Oaxaca Dockters

one day at a time

2010-08-04T15:09:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking about life here in Mexico, there is less fluff than in the US. I have also been observing the glad and thankful hearts these people have. Not hearts of ignorance, nor innocence; but hearts that recognize the reality of life. In life there are days of celebration and days of sorrow. We in the US , I think, expect the celebrations as normalcy, when days of sadness come we are upset that the good-life is gone. My teachers here, the Mexicans, are much better at living in the present. They grieve their sadness with gusto and they also celebrate joys with all their being. OJALA (May it be) that God is teaching me to live in the present, to search out the joys of each day! of each moment! Some days I have to look harder and accept "joys" other than what I was looking for or expecting. But they are there- sometimes as small as a humming bird hoovering outside my window, other times it's much more obvious like an unexpected visit from a friend. May we all learn to seek out friendships, joy, small gifts, beauty- LOVE.

up coming wedding

2010-02-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated Jake and Shontee's up-coming wedding; friends from church came over, friends we work with, students who come to our English classes. We ate, we laughed, we sang, etc. After a few snaffoos we finally got a video link between Oaxaca, Mexico and Portland, Oregon so everyone could greet the Novios in person. We are looking forward to our trip back to the States and spending some great days celebrating there also with more family and more friends. FELICIDADES JAKE AND SHONTEE!!!

Where are you going?

2010-02-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

I went to visit a friend yesterday. I've been to her house before, but we drove there in a car, yesterday I took the bus, by myself. I left an hour early- to be sure to have enough time. It was a long ride on the bus so I got to thinking about where I am. It still boggles my mind at times, "I'm on a bus, in foreign country, not totally sure where I'm going, and I know I only have basic command of the language. What am I doing?" Well, it all worked out, it always does, but it is still a good question to ask where ever you are. What are you doing? and Why?

Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

2010-01-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Simple Gifts of Christmas

2009-12-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

We like to spend a bit of each Christmas morning
visiting friends; that is no different here in Oaxaca.
This morning we drove out to the community where we
work to visit two special families who have accepted
us as friends. They welcomed us into their humble home and served
us fresh coconut milk, right from the coconut!
Ruth whacked away at the shell with a huge machete
finally making a small hole for us to drink out of.
The hospitality and sharing of Christmas was displayed by this family. Humble people with simple gifts; simple gifts but non-the-less gifts of great value- they give themselves.

Poinsettias

2009-12-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Poinsettias here are not just small Christmas plants sold in December. They range from decorative plants that adorn the main square to large trees that grow in people's gardens. Poinsettias, and other plants, make Oaxaca alive with color; in December, in January, all year.

Christmas Eve on the Zocalo, Oaxaca

2009-12-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve in an outdoor cafe in shirt-sleeves, drinking hot chocolate out of ceramic bowls. Many of the Catholic churches in the city march from their neighborhoods to the city center, The Zocalo, usually with energized brass band setting a festive tempo for their congregants, floats and costumed dancers following along behind. We spent about 2 1/2 hours enjoying friends, music, parades, people watching, and fireworks. A Oaxacan Christmas is solemn, extravagant, spicy, folkloric, ritualistic, colorful.....maravilloso!!!
What a special time and treat to celebrate and honor the Christ Child.
Feliz Navidad !!...

Lachivisa

2009-12-04T06:58:00.001-08:00

Our hosts, Rulfo and Celia.

Celia, preparing TLYUDAS
in her kitchen over an open
fire. MMM! delicious

A quick clean up before church. Brush was raked
together and burned! Oh, if we had only thought to
bring marshmallows!

We brought some health tools (like this blood pressure
cuff) to check people's blood pressure and glucose levels.
A simple but important test that these people would
otherwise have to pay for. Diabetes is a serious health
problem in Mexico, especially here in the south.
This women lives alone. She hikes down to the river
everyday and rests in her hammock. At the end of
the day she hikes back up.

Traditional traje (dress) from the Isthmus,
in southern Oaxaca.

Thanksgiving Day on Saturday?

2009-11-27T01:28:00.001-08:00

It seemed very appropriate to celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in southern Mexico with our Oaxacan friends. So last Sat. we invited three families over to our house to share in a Thanksgiving dinner. We had barbecued turkey, rolls, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and a sweet potato pie! It was just like at home, without the traditional food ball game on the TV. We are grateful to our friends here for their patience with our Spanish,
for teaching us their culture and their recipes, for gifting us their time. We have prospered because of the generosity and help of these dear people.
We are simply grateful!

When the early pilgrims in the U.S. arrived to their new world, their food was scarce and the winter was fierce. By the end of their first year, close to half of them were dead! They survived in part due to the help of the citizens, the nationals, the locals who helped them, taught them, had patience with them.

We too are pilgrims here, new residents. We arrived with needs like the pilgrims of an earlier epoch. But there is no draught, nor starvation, like in the days of old. And we won't die in a draught of friendship; we have been gifted with many dear friends. We won't die from a starvation of loneliness, we have been well cared for and accepted; we have been befriended. We will survive!

We too wish to say, "Thanks be to God for what has occurred here."

FLEXIBILITY

2009-11-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

7:00 a.m..
I'm sleeping in. The phone rings. It's my noon-time guests calling to ask if they can come 1 to 2 hours later than arranged, they had unexpected guests pop in and spend the night.
"Por supuesto!" (sure)

11:30 a.m.
My guests call back. The highway is closed. They may be even 2 hours later! Since there is no telling when the highway might re-open I suggest we cancel and reschedule. I'll be seeing them this weekend we can talk about it then.
"Claro, es mejor!" (Of course, that's better)

4:27 p.m.
They call back. The highway is open. They'll be here in an hour.
Esta bien. (That's fine.)

5:55 p.m.
Four women, with one of the husbands driving them, show up in a pick-up truck. 3 people in front, 2 older women riding in the back. They come in and visit. They have come from over an hour away to apologize for having to have canceled earlier in the day. We visit, drink coffee, eat banana bread and brownies. They leave at 7:30. I send them off with an extra blanket to wrap up in, in the back of the truck. Maybe I'll get it back, maybe I won't.

On again, off again! But in the end two groups of people gathered and shared together. Our days don't always go as planned. But then joys and blessing don't always announce themselves ahead of time. But when they do come- GRAB THEM!

Mexicans take a cold seriously!

2009-11-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

Bruce came home Friday night from a trip to the southern part of the state with a cold. He was just beginning to recover but the 5 hour drive home plus an early morning run to the airport on Saturday morning made him relapse.
I ran into our pastor on Sat. night and told him Bruce was feeling bad and we probably wouldn't make it to church in the morning. He very nicely called before church to check on Bruce, and said they would be praying for him. After church he called again. The church is meeting in our neighborhood this month; they were only a few blocks away, so he asked if he could bring Dr. Hugo by the house to check on Bruce. Wow, how nice!!!! But Dr. Hugo is a BRAIN SURGEON!
Well, about 20 min. later Memo, our pastor and friend, Dr. Hugo and about 12 people showed up to see how Bruce was feeling. They chatted, drank water and visited as Dr. Hugo and Bruce talked. Thank goodness I had some cookies in the freezer that I quickly defrosted.
The prescription: a strong dose of LOVE, served up as needed! Oaxacans are good at that!

Introducing Jake and Shontee

2009-11-06T07:03:00.000-08:00

One of the hardest things about living abroad is missing out on special times with family. Like celebrating with Jake and Shontee the anoun- cement oftheir wedding! Wow! We are excited!! Excited for our son who has found a PEARL of GREAT PRICE! And we are excited for our family, to be blessed by the presence of Shontee, adding to our joy and our strength.

Stranded in Southern Mexico

2009-08-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

Even though we live very simple lives at a pleasantly slower pace, the rest of North America continues on- hustle and bustle! But the slower pace has done us good, even when the unexpected comes along, I find myself seeing more challenges than problems. The situations are the same, but my reactions are different.

Late this summer we found out that our bank cards had been canceled! Westamerica Bank, the new owners of County Bank had sent out letters telling folks that the County Bank cards would only be good until mid August. Unfortunately, it takes a while for our mail to catch up with us. So we were stranded for over a month, unable to access any of our money in the new bank. (Not to worry, a visiting friend brought the new cards.) But it was interesting, having plenty of cash available in the bank but not able to access it.

Hmmmm, what else do we have available in our lives that we can't, won't or don't access?
Joy?
Time?
Friendship?
Peace?
Family?

It's all here, right in front of us, but how long will you, or I, wait to take hold of what is already available to us?

Xagacia (ZA-GU-SEA-U)

2009-08-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Three plus hours north of Oaxaca city in the Sierra Norte mountains are several small Zapotec pueblos. We spent the weekend there.

Friday night we stayed in a small Zapotec community at 7,000+ feet above sea level, Llano Grande. The temperature was cooler than we are used to here in the city. We stayed in a Yuu, a "community guest house." Several indigenous communities are using their lands to develop "eco-tourism.' These well designed cabins even have a fireplace- which we needed that night!

Saturday morning we drove another hour and a half to Rancho Allegre where we joined a group of about 40 Oaxaqueno Covenant pastors from all over the state for their regular meeting that occurs every 6-8 weeks. Six hours of listening and trying to understand Spanish while sitting on hard wooden benches is exhausting. After about three hours Katy left to go check out the "kitchen" and talk to the ladies about
cooking and family life in mountain pueblos.

After the all-day-meeting we spent the night about 30 minutes away in Xagacia (Za-gu-sea-u). The Covenant Church there is about 56 years old and is one of the first, if not THE first, Covenant Church in all of Mexico. It was started by Oaxaquenos who had been living and working in Texas in the 1950s. When they returned to their homes they brought back the first Covenant Church! Both Bruce and JoEllen had the privilege of speaking there! The people were encouraged that others would take the time to come visit their churches and communities. We were encouraged by their faith and hospitality.

Bruce spoke at the first service on Sunday morning- the one that STARTED at 5:00 A.M.(and ended about 6:30). JoEllen had an easier job and spoke at the 10:00 service (which ended shortly after noon!). So friends, NO COMPLAINING if your church service runs over by 10 or 15 minutes on a Sunday morning!

August 12, Day of the Taxi!

2009-08-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

August 12, Day of the Taxi. Taxi drivers decorate their taxis and parade through their communities. We took a short break from classes when we heard them coming: horns blowing, radios blasting, candy being thrown out the windows for kids and adults alike. Fun for all!

WE and THEY

2009-08-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

Father, Mother, and Me,
Sister and Auntie say
All the people like us are We,
And everyone else is They.
And They live over the sea
While We live over that way,
But- would you believe it?- They look upon We
As only a sort of They!

We eat pork and beef
With a cow-horned- handled knives.
They who gobble Their rice off a leaf
Are horrified out of Their lives;
While They who live up a tree,
Feast on grubs and clay,
(Isn't it scandalous?) look upon We
As simply disgusting They!

We eat kitcheny food.
We have doors that latch.
They drink milk and blood
Under an open thatch.
We have doctors to fee.
They have wizards to pay.
And (impudent heathen!) They look upon We
As a quite impossible They!

All good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like us, are We
And everyone else is They:
But if you cross over the sea,
Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They!

- Rudyard Kipling

Spontaneous Fun!

2009-08-09T12:12:00.001-07:00

Part of the spontaneous fun of Oaxaca is the surprise street parades. Recently while in the Zocalo, with a visiting friend, we happened upon a group from the Istmo of Tehuantepec, in the south of the state, (the peach color on the map). The first picture is a map of the state showing the different regions with samples of some of the beautiful clothing from each region. Istmo clothing is on the top row, center.

The remaining pictures are of the street procession itself, including a video of a rarely performed public dance. Enjoy!

2009-08-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

What do you give to someone when you have so little to offer?
Many times it is a gift of yourself.

On Tuesday morning during a break from summer school I walked to the nearby "Miscellaneous Pati" (Misc. shops are generally a little bit of anything- this one is like a sandwich shop). I wanted just a simply piece of bread to munch on. I walked back across the street to school and chatted with a few of the kids before we started class again. Juan evidently became concerned about me; when he got home that day he asked his mom, "Can you take my teachers some lunch? One was just eating a plain piece of bread today." The next morning both Juan and his mother showed up before school. She asked the director if she could bring lunch for us that day. We were honored with a wonderful soup, full of fresh vegetables and small pieces of beef, and of course tortillas. The Senora was proud to tell us that the beef was from her own pueblo near the coast! It was delicious!

We try very hard to accept these peoples' gifts; their gifts, no matter the size, are gift that represent offers of trying to honor us. The gifts are not in the objects, the gifts are from their hearts!

Mangoes

2009-06-20T20:26:00.001-07:00

The trees were HUGE!
The trunks were too big to reach around, the lowest branches were too
high to reach. How do you pick the fresh one? You use a LONG pole with a small net or basket on the end, and one by one you reach way up to the tops of the trees and wrestle the fruit into your "net". It's then easiest to just make a pile on the ground later you can come back and scoop then all up, all that you haven't already eaten that is!

We went with our friend Odila to her parents pueblo about 3 hours north of Oaxaca city. It is a small place, only about 200 people, that includes those in the outlying areas. The 'in town folks' number a lot less than that. We drove about 2 hours up into the mountains above the capital city where we live, then we dropped about one hour into a canyon where it was hot and humid, and where there were plenty of mangoes, papayas, corn, tuna (the cactus fruit), etc. It is a garden of Eden for hard working farmers- when there is water!

Where the Soul's Hawk Rests....

2009-05-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

PROVERB :

VOZ DEL PUEBLO, VOZ DEL CIELO
( voice of the people, voice of heaven )

PRAYER IS NOT AN OLD WOMAN'S IDLE AMUSEMENT.
PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD AND APPLIED, IT IS THE MOST
POTENT INSTRUMENT OF ACTION.

Gandhi

YOU ARE NOT HERE TO VERIFY, INSTRUCT YOURSELF,
OR INFORM CURIOSITY OR CARRY REPORT.
YOU ARE HERE TO KNEEL, WHERE PRAYER HAS BEEN
VALID.
AND PRAYER IS MORE THAN AN ORDER OF WORDS,
THE CONSCIOUS OCCUPATION OF THE PRAYING MIND,
OR THE SOUND OF THE VOICE PRAYING.

T.S. Eliot

TIME IS HUNGER, SPACE IS COLD
PRAY, PRAY, FOR PRAYER ALONE CAN QUIET
THE ANXIETIES OF VOID.
DREAM IS THE SOLITARY ROCK
WHERE THE SOUL'S HAWK RESTS :
DREAM...DREAM...DURING
ORDINARY LIFE.

Alfonso Cortes, translated by Thomas Merton

For us, here in Latin America, we are learning and observing more, about the mystery of prayer.
Quite often, it is not idle. It is engaged. It is hope.
It is dreaming and yearning.
Sometimes it flies, and other times it appears invisible.
But....it is.
Real, and necessary.

adios, Bruce

LODO DE CHARCO QUIETO :
MANANA POLVO
BAILANDO EN EL CAMINO.

( Mud in a still puddle : tomorrow dust dancing
in the streets )
Octavio Paz

Be Prepared to Recognize God

2009-04-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

"In Ireland, Celtic Christianity has a sense of place...holy trees, holy wells, holy mountains, and holy mysteries. The early Irish called them 'thin places', where the mystic veil between us and God becomes so thin at times that one can actually feel God present.."

Glen V. Wiborg

Here in Mexico, we have felt and lived through a few sweet 'thin places' ourselves. Sometimes they have come unexpected. Some have come in the shape and form of Oaxacan friends, others during hard and challenging reflective moments, but always... even while living at times in mystery...we are part of God's holy creation, and wholly thankful !

2009-04-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

DOMINGO DE RAMAS
Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday. This past week the streets around the central market were lined with people weaving palm leaves into decorated designs.They will take them to church today. It's much more of an interactive day than we are used to in the US. In fact this whole week is much more interactive.

The palms I bought will stay on my wall for a while. They are so artistic. I know they were not made to last for long, but I am going to enjoy them while I can.

This is Palm Sunday:
mindful of the day,
I bring palm branches,
found upon my way:
But these will wither;
thine shall never die,-
The sacred palms
thou bearest to the sky!

by Thomas William Parons

Semana Santa (Holy Week) will be a slower week for us. Most of the schools are out for 2 weeks. Many of the families we work with will be celebrating either with visiting families or they'll try and head back to their pueblos for visiting there. Throughout the week, here in the capital city, there will be beautiful, festive parades, processions and special services. On Good Friday there will be a Procession of Silence; hundreds of people gather along the street to watch each one of the many Catholic Churches' floats pass by. Hundreds of people lining the street, old and young, all in respectful silence. It's a beautiful sight; both to the eyes and to the heart.

Love invent us...part 1

2009-03-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

The city's contradictions and frailties drive me to the church. The church, in turn, binds my wounds and soothes my troubled heart and soul, and sends me right back out into the city again.

Steven Ross

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I an only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I can have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.......
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:1-3, 13

Love invents us..part 2

2009-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

" I believe we are placed here to be companions...a wonderful word that comes from the Latin..CUM PANIS...( with bread ). We are placed here to share bread with one another, so that everyone has enough, no one has too much.
There are many names for such sharing: utopia, community, communion of saints. And while the goal is too vast to be realized solely on this planet, it is still our task to create foretastes of it here...living glimpses of what life is meant to be. Which include art and music and shared laughter and picnics and politics and moral outrage and wonder and humor and endless love, to counterbalance the otherwise immobilizing realities of tyrants, starving children, death camps, and just plain greed.

Robert Mc Afee Brown

adios, Bruce

Music...Heart and Soul

2009-03-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF AND THE WAY YOU ACT WHEN YOU HEAR MUSIC.
THAT WAY, WHEN PEOPLE WATCH, THEY'LL SEE SOMETHING FROM YOUR HEART
AND SOUL, AND AS A RESULT WILL COMMUNICATE YOUR FEELING AND THOUGHT
MUCH BETTER.

Billy Sheehan

I HAVEN'T UNDERSTOOD A BAR OF MUSIC IN MY LIFE.
BUT I HAVE FELT IT.

Igor Stravinsky

In the beginning months of my two-three year Oaxacan journey, I am making so-so, adequate progress with my verbal Spanish communication.
But my heart and soul is so thankful that I can share so many other feelings and thoughts with the welcoming local Oaxacan musicians. I have been so refreshed and re-educated in having opportunities to express my passion for folkloric music-making with them.
I had little idea that Mexico has had such a large and long musical history, that is full of cultural contrasts, with so many different styles and influences.
A fusion of indigenous, European Spanish and African traditions. Stringed instruments of many sizes, brass instruments, wood and skin drums, wood and marsh-reed flutes, horse jawbones, ceramic pots, violins, etc, etc.
I am grateful to be a part of this sharing, of this expressive way the Mexican culture integrates music into an emotional life tears, fears, joys, work and rest, births and deaths. So many songs! So many instruments! So very grateful!

adios, vaya con Dios

MAYBE IT'S THE MUSIC THAT ENABLES THEM TO FUNCTION LIKE THAT,
TO ALWAYS SEEM TO TAKE EVERYTHING AS IT COMES, AND NEVER
COMPLAIN ABOUT THE MISERY, HARDSHIP OR INJUSTICE.

Wim Wenders

MUSIC AND RHYTHM FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE SECRET PLACES OF THE SOUL.

Plato

Psalm 149:2-4

PRAISE HIS NAME WITH DANCING, WITH TAMBOURINE AND HARP.
FOR THE LORD DELIGHTS IN HIS PEOPLE, HE CROWNS THE HUMBLE
WITH VICTORY.

A Piece...of the Whole

2009-02-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

WHAT IT'S CHILDREN BECOME, THAT WILL THE COMMUNITY BECOME.

Suzanne LaFollette

TO LEARN TO READ IS TO LIGHT A FIRE, EVERY SYLLABLE THAT IS SPELLED-OUT IS A SPARK.

Victor Hugo

SEE THAT YOU DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES. FOR I TELL YOU THAT THEIR ANGELS IN HEAVEN ALWAYS SEE THE FACE OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.

Matthew 18:10

We are glad to be participating in a piece, with parts of our abilities and interest as part.... of a whole package.
We are fortunate and proud, to be volunteers with the Evangelical Covenant Church of the U.S.A., in partnership with the Mexican Covenant Church. We are busy and challenged by one of their strategic goals..."The development of ministries that demonstrate the whole gospel, by seeking to address the spiritual, social and physical needs of people."
This is quite a big package, since it includes three parts.

And so, for now, Katy and I have been working weekly in the socio-economically challenged areas, a bit south of the city of Oaxaca. There are many basic and important needs and chores to be met and offered. Our part is offering beginning English classes to kids and tutoring Oaxacan adults in the reading and writing of Spanish.

Education...is certainly good news for these communities...certainly part of the Good News of the Gospel.

REALITIES:

Average years in school...USA- 12.5 Oaxaca- 6.0

Illiteracy ....USA- 3% Oaxaca- 20%

Library books per 1,000 people...USA- 825 Mex.- 5.7

About 40 percent of the Mexican population share only about 10 percent of the wealth and live below the mex. poverty line. The minimum wage is 48 pesos a day..or approx. $4.00 U.S.

SPEAK UP FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, FOR THE RIGHTS OF ALL WHO ARE DESTITUTE. SPEAK UP AND JUDGE FAIRLY; DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF THE POOR AND THE NEEDY.

Proverbs 31: 8-9

The Clash of Cultures..the challenge

2009-02-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

TO BE NOBODY BUT YOURSELF, IN A WORLD WHICH IS DOING ITS BEST, NIGHT AND DAY, TO MAKE YOU EVERYBODY ELSE, MEANS TO FIGHT THE HARDEST BATTLE WHICH ANY HUMAN BEING CAN FIGHT, AND NEVER STOP FIGHTING.

E.E. CUMMINGS

The Third World ?

2009-01-17T23:52:00.000-08:00

Are the countries and cultures in the 'third world', some alternate experience? Something surreal? Are these cultures really outside of the norm? Something that doesn't measure up?
I'm thinking that it's better referred as...the Two-Thirds World..because that's where the majority of people on the planet live-out their lives.

Statistically speaking, there's an average person around the world. All things being equal, statistically, you are probably...a 30 year old Muslim female farmer, who speaks Mandarin Chinese, and you support 2.6 kids on $1,600 U.S. dollars a year.
That's the world average, majority experience.

ALL TOGETHER NOW, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN BEYOND YOURSELVES, SEE THE MARGINS OF THE WORLD, WHERE THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM US ARE WAITING TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY ARE AS HUMAN AS WE ARE. RECOGNIZE YOURSELVES IN HE OR SHE WHO ARE NOT LIKE YOU OR ME.

Carlos Fuentes

A HUMAN BEING IA A PART OF THE WHOLE, BUT A PART LIMITED IN TIME AND SPACE. A PERSON EXPERIENCES THEMSELVES, THEIR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AS SOMETHING SEPARATED FROM THE REST, A KIND OF 'OPTICAL DELUSION' OF THEIR BEING. THIS DELUSION IS A KIND OF PRISON FOR US, RESTRICTING US TO OUR PERSONAL DESIRES AND TO AFFECTION FOR JUST A FEW PERSONS NEAREST TO US. OUR TASK MUST BE TO FREE OURSELVES FROM THIS PRISON BY WIDENING OUR CIRCLE OF COMPASSION.

Albert Einstein

LAUGH WITH YOUR HAPPY FRIENDS WHEN THEY'RE HAPPY, SHARE TEARS WHEN THEY'RE DOWN. GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER, DON'T BE STUCK-UP. MAKE FRIENDS WITH NOBODIES, DON'T BE THE GREAT SOMEBODY.

Romans 12:15-16 (The Message paraphrase)

Adios, Bruce

New Year’s Traditions, photos

2009-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

OAXACAN TAMALE. WRAPPED IN A BANANA LEAF STUFFED WITH CHICKEN AND BLACK MOLE.

A REPRESENTATION OF THE OLD YEAR IN THE FORM OF AN OLD MAN.

12 GRAPES FOR MAKING WISHES AS YOU BRING IN THE NEW YEAR.

ROSCA BREAD, WITH A SPECIAL TREAT INSIDE.

New Year’s Traditions

2009-01-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

What comes to mind? An evening with friends? New Year resolutions? Singing Auld Lang Syne? Toasting with Champaign?
Well, what about Rosca Bread? 12 grapes? Tamales? Saying goodbye to the old year? A Word of expectation or hope for the New Year?

We are experiencing the excitement of the New Year in a new culture and so we witness new traditions as well. Still, we hope to bring in the New Year with friends; laughter, games, music- it wouldn’t be a party without these things, regardless of the culture. But Rosca Bread? MMMMM, you’re missing out! Rosca, or King’s Cake, is formed into a ring to symbolize a crown. It is a sweet bread often drizzled with light frosting and pieces of dried fruit, like you’d see in a fruit cake. But the excitement is about what’s inside the Rosca, small plastic baby dolls, about the size of the end of my pinkie finger. The tradition in southern Mexico is to pick the piece of bread you want and cut a slice from that part of the loaf. If your get a baby, and usually there are several, you WIN! Your prize is that YOU get to prepare a party on Feb. 2 (Candlemas*) and make tamales for EVERYONE! Well, Bruce and our friend Roy, found the dolls this year, so if you can make it, they’ll be hosting a party on Feb. 2

And what about the 12 grapes? At the stroke of midnight you are suppose to gobble one grape with each stroke of the midnight bells ringing throughout the neighborhood. Some say the 12 grapes represent the twelve months, others say the 12 strokes of the clock. But with each grape that you eat, you make a wish for the New Year. One wish might be that you don’t choke!

Tamales? A party in Mexico would not be a party without tamales! And Oaxaca is no exception. In fact, Oaxaca is defined by many as the culinary capital of Mexico; 8 different kinds of Mole, Squash Flower soup, and Oaxacan Chocolate are proof of that truth! My favorite is Tamale Oaxacano. It is much thinner that the kind of tamale you may be familiar with, it’s filled with chicken and black mole! The special touch is that it is wrapped up in a banana leave and tied with palm string.

Saying goodbye to the old year. The tradition is to make a representation of the old year in the form of an old man, like a scarecrow. These old guys sit in chairs outside everyone’s house awaiting the New Year. Always beside him on the street is a bottle of wine, usually empty! In Vera Cruz, where this tradition is said to have started, they burn him at midnight, and then welcome in the New Year!

Lastly, a word of expectation or hope for the New Year. Now, I’m not sure if this is a Mexican tradition or an Eberhardt tradition; that’s who we learned of it from, Roy and Julie Eberhardt, long time Oaxacan residents. On New Year’s Eve each person shares a word of hope for the new year. It could be something personal (romance, a promotion, etc.) or hope for the world at large (peace on earth and goodwill to men). It is a word, a quote or a verse for you to focus your attention on for the whole year: friendship, patience, laughter. Mine for this year:

Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good, share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship- a different kind of sacrifice- the kind that takes place in kitchens and workplaces and on the streets. (Hebrews 13:16)

Trying to implement this will be a whole year’s (and more) worth of contemplation for me; making life and love meet together in the street, in homes and workplaces. What are your hopes and dreams for the New Year? Send us a note, we’d love to hear!

*Candlemas: Candlemas commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of her son Jesus, traditionally Feb. 2. This day also marks the ritual presentation of the baby Jesus to God in the Temple at Jerusalem. The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus was met by Anna and Simeon. Simeon held the baby Jesus and called him a Light to the World. The festival is called Candlemas because this was the day that all the Church's candles for the year were blessed. On Candlemas night, many people place lighted candles in their windows at home. (Wikipedia)

In Oaxaca...Dec. 20

2008-12-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

We are here!!.. Mexico!..settling into our home.Christmas already !
And yet my mood is unsettled; I'm still trying to soak in all that has happened. Still adjusting, sort of. Perhaps that is why I am so rocked, in an appropriate, timely and uncomfortable way by the story below.
My mood right now, wants this to be.. "My Christmas Letter" to share with others.
Cuz it rocks me. I didn't write, but all the better..for I get to share it.

from a short story by Sandra Cisneros:

Every year I cross the border into Mexico, it's the same, my mind sometimes forgets. But my body always remembers.
Church bells ring over and over, all day, even when it's not any o'clock. Roosters. Dogs barking. Birthday cakes walking out of a bakery without a box, just like that, on a wooden plate. Vendors selling all kinds of things with chile, lime juice and salt. Balloon vendors. The pork rind vendor. The fried-banana vendor. The vendor of strawberries and cream. The meringue man. The coffee man with the coffeemaker machine on his back and a paper cup dispenser, the cream and sugar boy following behind him.
Little girls in Sunday dresses like lace bells, like umbrellas, like parachutes. Houses painted purple, electric blue, tiger orange, aguamarine, hibiscus red with a yellow and green fence. Above doorways, faded wreaths from an anniversary or death till the wind and rain erase them.
Fireworks displays, pinata makers, palm weavers. A restaurant called...His Majesty, the Taco. The smell of diesel exhaust, the smell of most everyone roasting chillies. The smell of the countryside like the top of your head on a sunny day. And every now and then, on the shoulder of the road, crosses to mark where someones soul walked away from their body.
--Don't look, says Mother when we drive past, but that only makes us want to look even more.
In the middle of nowhere, we have to stop and let the car cool. We all tumble out to stretch our legs.
When I turn around three kids are staring at us, a girl sucking the hem of her faded dress. Father talks to them as he checks the tires.
--Is that your sister? Remember to take good care of her. Where do you all live? Over there?
Talking and talking like this seems to me to take a long time.
Just as we are about to leave, Father takes my rubber doll from the car and says,--I'll buy you another one.
Before I can say anything, my baby is in the arms of that girl! How can I explain, this is my Bobby doll, two fingers missing on his left hand because I chewed them off when I was teething. There isn't another Bobby doll like it! But I can't say this fast enough when Father hands it to that girl.
My brother and sister's toy trucks disappear too.
The three kids clamber off into the hills of dust and loose gravel with our toys. We can't take our eyes off them, our mouths open wide, the backseat filled with our howls.
--You kids are too spoiled, Father scolds when we drive away.
Over the shoulder of the running girl, do I imagine or do I really see, the rubber arm of my Bobby doll, the one with three fingers, raised in the air waving goodbye?

The End

Ecclesiates 11:1-2
Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. Don't hoard your goods, spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.

Adios, Feliz Navidad,
Bruce

Language learning...is sweetly dificult !

2008-12-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

The difference between the right word,
and the almost right word, is the
difference between lightning and a
lightning bug.

Mark Twain

Today was the last day of Spanish for Katy and I. We have finished seven weeks of study. We are tired and full.
Language learning has been wonderfully enriching and humbly embarrassing. For be careful..just ONE letter in Spanish can make for many episodes of laughter and tears in the classroom and streets of Antigua, Guatemala.
For example, there are two different words in Spanish: bello and vello ( beautiful and the word for body hair )...casado and cansado ( married and tired )..tanto and tonto ( so much and dumb, stupid ).
Well, you get the idea, and so have we...eventually.
So, tomorrow we will sojourn north out of Antigua for a few nights in Chichicastenango and Lake Atitlan. These are the mountainous and very concentrated indigenous highlands of Guatemala.
We are tired, but confident and so grateful for how God seems to always give us chances to meet strangers who become such dear inter-cultural friends.
We will arrive in Oaxaca, Mexico, perhaps by next Wednesday. There will will be able to settle a bit, reflect and write more on this journal of our soulful adventures.
Gracias a Dios, Bruce

The Lord will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever.

Psalm 121

WHAT COLORS ARE YOUR DREAMS?

2008-11-28T10:11:00.001-08:00

Go confidently in the directions of your dreams. Live a life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

There is wonder, excitement and mystery in a young child's dreams. Can you picture it? Can you visualize the face and excitement of a 7, 8, or 10 year old little boy or girl that you know? Children have that ability to dream, to dream big, to dream in color! But then they become us, and we "grow up." We become serious, we get excited, we get jobs and mortgages and insurances and ... Soon those dreams are buried under the shadows of responsibility.

Here in Antigua, Guatemala, we recently got a glimpse into someone else's dreams. A dream that continues to impact us and challenge us to take risks, to color outside the lines, especially in relationship to people! We met a young Korean couple just five weeks into a year and a half trip around the world. Travel has been a dream of the young woman's, Jang, since early childhood. Her dream has been to experience first hand the colors and sounds and smells of places that so many years ago were only imagines in a borrowed book.

But in the lapse of time between her childish dreams and adulthood, Jang grew up. She got educated, she got married, she got a good job and the vibrant colors of her dreams began to fade to pastels and shadows of gray. Jang, however, was fortunate that her job began to become routine. After a few years it lacked creative spark and she lacked satisfaction. Jang allowed that grayness of dissatisfaction to catapult her once again into the direction of her childhood dreams. And now their journey has already begun!

Jang and Kim (her loving supportive husband who is also willing to take risks) are searching for meaning and mystery in their dream life together. They are searching for life in the present- the brilliant colorful life "in the moment." A significant part of their dreams have already been met in each other. Other parts, yet to be realized, will be met in the sounds, smells and faces they meet in each new place they experience first-hand!

Where are they now? Can you visualize them in Cuba? Peru? North Africa? India?
KEEP DREAMING JANG!
KEEP DREAMING KIM!
Y siempre, vaya con Dios!

Mayan creation myth and morality tale

2008-11-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

There were four gods and each one was observing the earth below. Then the yellow god suggested that they make man to enjoy the earth and offer praise to the gods. The other three agreed.
So the yellow god took a lump of yellow clay and made a man from it. But his creation was weak; it dissolved in water and could not stand.
Then the red god suggested that they make a man of wood. So the red god took a branch from a tree and carved it into a human shape. When they tested it in water, it floated and stood upright with no problem. But when they tested it with fire, it burned up.
The four gods decided to try again. This time the black god suggested making man out of gold. The gold man was beautiful and shone like the sun. He survived the tests of fire and water, looking even more handsome after each test. However, the gold man was cold to the touch, he was unable to speak, feel or move. But they left him on earth anyway.
The fourth god, the colorless god, decided to make humans of his own flesh. He cut the fingers off his left hand and they jumped and fell to earth. The four gods could hardly see what the man of flesh looked like as they were so far away. They looked like busy ants.
But the men of flesh worshiped the gods. They filled the hearts of the four gods with joy.
One day the men of flesh found the man of gold. When they touched him, he was cold as a stone. When they spoke to him, he was silent. But the kindness of the men of flesh warmed the heart of the man of gold, and he came to life, offering praise to the gods for the kindness of the men of flesh.
The four gods looked down on the earth in delight. They called the man of gold "rich" and the men of flesh "poor", ordaining that the rich should look after the poor. The rich man will be judged at his death on the basis of how he cared for the poor.
From that day onward, no rich man can enter the skies unless he is brought there by a poor man.

Book of MATTHEW, chapter 6
" Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Adios, Bruce

GUATEMALA...at a glance, at least for now.

2008-11-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Guatemala means "land of the trees" in the ancient Mayan-Toltec language. Because 40% of the country is covered in many types of forests..chicozapote trees from which chicle is used for chewing gum, and cedars and mahogany.
Guatemala is the third largest country in Central America, a little less than the size of Louisiana, bit more than England. It has borders with Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. There are 33 volcanoes, with about 3 active. The non-active Vulcan Agua, at 12,300 ft., is always in our sights here in the city of Antigua.
Guatemala has about 14 million people, of which 60& are indigenous, nearly all Mayan, who speak Spanish as a second language. And 43% of the population are age 15 and under.
It is also the largest economy in Central America, with the average income being $2,200 U.S. dollars a year. More than half of the Guatemalans-5.5 million, live in poverty. The official minimum wage is about U.S. $240 a month in urban areas and $175 in rural ones. A typical school teacher earns about $195 a month.
Agriculture is the largest employer, with over half of the population. Main exports (the U.S. being the biggest partner, then Mexico, South Korea, China) are in this order: coffee, sugar, bananas, cardamon, vegetables, flowers, timber, rice, and rubber. Light industry/manufacturing includes prepared foods, textiles, tires, and pharmaceuticals, mostly foreign-owned.
Catholicism is the main religion, but since the 1970's evangelical Protestant groups are now about 40%.
Education in Guatemala is free, and in theory available between the ages of 7-14. But reality seems to say that only 78% reach the fifth grade. Adult literacy is about 70%, among women about 63%.

Katy and I are here in the city of Antigua....Spanish for: ancient, old-fashioned. We are here until the second week of December, going to language school and learning pages of new verbs and rules of grammar.
In between all of this, Antigua is also giving us the gift of becoming friends with so many sweet and enormously generous and hospitable people of Guatemala. We are seeing, and being...such a part of something grand and subtle in Guatemala right now. Sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, but always thankful for the insight and experience! Sort of the way God has guided us the last few years.

A THEOLOGY OF SEEING OR GAZING. TO REALLY SEE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, SO THAT ITS
BEAUTY BECOMES A SACRAMENTAL REALITY, ONE HAS TO DO MORE THAN JUST GLANCE.

Henri Nouwen

The first three rows of maize, are planted for travelers. MAYAN PROVERB

A Warm Send Off

2008-11-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

We had been excited, packed and ready for some time and then THE DAY came ever so quickly. The weight of your friendship and support added to our already full suitcases, making it even harder to leave.
Tuesday night jam sessions, shared meals together, playing games (like Mexican Dominos and Farkle), booktalks and coffee - all these and more are valued memories we guard in our hearts and minds.
We have been in Antigua, Gualtemala now for 2 weeks. We are 2 gringos in a foreign land; at times we are over whelmed by the choices we have made, we are continually humbled by our limited language but we are always encouraged and warmed by our remembrance of each one of you.
¡Muchisimas Gracias!

2008-08-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

New Beginings - Again

2008-06-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Good news, Friends!

No…..GREAT NEWS!

The latest Dockters’ update is that our hearts and bones haven’t been this healthy in years!

Light in the messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. (Proverbs 15:30)

We are ready to walk humbly and excitedly into a journey that combines our Christian faith, passion and appreciation of Mexico and her people!

We have been accepted as short term missionaries under the Department of World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church for assignment in Oaxaca, Mexico.

God began this cross-cultural journey in our hearts a few years ago with short trips to Mexico. Good experiences, sweet people, and a strong vision and desire to return has animated our spirits ever since. And with your help we hope to return and begin our two-to-three, year project as soon as July or August, 2008.

We’ll be working to assist and support existing Covenant ministries in facilitating mission/vision trips for U.S. groups, community development and being good neighbors. With excitement about using the gift of hospitality we will open our home and lives to relationships with our neighbors in conversation, music and laughter

COVENANT WORLD MISSION CORE VALUE #4: Our need for others.

We recognize the limit of a single cultural perspective and our need to listen to and learn from others. As we encounter people of other cultures, we are transformed by God and better able to understand ourselves, our world and God’s actions in the world.

In Mexico, we will live as learners, have flexible attitudes, and be ready to serve others as well as receive the love and care of our neighbors. We see this journey as an apprenticeship for learning language and culture, as well as ministry from a different cultural perspective. Such an education will be invaluable in preparing us for future ministry opportunities in multicultural settings when we return to the U.S.

As short-termers, we are asked by the Covenant’s Department of World
Mission to raise our own financial support of $47,000 per year. This includes ministry expenses, medical, language studies, living expenses and travel. We are thankful and awed by your sharing with us through prayer and financial commitment. To join with us in this project please fill out and return the following information. Muchas gracias!

___ prayer

___ pledge of:

$___________/month or $_________/ year

___ a special gift of $__________________

___ Information update via

____ email _____ regular mail

All financial gifts are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to the “Evangelical Covenant Church” and include our name on the memo line. Send to:

Attn: STM Support
ECC Department of World Mission
5101 N. Francisco Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625

Last days: photos

2006-05-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Last day in Oaxaca, Mexico

2006-05-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2006

One more day in Oaxaca, Mexico. How do we begin to share our interior thoughts on this? We cannot. But we are comfortable to let others more articulate than us right now express some generalizations on the many emotions and gifts of the last eleven months.
Later, after we have had more time to digest, we will write of what an enriching sojourn we have had.
Thanks to all who have followed us on this journey by reading the blog. Later on, if you can keep your interest with our journals, we will share for just a bit longer.
But for now, with one day left in Oaxaca...other voices can speak better.

In the more fugitive, trivial association of the word exotic, the charm of a foreign place arises from the simple idea of novelty and change. But there may be a more profound pleasure as well: we may value foreign elements not only because they are new but because they seem to accord more faithfully with our identity and commitments than anything our homeland can provide. What we find exotic abroad may be what we hunger for in vain at home.

Alain de Botton, Art of Travel.

The word I kept hearing, wherever I went was, GRACIAS! Gracias a usted..gracias a Dios!..muchas gracias! Thank you, thanks be to God, many thanks. I saw thousands of poor people, spent many hours with people who do without many material things. But in the midst of it all, that word lifted me again and again to a new realm of seeing and hearing: GRACIAS! Thanks!
Maybe there would be food tomorrow, maybe there would be work, maybe there would be peace. Maybe, maybe not. But whatever is given...money, food, a handshake, a smile, a good word or an embrace.. is reason enough to rejoice and say, GRACIAS!
What I claim as a right, my friends in Latin America received as a gift; what is obvious to me was a joyful surprise to them; what I take for granted, they celebrate in thanksgiving.
And slowly I learned what I must have forgotten somewhere in my busy, well-planned and very useful life. I learned that everything that is, is freely given by the God of love. All is grace. Light and water, shelter and food, work and free time, children, parents, birth and death..it is all given. Why? So that we can say gracias, thanks: thanks to God, thanks to each other.........
Going to a different culture can be a real opportunity for mental and spiritual growth. When we walk around in a strange place, speaking the language haltingly, and feeling out of control and like fools, we can come in touch with a part of ourselves that usually remains hidden behind the walls of our defenses.
We can come to experience our basic vulnerability, our need for others, our deep-seated feelings of inadequacy, and our fundamental dependency. Instead of running away from these scary feelings, we can live through them together and learn that our true value as human beings has its seat far beyond our competence and accomplishmnets.
One of the most rewarding aspects of living in a strange land is the experience of being loved not for what we can do, but for who we are. When we become aware that our stuttering, failing, vulnerable selves are loved even when we hardly progress, we can let go of our compulsion to prove ourselves and be free to live with others in a fellowship of the weak.
This perspective can open up for us a new understanding of God's grace and our vocation to live graceful lives.

Henri Nouwen

We lay still for a time, looking
at the tiny guavas and the perfect,
soft, high blue sky overhead.
A long, hot way home.
But manana es otra dia. Tomorrow
is another day.
And even the next five minutes
are far enough away, in Mexico
on a lovely afternoon.

D.H. Lawrence

You say I am repeating
something I have said before,
I shall say it agian.
Shall I say it again?

T.S. Eliot

YES!!..Katy and I will say...Que un milagro!..what a miracle!..this year has been.
Gracias a Dios, Adios.

A Rich Sadness

2006-05-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Poetry may make us a little more aware of the deeper, unnamed feelings which form the substratum of our being to which we rarely penetrate; for our lives are mostly a constant evasion of ourselves.
T.S. Elliot

It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world.
Solzhenitsyn

Our calendar is still very busy with only one week left here in Oaxaca. I'm feeling the need to slow down; not to prolong our stay but to digest my emotions. Sadness is always close by and I don't want to deny or avoid it. This is a rich sadness based on relationships we have to put on hold. These people are valued gifts from God. It will not be easy or comfortable to lay them aside. That in itself is something to rejoice in.

Music I heard with you was more than music,
And bread I broke with you was more than bread.
Conrad Aiken

Count the days?

2006-05-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Do I count the days?
There is only one day left,
always starting over.
It is given to us at dawn
and taken away from
us at dusk.

Jean Paul Satre

The days are made on a loom,
where the warp and woof are
past and future time.
They are majestically dressed,
as if God had brought the
threads to the sky-ey web.

Emerson

Life is not what one lived,
but what one remembers and
how one remembers it in order
to recount it.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

For Katy and I, two weeks more
in Oaxaca, Mexico..one-way tickets
back to our California lives on
June 1.
We taste 'bitter-sweet' every day
now on our tongues. We feel thankful
tears on our face most nights.
Gracias a Dios! Que un milagro!

Puerto Angel

2006-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Puerto Angel on the coast of Oaxaca. Gundi & Tomas is the name of the quaint Casa de Huespeded where we stayed. We ate in palapas on the beach, lounged in beach chairs, went to the Turtle Museum in Manzute, swung in hammocks, and just relaxed!

At night I tightly tucked the mosquito netting around the four corners of the bed and climbed in. A top sheet was provided. It was neatly folded at the foot of the bed and remained there all night, not used. Since we were the only guests we left the doors wide open all night hoping to take advantage of any breezes that would come our way. Closing the doors would NOT have helped to keep out mosquitoes and bugs as all door frames had a MINIMUM of ¼ inch of space between the door and the frame.

If I had been thinking, I probably would have realized that other creatures roamed these areas. But I was mesmerized by the sound of waves cascading and birds chattering, and by the sights of various colored bougainvilleas, palm trees laden with coconuts, and hibiscus in bloom. We were in paradise!

Early on our last morning while eating breakfast on the terrace we chuckled at the plastic iguana the owners had attached to the apex of their roof. When Bruce went over to refill his coffee cup he said, “Hey, that thing is looking the other way now!” Sure enough this 2 foot, brightly colored, iguana was still posed exactly the same, except now it was looking to the west. If we had stayed one more night, I’m sure I would have closed the doors!

Relationships

2006-05-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Relationships are very important in Mexico. People are polite and careful to greet others when passing on the street. If you're in a hurry you still acknowledge the other person with "Adios" which means, "I see you and would love to stop and talk but I'm in a hurry"; otherwise friends and acquaintances pause on street corners or doorways to exchange greetings and ask about the family.

In many homes extended family members still live together; grown children live with parents, a child marries and may build a small home on the side of the family compound. The older generation is valued. Wisdom is associated with age. Mexico celebrates Mother's Day and Father's Day like the U.S. But Mexico differs from the U.S. in that it also has an official "Day of the Child". Children are celebrated each April 30.

Bruce and I and our friend Carrie had the pleasure of celebrating Day of the Child in one of the remote rancherias outside of Oaxaca. We were invited to go along with 2 of the Manos de Vida nurses to La Canada. La Canada is a small community about 3 hours out of Oaxaca. It consists of about 30 families. It is a community that is forgotten by the government; they are small and inconsequencial.

However, small and seemingly inconsequencial is exactly who Manos de Vida is looking to work with. Their work is transformational development, their focus varies depending on the need of the community. April 30th's need was to help honor the children of La Canada.

A celebration was arranged at the school. The mothers prepared Caldo de Pollo (Chicken soup) with mountains of handmade tortillas for all 40+ students. Manos de Vida brought volunteers who sang with the children, played games, put on an "obra de teatro" (work of the theater) and brought a cake. Bringing a cake was no small feat, it meant driving on twisty, windy, rudded dirt roads for 3 hours while Carrie and Osiris balanced a LARGE sheet cake on their laps. The cake made it intact except for one cherry and one clown made of frosting that was smashed with an elbow when we hit one of many pot-holes! One casualty in 3 hours was not bad and I don't think any of the children even noticed!

As we drove back I wondered, "Why did Manos de Vida invest in this day? It took a lot of time and money and what was accomplished?" Again I reflected on relationships- on intangibles. The children of this small community were cared for and valued. Seldom do any works speak louder to the heart of a parent that when love is shown to their children. In reality this was a very worthy investment to a needy community.

Study in contrasts: kitchens

2006-04-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Kitchens in the U.S. are filled with
the finest equipment, but there is
often no one home to use it.
More and better appliances, but
home-cooking and family dinners
are maybe moving towards extinction.
American Demographic magazine says
that between 1985-95, the number
of hours woman spent cooking dropped
23% and hours men cooked dropped 21%.
By 2000, 40% of households use their
( non-microwave ) oven less than once
in a week. And only 42% make a hot meal
once a day.
U.S. Dept. of Consumer Expenditure survey
says that the average family in 2003 spent
$3,130 on food at home, and $2,211 on food
away from home. Wealthier families,with
incomes of $70,000 and above, spent 49.2%
of household food budget on food away from
home. And 44% of all weekday meals are
prepared in less than 22 minutes.

Here in Mexico, we have found kitchens
to be a real heart of the home. Requires
work, and in various conditions, but
worked and lived in by folks. It saves
money, and allows time to socialize.
Here, if they had magnificant time-saving
devices abounding, they would use the time
to gather together, in the kitchen.
Yes..Mexico is a poor country, by U.S.
standards...and yes, the U.S. is far less
relational, than by Mexican standards.
Simply, contrasts in civilizations.
All in just a kitchen.

God's love: subtle,like rain

2006-04-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

If it rains during the night,
no one sees the rain.
For then every soul
is asleep.
But the freshness of
every beautiful garden
is clear evidence of
the rain that was
not seen.

RUMI

We have been so blessed
by our year in Oaxaca.
Watered in ways we are
just beginning to see and
understand.
Fresh gardens of friends
and experiences.
Que un milagro!
Gracias a Dios.

Matthew

2006-04-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

(These photos were taken during a street procession that Bruce and I happened across on Good Friday.)

Matthew 26:57- Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.
59 The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnessed came forward.
66 “He is worthy of death,” they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him…
27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

11.Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, King of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusts in God, Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, I am the Son of God.”

45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness come over the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”-which means, “My God, My god, why have you forsaken me?”
When some of those standing there heard this they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earth quake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

OK, not so great!

2006-04-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ok..so Mexico isn't so great all the time! I've been sweetly positive about this place for a long time with many journals, but give me a chance to have a cultural-shock rant. Shrinks and travel agents say you gonna have a meltdown sometime. So, some stuff bugs me.
Guess what? They do that metric thing down here! They call it a system. Yeah, like a system to drive me nuts..kilometro by kilometro. We share a huge border with this country, wouldn't it be much easier if they just did it our way? Last time I looked on a world map the United States was in the center!
And here in Oaxaca city, they have fantastic weather in the evenings for the night life, and colonial architecture-laden streets for wandering...but get this!..no HARD ROCK CAFE! I mean, what's the deal with that? I really wanted to get the T-shirt.
And try and find a burrito or a real enchilada. The menus here have loads of other creative fresh fruit and vegetable things that I've never seen in Taco Bell back home, but way too hard to fiqure out when your super hungry. And way too many choices of chesse. Make it simple, give me Kraft cheese...I'm hungry, I gotta go!
Now, this is a good one! They have street vendors with little carts that steam-up and sell corn on the cob. Great, right? But here's what they do to it. You get it with mayonnaise slathered all over it, with toppings of a little chili powder, lime and parmesan chesse! Katy adores it. I just can't try it.
I mean, its supposed to be eaten with butter and a little salt, right? To change now and eat it with all that other strange stuff...would be sort of like walking into whatever U.S. art museum has that famous 'American Gothic' painting with the farmer guy and his wife holding the pitchfork...and putting Mexican sombreros on their heads! What I mean is, you just don't change some American things. Why can't they just be happy with plain butter?
And toilet paper. Everywhere, the old sewers of Mexico can't handle the paper down the drains. So, you always have to throw it in a basket nearby. They will never, ever be a developed country until they get a sewer system like us in the States.
They love music a bunch in Mexico; its in the streets, on the buses...but there are polka songs everywhere! And they actually like them! I mean, they're not just playing old recordings, they're making new ones all the time that become hits. National hits! Polkas! Imagine a brass band, bringing the house down on the yearly televised Grammy Awards show back in the U.S.!
And they got this thing with personal space. Generally, after you've met someone for the first time through a friend of yours, you are supposed to give them a kiss on the right cheeck. Talk about personal, and really close in my space, and in my face!
Well, it ain't so great, everywhere, and all the time here..but after we leave in June to go back to California...we are going to really miss Mexico. Because most of the time, most of the stuff and people get to you..really get to you..in a slow, positive and comfortable way.
We're gonna be back again, for sure.

To feel at home, stay at home. A foreign country is not designed to make you feel comfortable. It's designed to make its own people comfortable.

Clifton Fadiman

A degree of loneliness sharpens the perceptions wonderfully while traveling.

Phillip Glazebrook

I dislike feeling at home when I'm abroad.

G.B. Shaw

The object of pilgrimage is not just rest and recreation, to get away from it all. To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life.
From a spiritual point of view a journey is always something of a two-edged sword, because of the dispersion which can result from contact with so much that is new. We cannot simply shut ourselves off from this newness, or we might just as well stay home. If we are going to travel we naturally wish to learn something.
But if the newness threatens to overwhelm us, it can on occasion cause a periodic hardening of the ego, as if in reaction to the fear of losing ourselves. And so we find it necessary to shore up our identities. The smallness of these identities is certain to bring suffering however; beginning with feelings of impatience and annoyance.
The art is to learn to master today's unavoidable situation with as much equanimity as we can muster, in preparation for facing its sequel tomorrow.

Huston Smith

A Trip to the Store

2006-04-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Fruit Market
$17 pesos, < $1.70 US
3 avacados
7 limes
a small bundle of Epazote
(an herb used in black beans)
1 mango
1 large orange
7 serranos
5 small bananas
1 carrot
2 zucchinis

Meat Market
$76 pesos, < $7.50 US
4 large boned chicken breasts
6 chicken chorizos
(and a seasoned hamburger patty thrown in as a "thank you for shopping here, please come again.")

Corner Miscellanious shop
$14 pesos, < $1.40 US
1 sprite
1 Manzanita
(sparkling apple soda)

TOTAL
$107 pesos, < $10.00 US

Companerismo: companionship

2006-03-31T22:22:00.000-08:00

I believe we are placed here
to be companions.
A wonderful word that comes
from the Latin..CUM PANIS...
( with bread )
We are here to share bread
with one another, so that
everyone has enough, no one
has too much and our social
order achieves this goal with
minimal coercion.
There are many names for such
sharing: utopia, community,
communion of saints. And while
the goal is too vast to be realized
solely on this planet, it is still
our task to create foretastes of
it in this world...living glimpses
of what life is meant to be, which
include art and music and shared
laughter and picnics and politics
and moral outrage, and wonder and
humor and endless love.
To counterbalance the otherwise
immobilizing realities of tyrants,
starving children, death camps, and
just plain greed.

Robert McAfee Brown

Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11

Love doesn't just sit there,
like a stone, it has to be made,
like bread, remade all the time,
made new.

Ursula Le Guin

When we cast our bread upon the
water, we can presume that someone
downstream whose face we will never
know, will benefit from our action.
As we, who are downstream from
another will profit from that
grantor's gift.

Maya Angelou

Sharing, creating music

2006-03-31T22:01:00.000-08:00

We are a spectacular,
splendid manifestation
of life.
We have language, we
have affection, we have
the genes for usefulness.
And usefulness is about
as close to a 'common goal'
of nature as I can guess at.
And finally, and perhaps
best of all, we have music.

Lewis Thomas

Oaxaquenos-Cultural diversity

2006-03-27T00:38:00.000-08:00

They called themselves the Cloud People.
They lived on the forested slopes and in
the highland valleys of Mexico's Sierra Madre del
Sur. They worked corn seed into their communal
fields and prayed to the gods of rain and
sun for abundance.
Thousands of years later, they still do.
The Cloud People never left these mountains in
the state of Oaxaca. Once warriors, builders
and artists, they are today primarily peasant
farmers, quiet Indian people with formal manners
and calloused hands.
The Cloud People are not Aztec or Maya, though their
ancestors created civilizations rivaling those of the
larger, more celebrated groups. They are known as the
Zapotec and Mixtec. Along with the Chatino, Trique, Mixe
and other groups, they make Oaxaca the most ethnically
complex of Mexico's 31 states. At least 16 indigenous languages
and 90 dialects are spoken in this land the size of Indiana.
Nearly half of it's 3 million people speak an indigenous tongue.
Oaxaca's cultural diversity rises directly from its fractured
landscape. Spreading out from a mile-high central valley, the
ranges of the Sierra Madre ( 20 peaks over 10,000 ft. high ) break
the state into thousands of fairly isolated communities. Every village
is a world, in this rugged countryside, every town is a universe.
Oaxacans are typically more loyal to their pueblo than to their state
or nation, or even to their ethnic group. People find indentity in
the way they glaze a pot, embroider a blouse, or play a piece of music.

Sandra Dibble, San Diego Tribune

Oaxaquenos: more photos

2006-03-27T00:34:00.000-08:00

Oaxaquenos: photos

2006-03-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

Freedom of Simplicity

2006-03-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

"Develop close friendships and enjoy long evenings of serious and hilarious conversa- tion. Such times are far more rewarding than all the plastic entertain- ment that the comercial world tries to foist upon us. Value music, art, books, significant travel."
Richard Foster
Freedom of Simplicity

Folk music-Son Jarocho style

2006-03-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

Son Jarocho.. (Sohn..Hah- ROW-cho) ..is a vibrant regional folk music style with origins in the state of Veracruz on Mexico's eastern coast. Son, simply means the music is rural, or folk music.
The folk music of Mexico starts to emerge as a mix of Spanish, native or indigenous, Caribbean, Colombian and Venezuelan, and African music and dance. The Spanish during the conquest brought music influenced by the African Muslims, Sephardic Jews, and Gypsy cultures. These combined with the ancient Meso-American native groups, and with the slave trade to the Caribbean region, African rhythms and percussion were brought in.
The Spanish brought the European Baroque style instruments of the violin, harp and guitar. And for the next 300 years, the indigenous and Mestizo groups of Mexico developed their own regional stringed instruments and musical flavors and dance.
Since Veracruz has been the main port of entry from the sea for Mexico in it's history, here the races and music mixed...the Mexican, Spanish, the Africans brought in for the labor in the sugar cane plantations in the early 19th century...sailors, farmers, merchants, laborers...all mixed together their musics.
Many of the regional folk music styles of Spanish America are song and dance styles using a 6/8 rhythm syncopated with 2/4 and 3/4 rhythms. Jarocho music of Veracruz is one of those, with its percussive rhythms, syncopation and improvisations.
The musical heart of Jarocho, is the instrument called the JARANA, which drives the rhythm with chords. A small guitar based on the Baroque era guitar, it has five courses of strings, and at least 3 of these are doubled ( same note ), and Jaranas come in three sizes.
Next is the REQUINTO, a melody instrument with four strings that is plucked with a cowhorn pick and improvishes the percussive melodies.
The dance aspect of son jarocho is called ZAPATEADO, and it is a strong part of the style. It is a percussive heel dance of tapping out the beats with both feet. As musicians perform the sones, people dance on a wooden platform that is called the TARIMA.
The QUIJADA is a mule or horse jawbone that is scrapped and hit with a stick to povide more percussive rhythm.
A FANDANGO, is an open musical ritual. There is a common battle of verse compositions from the 'soneros', singers who can more deeply describe the beauty of a flower, a woman's smile, who can best descibe a loyal friend, a beautiful dawn, the pain of betrayal, the taste of wine, celebrate the charms of a women, express social or political differences. Singing verses, 'versada' is the way to express yourself in a fandango.
Son Jarocho is spontaneous, everyone interprets their SON, their ESTILLO, their VERDAD. Everything is about sharing.
Katy and I have found a local treasure, in the talents of the Bautista family. I met and went with the whole family on a trip to the 27th Encuentro National de los Jaraneros ( National gathering of Jarocho musicians ) in Tlacoltalpan, in the state of Veracruz in early Febuary.
And here, back in Oaxaca we usually meet once a week in their home for lessons in Jarocho music. Katy is learning the zapateado dance, and I am learning to play the requinto and jarana. The whole family is quite gifted, as they all sing and dance and play. And above that, the are hugely giving if their personalities and passions in life. We are thankful students, and all of us are dear friends.

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Berthold Auerbach

Every now and then, take out your mind and dance on it. It is getting all caked up.

Mark Twain

Photos: Son Jarocho music

2006-03-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

Son Jarocho music: photos

2006-03-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

Amaranth

2006-03-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Amaranth is a plant dating back to pre-Columbian times and it’s making a come-back! It almost disappeared from production for hundreds of years because the early Spanish conquistadors were suspicious of it. It was highly revered by the Aztecs and Mayans which was sufficient reason according to the Spanish to make it illegal to produce or use. However, it survived in a few small isolated communities in these rural parts of Mexico. Now scientists the world over are looking into the benefits of this plant to fight hunger and malnutrition. It is a good source of vitamins and protein. The seed contains a nearly perfect balance of essential amino acids that the body needs to make proteins. Plus, it grows in arid places. Amaranth could be the answer to many community nutritional, agricultural and economic problems.

Thursday we had the opportunity to see how amaranth could make a difference in one small community here in southern Mexico.
For the first time we made a mid-week visit to the rural mountain communities we go to each Saturday. We went along with several Manos de Vida employees: Javier is a horticulture specialist. Osiris is a nurse and Linda is a doctor.
When we got to our destination, Javier left for a few hours with a hydro-electrical engineer. They were exploring ways to help the communities get a consistent source of water. Linda set up a ‘clinic’ and accepted patients free of charge. Bruce and I went with Osiris, a young energetic woman who is highly respected in these communities. We drove around collecting her “prometoras”- her health disciples. After we had about 6 women we drove to Carmelita’s house where Osiris had a workshop on Amaranth.
She explained the nutritional value of Amaranth, gave the ladies a few samples and presented an idea to benefit the community; they could make and sell amaranth treats within their own community.

Carmelita’s d

Mexican style

2006-03-01T16:44:00.000-08:00

Mexican style is grace itself. Its perfection lies in the unexpected..our reality is a cross between light and shadow, tears and laughter, life and death, truth and fantasy, innocence and widom. It embraces the way we live and the sense we make of life.
Because it is so complex and unsettling, Mexican reality must be understood intuitively, through the senses. In this way alone can we grasp the essence of what is Mexican.

Marie-Pierre Colle, preface
to the book, Casa Mexicana.

Mexican style-photos

2006-03-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

Mexican style-photos

2006-03-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

Family as a Gift

2006-03-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

Romans 12:10 Love one another with affection as members of one family, giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

Desmond Tutu

Family as a Gift: photos

2006-03-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Los Nuevos Nietos de Bruce

2006-02-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Los Nuevos Nietos de Bruce or Bruce's new grand- children. That's what people here are saying. And of course like any new bundle of joy, everyone wants to hold and plays with them both. The exciting day was February 1, 2006, in Tlacotalpan, VeraCruz.

Jarana measured in at 23" and 4 pounds, Requinto at 22" and 4.12 pounds!
We are celebrating the new "additions" to the family Mexican style. The tradition here is for the grandparent to publicly introduce the new members of the family. Bruce is doing just that. He takes them on visits to friend's houses, to class, even to the cantina! He is having a special carrying case made for the two- in the meantime he carefully craddles them in his backpack, and off they go!
Felicidades Bruce!

photos: Tlacotalpan

2006-02-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

more photos:Tlacotalpan

2006-02-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

Trip to Tlacotalpan, state of Veracruz

2006-02-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

I journeyed for four days to the small town of Tlacotalpan (Tlac..rhymnes with Clock..koh-TAHL-pahn)about an hour or so south of the city of Veracruz, in the state of Veracruz, on the east coast of Mexico,from Jan.28-Feb.2
Tlacotalpan is an Aztec name meaning "place between the waters". It used to be an island between two rivers, now it hungs alongside of the quite wide, Papaloapan river that starts in the Sierra Norte mountains of Oaxaca and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. This city served as a very critical alternate sea port for Mexico, when Veracruz was occupied and under invasion from the U.S. in 1847, and by the French in 1838, and 1864-67.
The streets of this slow, comfortable and humid city are small and with wide pedestrian sidewalks that border right up to the porches and front doors of houses.There are no large walls and facades that cover and hide the homes, as usual in many Mexican towns. Here, as you walk by, you can see right into the salons of the house through large screened windows and decorative wrought iron grillwork.
Tlacotalpan lives out the tropical side of it's personality. Much more casual than Oaxaca and other inland cities, Tlacotalpans behave in-time with the rhythms of living so close to the sea. Slow, regular beats is the tempo of the day, and the night brings on a quicker and highly social dance..cooled off by the evening gulf breeze.
And the people here are more at ease and comfortable with their skin. You see more of it, you see sandals, short skirts, men in T-shirts..and the skin has the characteristic Veracruz regional mixed color shades of the Caribbean and Africa.
The music is what what brought me here, and I will make another blog on that, but I also was there during the Festival of Candlemas, and this attracts many from the state of Veracruz.
The mass of candles, or Candlemass, comes out of the Eastern and Northern European Cathlolic traditions. Candlemass is the last festival in the Christian year that is referenced to Christmas. It marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphany. All the next holidays are referenced to Easter. The formal name of the festival is, Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. In Luke 2:21, the holy man Simon reconizes the baby Jesus and calls him " a light for revelation "...and so the tradition of bringing candles to the church to be blessed by the priests and then brought home. Now, there is an extension of this in Mexico, of candles and bringing favorite family saints and other memorabilia.
The music and dance in the region of Veracruz is often fast and free-spirited. Everyone, from musician to audience is likey to add in with a short improvished lyric or dance step.
The laughter is bigger here, the hugs are stronger. Perhaps just like the architecture here, with the new friends that you meet on the streets...you can see past their large, decorative smiles and right into the interior of the person, their salon..rather easily. They invite you right in. The warmth of the tropics perhaps.

Adios, Bruce

Twilight of our journey

2006-02-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

As we walked across the fields, the sun dropped and lay like a great golden globe in the low west. While it hung there, the moon rose in the east. For five, perhaps ten minutes, the two luminaries confronted each other, resting on opposite edges of the world.
In that singular light every tree, every sunflower stalk and fence drew itself up high and pointed; the furrows in the fields seemed to stand up sharply. I felt the old pull of the earth, the solemn magic that comes at nightfall.
I wished I could be a little boy again, and that my way could end there.

Willa Cather

For Katy and I, our journey in Mexico is in it's twilight. Over half is gone, we have four months to go. With that singular fact, every adventure, each meeting with dear amigos Oaxaquenos...stands out and is cherished.
At times, we desire to start it all over again. Tempting to end our journey...by remaining here...and desiring to see the new dawn again of friends and family back in California.
These two luminaries confront one another. These two emotions must be lived out, as we live out the day and the night. Four months to go! Que un milagro!

Psalm 104:19 He made the moon for the seasons; the sun knows the place of its setting.

Prayer of a Mayan chieftan:

Grant me Lord, a little light, be it no more than a glowworm gives which goes about by night, to guide me through this life.
This dream, which seems to last but a day, wherein are many things on which to stumble, and many things at which to laugh.
And others like unto a stony path along which one goes leaping.

Angels of the Family

2006-02-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

The angel of the family is Woman. Mother, wife, or sister. Women is the caress of life, soothing sweetness of affection shed over its toils, a reflection for the individual of loving providence.
Moreover, for everyone of us she is the initiator of the future. The mother's first kiss teaches the child love, the first holy kiss of the woman he loves teaches man hope and faith in life; and love and faith create a desire for perfection and the power of reaching towards it step by step; create the future, in short, a link between us and the generations to come. Through her the family, with its divine mystery of reproduction, points to Eternity.

Guiseppe Mazzini

Here in Mexico, I have been awed by the force and culture of the woman. Emotional and spiritual love abounding...huge part of the soul of this country. Huge.
Que un milagro, Bruce

Feb. 14: Gracias, Amor

2006-02-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

I cannot promise you very much.
I give you the images I know.
Lie still with me and watch.
We laugh and we touch.
I promise you love. Time will not take that away.

Anne Sexton

gracias, Bruce

Heart to Heart

2006-02-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness, but the kinship of heart to heart and the way that we look at the world.

Solzhenitsyn

photo: Don Lazaro and Dona Sofia
San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca

married 61 years.

Weaving: pueblo- Todos Santos, Guatemala

2006-02-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

With the decline of painting and drawing in recent years, in favor of hands-off processes like video recording...I worry about further withdrawal of the body with increasingly depersonalized creativity in our computerized age. It is already a given that many young architects can't draw, relying on circuitry to do their imagery for them. Nor can many model, never having built things with their hands as children, and felt the pliancy and fragility of structures..the interelationship of empty space and solid mass.

Edmund Morris

Weaving: Chiapas/Guatemala

2006-02-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

In Mexico and Guatemala, textile production and trade have been the core to the life of the Maya. Weaving was the woman's territory until the introduction of the treadle loom by the Spanish colonialists in the 16th century. Mayan women comtinue to weave on the pre-conquest backstrap loom. This is not as fast as the treadle loom, but the parts are inexpensive and the loom is portable.
Simple technology means that almost anyone can own a loom. Mobility for indoors or out, at a friend's house or marketplace, or while watching children at home. Mayan women usually wake up at dawn to care for children and livestock, grind corn and make tortillas and food for the family. Then after this they start their weaving for the day.
The act of weaving textile crafts yields functional objects like clothing, socializes children, and helps shape inter-generational relationships. Girls usually start at 7-8 yrs. old. And as toddlers, Mayan girls are given a weaving stick in a ritual. Later they practice kneeling in the weaver's position as they play nearby. Girls are told to pray for inspiration for designs.
The Spanish also taught Mayan women embroidery and Catholic symbols that they blended with traditional Mayan designs.
We bought a table-runner from Senora Lorenza in the pueblo of Zinacantan, just north of San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas. We had a tour of her simple home and were shown sweet hospitality, smiles, and serious handmade art forms.

Gracias, artistas.

Origen of Coffee: Mayan legend

2006-02-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Coffee was found by a goat who was in the livestock yard. The owner took the sheep out each day and they stayed around close by, but the goat went straight to eat coffee in the hills.
And it ate and ate and ate the pure fruit. And then it goes back to the yard and craps and craps and craps. And so, people began investigating what the seeds were that they were finding.
So, what is this seed?..said the owners, Now we are going to watch! The goat went out and the owners followed, hiding behind it. When the goat arrived, it began to eat, and they saw that there was a tree that had ripening fruit on it..and that was what the goat was eating.
And so, they went back, still hiding. And when it was dawn again, they had around them coffee seeds. So they began ivestigating and studying it. And the result was coffee.
Coffee arrived in the mountains, coffee owns the mountains, and it's been that way ever since.

The End.

The origins of coffee seem to be from Ethiopia, Africa.
Coffee came to Mexico in 1790.
60% of all Mexican coffee is grown by Indigenous people.
91% of Indigenous growers cultivate on 5 acres or less.

More praise of Chiapas

2006-02-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

So green are these hills, and so round and so many, that they suggest the massive tumuli of some gigantic and immerorially ancient race of man. I have walked upon them and extracted from their timeless earthiness the profoundest peace, which is possible to know.

Alan Devoe

Photos-Palenque: Mayan ruins

2006-01-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

Palenque-Mayan Ruins

2006-01-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Palenque, an ancient Mayan city in Chiapas, Mex. peeks out of the northern Lancandon jungle, the largest tropical rainforest in North America.
We toured the ruins for one afternoon, but we felt as if we had 'time-traveled' through the ages.
The Maya of approx. 200-900 A.D. called this sacred place, 'Otolum'( land with strong houses ) These temple-pyraminds, palaces and observatories were built without metal tools. A feature of this classic Mayan city is the hand-cut limestone blocks, and the underground water resevoirs for storage of rain water.
Then around 900 A.D., the Maya mysteriously quit the city.
The Spanish discovered Otolum in 1777 and the city was deserted. They changed the name to Palenque..walled fortress.
John Lloyd Stephens was a travel writer who published several books on his discoveries in Egypt and Arabia. He arrived in 1839 in Belize to trek towards the area in Chiapas that a huge interest for him through vague references of ancient peoples. It took him 6 months to get to Palenque. From his research there, the first extensive scholarly expedition he concluded:
" Here were the remains of a cultivated, polished and peculiar people who had passed through all the stages incident to the rise and fall of nations; reached their golden age and perished, entirely unknown, until now. "

The Maya

2006-01-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

There are about six million Mayan people today, mostly in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, making them the largest single block of indigenous people north of Peru.
Of the many pre-Spanish conquest civilizations, the Maya the first and only that developed a writing and had a written history. They had a developed mathematics and astronomy.
The Maya were never united under one governing body, like the Aztecs, instead they created many city-states that shared ethnicity and beliefs. The culture began in the Yucatan region of Mexico as an offshoot of the Olmecs approx. 2,500 B.C., and gained superiority by 250 A.D. They had highly structured city kingdoms during 250-900 A.D, and then mysteriously quit their cities, like Palenque in Chiapas.
The Maya believed the earth to be flat and four-cornered. The sky was multi-layered and was supported at the corners with four gods of great strength. Earth in it's flat shape was thought to be the back of a giant crocodile, resting in a pond of water lilies.
Some Mayan histories talk of a single supreme deity called Itzamna, inventor of writing, arts and sciences. His wife was Ix Chel, goddess of weaving, medicine and childbirth, and goddess of the moon.
The role of the priests were connected to the calendar and astronomy. They controlled education, rituals and calculating time and festivals. They were not celibate, and sons succeeded fathers in the role.
Maya thought that when people died, they entered the underworld through a cave. Common people were buried beneath floors of their homes, mouths filled with food and with objects that they used regularly in life. Graves of priests were buried with books.
Today, there is quite a variation in the religious mix of old Mayan ideas, animism and Catholicism. Rural Mayans still think that their village is the ceremonial center of the world, supported at the corners by gods, and when one of them shifts their burden it causes an earthquake.
The sky is ruled by the sun, moon and stars. Now, the sun is associated with the Judeo-Christian, God the Father of Jesus Christ, and the moon with the Virgen Mary.

The Maya in Chiapas, Mex.
The state of Chiapas has a population of 4 million, with about 1 million indigenous people, mostly Mayan. There are 9 langauges spoken,along with Spanish: Chol,Chuj,Lacandon,Mam,Tojolobal,Tzeltal,Tzotzil,Zoque..all derived from Mayan.
The largest group is about 300,000 Tzotziles, centered in the highlands of Chiapas around the city of San Cristobal de Las Casas. They mostly farm small plots of land of beans, squash and maize, and raise turkeys, sheep and chickens. They do not eat lamb, because of a tradition of respecting and honoring sheep for supplying the wool that supplies so much for their woven textiles.
Officials of the Mexican government are in some of the communities, but the real authority is in the two branches of Tzotzil community government: civil and religious. Civil cabinets have at least 40 men with specific duties. They see to the 'moral health' of the pueblo. They have strong authority and they settle family and social arguements, but refer the more serious crimes to the Mexican authorities. Religious cabinet members are responsible for the pueblos spiritual health. They maintain the churches and produce festivals.
Every male of the pueblo is expected to hold a post at least once in his life. While serving a year term, a man leaves his wife and lives at the cabinets headquarters and attends every meeting.
In many ways, the women are the real support of the pueblo when the men are gone. They work the fields with children and in-laws, and sell whatever they don't need, care for the livestock, and continually weave clothing and goods for the market.
Tzotzil marriage is contracted after a long and ritualistic, very public courtship. Respected members of the pueblo act as go-betweens for the couple's parents.The ritual begins with the padrinos (godparents) of the groom, visting the bride's parents and bragging about the young man's great quality and virtues.
Once the deal is accepted, the young man starts a series of gift-bearing visits to the girl's family. Acceptable gifts are fruit, corn, and candy for the kids...wool for the future mother-in-laws weaving loom.
After 18 months of this, the father presents his daughter to the young man. The couple are married first in a civil ceremony to statisfy Mex. law, and then the big Tzotzil wedding, the largest event in a person's life. An elder expert in pueblo law and ritual supervises the whole process, and the roles of husband and wife are clearly set out. Infidelity is prohibited and rare, because to tradition, the male offenders lose a part of their souls, and the women risk being killed by Vinikton, a ghost with the body of a mule.

Origin of Sadness: Mayan legend

2006-01-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

One day, all the animals gathered close to a Mayan Man and said to him, "We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it."
The Man said, "I want to be happy."
The owl responded, "Who knows what happiness is? Ask for something more specific."
"Well then," said the Man, "I want to have good sight."
The vulture replied, "You shall have my sight."
The Man said, "Now I want to be strong."
The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like me."
The Man said, "I wish to be able to walk without tiring."
The deer said, "I will give you my legs."
The Man said, "And I also want more, I want to be smart."
So the fox said, "I shall teach you all that I know."
The Man said, "I want to be able to reconize medicinal plants."
And the snake said, "Ah, this is my domain, I will mark them for you in the fields and forests."
Hearing the words of the animals, the Man left. Then the owl said, "Now the Man knows much more, seems very proud, and is able to do many things. But he will forever be sad."

The End

Chiapas

2006-01-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Katy and I will, for some time, feast on the experiences and images and sounds of the state of Chiapas. When we are hungry and ready to hear again...we would be pleased to return again.

Two Mayan refrains:

Jungle becomes melody, woods singing with a women's voice.

My sweet beloved homeland.
Your voice and my song joined
today in exile, wound me like
a dagger in my soul.

Chiapas/Guatemala: Mayan legend

2006-01-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

MAYAN LEGEND...Man's Soul

A long time ago, there was a man who was so poor that he was always in a bad mood. And he never passed up the chance to mistreat his old dog. The spirit of Evil, Kakasbel, who is everywhere, saw that he could possibly benefit by playing on the dog's anger. And this was in his mind as he approached the dog.
-Oh, poor thing,why so sad? Tell me what is the matter.
-How can I not be sad, when my master beats me all the time.
-I know he is an ornery man; why don't you leave him?
-He is my master and I am loyal, I would not leave him for anything.
-But your master is incapable of appreciating your loyalty.
-That does not matter, he is my master. I will remain loyal.
But Kakasbel wouldn't quit. He harassed the dog until ...just to get rid of him the dog finally said: OK, you have convinced me. Tell me, Kakasbel, what to do.
-Give me your soul!
-And what do I get in return?
-Anything you ask for.
-I want a bone for every hair on my body.
-I agree.
With that, Kakasbel began to count the dog's hair. But just as he was about to finish, at the dog's tail, the dog thought of the loyalty due his master and gave a twitch and a jerk, causing Kakasbel to lose his place counting.
-Why did you move? I lost my count!
-It's those darn fleas that plaque me night and day. Just start again.
A hundred times Kakasbel began his count, and a hundred times he lost his count when the dog jumped.
-I give up! I will count no more. Oh, dog, you have deceived me, but in doing so taught me a great lesson. It is harder to buy the soul of a dog than it is to buy the soul of a man!

The End.

Traditional Mayans believe that everything in the world, object or alive, has CHULEL or soul. The souls of people is something that can be lost or stolen. And when this happens, the person becomes sick and runs the risk of death. It is said that if a person treats their family badly, damages the forest, or forgets their religious duty, they will lost part of their soul and become depressed and have bad moods.
Equilibrium is a big concept in the Mayan world. Every person is born with an animal double that lives in the deities territory. If a person misbehaves, it's animal double is disgraced and loses divine protection. Then it is left vulnerable to injury and the hunt in the real world. This then seems to have serious consequence for the human.
Diagnosis and treatment of the soul can be helped by the village healer.Prayers, offerings of flowers, placing candles in church or in front of natural springs, are remedies for the damaged soul. Healers can council people on their daily life with the family and nature in order to keep the soul intact.

Stay together, be nice to animals...Adios, Senor Bruce

Que Un Milagro!

2006-01-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

Images of saints in a Guatemalan church,
dressed in local garb.

Juan, our driver, crossed himself and said a prayer, “Gracias Dios, y nos permite un buen viaje.” (Thank you God, and permit us a good trip.) And that is EXACTLY what happened!

We had spent two nights in the small pueblo of Todos Santos, Guatemala. It was 4 hours over the border as one travels by local transportation, ‘chicken buses‘ - or as in our case- ‘duck buses‘. Although we couldn’t see the birds we could hear their occasional “quacks” from somewhere in the front of the bus. We were in Guatemala because we had to leave Mexico for 2 days in order to renew our visas. The regulations limit tourists to a maximum of 180 days, hence our trip to Guatemala. As much as we enjoyed this out-of-the-way pueblo we were looking forward to getting back to Mexico and exploring parts of the state of Chiapas on our way back to Oaxaca, where we live. So based on the recommendations of several locals we rose when it was still dark on Sat. morning to catch the 6:00 bus out of town. This early start would get us back to San Cristobal, Chiapas by the end of the day.

But the 6:00 bus was late. Buses were supposed to be leaving every 30 minutes. By 7:00 we were getting a bit worried, several buses had come into town but none seemed to be leaving. If only one person had told us about the times and place to catch buses I might have doubted our understanding but we had asked several different people and compared responses. They were all the same; the buses start at 4:30 in the morning; they leave every 30 minutes until 7:00a.m.

Bruce began walking around and asking a few people why we weren’t seeing any buses leave town. Uh-oh! It was New Year’s Eve; there would be NO buses out of town- for two days! We were stuck! Stuck in a strange town, in a foreign country, with limited Spanish ability, on a Saturday with the bank closed and only a small amount of quetzals in our pockets. When we heard “no buses out of town for two days” we both just froze and looked at one another for an answer, but there were no answers. Then I became aware of a very new and strange feeling: calm. This is not my normal response to circumstances out of my control. But then again, we were not in our normal surroundings either; we were in Todos Santos- All Saints. Perhaps that had something to do with this unusual but refreshing feeling. We looked around for one of these ‘saints’ who could help us. Bruce saw a man getting into a large van that looked like a collectivo (a group taxi). He went over to talk to him. It turned out the driver was driving to Huehuetenango, our first destination two hours away. And he offered to drive us, but for a price! $700 quetzals! (about $90 dollars) That was way more than we had! This was definitely not the ‘saint’ we were expecting.

I had gone to the bank the day before and cashed $40 dollars in traveler’s checks (our emergency money, which worked out great, since the bank did not have an ATM as were told it would). I had intended on purchasing some textiles that I had seen when we first came into town two nights earlier. The Senora told me her shop would be open the next day. I had gone by her shop 3 different times checking but she was never there and the store remained closed all day. I went to bed very disappointed; I knew we were leaving early the next morning and I would not be able to get what I had set my mind on. Now I was thankful that the shop had been closed and we still had a few quetzals in our pockets. Que un milagro!

After talking to more people and getting further confirmation that there would be no buses out of town, we decided to start walking! At the other end of town the two main roads merged, perhaps we would find a collectivo there or we could offer to pay someone going that direction. As we started to walk away, I heard a “ppppsst, pppssst” (this is the polite way to get someone’s attention). A young man had overheard our dilemma. He had a pick-up and he could drive us one hour to Tres Caminos where 3 major roads converge, from there we could get a bus into Huehuetenango. His price was only $300 quetzals! Que un milagro, that was the amount I had gotten for my $40 dollars the day before at the bank. This price was 10 times more than that of a bus ticket but being that there were no buses, it seemed fair- fair for gringos.

Bruce helped Juan unload the sugar cane he and his friend had brought to sell at the market. Juan worked very quickly as if this “catch” might get away. The price he was getting for chauffeur services was far more than he would make on his sugar cane. The three of us squeezed into his small Toyota pick-up and started out of town just as market day was beginning. Juan picked up a few locals who rode in the back of the truck as we drove along the winding dirt road, up and out of Todos Santos. The price he negotiated with them was a price that was fair for locals- it was nothing near our price, but then we were gringos on a vacation. “Vacations” are a foreign concept to many of these hard working people.

Once at Tres Caminos, we, and the others in the back of the truck, got out, paid up, said our goodbyes and waited for the next bus to come by. Within 5 minutes one came, que un milagro. We flagged it down and paid our 6 quetzals each for the second half of our trip to Huehuetenango. The bus was a large, comfortable transportation van which would comfortably seat about 18 people (although we squeezed close to 30 on board). We pulled into the bus station in Huehuetenango close to the time we had originally anticipated. Immediately, we saw our next bus which would get us to the border. As we climbed on board I remembered Juan’s prayer, “Gracias Dios, y nos permite un buen viaje.” It was that!
Que Un Milagro!

Chicken Bus: Into Guatemala

2006-01-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

And this was really the way my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell.

Jack Kerouac, On The Road

Just over the border from Mexico into Guatemala, from the small town of La Mesilla, full of stores selling pots and pans, toys, chickens, radios, vegetables, pirated c.d.'s, rooms for rents, shoes.....we roared, literally roared in a packed bus down the dark green, banana tree, steep canyons for two hours to Huehuetenango, Guatemala.
This was a Blue Bird bus made in the U.S. complete with the English placard above the driver saying, " The safety of your child is our primary concern. " These vehicles are affectionately and disparingly called ' chicken buses ', because they are usually loaded with the wares and poultry of the masses that use public transportation more than I have ever seen.
The quiet passengers were pacified with brass polkas and accordion waltzes blaring on the speakers. And then on a lonely stop on the road, a salesman boarded the bus, and we were given a serious and theatrical performance that would be the envy of any Toastmaster or public speaking organization. This balding, sun-glassed traveling salesman came aboard with just a small satchel and a frayed laminated picture diagram with one side showing ' Cerebro Humano ' ( human brain) and the other displaying the entire nervous/spinal system connected to the head of a guy in obvious pain.
With a clearly spoken introduction and quite professional tone, he expertly delivered a laymen's medical sermon on the causes and effects of headaches and how the nervous system is involved. All of us were rolling side-to-side while the driver talked on his cell phone to his lover and occasionally hitting the c.d. player to skip to the next song while negotiating completely unreasonable but terrifically execueted passings of other slow moving cars and burros.
The salesman confidently held on to the nearby seat railings, while alternating with punctuating hand gestures to his diagram and to his audience of Mexicans, Guatemalans, and two gringos.
Within ten minutes the master-storyteller-medical-circus-huckster came to a very convincing conclusion, and offered out of his bag to the crowd ...The Pills. The Pills that will forever banish headaches and mysteriously repair spinal cord irregularities until the day you died. And only then would the sweet comfort of death take over where the... The Pills... left off.
None of the traditonally-dressed Indigeneous people flinched or parted with their money. but then, these are the undereducated and underemployed villagers from the mountains. Only three neatly hair-styled men in commercial clothing and shiny leather shoes bought a few bottles.
The salesman seemed to know every canyon curve, and to have timed his salespitch perfectly. Because as soon as his clients were parted of their money...we banked hard to right and ' slingslotted' out of the turn to a small village where the bus skidded to a stop, and the salesman quickly stepped off the bus and the next generation/shift of young boys boarded with pineapple and mango sticks, gum and soda. They tried their best, but I think only a few of these apprentices will ever make the Big Leagues of Bus Salesmanship. Only a few of the proud and accomplished survive at this level.
After some grinded gears, we started off again. I held on and crained my neck enough to see out the window and through the puff of diesel smoke to see the Hall of Fame and No Shame salesman cross to the other side of the road and catch another bus going back the way we came.
Like a tireless, veteran baseball pitcher taking the mound with solid confidence...inning after inning...until the game is called because of light.
An hour or so later, we slid into homebase with the bus at the terminal in Huehuetenango. We knew that the next two days in Guatemala would be a double-header of surprises and thrills of a lifetime.
Que un milagro!

Mayan Legend: Guatemala/Chiapas

2006-01-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

Once there was a He, of the night. Shadow of shadows, solitary steps, He walked many nights to find Her.
Once there was a She, of the day. Twinkle of maize, dance of light, she walked many days to find him.
They were always looking for each other, He and She. The night was always pursuing the day. They both knew, She and He, the quest for what can never be found. It seemed as if it would never happen. It seemed impossible, it seemed never ever.
And then the dawn came for Him and for Her. Always, forever.

Mayan legend

New Year !

2006-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

TO LEARN TO READ IS TO LIGHT A FIRE; EVERY SYLLABLE THAT IS SPELLED-OUT IS A SPARK.

Victor Hugo

Mixtec New Year:
In the rural mountains of the Mixteca area of the state of Oaxaca, there is a custom at the start of each new year, of passing fire out to all homes. It is a beginning for the world, a new light, a new time for learning. The world is renewed.
For Katy and I, every Saturday of our involvement in the rural literacy project in the pueblos will be a highlight and privilege for us in 2006.
A new year, and a new time of learning. We are proud and blessed, to be a part of the spark in this fire. It warms all of us.
Prospero Ano Nuevo a todos. Que un milagro!

A Whirlwind of activities!

2006-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

We have quite a bit of BLOGGING to catch up on!

Dec 23- Night of the Radishes
Dec 24- Noche Buena, Posadas (parades) in the Zocalo
Dec 25 - CHRISTMAS DAY
Quiet morning, Fiesta at church
Dec 26- Operation Christmas Box give away in Lachigolo, Oaxaca
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/MP_Article.asp?ArticleID=63
Dec 27- all night bus to San Cristobal, Chiapas
http://www.turismochiapas.gob.mx/ingles/index2.htm
Dec 28- stretch legs and walk around San Cristobal
Dec 29- leave for Guatemala
Dec 30- spend the day in Todos Santos, Guatemala
http://www.gonomad.com/destinations/0012/koch_todos_santos.html
Dec 31- re-enter Mexico
Jan 1- Zapatista Rally in San Cristobal, Chiapas
http://www.zapatistas.org/Links/links.html
Jan 2- Meet Jo Ellen Reaves in San Cristobal-
Jan 3- Tour San Juan Chamula and Na Bolom
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n6_v114/ai_19174192
http://www.i-escape.com/casanabolom.php
Jan 4- Bus to Palenque Ruins
http://www.jaguar-sun.com/temple.html
Jan 5- tour Agua Azul
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/mexico/aguaazul/aguaazul.html
Jan 6- return to San Cristobal, take the night bus back to Oaxaca
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/rferguson/rfbus.html
Jan 7- HOME!

Night of the Radishes: Noche de los Rabanos

2005-12-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

We usually don't look, we overlook.

Alan Watts

Diluted by familiarity, it is quite easy for me to look past, perhaps thousands of nativity scenes and Christmas carols in my lifetime of sometimes robotic December activities.
But the radish...this humble vegetable, has given me a new outlook, a new way of seeing the beautiful and humble mysteries of Christmas.
Because the lowly radish is given great esteem here in Oaxaca every Dec. 23. Given center stage and top-billing, a side dish member of the same vegetable family as broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower...the radish seems to play the same humble part in the Christmas drama much like the working-class shepherds who had important roles in the original story.
What began as a market place ploy, has developed into sheer art. In 1897, the mayor of Oaxaca started the first exhibition of radish art. The tradition dates back to the Oaxacan Christmas eve markets that sold dried fish and vegetables. To give the stalls a unique appearance, vendors started sculpting small radish fiqures and topping them off with lettuce, onions and flowers. And, since 1897, they have specially developed radishes to grow to extraordinary and distorted sizes and colors from white to magenta, from 21 inches to 10 pounds..thick as two liter bottles.
These are not the small rounded shapes you see on vegetable trays or salads. These are the blue whales of radishes.
And so, what began as a competition among vendors and growers, has grown into a unique festival between art and agriculture. The center plaza, or zocalo, in the heart of Oaxaca, fills in the afternoon with local farmer artisans, all trying to win the prize of 12,000 pesos or about 1,200 U.S. dollars. In the last few years they have added strawflowers and cornhusk displays.
There are nativity scenes, Mexican revolutionary heroes, fantasy fiqures, saints...I think I may have seen Sponge Bob!
It is such a magical sight and experience. The huge crowds that linger until midnight seem to be content in seeing the humble and simple radish transform into profound beauty. Gracias, Noche de los Rabanos.

photos: Night of the Radishes

2005-12-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

photos: Night of the Radishes

2005-12-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

Feliz Navidad!

2005-12-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Epiphany: sudden intuitive realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.

Part of the epiphany of growing older is the recognition that we begin to live on borrowed time at some point, and that we should use that extra time to show appreciation for the gift of it. John Kay

Feliz Navidad y prospero Ano Nuevo!
We have been so blessed in the six months here in Mexico. We consider ourselves fortunate. The gift of sustaining memories of friends and family back home, and the endearing patience and open homes of the Oaxaquenos have given us such an attitude of ' gracias '.
Our God, our friends, the stories of love, the adventures...are much more than we ever deserved or dreamed. Gracias, Que un milagro! Bruce and Katy

'Los pastores regresaron glorificado y alabando a Dios por todos las cosas que habian oido y visto, que sucedieron tal como se les habia dicho.'

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. LUKE 2:20

The Virgen of Guadalupe

2005-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

She is on taxi cabs, playgrounds, taco stands, churches, T-shirts, buses, bars, candies...and she is made from wood, tin, paper, sugar, plastic, paint and bottlecaps. I had no idea she was so affecting, and everywhere in this culture. Maybe there is no other religious symbol and ritual that is shown in so many places and so many ways as the Virgen of Guadalupe? She is a profound force; a strong ritual.
RITUAL: the general purpose is to express some fundamental truth or meaning, bring out emotional responses and engage a group of people to strengthen their common bond.
There are many rituals in our lives that give us meaning: handshaking when we meet a person is a cultural ritual, wedding ceremonies, swearing on the Bible in court, raising flags, etc. Here in Mexico, the Virgen of Guadalupe is such an interesting blend and reconciliation of European Catholic and pre-Hispanic indigenous beliefs and rituals, that gives meaning and links family, religion, politics and national/ethnic indentity. Simply, she makes her presence known...she matters alot it seems, and creates an emotional resonse for many.
Octavio Paz: "There are two beliefs deeply imbedded in Mexican consciousness; belief in the lottery and belief in the Virgen of Guadalupe."
Sandra Cisneros: " That was why I was so angry every time I saw the Virgen, my culture's role model for a brown woman like me. She was an ideal so lofty and unrealistic it was laughable. Did boys have to apsire to be Jesus?"
Bishop Oscar Romero: " Shortly after 'civilization' entered our continent, the Virgen of Guadalupe came to offer a special presence of the church, with her own unique physical presence. She was not a European woman, nor just Indian. She is the expression of MESTIZO, the new race which in that moment emerged in history. And so the brown woman will be from then on also the one who gives unique physical presence to the church on this continent."
A bit of background of " Virgen Morena" (the Dark Virgen)..Nuestra Madre (Our Mother). Ten years after the taking of Tenochitlan, today's Mexico City, by Cortez in 1521, the first fiqure in this story is an Aztec man named Cuahtlatuatzin, born in 1474. He did not belong to the Aztec social categories such as priest or merchant. He was not a slave, but was of a low position who worked the fields and weaved plant fiber mats. He was married with no children.
In 1525 he was converted to Catholicism and baptized with a name change to Juan Diego. Every Saturday before dawn, the locals said he walked the nine miles to the church in Tenochitlan for mass and religious instruction. He walked barefoot, as did all the people of his class, and in winter would wear the common robe made from the fibers of the maguey cactus.
When he was 57 yrs. old, and on an early morning walk on December 9, 1531, he was stopped by light and music. Here he saw a vision of a beautiful dark-skinned woman calling herself the Virgen Mary, mother of Jesus. She told him it was her desire to have a church built on that very spot, and go tell this to the local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga. No easy task, but finally Juan Diego got to see the Bishop. The Bishop asked for some proof of this unlikely vision. Confused and scared, Juan Diego avoided the hilltop of the vision for a few days. But on Dec. 12, while rushing to find a priest for his sick uncle, he took a shortcut across the hill. The Virgen appeared again, and Diego told her that he needed proof. So the Virgen told him to pick the roses of the usually barren hillside and put them in his robe, to take to the Bishop. Juan Diego did that, and while emptying out his robe before the Bishop and others, there was left behind on the robe the perfect image of the Dark Virgen.
The Bishop ordered a small church to be built, and by 1709 the larger Basilica of today was finished. The robe is still there on display.
Why should a form of the Virgen Mary appear to an indigenous man in recently conquered Mexico, and speak to him in Nahuatl, the Aztec language? And call herself 'Guadalupe' a Spanish name? The origin of the word is in controversy. It is thought here in Mexico that the name came about from a translation from Nahautl to Spanish. The Aztec word of 'Coatlaxopeuh', which is pronounced 'guatlasupe', sounds very close to the Spanish 'Guadalupe'. In Nahuatl, COA..meaning serpent, TLA...meaning 'the', and XOPEUH means to stamp out or crush. And in the Aztec mythology, the serpent-god Quezalcoatl was an important figure. Was the Dark Virgen here to crush the serpent? Interesting to note that in Genesis 3:15 of the Old Testament, it is said a woman would step on the serpent's head.
The Virgen was supposed to have told Juan Diego in his native language, " Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear sickness. Am I not here, who is your mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you happy in my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve or be disturbed by anything."
Juan Diego lived until he was 74 yrs. old, telling of the vision. When he died on May 30, 1548 he said, " I am a nobody. I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end. A leaf ".
The imagery of the Virgen is interesting, it merges allusions from Song of Songs 6:10 " I am dark, but I am lovely"..and Revelations chapter 12, " the woman of the Apocalypse, a woman clothed with the sun ". Her face is Mexican, MESTIZO, her dress Judeo-Christian. By combining the imagery and synbolism associated with female deities such as the sun, moon and stars, the colonial image of this new Virgen gained strong importance for the native population. Rather than just purely reflecting European tradition, Guadalupe proved to be a kind, loving and accessible. The miracle was reconized by Rome in 1745.
It was the image of Guadalupe on the banners for Mexican Independence in 1810. The first President of the Republic of Mexico, Manuel Felix Fernandez, after elected changed his name to Guadalupe Victoria. In 1859, the Mexican President Benito Juarez drew up the new laws of dividing church and state, severly cutting back the power of the Catholic church, but he created Dec. 12 as a national holiday, the only religious one to remain.
In colonial times, the Virgen was interpereted as a native and submissive, forgiving mother. Today she is also reinterpreted as a symbol of liberation and action. The Virgen gives ritualistic and real meaning to many.
In Oaxaca, on Dec. 11, 12, people are in the streets and go to the Iglesia de la Virgen de Guadalupe to show tribute, ask for a miracle, or give thanks for one already received. And the usual tradition in Oaxaca is centered around children. Focused on prayers of protection and grace for them. And so, on these two days thousands of girls are dressed in costumes of the indigenous groups and the boys are dressed to look like Juan Diego. Families come with loads of roses and poinsettias to leave at the church.
All the these images, all these rituals are such an absorbing reconciliation of Catholic and pre-Hispanic beliefs. Guadalupe is a huge symbol of popular religion. A feminine metaphor for the understanding of the sacred. Complex and strong, and with a very emotive power and meaning for Mexicans.

Que milagro! Adios, Bruce

Virgen de Guadalupe:pics

2005-12-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

Dia de La Virgen de Guadalupe:pictures

2005-12-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Francisca

2005-12-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

Classes take place in two locations on Saturdays. We set out from Oaxaca early, about 7:00 a.m. We leave the city and paved roads about 30 minutes later. From there, it’s about 2 hours on winding dirt roads. We occasionally pass through small towns where there may be a telephone, a tienda or a casa de salud (a health clinic). Our drive takes us to almost 10,000 feet in elevation, a 5,000 foot climb from where we started. We end up in the county seat of San Mateo Tepantepec. We drive very slowly through this one street town, making ourselves known to whoever is around. There are always people milling about, it’s polite to greet them and let them know we’re here. After all, we are strangers to their community. They keep a watchful eye, checking on who is coming and going in their terrain. Our first stop is about half a mile downhill from here, to the pueblo of Morelos Uno.

We hike a short distance from the truck and set up class which will last for about 2 hours. The students are all women, anywhere from 8 to 14 will show up on any given Saturday, and always a handful of kids. The kids come with shouts of “Bruce, Bruce, trata de agarrarme!” (Try to catch me). My class is the alphabet group and beginning number recognition. It’s all I can handle linguistically. A young Mexican woman in her mid-20s teaches the more advances women. After class we pack everything up and hike back up to the truck for the half mile or so drive back up the switchbacks.

We end up driving as many women and children, as will fit in the truck; back up the steep narrow hillside, dropping a few off all along the way as we pass the pathways to their dwellings. By the top all have disembarked. All but Francisca.

Francisca is one of our students, a Mixtec woman (one of many indigenous groups in S. Mexico); who knows how old she is? Life can be hard on these people; it can be difficult to tell ages. She is very quiet, shy and timid but she comes faithfully to class every Saturday afternoon in the next pueblo, Cerro de Aguila. I’m not sure why she meets us at the bottom of the hill in Morelos Uno since her destination is Cerro de Aguila; but I have a few hypotheses.
*She may live somewhere between the top and bottom of the hill. It would certainly be easier for her to walk downhill to Morelos Uno knowing she is assured of a ride to the top.
*Perhaps it elevates her in the eyes of her peers to come driving to school in the teacher’s car.
*Resources can be limited in these somewhat isolated communities. Has she realized that we always stop for lunch and of course will offer her some?

It could be any of these, all or none. Regardless she is welcome. We offer her a sandwich, juice, fruit; whatever we are sharing amongst ourselves, we share with her as well.

Francisca rarely speaks. She usually sits alone in the backseat of the truck, in the shade. We take turns checking on her, offering her more juice, a cookie, etc. She always accepts with a soft spoken, “Gracias.” I often try to imagine what she may be thinking?

After what Bruce read me this morning, I’m really wondering what she is thinking! Bruce found an article that deals with cultural mannerisms of many indigenous people here in Southern Mexico. The author pointed out that because food can be a scarcity at times people always eat what they are offered. It would be wasteful and rude to not finish it and have it thrown away.

I immediately flashed to our lunches with Francisca. Here she is sitting in the backseat of a truck with me trying to be polite, from my cultural perspective, and offer her more to eat or another drink. Every time her cup is empty I offer to fill it. From her perspective, she can’t waste it or be rude, so she quietly says, “Gracias.” I keep offering to fill her cup and she keeps accepting. Yet, if Bruce’s article is correct, both she and I have been missing the mark as we try to respond each other from our own limited cultural perspectives.

Bruce and I are here to be open to new things, to learn new ways to perceive the world, and ourselves. To do so we need to let go of old routines and be open to new observations and conclusions; new ways of thinking. Francisca is helping to teach us.

Just one more time

2005-12-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

Everyone was sitting in a large circle. Our instructions were to put a piece of paper on top of our heads and try to draw a picture. I couldn’t hear all of the instructions and wasn’t sure if what I did hear was correct so I asked the lady next to me, “Dibuje que?” (Draw what?) “Algo“(Anything) was her response. So I tried to draw a rabbit.

Then the sharing began. One by one each person took turns sharing their picture, who they were and a favorite pass-time. My response was: “Me llamo Katy, este es un conejo. Me pasatiempo es estudiando verbos (no es mi favorito, pero es necesario)”

Hours later on our bus trip home, I was talking to Bruce about the morning. That is a common part of our day. We go over what he heard and understood, what I heard, new phrases, etc; it helps us clarify a lot of things in this new language that we struggle with daily. I asked, “How come everybody had pictures of people, I was the only one with an animal?” This is where clarification helps! Evidently I had NOT understood the instructions and I didn’t even realize that there was a misunderstanding until hours later.

It was an innocent, inconsequential activity but it became more than I could bear. I sat quietly for the remainder of the bus ride home trying to hold back the tears of frustration and embarrassment. Day after day we are faced with new situations. Mostly new words and phrases, but I get SO tired and frustrated of not knowing what is going on, of not understanding, of embarrassing myself. These types of experiences are common, more so than I would like. That day they were more than I could take.

Henri Nouwen describes similar emotions in his book Gracias.
In displacing ourselves into a new and unfamiliar milieu, old, unresolved conflicts often start asking for attention. When our traditional defense systems no longer are available and we are not able to control our world, we often find ourselves experiencing again the feelings of childhood. The inability to express ourselves in words as well as the realization that everyone around us seems to understand life much better than we do, puts us in a situation quite similar to that of a child who struggles through the world of adults.

All too well I understand Nouwen’s words. I know these feelings of helplessness and lack of control, and they can be scary, and lonely. The smallest seemingly innocent circumstances can set off a deluge of emotions leaving you wondering, “Where did all that come from?” However, the opposite is also true: a patient word from a shopkeeper, a friendly bus driver, a kind neighbor can be all the encouragement needed to allow me to brave the unfamiliar just one more time.

But I am not the only person in the world who lives with these pressures. I keep thinking of the many immigrants in my home town that go through this same thing on a regular basis. These people come to California with very little. They work hard to find safe, dependable and honest work. They want what is best for their children. They try to work with an educational system that is not designed to support their linguistic or cultural needs. They often don’t have the resources that I have. I have a bank account to support myself in this country for a year. I have the time and resources to go to language school daily. I have it much easier than they do. Yet these people do what they can to provide for their families in a strange, sometimes unfriendly, country.

So when you are out and about today, be on the look-out for a stranger, for someone with a puzzled, frustrated expression; with a lost-look on their face. Offer them a smile and a kind word- these things are always appreciated and understood, regardless of language. It might be all the encouragement they need to brave their unknown world just one more time; believe me, I KNOW!

Mex. folk music

2005-11-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

Latino songs resonate with ancestral chords and chants: drums, guitars, flutes from Indoamerica, Africa, Spain. Music takes root in the coastlands and cattle ranges of Mexico, the canefields and coffee hills of Cuba, Puerto Rico. Rugged campesino hands fine-tune the chord of Latino laments, fingers gnarled from scratching parched soil, sewing machines, and stubborn mop handles.
Latino hands work the strings and drumsticks, roll accordion and piano licks, shake maracas and scrape gourds; hands clap and fingers snap to the blare of trumpets, trombones, and the wail of voices. Tied hands and muzzled voices burst free to tune the chords and set the cadence of Latino music.

Juan Flores

Music: Bath and Medicine

2005-11-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

I think sometimes, could I only have music on my terms; could I live in a great city, and know where I could go whenever I wish the absolution and inundation of musical vibrations; that were a bath and medicine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day of the Dead-Cycle of Remembering

2005-11-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

In both cemeteries we visited, we were haunted and comforted by this cycle of rememberance. Each year, the living, from young to old, pay tribute to and remember those who are gone. And when one is gone, one knows that the family gathers to remember. Each human being moves through the circle remembering and being remembered.

Susan Hegger "Day of the Dead, Night of the Living"

Awed, confused and emotionally warmed....these were some of the many sweet emotions Katy and I lived-out while we observed the 3-4 day rituals known as Dia de los Muertos.
From Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Oaxaquenos ( wah-hah-KAY,knee-os) are very deeply living out the bitter-sweet emotions of remembering deceased loved ones by buying loads of flowers, preparing food, cleaning and decorating gravesides and making small domestic altars. "...Each human moves through the circle..." this profound and simple concept is in motion everywhere in the city during these days. Honor. Cry. Remember. Celebrate. A very mysterious, but obviously a meaningful cultural family story of blending heart and head. Hard to explain, but we felt it all week.

We are alive within mystery. Life is the continual intervention of the inexplicable. We have more than we know. We know more than we can say. The constrictions of language are formed within experience, not the other way around. So finally, we live beyond words, as also we live beyond beyond computation and beyond theory.

Wendell Berry

Some of the shapes and sounds of these rituals have been around for 3,000 yrs. For the last 500 yrs. there has been a blending of Meso-American native people's beliefs with some of the European Catholic traditions brought in by the Spanish in 1519. Some of the known original rituals dealing with the dead were in the the Aztec calendar for July and August. The Spanish Catholics tried to stop the indigineous people from the rituals that they kept so strongly, but when it proved to be tough going, they changed to a more pragmatic course and moved these attitudes/beliefs to fit with the already existing European tradition of All Saints and All Souls Day, Nov. 1-2.
Sort of the same way the European Christian churches incorporated the nativity of Jesus to connect up on the calendar for Dec. 25, with the many European pagan rituals of various harvest/winter solstice festivals. Since there is no date given for the Nativity in the New Testament, and most scholars of Middle East and Christian history agree that Dec. 25 seems unlikely, the early European church missionariessought to to tame and blend some of the local traditions into a celebration of the Son of God.
And so, just like the direct linkeage of Germanic and Scandinavian pagan winter symbols and icons such as trees and fires, to the now softened and blended rituals of Christmas that bring us so much meaning...so too have the images and forms of rituals dealing with skeletons and spirits softened and evolved to give depth and meaning and an opportunity to reflect on the lives and heritage of those passed on ...in this Mexican culture.
Here in Oaxaca, the principal traditions start a 3 pm on Oct. 31 where the spirits of children...called Anglelitos, arrive to visit their families and leave 3 pm Nov. 1 , when the adult spirits visit until 2 pm on Nov. 2 . Spirits of the dead are expected to pay an annual visit home, and so should be provided with enticing favorite foods, momentos, and a few hours of laughter, tears and music before their long journey back. Sort of like leaving cookies and milk for Santa.
Home altars and gravesides have beautiful displays, from simple to grand, of many flowers. Usually marigolds, as this was an Aztec custom to help the spirits back with the fragrance. And there are many items there that represent nature and its uses. You will see things made from water:for thirst, purification...salt: seasoned food,purification...bread: food for survival.
What is so absorbing, is the unique way this cultural ritual has combined and given permission for private pain and grief to also have communal, public expression. Always, always...families are together...sometimes staying in the cemeteries all night. Having a picnic, singing, reflecting. Every year, long after the funeral day, families circle back together. This is a unique, effective way to handle grief and hopefully give closure.
Because here in Mexico there is a dominant tradition of not embalming the body after death. The body is usually laid out on a special table at home for viewing and initial grieving for just 24 hrs....and then walked to the grave. So Dia de los Muertos gives families after the funeral shock, a chance to reunite each year for old stories and old tears....to help complete the circle and form new family stories and new communal tears. Very absorbing concept....Day of the Dead...the past recorded and remembered to give us continuity for the future.

In an old house there is always listening, and more is is heard than spoken.
And what is spoken remains in the room, waiting for the future to hear it.
And whatever happens began in the past, and presses hard on the future.
The agony in a curtained bedroom, whether of birth or dying.
Gathers in to itself all the voices of the past, and projects them into
future.
the treble voices on the lawn
the mowing of hay in summer
the dogs and old pony
and the singing in the kitchen
and the season of stifled sorrow
All twined and tangled together,
all are recorded.

T.S.Eliot from the " Family Reunion"

Photo: Day of the Dead

2005-11-16T14:54:00.000-08:00