The New Year

New Year's eve was spent with the some great people. We went to a Tasajo restaurant for dinner. Tasajo is a kind of meat, or a way to cook meat - thin juicy and delicious. This was after the visit to the gigantic aged tree and to the weavers -
Master weaver Fidel and Maria Luisa Cruz of Teotitlan, Oaxaca stay true to the old traditions of weaving. 100% all natural. Fidel has won awards for his Indigo dye which is made from the Anil plant in a process that takes 8 months total.
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Canary Yellow comes from the pomegranate.
Other shades of Yellow come from Marigold seeds
Orange/Yellow from little red achoute (sp?) seeds
Red from Eagle Bark
Green from Lichen
Red from a parasite - Cochineal - grows on cactus

Making the dye
Making the yarn/thread/weaving stuffs
Dyeing the wool
Weaving -- They make such beautiful rugs. The cheapest was 400$ US. They wouldn't let us take pictures in the store though :(After the demonstrations, the Cruz's fixed us a treat of fresh tortillas, guacamole, roasted pumpkin seeds and the traditional Oaxacan cheese - delicious, pulls apart like string cheese but tastes waaaay better.

So after dinner on the eve of '08, we ate our 12 unwashed seeded grapes, went back to pre-party at the hotel and then headed to the Zocalo. First we visited la maestra and the 5 students that chose a 440 peso 4 course dinner at a restaurant in the Zocalo for their evening festivities (we ended up spending maybe 100 each (10 bucks)). Then off to see the band...There were fireworks. and by fireworks, i mean the biggest sparklers I've ever seen. And shaving cream fights. I don't know what it is about shaving cream to bring in the new year...

Durrell and Meredith. Oh so cool!I have blackmail on this girl!!! ha ha. good times!!

We had a free day on the 1st and Kate (above) and I headed out to the markets to do some shopping. At night we went to La Cuevita del Pedimento - the site of offerings to the underworld. I didn't take any photos because I didn't feel it was appropriate...

Imagine this:
A group of 12 SMU students attending an ancient traditional Oaxacan ceremony. The Cruz's gave us all balloons, on which we wrote our wishes for the new year. The event was held up in the hills from Teotitlan - the weaving village - but people come from all over to participate. Of course, it takes a bumpy dirt road to drive as close a possible. Walking up, you can see families camped out in the hills - in the bushes - just off the road. 12 SMU students walking up a hill carrying iridescent helium filled balloons. We stand in the line to the cave. Mexicans cut in front of us. A man that had left his family to make money in US speaks to us in fluent English. Reassures us it's OK for us to be there. We walk up to the first cave. That isn't really a cave at all. It's an indent in the hill, filled with icons, monetary offerings, and symbolic offerings. The people before us spent much time here. I look, I wonder, I keep my heart open and full, think of my family and friends. At the second one - it's a larger indent with a more elaborate scene, and more money. Next, you are to grab a stone and chip/break off a piece of the wall "cave" as a token of good luck for the new year. my bits and pieces are now in my wallet. There are bands playing, no one is dancing. People are talking, looking around, kids run around barefoot, dogs beg for food. We walk further up the hill. It's getting really dark out. Huge bonfires blaze. Torches torch. People play with a ball of fire. La maestra wouldn't let us participate in the fire ball game.
Up the hill, everyone makes in stones their own wish for the new year "earthworks." I can't tell you mine, but it was largely symbolic. Our tour guide wishes for a new bus. We light fireworks in the center of our stones -- sending it up to the gods. Then, let go of our balloons. Light sparklers and bottle rockets. People everywhere are messing up with fireworks and sending them into crowds of people. One student sends one shooting into a person's chest a few yards from us, another hits a truck. Leaving the top of the hill, the locals are entertaining the "dancing bull" and "dancing figures" They light a contraption held above their head and run in a straight line, barefoot, as fireworks shoot from it. It was amazing.