The Death of a Whisper

I will stomp on the surface of this world...I will dance with giants and shake the mountains until they are dust in the palm of my hand...I continue to float in a confined space, moving but remaining within the walls of chance and circumstance...From a solitary position I can examine the sky and believe that of this legends are constructed...I must remember the grey days, the motivating rains that carried me away into the dreams of distant moons and startled sunsets...The essential smile, the tears falling from the hostile stratosphere and landing in lakes, only to become placid and forgettable...I continue to journey, to search for definitions long lost by my mother-tongue...It is within this land of the sun that my mind begins to vibrate and at last: Hope...Here, I can accelerate my whispers into the shouts of satisfaction, the scintillating creation of a silent afternoon...The stillness of sudden memory...

I can see the horizon and dream of another day...A tomorrow that brings me the truth of another way...A significant kiss that will change the color of my eyes..and the angle of my smile...From upon this steep summit I can almost touch the loquacious sky that drops its tears into the what and why...Final moments seem to always be beautiful ones..A thrilling laugh, a peaceful conversation and the chance to allow our wings to evolve...and soar into the expanisve air of complete nothingness above and below our heads...A final attempt to believe, to look into the light of the sun and find its reflection within the moon...The thunderous sigh from the lips of the high...divine and intertwined...Oh, the countless visions that have found me in my deep slumber...my breath releases into the hours of the day but my love, my life pulsates into the veins of existence, into the scandolous faith of forgiveness...With one glimpse of destiny I will break free from these gravitational chains and forget the thought of being...I will glide into eternity and know more than just what I am seeing...

San Miguel Canoa

I spent the day yesterday in a small agricultural town called San Miguel Canoa. Actually, it's really two towns: Canoa, in the state of Puebla, and San Isidro de Buen Suceso, in the state of Tlaxcala. You simply cross this little bridge taking you from Puebla into Tlaxcala. I am writing a little ethnography about bilingual education in Mexico for one of my classes. I needed to go to this school in San Isidro called the Primaria Leonarda Gomez Blanco. The school has kids between the ages of 6 and 13 and the majority of them come to the school already speaking Nahuatl, the most-spoken indigenous language in Mexico. But, the kids don't know how to write in their native tongue and they also learn Spanish, the dominant language of Mexico. It was a really neat experience and took me like two hours to go 14km on two different buses! I'm getting used to the slower pace of life here so I wasn't too frustrated. The mountain is actually the dormant volcano La Malinche (it has been asleep for over 3000 years), named after Malinalli (also known as Malintzin), an Indian princess (according to one indigenous account after the conquest) who was sold as a slave by her parents to a different indigenous tribe and then she became the personal interpreter for Cortes (because she spoke Nahuatl and Maya and rapidly learned Spanish). She is known in Mexico as a traitor (there are differing opinions but that is the generally accepted one). Anyways, it was a great experience and makes me want to continue to learn about the indigenous languages of Mexico and possibly assist, in my own little way, in trying to change the negative views of indigenous languages spoken here.

This is what a small-town panteon looks like a few weeks after Day of the Dead. Well, at least this panteon looks like this a few weeks after Day of the Dead. This is the panteon of San Miguel Canoa and all of the marigolds are still here. It's very pretty and again, I just love the colors of Mexico's landscape, even when celebrating something like death.

Here is the house in which I am living. Our apartment is the first floor of the building. My friend Olivia has offered me a place to stay until I find my own apartment. I also wanted to include a picture of the gas truck because when I shared this story with my mom and dad, they were quite amused. Every morning this truck or a truck from a different gas company comes down our street. You can hear the truck coming because it plays music through loud speakers. The music is really funky and makes me want to get out of bed and do the merengue! I'm kidding (I'm usually out of bed between 5:30-6am) but the music is really funky and fun. Then, when the music has pulled you in, it stops for just a second and this man's deep voice comes on and says "Gaaaaas". The music then starts as quickly as it stopped and repeats over and over again. Last week Olivia had to buy a tank of gas for the apartment and she went running outside early in the morning and then her boyfriend hooked up the tank for us. Where else am I going to have such an experience?

Oaxaca and Monte Alban

I just love the city of Oaxaca (as many of you already know). There is a lot of poverty here but the people have such alegria and are very friendly. I absolutely love the weather and while I was here it was nearly perfect. I am very interested in Oaxaca, its people and cultures. The state of Oaxaca has the highest number of indigenous groups and languages (16 groups and many, many languages) in Mexico. I cannot wait to return and learn more about this beautiful region and people(s).

Oaxaca is such a beautiful city and I still have so many things that I want to do there. I guess I will just have to keep going back and spending more time there. The church is actually the Basilica de la Soledad found within minutes of walking from the zocalo. It's really big and well known for the facade; it has different figures of Saints carved into the front.

Monte Alban was founded at about 600BCE so it is one of the oldest sites in Mesoamerica (although there are several that are older). Monte Alban is special because it is believed to be the first actual "city" of Mesoamerica. A planned community came into being here at about 500BCE and by 200BCE, there were more than 17,000 people. It is also the site recognized as containing the first writing in Mesoamerica. First established and occupied by the Zapotecs and then later by the Mixtecs, Monte Alban is a unique site that sits atop a ridge in the Valley of Oaxaca and you can view the entire surrounding areas from its heights.

So here I am in front of "Los Danzantes" or "The Dancers". Over 300 of these sculptures have been found at Monte Alban and some were used at different building periods as steps. Many scholars now believe that these "dancers" are actually sacrificial victims; their eyes are shut as if the individuals are in a trance. Many of these sculptures contain glyphs, possibly the individual's name but we cannot read the glyphs. I have also included a few other pictures of more of the buildings at Monte Alban.

Here are some more photos of Monte Alban and the view from atop Monte Alban. I had a great time and truly enjoy visiting these ancient sites. There is also a picture of the ball court at Monte Alban; it's kind of small but interesting.

I absolutely love Oaxaca; its people, the streets, the general atmosphere of friendly faces and beautiful skies. I cannot wait until I can go back. Here are just a few more images of the Oaxaca that I love.

Day(s) of the Dead

I love these days in Oaxaca!! Day(s) of the Dead is unique to Mexico (even though there is speculation about this kind of celebration of death and the dead in other countries as well). It was a privilege to be able to spend a second year in a row in Oaxaca (the name Oaxaca comes from the Nahuatl word 'Huaxyacac' which means 'in the nose of the squash') for Day of the Dead. There was so much going on during the nights of the 31st of October and the 1st of November. I love the imagery and the iconography that Mexicans utilize during these special days when the spirits of the dead walk among us in our physical realm (or so it is believed). It was a pleasure to spend four days here and hopefully I will be returning next year (we'll see). I know that there are other places in Mexico that I'm sure I would love just as much as Oaxaca for Day of the Dead, but Oaxaca will always have a special place in my heart.

These are some images from the governor's palace in the centro of Oaxaca (I think). I love the altars that are set up all over the city and every one of them is unique. The orange flower used (marigold in English) is called 'cempasuchil'. That flower, along with a very pinkish-red flower called 'cresta de gallo' (I don't know its name in English) is used everywhere, in everything that represents Day of the Dead. In Spanish it is the 'flor de muerte' or flower of the dead (of death).

On the 31st of October, we went to the Panteon San Miguel and the Panteon Xoxocotlan, just as I did last year. I just love seeing soooo many people at these cemeteries; people really do believe that during these three days (Oct.31st, Nov 1-2) the spirits of those that have died are physically present in our world, affecting our lives and our decisions (more than usual because they do believe that the dead walk among us during the whole year). Death, for those that live in Mexico, isn't invisible or ignored. Death is something that is tangible, real and part of everyday life here in Mexico. Garcia Lorca, upon visiting Mexico, said that only Mexico could walk hand-in-hand with Spain in terms of how the Mexican people viewed death; death is mocking us, making fun of us and is ever-present in these cultures of Mexico and that fascinates me. Death is the mirror of life and vice-versa.

All over the city of Oaxaca, shops and art galleries set up tapetes, displays and decorations to celebrate Day of the Dead. Mexico is a very colorful country but I am so impressed by the array of color used during these specific days of festivities. Some of these images can be scary so viewer discretion is advised.

Since I have decided to do an entry on Day of the Dead as I experienced it (really Days of the Dead) in Oaxaca, I wanted to show these 'tapetes' that are made of colored sand and some are extremely large and an entire area of four to six blocks of the centro of Oaxaca was used to set up the tapetes. The colors are brilliant and there were so many! I really loved being able to spend this unique holiday in Oaxaca for the second year in a row.