Las Juntas

The heat is oppressive in Olinalá. I struggled to lift off the weight of the heat that kept me in bed until mid morning, the ceiling fan on high. At first I thought my lack of energy stemmed from all of the excitement of the weekend – long bus ride to Olinalá, art show, post art exhibition birthday celebration of one of the judges, German. But…no. No, it was definitely the heat.

By early afternoon, settling for fresh juice as breakfast and lunch as it was too hot to eat; I made my way to Zacango. I was just in time to join Bruce and the kids in shucking the last of their dried corn. Some will be used to replant this year, and the rest will be used to feed the animals. Since the rains have come late this year, the community has just started to plow the fields for planting, which takes a week or so as it is done with burros. We finished the task in the cool of their house with the windows and doors barring the sun and heat from entering our refuge.

One of the tricks to beat the heat that Bruce and Jaime have learned is to find water, scarce though it might be. Since I had not been to Las Juntas, a neighboring community, we decided to investigate the water level of their creek for potential relief. From Zacango, Las Juntas is about 20-25 minutes on a curvy, dirt road, in the opposite direction of Olinalá. Many community members from Zacango have family in Las Juntas, and the two communities often join together for celebrations. Being a community that is nestled in the mountains, the houses were scattered along the mountain edge as descended into the community.

Diana and Enrique, friends of Hizee and Zam, joined us on our search for relief from the heat. We would have had a lot more children join us, but they were skeptical of the amount and the quality of water that we would find at the creek. After about three months with no rains, the first rains arrived in the area only two or three days ago. So along with the low level of water, it was less likely to be clear due to the recent rains.

While the kids were right, indeed the muddy water was lower than usual; it did nothing to take away from the sheer joy of splashing in the water. We walked along the creek bank until we found a shady area where the water pooled. The kids were soon in the waist-deep water, while I settled on the rocks, legs soaking in the cool respite from the heat. The periodic pig, dog or farmer leading some animals wondered by, but they were the only disturbance to the afternoon water frolic.

Art Critic

Zacango hosted the community’s first Final Friday Art Exhibition this evening. The comisaria (community room) turned gallery displayed the work of a group of artists (12-15 years old) who were part of Jaime’s art class this semester. The exhibition featured art inspired by artisan work throughout Mexico, such as painted tiles, ojos de Dios (Eyes of God) and Aztec and Mayan designs. The evening highlighted the creativity and talent of the youth of Zacango.

The majority of these junior high artists are finished with formal schooling. With only a primary school in the community, most of the budding artists lack the resources or encouragement to continue at the secondary school in Olinalá, a 15-20 minute truck ride away. The art class provided this impressionable group with a rare opportunity to spend time together laughing, learning and expressing their creativity. In a school system that values rote learning, perfection and discipline, the weekly meeting encouraged the youth to use their imagination, which was difficult at first.

Mid afternoon, Jaime and I walked to the “suburbs” of Zacango, which means that we walked for 5 minutes on a dirt road away from the cancha (basketball court) and the central gathering area of the community, to the house of the community announcement maker. For 5 pesos, you can have any announcement broadcast on a loudspeaker to the community. Depending on where you are, you can hear the announcement more or less clearly. We announced the 6:30 art opening and the 8:00 movie premiere of Los Monstruos del Agua, a movie starring the children of Zacango and directed and produced by Bruce.

At 5:00pm Jaime and Bruce opened the gallery exclusively for the four art critics, and I was honored to be named among this distinguished group. Luis, the town mayor, German, one of the two teachers at the primary school, his wife Valentina, a lifelong learner and creative seamstress, and I were given the difficult task of providing our expert opinion. We were to rank the entries in each of the eight different exhibits that featured the work of eight to twelve artists.

With ethereal music in the background, we began our critique, each with his/her own judging notebook and ideas of art. We were specifically told that judges were not to collaborate on decisions. Awards for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd were bestowed based on the averages of the four judges. I thoroughly appreciated the effort and creativity that each artist displayed. It was wonderful to see each judge take so seriously the task at hand. German, the school teacher, stood at the paintings of the churches for about as long as it took me to judge two or three exhibits.

Painted tiles

On the wall are pastel paintings of the church.

On the table are examples of the painted tiles.

The top exhibit is intricate string designs.

Ojos de Dios made with yarn

On the table are cement stepping stones with mosaic patterns.

Drawings inspired by Aztec and Mayan designs

Painted glass bottles a la stained glass windows found in churches throughout Mexico

The kids and youth were kept at bay until the art critics had finished, at which point they eagerly entered to see where the ribbons were placed. Almost all of the artists won a prize, but there were several repeat winners. One of repeat winners that most impressed me was Oscar, a humble and seemingly shy youth, who won several 1^st ribbons for his originality and effort. Having no other siblings and both of his parents in the United States, he lives with his grandmother. For all his creativity and desire to learn, he is finished with formal schooling, and I am left to wonder where will he be in ten years? Will he discover avenues to use his imagination and share his gifts?

It was wonderful to see the excitement of the artists and the energy in the room at this first ever youth art event. Several parents and assorted community members joined the artists to view the talent of the youth. The judges skipped the wine and cheese and opted for a cold Modelo as our reward, which we enjoyed in the evening breeze.

The energy mounting, the makeshift gallery reinvented itself again as a movie theater for the premiere of Los Monstruos del Agua, a movie starring the children of Zacango and filmed on location. The tables were pushed aside and chairs set up, which were all filled quickly. As the opening credits rolled and the music started, the giggles began when the children recognized themselves. The adults smiled, proud of their sons and daughters. The curiosity of the “too cool” youth playing basketball overcame them, and soon they were two deep at the windows trying to get a peek at the 5 minute movie.

The basic premise of the movie is that a meteorite hits Zacango causing the water to become contaminated. When the children drink the water they turn into monsters. With the entire community turning into monsters, our hero, Diana, discovers a cure. She vaccinates / cures the community in a harrowing and dramatic scene that includes her chasing the kids all over the basketball court. The end of the film includes lessons from the kids of how the community can care for their water.

I was not asked to be a film critic, but I have no doubt that there will be successful future films by the same director and starring the same talented actors. The actors are already requesting to see a film script about the effects of trash on a community. I hope that I will be invited to the limited screenings of future Oscar worthy films such as Los Monstruos del Agua.

Taking advantage of the large gathering, Jaime and Bruce decided to use the forum to acknowledge the prize winners of the art exhibition. In true Mexican form, each judge was asked to say a few words. While we all expressed our congratulations, admiration of the talent, and recognition that not everyone can win yet that should not take away from the individual talent and creativity of all the artists, the most inspired speech came from Valentina. She gave a rousing and inspirational speech that encouraged the children and youth to have a ¡Si puedo!(Yes I can!) attitude in all things. And with those words as a conclusion, the winning artists were announced and received their prize money.

Too often the new, naïve MCC worker enters the assignment with visions of changing the world. This small art exhibition and movie showing did not change the world, probably not even the community. It was one evening among many in Zacango. Bruce and Jaime recognize that their three years living in Zacango are a drop in the bucket in the life of the community. It is insignificant; however, like teaching, I believe that they made some small impact on these youth and children. I thank Bruce and Jaime for their presence in Zacango, and I thank Zacango for accepting them into their lives.

San Miguel

An hour away from Guanajuato, is another quaint town with picturesque streets of colorful houses. San Miguel is home to many expatriate retirees and a bohemian art crowd. And due to this large expat crowd, it is one of the areas in Mexico where you can eat cuisines from around the world and indulge in many luxuries from home. San Miguel is the birthplace of Ignacio Allende, one of Mexico's independence leaders, and the home to La Escuela de Bellas Artes, founded in 1951 that attracted many foreign students.

On Saturday morning the Jardin Botanico el Charco del Ingenio held the First Nopal Festival. The Jardin is a large botanical garden devoted to native plants, mainly cacti, located on a hilltop on the outskirts of town. At the Festival, I had the opportunity to buy everything imaginable made of nopal, ranging from beauty products to marmalade to earrings.

I'm considering my many options, though all with the key ingredient - nopal.

Nopal juice - The initial taste has a strong vegetable drink flavor. After a while, I forgot what I was drinking.

Tortillas made of blue corn filled with stews of nopal

The Aurora, once a textile factory, now houses a numerous art galleries.
The Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel is the main cathedral of the town dating back to the 17th century.

Designated a national monument, San Miguel maintains beautiful architecture along its cobblestoned streets.

Guanajuato

After an early morning bus ride, I was rewarded with a wonderful day in Guanajuato, a city that boasts Spanish colonial architecture of the 1500s, a university known for its arts programs and the Festival Internacional Cervantino in October. The well preserved city was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 1988.

Settled in 1559 due to the silver and gold deposits, the area is a maze of tunnels and narrow cobble stone streets. The colonial barons reaping the wealth of the mines built beautiful mansions, churches and theaters that still populate Guanajuato. The city and the surrounding areas were central to the start of the Mexican independence movement, with rebel leaders Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende in nearby Dolores and San Miguel beginning the war for independence in 1810. Almost 200 years later in 2000, Vicente Fox won the Mexican presidency under the PAN (Partido Accion Nacional), breaking the 70 year reign of the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional). Prior to his presidency, Fox was governor of the state of Guanajuato.

City scenes of Guanajuato

La Catrina is an image made popular by Jose Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900s. It is a common image used during Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2.

Guanajuato is home to three main theaters. Teatro Juarez was inaugurated in the early 1900s during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. His French tastes reflect the lavish interior and the imposing exterior. The Teatro Principal and Teatro Cervantes are host to performances during the Cervantino festival in October.

El Museo Iconografico del Quijote is an excellent collection of a variety of images of the literary figure Don Quixote de la Mancha.

On my way to the University of Guanajuato, I passed a print of a Guayasamin painting. I was reminded of his museum in Quito, Ecuador that I visited a few years ago.

La Universidad de Guanajuato is considered one of Mexico's best schools for music, theater and law.

Finally, I could not have been in Guanajuato without visiting the birthplace of Diego Rivera, which has been converted into a museum. Diego Rivera and his twin were born in this house in 1886 and lived here until he was six when his family moved to Mexico City. The first floor is a collection of the family's furniture and antiques while and second and third floors house a few of Rivera's portraits and sketches and temporary exhibitions.

My Connection to Teaching

For a brief moment this afternoon I reconnected with former students via Skype. It is hard to say who was more entertained. I want to thank them for providing ample moments of laughter, asking informative questions (some more than others) and reminding me of the reasons to teach. As most of them are seniors, I wish them muy buena suerte después de su tiempo en Mt. Lebanon.

Sights and Sounds of Sunday

I almost joined the 5K runners who were crossing the finish line at the park near my apartment. The active runners finished their morning run beside the vendors of fried foods, the numerous dogs romping in the grass, and the basketball players fighting for the rebounds.

I traded the sounds of the park in Portales for the ranchero notes of the live band in Coyoacán in the afternoon. The septuagenarians swayed in couples and alone in the corner of the park oblivious to the people of all ages with Mexican soccer jerseys on trying to catch a glimpse of the Mexico vs. Chile game that was on every radio and television set in the neighborhood. When the skies opened to afternoon thundershowers, I escaped to a café to read, interrupted only by the sight of two Mexican midget men joining me in the coffee shop.

Efficiency

This morning as I revised and reprinted the documents that the MCC contracted lawyer sent to us regarding immigration processes for incoming workers this fall, I marveled that the sheer inefficiency of this professional. Granted, in Mexico notaries have more legal power than lawyers; however it is no excuse for lack of organization. On Tuesday morning, Abogado (Lawyer) Lorenzo and I sat together clicking every link on the Mexican Immigration website in search of yet another form that we needed to complete. This was a form and website on which he recently training. After five minutes, we found the form only to discover that a certain organizational document was not on file. To his defense, it is quite impressive the amount of paper work that is required to keep the offices of the Mexican bureaucracy oiled and running.

With this key document not on file and the our legal representative about to take a transatlantic flight, not to return for three months, the situation of urgency and anxiety was forced upon us. So this morning, instead of having a calm last day in Mexico before his evening flight, Ricardo, an already anxious person, rushed to the office to sign papers and provide the required documentation. I tried to have everything printed and ready for him to sign; however, when the lawyer arrived I was told to change some of the wording on five documents that he send to us less than an hour ago. I am sure the saga will continue.

Efficiency.

Happy Mother’s Day

The flower sellers were busy this morning at the market. Sunflowers, lilies, daisies, roses and every other kind of flower crowded the metro on my way to the Insurgentes stop on the pink line. Mother’s Day in Mexico is tomorrow, but my thoughts were with my Mom and family members this morning as I ran through the market and metro and they ran in Pittsburgh’s Race for the Cure.

I spent the day at the antiques market on Calle Obregon in the Condesa area of the city. I meandered through stalls of jewelry, books (Mom, I spotted …and the Ladies of the Club!), sunglasses, old telephones, glassware and of course I couldn’t resist rifling through the Coke memorabilia. There were artisans of various strips and numerous paintings to admire. I was able to escape the stalls to the Centro de Cultura Casa de Lamm which was short on art, but the architecture was worth the detour. By 5pm, as the vendors began to gather their wares, the sun defeated me, and I retreated to a café to read and refresh myself for the journey home.

Guadalupe, Mexico’s Patron Saint

It is difficult to feel spiritual when every vender is trying to make a peso or two from the sacred image of La Virgen de Guadalupe. As one of the most visited Catholic shrines in 2009, I am sure that the venders are quite grateful to La Virgen, especially during the first weeks of December when more than 6 million people visit the shrine each year. The streets leading to the Basilica complex are lined with the image of La Virgen attached to everything from candles to T shirts to key chains. My favorite, which I almost bought for its epitome of gaudiness, was the icon covered in glitter, under glass that became a lamp, lit up by one large, colored Christmas bulb.

I was much more inclined to revere the patron saint of Mexico in December when I hiked to the Sanctuario in Olinalá for early mass at 5am; however, despite the seemingly commercialization of the place, masses of Mexicans and mere observers flock to the sacred area to venerate the miracle that happened more than 400 years ago.

Believers tell a variation of the story that on 9 December 1531, Juan Diego, an indigenous Christian convert, stood on the Cerro del Tepeyac, where the Capilla del Cerrito now stands, and first witnessed a beautiful lady with a blue mantle trimmed in gold. She told him to tell the bishop that he had seen the Virgin Mary and that she wanted a shrine built in her honor. The bishop did not believe him and asked that the lady provide a miracle. Juan Diego returned to the hill and had the same vision several more times. On 12 December, her fourth appearance to Juan Diego, she asked him to gather flowers. Despite being winter, there were roses for him to gather. When Juan Diego presented the roses to the bishop, the image of la Virgen de Guadalupe was miraculously emblazoned on his cloak.

And with that miracle, a cult following developed around the site of the Virgin Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, named after a Spanish manifestation of the Virgin, received credit for numerous miracles which greatly facilitated the acceptance of Catholicism by Mexicans. In 1737 la Virgen de Guadalupe was declared patron of Mexico and in the early 1900s celestial patron of Latin America and empress of the Americas.

The new Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is a large, modern structure that lacks the classic cathedral characteristics. It was built in the 1970s beside the original Basilica.

Built in the 1700s, the original Basilica was slowing sinking with the overwhelming number of visitors and pilgrims which prompted the construction of the new Basilica. I can attest to the feeling of walking uphill as I entered the building.

The original Basilica has beautiful paintings throughout the church.

Juan Diego, who was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, is buried beside la Capilla de Indios.

On the way to the Capilla del Cerrito (Hill Chapel), I passed the Templo del Pocito, built in 1787 to commemorate the miraculous appearance of a spring where the Virgen de Guadalupe had stood. The blue tiled cupolas are quite unique.

The gardens are well maintained, after all, she did make the roses appear mid winter.

A view of the Capilla del Cerrito, where Juan Diego had his vision.

The juxtaposition of the original and modern Basilica.

Capilla del Cerrito

In the Capilla del Cerrito, the Virgen de Guadalupe is predominantly revered on the center wall. The traditional Jesus and crucifix is relegated to one of the side walls. The paintings that line the other walls depict the miracle of 1531.

I walked down the other side of the hill. The statues show the miracle of Juan Diego and the patron saint.

Many are resting and finding shade from the heat and sun.

Highlights from Team Retreat

I was in good company for this return overnight trip to Olinala on Thursday. The MCC Mexico team, a diverse and at times eccentric group, was gathering in Olinala for our Spring retreat. The Friesen-Pankratz family did an outstanding job of organizing our two days together. There were numerous moments of laughter and fun. A thank you to the team that provides wonderful memories and stories.

Friday afternoon - No visit to Olinala is complete without a stop (or two) to the Paleteria.

Friday afternoon - In Zacango with Bruce and Jaime, there is no lack of animals.

Friday evening - ¨Dale, Dale, Dale,¨ we sang as Ziko took his first swings at the piñata.

Friday evening - Piñatas are a must for any birthday celebration.

Friday evening - To finish the day, the kids roasted marshmallows, and we (Jaime, Natalie and I) sang songs around the campfire. Roasting marshmallows was a new activities for the kids of Zacango. Another highlight for the kids was throwing chispas (small sparklers) into the fire or at each other.

Saturday morning - We spent the morning at the Sanctuario (Sanctuary) in a time of devotion and song.

Saturday afternoon - This is what we consider the fancy restaurant in Olinala. The shade provided a much needed escape from the oppressive heat and sun of Olinala.

Saturday afternoon - We are in the process of making blanket squares for a baby comforter for Marion and Ricardo who are expecting in July.

Saturday afternoon - In celebration of the birthdays on the team. Natalie´s birthday was one of many that we celebrated.

Saturday evening - To end our retreat we feasted on pizza.

Saturday evening - Most of the team traveled home together on the Saturday night bus. Natalie and I spent another day exploring the pueblo (town) and recuperating.