The First Week

Sunday December 3
Today I joined other students from the school in visiting two nearby villages reknowed for their craftsmanship. The first was San Bartolo Coyotepec (Hill of the Coyote) which is famous for its black pottery that is created from the clay.of the nearby mountains, blended with water and molded using two plates as the potter’s wheel. No pedal, nothing electric, just two cermamic plates-one face down the other on top, face up. We visited the studio of the family of Dona Rosa who perfected this technique and produced beautiful pieces of barro negro or black pottery now seen throughout much of Mexico. We then went to a craft shop in Arrazola, a village known for its alebrijes. Alebrijes are wood carved animals fantastically painted with natural or acrylic paints. The artisans use copal wood for the carvings and its bark creates some of the beautiful natural paints. Alebrijes come from the Zapotec peoples and the animals represent certain characteristics Each birthday has a special animal and that animal becomes the person’s protector. Here is an artical on the creatures and the place we visited.
http://www.ventanamagazine.com/html/articulo.php?ID=363

Tuesday, December 6
Oaxaca reminds me a lot of Jackson Hole in the summer only much larger. The mountains are gorgeously in view all around, the weather is crisp in the morning and at night, but down right hot in the middle of the day. It is different from Jackson Hole in that many of the houses are concrete and have corrugated metal for roofs. The land is very brown and there are not many trees beyond those in the the plaza or potted trees in courtyards.

Oaxaca is quite a bustling city in some parts and tranquil pedestrian walkways in others. The central area where I’m staying and where my school is located, is dotted with plazas that are filled with trees and fountains, vendors and families. Something is always going on in them…an art exhibit, a concert, an astronomical education event. The plazas and cobblestone roads are my new walkways and my feet can take me anywhere I need to go—the tienda, my school, the main plaza called the zocalo (as central squares are called everywhere in Mexico), the bank, the coffee house, etc.



Thursday, December 8
I got sick on Tuesday afternoon from something I ate at lunch. Really sick. In bed for another whole day but made it to class today. Grateful for the medicine I had. Enough said.


Friday, December 9
One week of school down and less than a week before my family arrives! I have been in the A2 class, which is one level up from the starting point. Thanks to my classes with Temis in Durham I didn’t have to start a ground zero and so the class is often interesting and challenging. I understand what the teacher is saying about 70% of the time. Right now we have 8 students which is rather large but a number are leaving and I imagine that as we get closer to Christmas, there will not be so many students.

One of my favorite parts of school is the intercambio, a conversation exchange between a Oaxauena (person from Oaxaca) and an English speaking person. My intercambio is Denise and she works for a hotel that serves many Americans so she is trying to improve her English. Of course her English is much superior to my Spanish but we have a wonderful time talking everyday in English and Spanish and getting to know each other. She is a lovely young woman and I am so glad we were paired together!

Tomorrow I am off on a tour of the Oaxacan Valley with a microfinance organization called En Via to visit some weavers they have made loans to and to see their work.