Christmas in Oaxaca

Hard to believe it's come and gone already.
Of course, things are done a little differently here in Mexico than in the States
One of the really nice things is the lack of commercialism! Christmas here is not about all the things you need to buy for your loved ones. It's more about religious and family and friends.
They definitely have their own traditions here. On the 23rd of Dec., in the Zocalo( the square in the center of town) is the Radish Festival. People come from all over and spend the day carving radishes into all sorts of scenes. Some are very intricate, talk about food art. They are then judged and put on display. We went early so we could see them because it gets extremely crowded. I took a bunch of pictures but only a few came out, so sad!
On Christmas Eve, we also went to the Zocalo to watch the parade. The churches in the area build floats and each float has their statue of the baby Jesus. The children dress up and of course, you have your Mary and Joseph and all the attendants. At midnight the baby Jesus is taken back to the church and I'm sure some very tired children put to bed!
As you stand and watch the parade, there are fireworks going off right over your head and under your feet. There are also people selling egg shells stuffed with confetti which you smash on each other heads. There were bits of eggshell on my pillow the next morning. Fun was had by all!
Christmas day was not very Mexican, Mary Jane keeps her heritage alive by cooking a traditional Canadian Christmas turkey complete with stuffing. Very yummy, we even had cranberry sauce, which is hard to find here!
All in all, a wonderful way to spend Christmas, though I did miss my family and old friends.
I'm off to the coast to celebrate New Years, let you know how it goes when I get back.

Back to the Mountains

I'm really not spending all my time in the mountains, but it's so beautiful it's hard not to blog about my trips up there.
Last weekend we took a horse tour up into the mountains. I didn't ride, my job was supply crew. Mary Jane took 2 riders up to a small village called El Carrizal. First we loaded the horses into the trailer and I drove them to a village called Diaz Ordaz. The three riders saddled up and off they went for a 6 hour ride up into the hills. I drove the trailer to the village of Llano Grande, about two hours of driving over the mountains. Gorgeous views! I dropped off the trailer in Llano Grande then drove the van down to El Carrizal to meet the riders. The village is very picturesque, perch on the side of the mountains.
Eco tourism is trying to take hold and most of the villages are building lovely little cabins. Each with fireplaces and private bathrooms. Really very nice. The village also had a small shed, where they set up a makeshift stable for the horses.
I brought the food for the horses and the riders luggage and breakfast. When Mary Jane, Ellen and Mario arrived we fed the horses and then went to the local trout farm and had lovely fresh trout for dinner. Umm!
I got the fires going in everyone's cabin, gets cold up there at night. Once everyone was warm and toasty, we drank some Mezcal and they told me of the day's ride. I'm hopefully going to be able to do the ride soon.
Next morning we were up bright and early. A lot of the folks from the village came to watch us feed and take care of the horses. They also had lots of questions for Mary Jane about how to get more tourists up to the village.
The villagers provided us with a local guide, who showed up on a little mountain pony complete with a foal at her side. Off went my riders, with their guide, further up the mountain to where I had left the trailer. I met them with lunch for the horses and we humans had lunch at a local comida.
We then loaded up the horses and headed home. It was a great way to spend a few days and get to know new people. Ellen is from Northern California and owns a racing stable there. You'd think she wouldn't want to spend her vacation with horses. She told us she never has time to pleasure ride at home, so she really enjoys her horses vacations. She has seen alot of the world from horseback. Mario is from Malta, he and I have a lot in common, as he has owned and worked in pubs most of his life. He now works on pleasure yachts in the Med, not a bad way to make a living!
I having a hard time believing Christmas is just down the road. I haven't been bombarded with ads, which is very nice. Hope everyone is have a great X-mas season. Drink some eggnog for me!

Capulalpam

Say that three times fast!
Last Sunday found us heading up into the mountains again, this time to Capulalpam. Capulalpam is in the Sierra Norte but quite a drive from Bonito Juarez. Both villages are part of the Pueblos Mancomunidos, which consists of 7 villages, within 200km of each other, that pool their resources. Capulalpam is beautiful, perched on the side of the mountains and dominated by a Dominican church. I have been told that Mexico was divided up between the Dominican and the Jesuits, when the Spanish came calling. At least, this part of Mexico.
The cast of characters on this trip consisted of me, Shoshanna, Alejandro, Anya, a lovely Dutch lady spending a few days at Casa Sagrada, Daniel, who owns a massage studio in Oaxaca and Omar, the rock star. Ok, so he's not a rock star, he is actually a masseuse, but he does play in a band. One of the reasons for the trip was to look for river rocks for the hot stone massages they do at the studio. If you've never had one I highly recommend it.
It's almost a 2 hour trip up and down the mountain switchbacks with postings every now and then about "curva peligrosa". For my non-Spanish speaking friends that's dangerous curve. Well, let me tell you they should put signs on all of them! Alejandro is a great driver so we made it to the village with no problems.
Of course once there we had to eat. There were ladies cooking all sorts of wonderful food in the square behind the church, so we sat down and dug in. Those of us less stout of heart ordered the chili rellenos, stuffed with pollo(chicken) and wrapped in a tortilla. Spicy!!!!!!!!!! Omar on the other hand, ordered a soup made with cow(maybe, I think it was goat) stomach, he said it was good but even he didn't eat all the strange pieces floating around in his bowl! See picture above. When one of the ladies heard it was my birthday, I got a great big hug and a wish for many great years to come.
We then headed for the Traditional Medicine clinic to have a look around. When the clinic was opened, quite a few years ago, they had 45 healers. Many of them have passed on but they handed their knowledge down to the next generation. Lucky for us! Some of us got traditional massages, quick but very relaxing!
We found a great place to look for rocks, pretty little waterfalls and a dammed off area that the local puebla(village) uses for swimming.
On the way home we almost got creamed by a bus coming round one of the curva pelagrosas but Alejandro's quick thinking saved us. It was really close, could see the white of the bus driver's eyes!
When we got back to the valley we headed to Shoshanna and Alejandro's casa . A wonderful dinner, beers, a few shots of mezcal and the next thing you know we were sitting around the firepit in the back yard singing songs and listening to the boys play guitar. A great day and a nice way to celebrate my getting younger!