Saturday Dec 10
Today we visited the village of Teotitlan del Valle in the Oaxacan Valley about 30 min. from the city. Teotitlan is an area famous for it's weavings. The tour was hosted by a microfinance organization called En Via, http://www.envia.org/, and we met with 4 of their borrowers and also toured the church.
We begin in the market which is much slower and less crowded than the ones in Oaxaca. Then moved to the church that was built upon and with materials from an ancient Zapotec temple. Many o
f the residents still speak Zapotec as well as Spanish. The first picture is of one of the 12 or so altars that line the side of the church. A committee of men and women are responsbile for the altars and making sure there are fresh flowers every week. Imagine something like all the flowers at Easter, every week. Many stems of gladiolos adorn the altars right now. The second picture is from the church courtyard looking out.
f the residents still speak Zapotec as well as Spanish. The first picture is of one of the 12 or so altars that line the side of the church. A committee of men and women are responsbile for the altars and making sure there are fresh flowers every week. Imagine something like all the flowers at Easter, every week. Many stems of gladiolos adorn the altars right now. The second picture is from the church courtyard looking out.After seeing the church we went to visit several of the women who have received loans. Th
e first was a family of sisters who weave zapotes, or rugs in the traditional Teotitlan style. They use wool from a near by village and dye it naturally then use a foot loom to create the rugs. They have done fairly well in general but the rugs are not selling so much these days because tourism is down quite a bit right now so they are expanding into smaller items like women's shirts and bags.
e first was a family of sisters who weave zapotes, or rugs in the traditional Teotitlan style. They use wool from a near by village and dye it naturally then use a foot loom to create the rugs. They have done fairly well in general but the rugs are not selling so much these days because tourism is down quite a bit right now so they are expanding into smaller items like women's shirts and bags. We also had a chance to meet a women who used the money for a business in making tamales to sell at the market. She is known as being a very good cook and so will use her next loan to expand into catering. She has many requests to prepare food for people's special events. We also visited two other women, one who has a "party store" where she makes 
and sells pinatas and sells other items related to parties. The fourth woman and her husband have a small bakery that they sell from as well as in the market. The loan has allowed them to do well enough to not have to travel to other villages to sell their baked items. We ended our visit with lunch at a little resturaunt that was expanded with the loans.
and sells pinatas and sells other items related to parties. The fourth woman and her husband have a small bakery that they sell from as well as in the market. The loan has allowed them to do well enough to not have to travel to other villages to sell their baked items. We ended our visit with lunch at a little resturaunt that was expanded with the loans. It was by far one of my favorite days so far because I really enjoyed beging outside of the constant stimulus of the city. Slower village life is much more my speed! It was a beautiful day in the valley and the people we met (and the goats and turkeys) were as gracious and kind as they could be.
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