Journal

Day 6 -February 2, 2005
by Stephanie Anderson and Vanette Grover

Breakfast - Boarded bus at 8:30am
Earl discussed religion while on the bus to Santa Maria del Tule. During the 16 th century, the Catholic Church was very powerful and over half of all Mexican land was owned by them. As time wore on, the citizens of Mexico grew tired of the control of the Church and a revolution ensued, which is why so many convents and monasteries are used as businesses or apartments.

By and large, Americans over estimate the importance and devotion to religion that Mexicans have. The Church's power is lessoning as evidenced by smaller Mexican families due to birth control. Mexico used to be the 2 nd most growing population in the world.

In Latin America , abortion rates are very high. Governments are in favor of birth control to help lower the abortion rate. The health system is poor and abortion complications are high.

Arrival to Santa Maria del Tule
Santa Maria del Tule is a town that seems wealthy compared to other villages we've visited. Streets are paved, homes and businesses are made of beautiful brick and adobe. All of which are painted in bright colors.

“Arbol Del Tule” is the largest tree (circumference) in the world. It is over 2000 years old and is a Water Cypress tree. The Pan American highway brought visitors right up to it, but due to large traffic volumes, the tree began to die. They re-routed traffic away from the tree, and it continues to grow in circumference today. Arbol Del Tule blooms yearly.

There are various animal shapes in the tree and children will flash a mirror on it to show them….but none were present to help us today.

Cost to visit the tree is 3 pesos. If you need to use the bathroom, the cost is 1 peso.

Candelaria at Santa Maria
Candelaria is not a holiday as no major battle took place. Candelaria occurs 40 days after Christmas. It is a ceremony where families redress their Baby Jesus dolls in new clothing as he is “old” enough to go to temple. Baby Jesus is sitting up in a chair and is often sitting in seeds of corn or other grain to ask for a good harvest.

As we arrive, we're given poleo, which is a plant. It has a nice odor and is said to be good for the stomach. The large leaf variety is used for indigestion and other stomach problems. The small leaf variety is used as an aphrodisiac and is supposed to be brought to the home after the ceremony.

There is a distinctly festive “air” to the day and surroundings.

People who attend the Candelaria are those that have flexible work schedules. A “Mayordomo” is elected yearly to oversee and manage the Candelaria. He will order flowers and arrange the ceremony. The community will contribute money, flowers, and work to the ceremony.

There are drums and a flute that “call” the village people to the church. A small band then further calls the people to the ceremony. Incense is burned and brought into the church. The church is filled with flowers of all colors and candles. The ribbons are blue, to honor the Virgin Mary.

The Baby Jesus dolls are all arranged on tables outside of the church, for all to see. The clothes are new, colorful, and of varying styles. When all the dolls have arrived, there are 3 eight foot tables full of them.

There is a church service with speakers outside broadcasting what was happening in the church as there are so many people, that about 50 have to sit outside.

A band and parade of people leave the church, walk around the courtyard and the ceremony ends with fireworks.

From the Candelaria to San Geronimo…
The Church of San Geronimo has 4 chapels surrounding a courtyard. Esther, our guide, said it was built by the Spaniards, but allowed the open air courtyard so as to make the Zapotecs more comfortable as they pray to the sun, moon, rain, and wind. Inside, they pray to God. She also mentioned that the cross sign that was present in the courtyard wasn't a cross, but was to represent north, south, east, and west.

There is a statue of Jesus that is made of corn. According to Esther, that's because the Zapotecs make everything out of corn and felt it was such an important part of their lives, that they chose to make the statue of corn. The monastery is very plain, with no gold. Esther said it's because the Dominicans felt guilty for destroying the Zapotec temple.

There is a gorgeous, huge, and ornate organ located on the second floor of the church. It still works today, and people hand pump air into it! The stairs were rather treacherous and “close” for those that were uncomfortable with things like that! Well worth the trip up the stairs….and down them!

And on to the Teotitlan del Valle-The Rug Weavers' Village
This town is of Zapotec Indian heritage and is the oldest in the valley. Esther reports that Spanish is seldom spoken here, but Zapotecan is on a daily basis.

Isaac Vasquez is the artist credited for discovering how to use natural elements as dye for the wool that is used in the rugs. His son is our guide today and is obviously very proud of his father's work. He showed us several art books that showcase his father's work.

Rug weaving is a family affair. The women will prepare the wool, while the men are generally the spinners and the weavers. The children are involved in the process as well. The older women will wash the wool using “amole” which is a prehistoric soap. Then they clean the wool further by brushing it in one direction. Approximately 20 people in the family are involved from sheep ranching, to cleaning, to weaving. Men will work the large looms and women the small ones.

There are fascinating ways of dying the wool naturally. There are 4 basic colors and from them, they get over 120 tones. Salt is added to the color boiling to speed up the coloring process.

A lice found on cactus is dried and used as the red color. They simply change the ph levels to change the shades of red.

Various shades of yellow are achieved by harvesting lichen and boiling it with the wool.

The Indigo plant is used to get shades of blue and greens. The plant is fermented for 26 days, then boiled with ashes to get the green color. As the plant oxidizes, the color goes to blue.

Beans are used to achieve the black color.

All parts of the pecan tree are used to make shades of brown.

We are cautioned that “shiny” rugs are not made of wool, but are made of acrylic fibers.

The rugs were beautiful and their prices while not high, are the highest we've encountered on our trip thus far.

The village is clearly pretty well off by Oaxaca standards. The streets are mostly paved, the buildings are made of brick, stone, or concrete, and few shacks are in view. There are many other weavers in the village, but none with the grand set up that the Vasquez family has.

On the way back to the city of Oaxaca , we stop for comida at El Escondido. It's a lovely buffet style restaurant with every type of Mexican dish and dessert imaginable. A complimentary shot of Mezcal is placed at all of our plates and we proceed to eat a delicious dinner.

That evening, we are on our own for cena and exploration of the downtown area by ourselves. Amy, Vanette, Dan, and I managed to find a wonderful Italian restaurant called “La Rustica.” We all had something different and enjoyed the meal and atmosphere immensely. While it was “Italian” food, it still was different than the American version of “Italian Food.”