parade: The pint sized parade wasn't due to start for a while, so I thought I go home to get something to eat, the return later. On the way home, I ran into more signs of things to come. ☠ |
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 6:57:55 GMT
Walking north from Sto. Domingo on the pedestrian street, I came upon a stage and a long series of pavilions. This was where the party, costume judging, and performances by students from UABJO* were to be held later in the evening. There was face painting going on here, too ☠   As you can see in the first altar photo, the sand paintings were already being swept up, but quite a few were left:    Alas, all is vanity!  It's past my bedtime, but I'll be back later with more of the 29th, and we can see the little kids marching and the big kids putting on a rather fabulous modern dance piece. * The Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (Spanish: Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, UABJO) |
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Post by tod2 on Oct 30, 2014 7:58:03 GMT
Terrific, terrific, terrific!! What beautiful photos Bixa - I loved the imaginings of the individual artists who constructed their portraits so beautifully. And then.....there it all goes - to the compost mansion in the sky  |
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Post by bjd on Oct 30, 2014 8:05:14 GMT
What! No pictures with an iguana?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 13:47:58 GMT
Fabulous pics.
I saw the pic of the girl in the Image Bank first, and now this fantastic series, making me wish even more that I was there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 16:24:30 GMT
The sand painting are beautiful, Bixa. You know where I last saw "pavement art" like that? When I was a kid in a small village in south Germany, at Corpus Christie, all done with flowers, except those were of various saints and religious imagery. Fascinating that the practice occurs so far apart.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 16:36:51 GMT
Thank you all so much!
Tod, it's always such a shame to see all that imaginative stuff discarded, but also perfectly appropriate for a celebration of death, right?
Bjd, I didn't want to wear the iguana out. He's saving his strength for when you're here.
Casimira ~~ next year! Once again I suggest that anyporters organize a meet-up here. But for accommodations & flights at this time of year, you have to start early.
Lizzy, that is fascinating! I had no idea that there was something similar so far away. I think the use of sand is symbolic -- dust to dust --, as the sand paintings figure strongly in funerals here.
Please stay tuned. I am going to try hard this year to keep the posts as close to real time as possible. With that in mind, the next group of pictures are from an hour or so later from the ones above.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 17:05:03 GMT
So here I go, retracing my steps from the opposite direction. Once more through the pavilions, I encounter the university students readying themselves for the evening. Warning: there is a cl*wn in the second picture. ☠  Yaay -- there are also mariachis!   Hey -- does this picture look Mexican enough?  More to come! ☠ |
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 17:24:08 GMT
Going south on Alcalá, I meet this enterprising crew:  And finally, after being directed to a cross street, I find the children's parade:   That little face on the far left -- could she be more precious?!  I'll be returning up to where the university students are to show some of what they did, so back in a bit. ☠ |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 17:42:59 GMT
This yearly report gets better and better every year, and I know that we have not even seen any of the best pictures yet because the corresponding events have not even taken place yet.
I absolutely love the photo of the kid playing dead. It's amazing how most of us loved playing dead at that age even though children have very little access to dead people other than television.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 30, 2014 17:44:40 GMT
Each year the costumes and make-up get better and better. I love the photo of the three little girls holding hands and the four gentlemen with their instruments, super Bixa!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 18:38:25 GMT
This yearly report gets better and better every year, and I know that we have not even seen any of the best pictures yet because the corresponding events have not even taken place yet. I absolutely love the photo of the kid playing dead. It's amazing how most of us loved playing dead at that age even though children have very little access to dead people other than television. Ditto. This post is almost word for word what I was going to write. With reference to the sand paintings, don't forget that Tibetan Buddhists will create huge, colorful sand mandalas and when the ceremony is over "erase" it. I've seen it done twice and it was unbelievably beautiful. |
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Post by htmb on Oct 30, 2014 20:16:26 GMT
Gorgeous!!!! Your beautifully composed photos are clear and crip and the colors are stunning. I love seeing the kids' makeup and outfits. This is very cool, Bixa.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 23:20:15 GMT
Gosh -- you all are too kind. Thank you!
Yeah, why do kids like playing dead & playing sick? Such odd little creatures.
Mich, I appreciate that. Those are two of my favorites as well.
I would dearly love to see a Tibetan mandala being made They're beautiful & spiritual.
Ahhh, Htmb, you are so good and encouraging! I'm glad you're enjoying it, too, as there is much much more.
There are so many more tourists in town this year than last, it's been a challenge to get pictures without a monster lens in the frame. Oh well, good for the economy.
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Post by htmb on Oct 30, 2014 23:23:54 GMT
Being experienced at capturing this type of event, I'm sure you're pics will be much better than theirs, Bixa.  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 23:39:48 GMT
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Post by htmb on Oct 30, 2014 23:43:12 GMT
I love the tributes to the writers!
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2014 23:52:18 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 0:12:22 GMT
 Aww, thanks, Htmb. I dunno, though -- some of these people look like they know what they're doing. So glad you liked the writers' altar. You can see I was quite taken with it. Here are just a few more shots from my perambulation to the north end of Alcalá, and then I'll finally get to the university shindig & that will be it for October 29. But there are days of fun ahead! ☠ Another store. This one features some of the typical Oaxacan tin work & another sand painting:   No thanks! Very welcoming, but not tonight.  Death is very BIG in Mexico.   |
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Post by lagatta on Oct 31, 2014 1:12:53 GMT
I liked the writers' shrine as well. Several of the greatest died in a clump in recent years. I think of Mario Benedetti, Juan Gelman and of course Gabriel García Marquez, though I'm sure I'm forgetting several others. I must be forgetting many major Mexican cultural "dead" since Paz or Fuentes... It is a huge country. I'm also surprised, googling, that Fuentes died so recently. I guess we misremember if we aren't actively studying writers.
And of course, the lists inevitably downplay women, though there have been many women of great culture in Hispanoamerica. (Not even referring to Brazil, or our tiny frozen Latin-speaking part of America).
I very much like the students' "cultural intervention", valuing the cultures of Oaxaca but at the same time innovating.
I think there are direct flights from Montréal to Mexico now. I suppose the fastest and cheapest is to take another flight from DF to Oaxaca, or is there practical land transport?
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Post by fumobici on Oct 31, 2014 1:23:01 GMT
Beyond fabulous obviously. The writers' shrine stood out for me too somehow. It's all dazzling. Hope there will be more.
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Post by questa on Oct 31, 2014 3:35:27 GMT
Dazzling...that is the word I was looking for.
Photos wonderful (as ever).
Why do kids like playing dead?...same reason the adults have kept this, and other ceremonies world-wide, going...to give Death a face and then overcome their fear of it.
The 'dead' kid gets up and runs around, the flowers die and get replaced with live ones next ceremony. The people celebrate overcoming death by keeping alive the memories of the departed.
Just my quick thoughts on your question, Bixa. #13
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 4:46:45 GMT
Wonderful, kind, thoughtful, and very gratifying responses from all of you -- thanks! LaGatta, this is what I got from a very cursory googling. Mexico has an excellent, very comfortable bus system, but it's a mountainous country, so traveling times between cities can be long. Oh, Fumobici, there will be more, much more. I got a few pics today (30th), but tomorrow and November first are the big days, packed with activities and photo-ops. Questa, that explanation is so insightful and makes so much sense once you say it -- thanks! |
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 5:24:29 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 7:07:19 GMT
And here is what I saw today, the 30th of October, as I walked around town to do some errands: The little grocery near my house ~  There is a line of booths on the side of Sto. Domingo with tourist information and local products. This demonstration of making a molinillo -- the wooden whisk/mixer for hot chocolate -- was fascinating.     A more modern method, but still labor-intensive:   Some tiny, some tall ~  Ha -- more face painting! Also mezcal ~  Amaranth skulls plus nut and seed confections ~  Oaxacan cheeses ~  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 7:25:43 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 31, 2014 7:52:35 GMT
Another series of great pics, Bixa. I was interested to see the chocolate mixers. My Colombian daughter-in-law has one similar to those on the right of the picture where they are stacked up. I hadn't realized they were used elsewhere.
I also wonder why marigolds are used so much in funeral celebrations in Mexico. The only other place I have seen such heavy use of those flowers is in the Indian movie "Monsoon Wedding", where all the wedding necklaces were marigolds.
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Post by htmb on Oct 31, 2014 12:52:32 GMT
I'd be interested in seeing a molinillo-making demonstration. Are the more colorful stirrers made with different types of wood that have been laminated together?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 13:20:33 GMT
Yes, the writers table was very moving to me as well.
The missing students, so very sad.
I met an artist when I was there, Fernando Olivera who painted a very beautiful tribute to the missing, El Desaparecido.
The paper mache madame is quite a standout and seems very graceful in manner.
I would love to see molinillo demonstration. I did not know they varied so much in size.
The one I have (which always draws comment) is what I believe to be the standard size.
There are quite a few other wooden utensils on that table I wouldn't mind owning too.
As for the mezcal, what can I say?
When I was there and we went out to a rural area, I was offered what I thought was bottled water, because it was in a plastic water bottle. Being quite thirsty, I went to guzzle and drank a huge amount of mezcal. Recycling?
It was quite a shock, and being homemade, very, very strong.
I do not remember for the life of me seeing any tin work. It's beautiful.
I also don't remember seeing so much masking/costuming this early.
It definitely is bigger than when I was there (1997).
Traveling by land seems like it would forever....
There are no direct flights from here. I had to go through Dallas, then, Mexico City.
Great reporting Bixa!!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 31, 2014 15:29:00 GMT
Thank you, Bjd!
Just as you thought the chocolate mixers were specific to Columbia, I thought they were specific to here.
Marigolds (Tagetes) are native to the new world, despite cultivars popularly called French or African marigolds. Many wild varieties grow here in addition to the fancier ones cultivated in vast quantities specifically for this holiday, and they have been used in this manner since far back in pre-Columbian times. Here's a quick overview:
Htmb, that was the first time I'd seen the molinillos being made. Judging by the rapt interest of local people at the demonstration, it was a first for them as well. Amazingly, they're created from a single piece of wood, even though the loose rings on them makes that seem impossible. The different colors are made by scorching the wood.
Glad you're enjoying this, Casimira -- thanks!
When you're here for a short time, especially at this time of year,it's easy to miss things such as the tin work due to the sensory overload of everything else.
As far as flights, you might want to check out N.O.>Houston>Oaxaca.
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