Some scenes from yesterday- missed an entry but basically clear day in the city and Scott bought a molquejete (sp?) He is determined to replicate their delicious salsa.....
Our dinky little dictionary translates the word for a grinding mortar was "molinillo" or "mortero" but not according to the Oaxacenos.
A couple of evenings ago in the Zocolo, we stumbled into a giant protest march for the Guelaguetza festival. The city has "officialized" this two-week dance festival, charging an arm and a leg for tickets to the streams of shows up in the amphitheater. The people here feel that the authenticity of the regional dances is being cheapened by catering to tourists and foreigners, and ignoring the cultural element that is supposedly educating "la gente",
who cannot even afford to go to the shows. They also protest the profits of the festival landing in the pockets of the government officials, instead of the dancers. Pueblos from around Oaxaca that are not involved with these official festival are
having their own "Guelaguetza Popular"- staged for free at the stadium (not the fancy amphitheatre) and around the city. This version of the festival is sponsored by Appo (see their twirly ball coming down the march in the video below), which is the opposition movement against the current governor (effige in left photo?). The protesting is all peaceful and the Appo appears to be very friendly of the tourists, encouraging them to boycott the official Guelaguetza (which we have; happily attending anything for free). These are some scenes and videos of the packed Zocolo and the protest march, which ended in a wooden "castillo" of fireworks, accompanied by catchy, patriotic anthems. The backdrop to the fireworks on the castillo is the cathedral. It took about 10 minutes for the sparks at the bottom to Wind their way up to the top.The "Justice to the Assassins" sign in one of the videos refers to two teachers that were killed in the violence a few years
ago during more fiery demonstrations that Appo won't forget.
We have been trying, unsuccessfully, to buy a CD of these anthems that are stuck in our heads... A click on the second fireworks video (below) will lock the tune in yours too.
As usual at some point in the day, some random person would ask to take a picture of the "guerita" (see right)....
This afternoon, as the daily dark clouds zoomed in from the north, we went around the block to the Jardin de San Francisco for some sampling of some more Guelaguetza dancing. The stage was at the end of a small artisan market and the setting very intimate for some serious whooping and shuffling. The rain poured down on t
he long tent as the dancers kicked, twirled and put each other down!
The second videos below demonstrate some of this racy (read rated R for Spanish speakers) dissing between the couples. The audience roared hilariously but most of it went over our heads, except for some common curse words (thank-fully, I think that part went over the kids' heads too- their teachers wouldn't be too happy with that new vocabulary.) I missed video taping a "rooster mating dance" (yes, which also went over their heads......barely).
Walked home with our umbrellas to nurse a sick Kelsey who was watching one of the dollar videos from the many bootleg vendors, which are ubiquitous here. She got a little real history of the area mixed with some horror: "Tyranosaurus Rex Azteca"- about an Aztec- trained T-Rex that eats the conquistadors on command.
Too bad they didn't really have one- might not be speaking Spanish here. Of course, it's told from the point of view of Cortez as the hero in this pathetic story of good triumphing over the evil natives (except for a beautiful princess of course- there has to be a little love story) and their terrible beast..... All is not lost if she remembers how the Aztecs perished....
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