Journal

Day 3 - Sunday, January 30, 2005
by Gail Kerns and Sandy McClain

Schedule: Brunch Buffet at Hotel Mission de los Angeles , Tiacolula market, Mitla ruins, Visit with three single mothers

We started a beautiful morning with six of us attending the 7:00 a.m. Catholic Mass at Santa Domingo Guzman church. We had toured the church on Friday, so attending Mass was fun to view the church again and enjoy the lighted view of the altar.

One of the first things we noticed as we entered the church was someone standing next to a small table with 4 products on it. It was the custom for many attending Mass to donate money and select from either a bag of dried beans, bottled water, rice or a bottle of oil. The items were then placed in a container that was carried to the altar after the normal collection time. (We assumed this was similar to our Food Pantry items done in many US churches.)

We also noticed that Father did start the 7:00 a.m. Mass on time. However, many of those attending church were arriving after Mass started and others continued to arrive up to communion time. We also noticed there were no hymnals or missal books in the pews. There was an opening or welcoming song, so we surmised that they sang the same song at all the masses.

During a brisk walk to breakfast we walked crossed the Pan American Highway.  It is the only highway that is a collective system of roads, approximately 16,000 miles long, that nearly links the mainland nations of the Americas in a roughly unified stretch of highway.

The Pan-American Highway, the longest road in the world, begins in Alaska and continues through Canada, the United States, Mexico, and ends in Argentina.  It used to be a rally road but rallies were halted because of accidents.  In 2004 they began again.  It was the first time the Grasshopper, car from Oaxaco, won.

Breakfast/brunch was at Hotel Mission de los Angeles.  Many attentive waiters attended to our every need.  I haven't had a chair pulled out for me in years.  As we ate we were serenaded by a saxophone player.  The cost of the breakfast, for the amount of service we had, was very reasonable; about 90 pesos, or a little less that $9.00, a person.  Sunday buffet brunch at this hotel has long been a tradition of Mary and Earl's.  There is American food such as scrambled eggs, cereal and juice.  There is also Oaxaca 's Sunday tradition of tamales.  The tamales in banana leaves are de mole, those in corn husks are either tamales de frijole (beans) or tamales de dulce (sweet potatoes).  Oaxacan hot chocolate made with milk is good here.  Previously we had hot chocolate made with water and it wasn't nearly as good.

Traveling by bus we went by two baseball fields, one of the most popular sports in Oaxaca . Mary shared that it was unusual for soccer teams to be dressed in uniforms, and for them to be playing in front of a large number of spectators on a Sunday morning. Mary reported that few teams could afford ball uniforms. We also passed a sign noting the life of Benito Juarez. He was born an Indian in Oaxaca.  Several places in Oaxaca were named after him including schools, buildings, etc.  When he was a young man he attended school at a monastery, because that was where school was held. He went on to study law and become a lawyer.  Juarez is called the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico.

Mitla was first inhabited by the Zapotecs.  The temples were originally red with Cinnabar.  There is very little of the original painting left.  Mitla does not have the federal funding that Monte Alban had so the preservation is lagging far behind.  According to the guide, Ester, in a few years there will be no remenants of the red painting.  The red was to symbolize the life cycle.  The mosaic's formed in the walls have seasonal significance.  For example, they represent the elements of wind, rain, running water, lightening, etc.  You see these symbols over and over when view textiles made in the area.  These ruins are not as old as Monte Alban , but are Zapotec.  The Aztec mosaics are created with such fine craftsmanship that no mortar is needed in the designs.  The stone is cut to fit.  The same is true for the foundation and corner stones of buildings.  Everything was constructed to be earthquake proof.  Large stones rolled and pushed down from the mountains were fitted to allow for shifting of the stone.  Again no motor was used.

What we often refer to as a cross is different when viewed at the ruins.  The + symbol on the lintels over the doors indicated the directions or north, south, east and west.  Zapotecas prayed 13 weeks to the north, 13 weeks to the south, 13 weeks to the east and 13 weeks to the west.  This adds up to their life cycle of 52.

We were able to steal a short amount of time and enjoy the local artists in the Tlacolula market. This was the market that specialized in beautiful linen and embroidery work. Many of the vendors had a booth area to display their products. Others would walk among the tourists carrying their shawls, rugs, jewelry on their body and offer these items for sale.

Comida was at Bevana.  Lunch Menu:  Chips and Dip.  Appetizer plate.  Soup: tomato sauce, cactus, and a cheese ball in the center. Next came the chicken and rice sauce.  For dessert there was banana flambeau. The ingredients for the bananas were:  sugar, butter, bananas, cinnamon , lemon and orange peel, mescal, orange juice, all steamed with a cherry on top.

Who would think there would be such a nice restaurant way out in the middle of no where!   At this restaurant we had a tour of how mescal was made, and ended with mescal available for sampling.  It takes seven to nine years for the mescal cactus to mature for production.  The heart of the cactus is harvested and placed in a kiln for four days.  The cooked cactus is pressed and placed in large wooden vats for fermentation.  After fermenting, the liquid is transferred to copper containers over a fire where the condensing unit siphons off the mescal.  Only one state in Mexico is authorized to made tequila, so other states make it but call it mescal.  One story is that people from the town of Tequila came to Oaxaca to learn to make mescal.  After learning, they took it back to their town, Tequila.  They were the ones that applied for the copyright.  A particular notation was made about the rest rooms at Bevana.  Instead of a male for female figure outside each room, women were noted as moons and men were the suns.

Our evening consisted of a lovely lite dinner at the LaFonda de Santo Domingo . We were joined by Lidia, Teta and Claudia, all single mothers. Lidia was a seamstress and able to do her business in her home. She constructed ladies clothing and is able to finish 2 garments a day. Her eldest child is doing some college work, like Bachelors Degree work. The second child is in the pre-college degree program and the third child is in kindergarten. She takes the younger 2 children to school each morning, and they catch the bus home. School hours usually end about 2:00 p.m. and they enjoy lunch together.

(I understood this mother has a husband working in California , and he sent money back to Oaxaca for their care.)

Teta, the second mother has one child, is a sister to Lidia and also works in the garment construction business. She takes her child to school early in the morning about 7:00 a.m. The child returns home about 12:30 p.m. and they enjoy lunch together. Teta and her child return to her work for the remainder of the afternoon and they go home about 7:00 p.m., have a supper of bread and cheese and go to bed.

Both Lidia and Teta shared they had acquired the clothing construction skill from their mother and were appreciative of their skills.

Claudia, our third mother had 2 children ages 12 and 14. She had a contract from a university to travel the area and sell lottery tickets for the university. They currently live with her parents. She was planning to soon have her own place and independence for her children and herself.

When she is traveling for her job, the children return home after school and help the grandparents in the grocery store.

 Some of the things we gathered from all 3 mothers are:

1. They work very hard and sacrifice much for better educational advancement for their children.

2. School costs are a big worry for all of them…. uniforms, school supplies, fashionable clothing for the teens, etc.

3. Our third mother worried about being able each month to pay for her children's cell phone bills.

4. Each mother insisted their children work for their spending money.

5. They worried about health care as they do not have insurance. Their salaries are not high enough to carry health insurance.

6. All mothers shared that many babies are not born in the hospitals due to high costs, but born in local medical clinics. Mother and baby leave the same day of the birth.

It was sad to hear that these mothers did not have vacations, as there is no money for vacations, and they cannot spare days with no income. Their life is work and care of children. They worry about meeting the construction deadline, and if possible they strive to not work on Sundays and have family time.

They recognize the hard work they do in the construction business. They hope they can afford to keep their children in school to acquire a good education and good work habits.

continue to day 4