The Taco Times

Margaritas at La Biznaga

It wasn't all rice and beans and street tacos for us in Oaxaca. You probably know that Oaxaca has amazing moles, among other delicacies, and we were no strangers to restaurants, especially La Biznaga - named after a bizarre-looking shrubbish tree, an ancient, gnarled specimen of which lives in the botanical garden. Sabina was a mole fanatic. This was our last supper at La Biznaga with friends Mercedes, Humberto, Lis and Mariana. The restaurant puportedly treats their workers well, but that's not why we go there. The gelato store was just off the zocolo - the main town square.

A Wonderful visit with the Karlan-Mason's

Recovering from being washing machined by the rough surf

Tyler and Kathryn

Galen, Daniel, Isaac and Talia

Photos of Casa hogar

Tyler and Sabina worked in this amazing shelter/day care center/semi-orphanage for children of prostitutes. Tyler worked with the moms and the kids. As part of an independent study at school, Sabina led play and art groups with the children.

Political Graffiti

Political graffiti, other artistic expression and what old-fashioned me would describe as just plain old vandalism adorn Oaxaca's buildings. There's a great book out documenting the graffiti during and after the 2006 uprising. Prior to the big Guelaguetza dance festival in July, city authorities took a paint brush to a lot of it - at least the ones that accused them of being corrupt pigs.

Waiters awaiting customers next to "jail for Ulises Ruis Ortiz (the governor) for being an assassin and repressor"

Announcing the coming of the revolution - in a plaza called Plazuela del Carmen - "liberated" in 2006 as a place where vendors could sell goods without having to do political favors for the mayor's office.

In the lead up to the July legislative elections, encouraging casting an empty ballot "among more pigs, more big mouths. better not to vote for them in the coming elections"

Public Snogging

Never have I seen so much public smooching - maybe it's hard to find a private corner at home. In Guanajuato, the mayor made public kissing illegal, but had to rescind the order in a storm of protest.

Painting with Humberto Part II

We had the wonderful fortune to come to know Humberto Bautista (http://humbertobatista.com/), a Oaxacan painter, over this year. His daughter, Mariana, went to school with our kids and Tyler and his wife, Lis, became close. Humberto opened up his studio to Tyler, Susanna and I to dabble in color and shapes for a few hours each week. He was a low key teacher, mostly working on his own pieces while we painted, but coming around to make gentle suggestions. In my case, I hadn’t picked up a paint brush in 40 years and had to dig out from a mudslide of embarrassment. We came to love the space, the quiet time to try to begin to channel Oaxaca’s incredible culture of art and expression. You can see some of our creations below.

Native corn and reforestation in the Mixteca with phil and kathy

I had the good fortune to visit with phil and kathy, Maryknoll volunteers living in Oaxaca's Mixteca region. We share a common tie to dear Padre Lorenzo, tragically murdered this year. Phil and kathy have moved to a rural village, kathy helping with pastoral work and family support and Phil working with an NGO called CEDICAM promoting sustainable agriculture and reforestation. Using an old technique, they planted the corn above in a furrow half a meter deep, early in the season, to draw on soil moisture.

The land is a poster child for erosion. An astounding quantity of rocks and gullies that look like open wounds. It makes you wince. Hard to see in the photo, but CEDICAM has been working with mixtecos on reforestation, with astounding results.

Jesus Santos is one of CEDICAM's leaders. He won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008. Phil and I gave his family a hand in planting some corn and beans. I was lucky enough to be invited to listen in on their planning for an upcoming workshop on advocacy. Folks are learning new sustainable ag techniques, but how should they affect public policy? Perhaps push for more support for local markets? That would be a point of discussion at the meeting.

A future Mixteco leader

At over 7000 feet, wheat is a common crop

Nopales

Phil is helping CEDICAM create a community museum. Part of the exhibit is photos of native plants.

Jesus in a grove he reforested many years back

Erosion wounds

Phil hoeing soil up around Jesus' young corn plants

Water is scare in the Mixteca. The community stewards the precious resource. Phil comes down to the community cistern to fill up jugs for his home use every few days.