The food systems crew, 13 mujeres and John Hayden, spent the past week in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. On Monday morning we met, sleepy-eyed at 6 am in the Zocalo and made our way to Abasalo bus station where we boarded public transportation. The bus made its way outside of the city through the Central Valleys out to the mountainous Sierras, to a village called Capulalpam de Mendez. We split up into three groups and stayed in houses with families, where we ate our meals and slept. It is amazing the change in climate out in the mountains, lush green forests, fruit trees, vibrant flowers, and the constant backdrop of the endless mountains. We learned about the governance system of the village (usos y costumbres) and what it means to be a "magic town". We celebrated Lesley's birthday with a bonfire, all sitting under the beautiful, starry night sky. We went to a traditional medicine center and learned about different beliefs of health and indigenous medicine. We saw a demonstration of a limpia, and some of us received traditional massages and participated in a temezcal.
We also spent two nights in Yavesia. This was a small village of less than 700, located in a drastic valleys, the houses literally perched on the side on the mountain, a river in the middle of the valley, separating it into two neighborhoods. We had individual home-stays, which posed as a challenge for many, but was definitely rewarding in the end. We learned about the villages efforts to protect their forests from being exploited for lumber. An ongoing legal battle that shows the challenges of communally owned land, and an inspirational real-life example of people reclaiming their commons. We spent Thursday hiking and appreciating the woods in the mountains, the jagged rock formations, and the breathtaking views. We returned on Friday, meeting at 4:30 am, to catch the only bus to the city.
Words cannot quite do justice to the natural beauty and tranquility of these villages. Hiking in the mountains and seeing the beautiful pine forests, rivers and flowers, was like candy for a bunch of nature-deprived Vermonters, I am not exaggerating when I say it was blissful. It was a refreshing and challenging week, I think that we all pushed our comfort zones, and learned a lot. It was good to be learning but also feel like we are really experiencing Oaxaca, more and more it seems like the most important things in life are learned this way. Experiencing first-hand a different way of life, a different way of thinking, has certainly broadened our own perceptions. We have talked a lot about our relationship to nature, our selves, agriculture and the environment all being a part of the same thing.
Now we are about to embark on the last month of the program with cooking classes and discussions on food and culture. We are all very excited and eager for what the next month has in store for us.
Abrazos,
Jessie and Page
Among the many things that we learned during our stay was how central the family is in the production of the alebrijes-while the father and sons carve the figures, the wives and daughters often collaborate in the painting process, making the final product a family creation. While we came into the town with the preconceived notion that what we were studying (the alebrijes) was a craft of mass production for tourists, we came out of the stay realizing how much time and careful artistic consideration goes into each and every piece. We met on Sunday morning to partake in making a breakfast of memelitas together with the community, each and every one of us sad at the prospect of saying good-bye, but comforted by the sincere requests of the families that we return soon and stay with them again. We all look forward to fulfilling this request.