Arte es chido!

This past week of March 8^th through March 12^th, seven of us (Russell, Taylor, Allie, Caroline, Sarah, Amber, and Elena) began our new Art History Class with Professor Corrine Glesne - Manifesting Culture through the Arts in Oaxaca, Mexico. The class is a combination of making artwork, learning about traditional folk art from Oaxaca and Mexico, and the anthropological aspect of art. For example, one theme we’ve picked up on a lot is the influence of capitalism and tourism on the production and evolution of the art. Some of these art forms, most commonly pottery making, have been around for thousands of years. In the beginning, pottery was a way to support life – you could store food and drink, cook, carry things, etc, but now it both serves its basic functions and collects income from tourists. You can imagine how pottery designed for functional use might evolve if its creators adopted a new motive, to attract tourist buyers. The shaker in the photo, for example, is a piece of art that probably doesn't have much of a functional use, but is a nice thing to bring home and remember Oaxaca.

As demonstrated in the photo above, we’re collecting our findings in our own, personal, handmade art journals – sketching “arte popular”, pottery, textile designs, alibrijes (wooden animal figurines – with bobble heads!), murals, and devoting a few pages to reflective writing or creative additions. On Wednesday, March 10^th, we visited a Oaxacan jewelry museum and drew representations of pieces we found. On Thursday, 11^th, we took a trip to the Zaachila Market, explored the arts and crafts we found there, asked about the history and production, and purchased a variety of artistic objects. The photo on the left shows a table in the Zaachila market displaying gourds, bowls, and animal alibrijes - all of which are probably meant to be sold as souvenirs or decorations. Caroline and Russell went into the market with specific intentions to look for these and other objects created from gourds. They found the shakers above which are hollowed out, cleaned, filled with their own seeds, glued back together, and painted. Different family members take on different tasks in the creation, a brother might dig up the gourds, a sister might clean them out, and an aunt might paint them. This, at least, was one case we found in Zaachila.

Friday we took a trip to a local store to learn about natural textiles, how they are made, what their patterns mean, and when they are worn. After Fridays class, for the day of the Samaritan, Oaxaca was bustling with people here to collect all of the delicious (and free!) fruit waters being handed out on Calle Alcala, in the Zocalo, and other locations around town.

Saturday night, everybody celebrated Lesley’s birthday on the rooftop of Mezza Luna, complete with fireworks and cake presented with a song on the violin. Sarah, Caroline, and Elena took off to the Coast until Tuesday afternoon, and everybody is enjoying their long weekend. Paz y Amor from Oaxaca, Adios!

Hola a Todos!

Hola a todos! As excited as we’ll be to return to all of you, it’s hard to believe that we’re officially past our halfway mark and nearly finished with our plant and soil science class. It doesn’t seem possible that we first hung our hats here two whole months ago, though the season change is hard to ignore; the heat has no mercy midday!

It would be easy to fill a novel with the past week’s events, as John Hayden’s class has kept us very busy outside of the classroom and learning by doing. We met with John to talk about mechanistic versus naturalistic farming practices, sustainable agro ecosystems, and food sovereignty in the face of globalization. At 4:00, we reconvened at the Botanical Gardens; beautifully designed gardens located right behind Santo Domingo, Oaxaca’s famous museum and church. The space once belonged to monks who inhabited Santo Domingo, it was then used as a military base for several years and, following a failed battle to turn it into a commercial shopping center, it was finally transformed into 6 acres of paradise filled with hundreds of varieties of trees and plants. Our tour guide spoke a lot about plants endemic to Mexico, for example, the historical and nutritional importance of amaranth, the life of the agave plant (used to produce mescal and tequila), and the significance of Oaxaca’s trees to traditional Mixtec society. We met a 200 year old cactus and several plants that could have inspired Dr. Suess.

On Wednesday we caught a bus to Zimatlán (about 25 minutes from the City, a town you can read more about through the Centeótl crew’s blog), where we were sent into their bustling market place on a mission; to find one of the plants we’d learned about at the Botanical Gardens, ask more about it, and bring it back to show & tell. We came back a type of rock used to make tortillas that can double as a pumas stone, unusual looking fruit, and the juice produced by agave plants. Which we discovered has a tendency to explode as it’s fermenting (Annie’s backpack will never smell the same). After the market we walked to an Amaranth factory where we learned more about the history and nutritional importance of amaranth (practically a life elixir, with protein, calcium, vitamin D and folic acid) and how the crop has been regaining popularity locally. After this we practically bought out their supply of amaranth cookies, an amazing chocolaty treat that we can’t get enough of. We’ll bring some back to the States, but no guarantees they’ll outlast the plane ride…

On Thursday we went again to Tierra del Sol, a beautiful small scale farm outside of the city. Some members of the group helped dig out a new garden plot and others harvested lettuce and carrots for our lunch. After helping out in the kitchen, we ate a delicious meal of pea soup, lasagna and salad. All of the vegetables came from the farm. The cheese we ate even came from the farm's dairy cow! On Friday we headed over to UniTierra to check out their rooftop garden and learn more about urban agriculture, a fast growing food movement. They had plants of every variety, and even a large compost bin complete with lovely red worms, which can eat half of their body weight in one day.

On Saturday, we had a symposium on maize, or corn. We discussed its biology, technological advances and risks in its cultivation, its importance in history and as an element of culture, and its current place in society. For Mexico, corn is more than a food source, it is a part of 'el corazón,' the heart, and is a foundation of Mexico's rich culture. To close the symposium we went to Itanoní, a little restaurant that featured delicious traditional comida. This restaurant was very special because its philosophy emphasized the importance of local, natural corn and how it is such an essential element of Mexican society. You can see their website here: Itanoni

That night, we went to Mezzaluna and celebrated Lesley's 21st birthday! The food was tasty, we were on a beautiful terrace, and a violinist played happy birthday. It was a wonderful evening.

Monday morning, painfully early, we head to the Sierra del Norte where we will spend two nights in Calpulalpan learning more about milpa and traditional herbs and two nights in Yavesia learning about agro forestry, alternative pest management strategies and eco-tourism. Stay tuned for next week’s report back!

Over & out,

Annie and Lesley