The Traveler Unaware

Street Art studio visit

2010-08-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Emilio Zapata.

Many of the members do work of his image, as he was a highly regarded figure during the Mexican Revolution.

So, on my last full day in Oaxaca we (Pearl, Nicole, Irma, Helen, Patricia [newly graduated Rice U. student I had met recently at an art opening in Oaxaca] and I) were able to visit (through the help of Stephanie Wood) the "studio" of a street art collective named ASAR-O (Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca). We met Mario (one of the founders), who showed us much of the artwork of members and his own. A special thanks to Irma for helping translate our questions!

Mario and several prints.

It was important for me and Nicole especially to get this visit, since Nicole and I are doing a collaborative lesson on Oaxacan street art as part of our NEH grant fulfillment. And, let's be honest, Nicole was in absolute heaven as a printmaker herself! :-) I won't bore those of you who aren't into art with tons of info. here, so you can click here, or here, or even here. The last link is to a bilingual interview of ASAR-O members at a Houston radio station (they had an exhibit at a gallery in Houston back in 2008, unfortunately I didn't know of them then!). The artworks above and below are prints, except where noted. Printmaking definition for those who don't know what I am talking about when I mean "print".

Most of the artworks are political

(the poster on the left is about the recent elections in Mexico and Oaxaca state, the one on the right is more obviously about oil).

Some of the members acrylic paintings.

The group is currently inactive, but also used to create art in the streets of Oaxaca as forms of protest, using paint and/or stencils as seen below.

Red bugs, black pots

2010-08-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

So the last week was for seeing everyone's teaching presentation, but on Thursday Aug. 5 we had a free day. So, Pearl, Stephanie W. (our intrepid director), Debbie, Elise, Lynn, Stef and I went to the cochineal farm then to San Bartolo Coyotepec for some famous black pottery.

I have mentioned cochineals here before, but it was cool to see how they are farmed for production. Funny, on the website link I just posted here, you can buy 25 grams of the dead, dried cochineal bugs to make dye for the equivalent of $8.50 USD... I bought 25 grams of them at the farm for 75 pesos (= $5.88 USD, I should note at the time of these blog postings the exchange rate was $1 USD = $12.75 Mexican Pesos). Anyhoo...

Showing us how they fill the little woven nests with eggs. The nests are hung on the nopal pads, and are left there until they hatch. (See below).

Once they hatch, the bugs infect the cactus. The dye produced by these little bugs (females only, the boy bugs "do the deed" and die usually within 7 days of hatching) has been such a hot commodity that the Mixtec people worked out these farming techniques approx. 950 - 1521 CE/AD.

Once they are firmly infested in the nopal pads, the pads are removed and placed in sand in neat rows where each bin is labeled and dated. Dating is important, since the bugs can't be harvested for dye until they are three months old. They are hand-picked or hand-brushed off... it is for this reason that the "spineless" nopal cactus was produced through careful cultivation over the years.

Close up of the females (the large-ish oval shapes with the lines, they remind me of fat pill bugs). They produce a protective cottony like substance (the white stuff). Drawing of them here.

Close up of the males (see the wings, antennae and "tails"?!... They are MUCH smaller than the females, and we were very lucky to get shots of them since they don't live very long).

The cochineal produces a gorgeous red color, but when mixed with various acids or bases can make other colors too (i.e. mix with lime juice and it turns orange, add baking soda and it turns purple). I bought some of the dead dried bugs to use in my classroom to teach my students about natural dyes.

In the beginning, it was produced almost exclusively in Oaxaca by indigenous producers, and cochineal became Mexico's second most valued export after silver. Soon after the Spanish conquest (~1500s), it began to be exported to Spain, and by the 17th C. was traded as far away as India. They tried to export the bugs for production in other countries (and other Spanish colonies), but soon realized that 1) the temperature/ humidity wasn't right and 2) the bugs only want the nopal cactus, so if the cactus didn't grow there, neither did the bugs (the only other place that was similar enough to produce the cactus and the bugs was the mountainous areas of Peru... though I just found in my research, that you can get it to grow in Texas too). It was so highly prized that it's price was regularly quoted on the London and Amsterdam Commodities Exchanges. However, the production and demand of cochineal fell sharply with the introduction of synthetic red dyes in the mid-19th C. It came back into demand when those particular synthetic red dyes were found to be cancer-causing (red M&Ms anyone?). OK, enough history lesson! More here if interested. Oh, and BTW, there's probably cochineal (labeled sometimes as cochineal extract, carmine or carminic extract) in some of your foods/drinks and lipstick...

Then we went and had lunch at a roadside restaurant where Stef had seen the roasting chickens, and it was a *great* choice, amazing roasted chicken with rice, pasta salad and warm tortillas. YUM! All with a drink for a whopping 35 pesos (= $2.75 USD). Gonna miss those prices!

Through a suggestion by fellow NEHer Nicole, we then went to Doña Sofia Reyes' black pottery workshop instead of one of the more touristy places (usually these workshops, whether for pottery, textiles or other arts, are the home of the producer with a workshop and/or small store area).

THE Doña Sofia Reyes. She's a very spry 91 years young, she says because of her "manos duros" (strong hands from making pottery for so many years and still to this day). BTW, Doña is a term of respect meaning Madame or Lady.

Once the pot has been made and dried a few days to "leather hard", it is then when Doña Sofia's daughter carves the cut-outs and impresses various textures. The clay starts out brown as you see here, it is a special local clay.

After the designs and cut-outs, Doña Sofia's granddaughter burnishes (rubs) the pots all over with a piece of quartz (or sometimes a smooth river stone) to give it shine. Only after all that, is the pottery fired in a big pit with all the other pieces that are ready (sometimes you have to wait weeks to have a firing so that you have enough pieces to fire). It is during the firing process where the pots turn black from lack of oxygen. The pots are then ready to sell!

Doña wasn't very good about taking pictures, but I wanted to give you a size comparison(I'm ~5' 8" and stooping alittle). So many lovely geriatric Oaxacan woman are little!

EB Garden Part 2 (more pics!)

2010-08-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

Cool cactus!

As a bit of an aside, there is a cochineal farm here that I may go see. Cochineal is a small insect that, when crushed, produces a brilliant red dye (and, no it's not blood!). Cochineal live on cactus, and have been used as a natural dye for centuries. You can still find cochineal dye/ extract in many, many things, including the Italian liquor Campinari, Minute Maid Red Grapefruit Juice (no joke, Diego showed us the actual package) and in textiles.

Showing how soapberry tree nuts (fruits?) work.

Love the roots (and that red color!)

Little birdie says "Yummy dragonfruit!"

Frangipani.

Organ cactus fences.

Another view of part of the garden & Sto. Dmgo.

Ethnobotanical Garden Part 1 (lots of pics!)

2010-08-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

Pearl and I took the guided tour on Sat. July 24. It was very interesting, and I tried to take alot of notes for mom (they don't have a brochure or anything)! Most all the plants and trees in the garden are used/ were used by the people for one thing or another (medicine, food, washing etc.), hence the term ethnobotanical (1. The plant lore and agricultural customs of a people. 2. The study of such lore and customs.)

The garden was started in 1998, and is a work in progress collecting endemic flora from all over Oaxaca state. These rocks are naturally colored (copper, iron etc.), some rocks were half red, half yellow!

The foods part of the garden (that's Santo Domingo - former convent - in the background).

Kapok (a.k.a. Pachote) tree trunk. Ouch!

Biznaga cactus (with guide Diego for a size comparison). Biznaga are endangered because their flesh is sweet to eat. This particular one is over 1000 years old and weighs approx. 5 tons.

Colorine tree, the fruit is very poisonous (to touch, eat, whatever... there seemed to be lots of toxic plants in the EB Garden!)

Copal tree. Notice the greenish wood (one limb has been pruned on the far left)

and how the bark sheds.

Part of the filtration system. Rain fails on these rocks and through the cracks to the giant cistern underground. They can collect 1.3 MILLION liters on water in 2 weeks.

A type of maguey (agave).

The pre-cursor to today's corn, each pod/ little ear is a single row of seeds/kernels, you can see the silks sticking out of the pods... Through careful cultivation, people ended up with what we today call corn (and all the varieties thereof).

Octotlan market and some art...

2010-07-31T14:13:00.000-05:00

Not much too do this weekend, except work on my lesson plans and Powerpoint etc for a brief presentation on Monday. Though I did get a manicure and pedicure yesterday, and the girls were so enamored with the metallic "spring green" nail polish I brought with me, I left it as a gift for them!

However, went to Octotlan market last Saturday (and had started a post, but never finished nor published it, so here it is below) with Jake, Zak, Pearl, Pam, Kim, Stef, Ron and his wife. Markets are always lots of fun, plenty to see...

Big markets like this one are very similar to a big box store in the States, you can get just about anything you want or could dream of, all in the open air.

Hands full of shopping bags? No worries, just head carry it so that you can use your hands to carry more things!

Those are bees on the sweet bread, not flies.

Pig head anyone?

Old lady selling herbs. And you better believe she wanted to be paid for her photo, which was one thing I did NOT like about that particular market. Most people expected to be paid at Octotlan, even one lady, who the only photo I took was of her flowers (above), NOT of her. *sigh*

After a couple hours of that, the others went back to Oaxaca, while Jake, Pearl, Zak and I stayed on to visit Josefina Aguilar, who is very well known for her clay figures.

After lunch we headed back and stopped at San Martin Tilcajete, a small town known for it's alebrijes. I bought a beautiful hummingbird from Efrain and Silvia Fuentes. I can't wait to hang it from the ceiling.

The joy and bane of my existence here in Oaxaca... the Guelaguetza

2010-07-25T12:15:00.000-05:00

So, my first week in Oaxaca my little street was very quiet which was good since my apartment is closest to the street... But then in the second week, things changed... Not only was there an extended fiesta for Saint Carmen beginning, so was the Guelaguezta (gheh-lah-getz-ah).

One of the first parades celebrating Saint Carmen (I took alot of these pics from our roof, which, don't worry mom, there are stairs and it's a flat roof).

Notice the lit candles on her headpiece.

Now, remember, the church right across the street is Iglesia del Carmen Alto. So that meant lots of music, parades, dancing, single fireworks (used for the noise mostly it seems, since they are shot off during daylight - though I know they will be going off, they still scare the crap out of me because we don't know *when*!) etc. in the church courtyard and in the street most everyday, and at the weirdest times. One morning in fact, not only were the church bells at 6 am (which I had gotten used to), but all the sudden a mariachi band started up (I kid you not!). I mean, seriously, who the heck is at church at 6 am on a Friday? Anyhoo...

Sorry about the annoying black "line"... it's the shadow of the power line.

Thankfully, it hasn't been too horrible, and most festivities have ended at a decent evening hour. In addition to all this commotion, both sides of Calle Garcia Vigil has been lined with temporary food, drink, and craft stalls (literally, they showed up all in one day) and at the end of the block, carnival rides for the kids... and it's still a working one-way street with cars carefully driving slowly down the street trying to avoid the pedestrians who now have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are housing the aforementioned stalls. Ah! Mexico!

All the girls are soooo pretty.

Mom & daughter.

*Love* the braids that all the girls wear. However, I have noticed that if a girl's hair isn't long enough (say, just below her shoulders), she will add black or brown yarn to her braids to add length, which is usually pretty well camouflaged by the ribbons.

So, though it has been abit annoying, it's still been pretty cool, especially all the costumes and dancing. Great photo opportunities. For what it's worth, I have not and will not attend the "official" Guelaguetza at the big stadium, since I see so much of it for free in the streets and on TV (and truthfully, alot of the dances seem very similar).

The joys of Mexico...

2010-07-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

So, on this day that we have run out of running water here at Casita Camila (we have large containers on the roof) *sigh*, so in contrast to this big bummer, I thought I'd show you some of the funnier things I've seen here in Oaxaca.

(I should say though, I was able to get a quick shower in last night - woot! - and I DO have drinking water, not to fear! And... it's fairly common to have water shortages here in Oaxaca.)

Zak & Jake acting out the Los Danzantes carvings (the ones of the mutilated dead guys).

Zak making sure that his friend Travis is enjoying the trip too! (that's an old-fashioned clothespin painted as Travis he's holding next to some pottery shards).

The totally awesome neon lit Virgin Mary at the church in Tequixtepec (7/20/10).

Same church with their awesome neon lit Saint Michael at the alter. I wonder if they are taking new members at the church? Seems like my kind of joint! ;-)

Casa Sagrada - riding in Mexico

2010-07-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

So, here are a few pictures from our riding weekend (July 16 - 18) at Casa Sagrada. It was Stef (the bio teacher) and her friend Sonja (not a teacher in the NEH group, but she came along for Spanish lessons) and me for the weekend. The owner Mary Jane keeps a lovely place, the food is great, and she has a variety of horses. I rode an Anglo-Arab mare named Tory both days. We rode 6 hours Saturday, 4.5 hours Sunday at the walk, trot and canter. Needless to say, I was abit sore afterwards, but on the mend by Tuesday. Enjoy the pics.

Casa Sagrada

View from my room.

Hay is scarce here (you can get alfalfa, however), so for forage when not at grass

(and there's very little of that anyhow), the horses eat the leftover green part of corn

after the ears have been harvested.

Proof that they eat the corn greens (even when they have yellowed).

Mary Jane says all the horses love it and they don't have

to be taught to eat it (it is apparently alittle sweet).

Aside: they can get Purina grain (Omolene and the like here, but it is VERY expensive), so if grain is needed the horses get steamed, rolled oats and sometimes a bran mash.

Me and Tory, Saturday AM (she doesn't like to stand, hence the tight rein).

I lost a stirrup that day (Sat.), as the stitching came undone on the leather, while at a canter and I was in two-point! I did, however, stay on (yeah! for having ridden for so many years and still having very good balance), and Mary Jane gave me her stirrups and she jerry-rigged a stirrup leather out of a leadrope (it was impressive - sadly no pics of her ingenuity) until her partner Bobby (he's originally from San Antonio) was able to meet us with a new set of leathers.

Sunday.

Stef on Spirit (L) and Sonja on Zeb (R).

BIG bougainvillea bushes! (though I saw several that were downright trees!)

My sleeping partner Friday night. I don't remember her name, but SUPER sweet and with only 3 legs (she had 3/4 of a front leg removed due to a tumor).

A sadly skinny mare and foal we saw Sunday. This was taken from horseback (one that doesn't stand well) from quite a distance, so it's abit blurry. We at first thought momma's white was salt from sweating or dried mud, but if you look closer, it seems to be a form of roaning (see it on her back legs and topline too). Any one good at color genetics?

Yucundaa

2010-07-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

Yucundaa is a ruin site that was first excavated by Dr. Spores (whose been with us for over a week here giving tours/ talks/ lectures) and a team just in 2006... Sadly, there was no money to keep Yucundaa open to the public like Monte Alban, so to protect it, Yucundaa was covered back up! Hard to imagine, huh?

It was very interesting to see all the ruins being overgrown again, covered in grass, trees etc. And there were pottery shards EVERYWHERE.

Jake in front of what is a wall.

Cool pottery shards found by Stef.

Dr. Spores talking to the group while standing atop what is one of the great platforms.

Monte Alban & Mitla

2010-07-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

One of the views from Monte Alban

On July 13, we all got into a bus and headed for Monte Alban (~ 800 BCE to 900 CE) which was a Zapotec city. FYI: BCE = BC and CE = AD, the Western powers that be in history are moving to using BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) as they feel it is somehow more correct and not religion based. Monte Alban is just a mere 30 minutes from downtown Oaxaca.

The erroneously named Los Danzantes (The Dancers)... originally thought to be dancing, these men are, in fact, dead after having been mutilated. Yikes.

Interestingly, there were no metal tools available at Monte Alban, and though there were wheels on children's toys, wheels were NOT used as a tool/ machine. Perhaps that is because of the hilly terrain? One doesn't truly know (including Dr. Spores, our resident archeologist/ anthropologist whose focus in Mesoamerica, specifically those cultures in the Oaxaca region). It is estimated at the height of Monte Alban that the population was ~ 30000.

So, since we all know I am best with pictures and not words... here ya go!

One of the pyramids...

Ron (one of the staff) at the top of the pyramid we climbed... you can see Celeste at the bottom. It didn't take too long to climb, but it wasn't easy as the steps are very narrow and unusually tall.

After lunch, we then headed to Mitla (~ 100 - 650 CE), a much smaller Mixtec city, where you can see the Spanish colonial church is built on top of some of the ruins (see below), and some of the stones from fallen down Mitla buildings were used in the construction of the church.

As you can see, not only was the church built on top of the ruins,

today's modern Mitla residents live right next door.

Some remaining paintings (painted on plaster that's been put on the stone wall).

More of the "Greca" friezes...

The designs are thought to be representative of wind, rain, clouds, etc.

You can see here paint remnants, which shows us that the friezes used to be vividly painted.

Here you can see one of the friezes close up. Note that each individual piece is held in by pressure, there is no mortar/cement. Also, the pieces that stand up/out are all one piece (more intact ones to the left, ones that have broken off to the right).

Next post: Yucundaa

Mexican Flora & fauna... so far...

2010-07-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

I know, I know... I need to post about Monte Alban and Mitla... I'll get it to it I promise. But for now, you can check out fellow NEHers blogs:

Pearl Lau (Art teacher, with great info and she's a great artist too!)
http://pearl-mexico.blogspot.com/
Zak Foster (Spanish teacher, all-around cool guy with a quirky sense of humor, LOVE it!) http://zakinoaxaca.wordpress.com/

For now, thought I'd show you some of the flora of the Oaxaca region, most of the pics were taken at Monte Alban and El Tule, but some at Yucundaa ruins.

Love how this one (above) starts out (to the R), then the individual buds

bloom into tiny white flowers which makes a bigger flower!

Some flowers around Monte Alban (above and next two below).

They are trying hard to reintroduce native plants to the ruin site.

Very pretty but painful!

Cactus living in the remains of a tree at Yacundaa ruins.

Very odd tree leaves at Monte Alban... Our resident biologist (Stef T.) thinks maybe they are a parasite... but the looked to just come up straight from the leaf, not attached like a parasite would, but I dunno... Mom? Thoughts?

See how the bigger the cactus gets,

the more bark-like the bottom part gets/ looks?

Tadpoles at Yucundaa ruins.

El Arbol del Tule... MASSIVE tree. It's a sabino tree (a type of cedar, I believe). Over 2000 years old (!!!) and 160 feet in diameter! It's said to be the most massive tree in the world, but not the oldest nor tallest. Very impressive.

You can see abit better here, with the people standing in front of it, just how big around El Tule is... Even with my small lens (28 - 105mm) on the good camera, if I stood where they were I couldn't pull back enough to get the whole trunk in the shot, so had to get farther away!

Lovely gardens at El Tule, which is in front of a church.

Cool clouds over the mountains on the way home from Yucundaa (about a hour outside Oaxaca city).

And finally, a great rainbow from the bus window yesterday!

I am going horseback riding this weekend with Stef T. and her friend Sonja (she's not a teacher, she's here for Spanish classes), so no more posts until I get back. We are staying and riding here: http://www.horsebackmexico.com/

Hasta luego!

For the horse folks... Mexican QH racing...

2010-07-14T09:48:00.003-05:00

So, on the way to Mitla after Monte Alban (more on that later), we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. And as they were giving us a tour of how they make mezcal (similar to tequila), I spotted a small shedrow behind the restaurant, and then a guy walking a horse... Screw the mezcal production! and made a beeline to the guy and horse. We start talking and it turns out that he is a jockey for the owner/trainer of the horses, so he introduces me to Miss Oaxaca, a 2 y.o. QH filly.

Miss Oaxaca y ella jockete

By then Stef T. had shown up (horses are like magnets in foreign countries to us horsefolks!), and he then introduced us to Miss Columbiana, a 4 y.o. QH mare.

Love how he's on his cell, and she's just chillin'... She's won quite a few races.

And then to El Jimador, a 2 y.o. TB colt, who despite his name, was not very intimidating (he slightly jumped at the camera click! ;-)

El Jimador... the intimidated! ;-)

The shedrow is small, the stall doors metal, only 3 horses living there at the moment. The horses look short in their stalls because they have to step down into them.

The stalls and tack/ feedroom were very clean, but when we had showed up, all the top stall doors where closed so that they were in the dark :-( but we realized with El Jimador, it's because he can undo his latch!

The stalls to the left are for shavings and feed storage.

El Jimador... the escape artist (you can see Javier rushing to close the newly opened stall door!)

Not for the racehorses, of course...

Nor this...

The jockey, I think his name was Javier... I can't remember exactly!, very proudly showed us a picture of him breaking from the gate with Miss Columbiana. And at the back wall of the restaurant, there are dozens of win photos of the owner's racing Quarterhorses. Most QH racing in Mexico is match races (two horses), but is sometimes up to four at a time...

A cool experience, dare I say better than the lunch? ;-)

Festival at Teotitlan

2010-07-13T21:13:00.001-05:00

Sunday, Juan suggested we go to Teotitlan to see their festival and visit his friend Jose Mendoza Martinez, who is a weaver from a family of weavers. Teotitlan del Valle is known for their textiles. It seems that most everyone in the town weaves, as has been the tradition for centuries.

So, we pack 5 people in a taxi (6 including the driver) to Teotitlan (about 20 mins away). First, we get to the church and see all the people gathered in the square watching the traditional dances. From what I could tell, it was about the Zapotec people before Spain arrived, then showing Spain's troops arriving... and well, you can see... The kids played a very important role in all this... there were also little girls in beautiful dresses who danced.

The young "Spanish" soldiers... LOVE the itty bitty in the fancy feathered hat closest to me.

We then went to Jose's house to visit and see the family weavings. Jose's young, 25, and his mother also weaves (as did his father, who is deceased). So we met mom, grandma, his brothers, and a few cousins. Jose showed us the looms and how he weaves. His work is beautiful, very unique, and he works in natural fibers and dyes. He's exhibited abit and is slowly making a name for himself, it seems. I *really* want one of his weavings, but they are abit too much money for me. But I did buy a lovely one (synthetic dyes) made by his mom for her first offer of P$200 (less than $20USD). The weavings are truly a work of art and very time consuming.

Jose at work.

Abuela (grandma) hugged us all like we were long lost children, she came up to maybe my armpit... itty bitty thing, but plump. She laughed when I told she looked no older than 25.

Abuela.

Mom (Rosalia Martinez) made us a very traditional chicken soup (it was broth based with chicken and very souffle-like eggs... add abit of chili and YUM!) with homemade yellow mole chicken tamales. Tamales here, generally, I have noticed are much thinner than we are used to in Texas... the masa is more crepe-like, but very good nonetheless.

Rosalia with my weaving.

Then we come to find out that one of Jose's brothers (David - 18) plays violin in a mariachi band, so he eagerly put on his uniform and played for us, and sang too (extremely well, he's studying singing). I will be making copies of the photos here in Oaxaca to send to them.

David in his mariachi uniform in front of more of Rosalia's weavings.

Then, as we were leaving, there was this lovely couple of elderly ladies, and I asked if I could take their picture. The younger said Yes, please! but the older said Oh no! I look terrible! and smoothed her clothes with her hand, but the younger insisted. After the photo was taken (with the younger's husband), I come to find out that they are mother and daughter, and mom's 98!!! They both were no taller than my shoulder. And, they made *sure* I received their address so as to send them copies of the photo, which I will most certainly do since I can get prints made here in Oaxaca.

Aren't they beautiful!

The Zocalo

2010-07-11T09:50:00.001-05:00

Had a busy Saturday, Akilah and I met Helen and then went to the organic market. Also with us was Debbie, who is a teacher in my group and arrived last night and staying at Casita Camila. The market was great, and I was able to get a lettuce mix, arugula, eggs and cilantro. I also ate an amazing blue corn tortilla that had mushrooms, cheese and arugula, made fresh for me! Helen and I picked up our laundry, and then we all went to the zocalo (the main central square in Oaxaca). As an aside, the laundromats here are full service, so you drop your laundry one day and it's ready the next... 3 kilos (for me 4 pairs of pants/shorts, 5 t-shirts, socks, undies, bras) of clothes cost $3 to wash, dry and fold. But you must, of course, give the instruction, "Por favor, no braserros in la machina de secca!" - basically, don't put the bras in the dryer!

We met a whole bunch of the rest of the NEH Oaxaca group at the zocalo for lunch... It will take awhile to meet and remember everyone as there are 30 people in our group... Certainly makes for very conspicuous outings, wouldn't you say? I mean, I already stand out because of my white skin and blue eyes, but with a group of gringos that large, we're hard to miss!

A young boy and his sister dancing on the zocalo.

On the way to the organic market, the arches used to be aqueducts (for water).

We passed by this small weaving shop, which is in the front room of their house.

The man in front is spinning the yarn/ thread and the man in the back is doing the actual weaving by hand.

The organic market.

A singer at a pride parade at the zocalo.

As Debbie and I were watching the clowns, I got pulled into their act for a few minutes since the realized I spoke some Spanish and they made a bit of fun of me, but I got to poke alittle fun at them! It was a cool experience.

We are going to a fiesta at Teotitlan today, so will post on that later! Hasta Luego!

Mi clase de Espanol y Papermaking

2010-07-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Flowers of the Pechote tree

Day two of Spanish class went well, I am remembering more than I expected. Only two of us in class, un otro estudiante being Helen, una maestra de arte (what a coincidence!) from Indiana who is also on a grant, but more of an artist grant, not a teacher one. She and I are doing pretty well under the tutelage of Moctezuma (no joke, that's his name... but we call him Mocti).

At the language school, there's a group of teachers, administrators and kids from California who have been taking many day trips after their lessons. Katherine, one of the staff, thought Helen and I would like to tag along on today's excursion to Etla to visit a papermaking workshop. Of course! The group were very nice to include us, and we had a good time. See evidence below.

Natural fibers and dyes used for the paper.

In the large tub is a slurry of cotton, linen and/or maguey (cactus) fibers and water. He dips the frame in the slurry and covers the screen in the middle of the frame with the slurry. He then drains off the excess water....

...and carefully tips the whole sheet of new paper onto a felt covered board. Here he's putting one sheet on top of another to hold the leaves inside the paper. The sheets are put one to a board and stacked on top of each other and put under a very heavy press, which squeezes out alot more water. They are then hung to dry, which takes about 3 - 4 hours in the sun.

When dry, the beautiful paper is made into many things: envelopes, writing and art paper, notebooks, boxes, and yes, even kites.

Here's a woman making a paper kite. They make pretty large sheets of paper, but with a kite this size they have to glue sheets together. They then secure a split bamboo brace to the back with glue and glue and paper strips. They also fold over and glue the edges of the kite.

We then went to a local arts center, which is housed in an old textile factory, where they were having an exhibit of local Oaxacan textiles and a ceramics exhibit of one man's life work.

These textiles are beautifully handwoven and most are quite thin, and in a variety of colors and styles. Some, as you can see, are worn as shirts or dresses or shawls.

Second story of the center, the ceramics exhibit.

The view from the terrace patio.

Where I live...

2010-07-04T18:23:00.001-05:00

So it's my first full day in Oaxaca... I slept until 9 am... which was hard to do, considering the church bells that rang earlier than that, several different times, right out my window (you'll see in a minute). Turns out there are 6 small apartments here at Casita Camila, not 4 like I thought previously, and I met two other folks staying here. Juan, a librarian at UTEP, is making his 12th plus trip to Oaxaca (he comes by bus every time!) and Akeelah, a college professor from Philly, is here in Oaxaca for the 5th time (we were somehow on the same flight and didn't know it!).

We went to the supermercado this AM sharing a cab... just like a normal US grocery, big aisles, lots of product, clean... Though I prefer smaller, outdoor, farmer's-type markets when I travel, it was a good trip, for buying heavier items (dish soap etc) to bring home in the taxi. And I also learned that I needed to buy TP! (They give you one roll when you arrive and that's it, but no one bothered to tell me yesterday!).

I then met my new friend Skye for lunch. I met Skye on the plane, a lovely pixie of a girl who is Australian, but lives in Tokyo and teaches kindergarten. She's lived in Japan on and off for 7 years. She's only in Oaxaca for a few days, meeting up with friends and continuing her travels by bus through to Guatemala...

I start my language classes tomorrow, and am looking forward to it, despite the homework! :-)

Thought y'all'd like to see my little loft apartment. There's no A/C, but with the thick walls and cooler weather and breezes, it's not bad at all. I even had to use abit of blanket last night sleeping!

This is from the front door to the left, near the computer chair. Note the oh-so-very safe wall plug RIGHT above the stove! which the refrigerator is plugged into (the only available plug)!

This is with my back to the stove. The Wifi isn't very strong *in* my apt, so I have to use the laptop near the open window.

The bathroom sink shares the wall with the table that's in the living/kitchen area (make sense)?

The stairs are to the right of the bathroom door.

Top of the stairs (they make a slight left turn at the top), with my back against the wall.

To the right is the front wall of the apartment, you can see the top of the front door. The windows to the left are facing *directly* towards La Iglesia del Carmen Alto which is across the street. Hence the ringing church bells in the AM.

La Iglesia del Carmen Alto (if you're interested): I can see the little white cross from my bedroom window...

Hasta Luego!

Not all fun... but it'll be worth it!

2010-06-15T12:33:00.002-05:00

So, now that I am in my 2nd week of no work (woot!), I have to get back to work and start reading the required research materials for my NEH grant to Oaxaca... and y'all all think it's nothing but fun! :-)

So far, I have a few ideas for weekend trips:

1. Mexico City for this amazing exhibit

2. A visit to Palenque! Fellow Oaxaca NEHer Pearl and I are hatching a plan to bus it there... awesome!

3. Beach and snorkeling

OK, off to start reading... Stay tuned.

Oh, here's the group blog, in case you're interested: http://nehoaxacasummerinstitute.blogspot.com/

No rain on XC!

2010-04-24T13:49:00.003-05:00

Kristin Schmolze & Cavaldi

We got lucky, very, that it didn't rain during the XC course today. Though we were all prepared with rain gear, rain suits, plastic bags etc. Cloudy, but it held off, partly because the event head honchos decided to skip the lunch break and go straight through... So, at the end of the day:

1st William Fox-Pitt (GBR) & Cool Mountain

2nd Kim Severson & Tipperary Liadhnan

3rd Becky Holder & Courageous Comet

4th Phillip Dutton & The Foreman

5th Phillip (again!) & Woodburn

It's Raining, it's pouring...

2010-04-24T07:12:00.004-05:00

... and we are still working! Not raining just yet, but it will!

A few pics for you to enjoy:

Test Ride Thursday, Para-rider Robin Hart

Stanislas de Zuchowicz (FRA) & Quirinal de La Bastide

Phillip Dutton & The Foreman

Ollie again...

Michelle Gibson & Don Angelo (from the KY Cup Dressage)

Rolex Dressage Day 2

2010-04-23T17:35:00.006-05:00

Hi Carrie, I hope you are enjoying my posts! I single you out as I *think* you might be the only one following the Rolex posts!!

So, second day dressage was some of the best dressage, with several scores in the 40s (remember in eventing, the lower the score in dressage the better!). It started out VERY chilly and wet. Ugh, had to break out the camera rain gear! But the day brightened and warmed after lunch time. William Fox-Pitt had a very nice test, but was a bit stiff I thought... Either way, he's leading, with Allison Springer & Arthur in second and Karen & Mandiba in third. Ollie Townend and Ashdale Master Cruiser are in sixth... He may complete an Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing if he wins here (He won the last Burghley and Badminton, which are four star events in event, so if he wins Rolex KY 4 star, he'll complete the grand slam)...

So here are some pictures for you of the current top horses, except for those you saw yesterday...

William Fox-Pitt (GBR) & Cool Mountain

Allison Springer & Arthur (some of the unlucky ones who got rained on!)

Kim Severson & Tipperary Liadhnan

Oliver Townend (GBR) & Ashdale Cruise Master

And one of my favorites, love the uniform!!!!, Capt. Geoff Curran (IRE) & The Jump Jet

And from last nights Kentucky Cup Dressage....

Winners Tina Konyot & Calecto V

Rolex Dressage Day 1

2010-04-22T17:05:00.005-05:00

Though the morning started out chilly, the afternoon warmed up a bit and the sun started to peek out a bit. Placings so far:

1st Karen & Mandiba

2nd Becky & Comet (Yeah for the ex-racehorses!)

3rd Phillip & The Foreman

4th Diana Burnett & Manny

5th Jennifer Wooten-DaFoe & The Good Witch

For the rest of the placings, go to http://www.rk3de.org/leaderboard.php

A few pics for your viewing pleasure:

Karen & Mandiba

Becky & Comet

Phillip & The Foreman

Diana Burnett (CAN) & Manny

Jennifer & The Good Witch

And this next pic is of Lauren Kieffer & Snooze Alarm, who are in 17th place at the moment. I add them here because Snooze is an Anglo-Arab!!! Very unusual for this sport!

Special Request: Rolex KY 3 Day Event Special Coverage

2010-04-21T18:26:00.005-05:00

My friend Carrie asked that I post about my time here in KY helping my friend Tony Trollope (one of his many websites!) photograph the Rolex KY 3 Day Event... So, here I post! I have just arrived and am relaxing abit at Tony's girlfriend's (Vanessa) house... so far, the only animal action I have seen is gettin' some lovin' from one of the cats... He keeps rubbing on and knocking out the power cord. Very affectionate.

Look, just like home! Cat hair on the clothing!

More tomorrow, after first day of eventing dressage...

New summer, new grant!!

2010-04-17T09:09:00.004-05:00

I was thrilled to learn I received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to travel to Oaxaca, Mexico this summer for five weeks! The sponsoring university is the University of Oregon, and the logistics of this grant are pretty different than the Fulbright-Hays to Morocco last summer, but in a good way I think. For one thing, this is FULLY funded :-), I don't have to pay for this one! Woot!

There are 30 teachers in this group, from all over the US, yet most of us seem to teach the Visual Arts or Spanish, but there are other subjects represented. More information about the grant, schedule, day trips etc. can be seen here:

http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/

We'll be studying and researching Architecture, Film, Visual Arts, and Ethnohistory and Culture.

I will be arriving a week early to brush up on my very rusty Spanish at this language school:

http://www.vinigulaza.com/index.htm

Classes are only in the AM, so will have lots of time in the afternoon to get a feel for the city etc. before others arrive. Though I do know a few of those in the group will also get to Oaxaca abit early too, so I hope to meet up with them.

I have already put a deposit on an adorable apartment for my stay there:

http://casitacamila.com/

I already got my airfare (Props to Continental for having a straight 2 1/2 hour flight to Oaxaca!), which was cheaper than my upcoming flight to Lexington, Kentucky! Go figure...

And, for those of you concerned about my safety (ahem, Mom... G-pa, G-ma!), Oaxaca is very far south in Mexico (see map below), so no real worries or concerns about the border drug wars etc. that are happening across the border.

2009-09-16T20:28:00.003-05:00

There is SO much more I need to post, but here it is, 3+ months that I have been home from Morocco... and I have been so busy.... so from now on, it will be just pictures with explanations as necessary...

I will finish soon I promise.... Or maybe never... I have been so busy with getting the curriculum unit done for the Fulbright/ US Dept of Ed...

But for now, here is the lovely tri-metal horse bit I bought in Marrakech. It was out of my budget, but a find I could not leave...

It's a nasty piece of equipment... the mouth size being about 4.5" wide, the port/tongue depressor is abit over 4" long/tall...

But nonetheless a gorgeous piece of metalwork. I present to you the early 1900s Saharan bedouin horse bit.

Artist Aziz Amrani

2009-08-18T15:19:00.003-05:00

The Artist Aziz Amrani

Several of his works he e-mailed to me (below):

When in Chefchaouen, we stopped at the Kasabah Museum. As most other museums in Morocco, the older artifacts were depressing to say the least. However, there were several younger artists setting up for a show. One such artist was Aziz Amrani. He has no website unfortunately, but I wanted to share his work. We did our best to communicate in my horrible Arabic and his bad Spanish.

Around the medinas

2009-08-17T16:47:00.003-05:00

Ceramics in Fes

2009-08-17T16:33:00.004-05:00

Fes is well known for their well-made, handmade, beautiful ceramics. First, you have the clay. The chunks on the left are the dry clay, the pool on the right is where the dry clay is being reconstituted into moist workable clay.

The are master potters who do nothing but make ceramic bowls, plates, cups, tajines, and much more. Note he's working on a kick wheel, no motor.

Then the works are bisque fired in a kiln. This one used wood and sawdust and fire fodder.

After the first firing, the works are then handpainted with a variety of designs, in either the traditional blue and white or in various colors.

The work is then fired once more, and the glaze colors darken and become shiny.

To buy, you must bargain... and I tell you, it was really stressful, hard work having to haggle with the young salesman (below), I mean. Really SUCH a chore to bargain with this cutie to buy mom's display plate. Seriously, the things I do for you mom! :-)

Weaving and the tanneries in Fes

2009-08-17T16:19:00.003-05:00

While in Fes, we toured the tanneries. We are quite the olfactory experience... noted by the fresh mint they give you to sniff to help combat the odor of the pigeon droppings. I couldn't cram the mint far enough up my nose, but truthfully it wasn't that bad... The vats on the far left (the white ones) are filled with cow urine, pigeon poop, and acids to soften the leather. It is stripped of its hair etc. by hand before being put in these vats. They tan camel, cow, sheep and goat (the finest leather).

Above you can see the guys start the dying process. The brown vats are full of dye, where the hides will sit for days.

As we toured through the medina we also visited a weaving co-op. Still all done by hand on these big looms.

No, this isn't the GodFather

2009-08-17T16:11:00.004-05:00

And no, I don't want to put that camel head on your pillow...

So this was a cool river on the way back from the desert to the uni.

The next couple pics are of King Mohammed IV's palace in Rabat.

The next few are of the Palais Mnebhi in Fez. Here is where France and Morocco signed the protectorate treaty of 1912.

New post from July 8

2009-07-21T04:37:00.004-05:00

Just now getting around to posting this from July 8. I have at least three more posts in the queue waiting to have pictures added to be posted. Be patient!

I have MANY more pics from the medinas we have visited, and will try to post them in short order. However, I may have to finish this blog after I get home... I am off to Rabat and Casablanca in about 30 minutes, so need to go for now!

Hammama-mama

2009-07-15T10:15:00.002-05:00

So while in Fez, Casey and I decided to go to hammam. Casey's description is quite brilliant, so I won't waste my words, just click on her link below. No pictures, thankfully, to share!

http://caseyqrt.blogspot.com/2009/07/hammam.html

Off-roading, Moroccan style

2009-07-15T10:12:00.008-05:00

Yes, yes... I know You have already heard about my trip to the desert. But here are my pics. No sunrise, sunset... I took pics, but it was partly cloudy, so no good pics worth sharing.

Our tents. Traditional nomadic, with woven camel hair, wool, rugs...

I now know why they wear it like this... sand gets EVERYWHERE. My camera equipment will never be the same.

Traditional Gnawa singers and musicians.

The view from the topside! I had an awesome camel. She was very sweet and let me scritch her face!

Fennec fox prints (they are nocturnal, so no luck in seeing them) early in the AM. And lastly, the amazing feet of the camel... really so perfect for their job.

The ocean in the desert

2009-07-15T10:01:00.004-05:00

So, on the way to Merzouga, we stopped at a fossil store. What, you say? Fossils in the desert, at the beginning of the Sahara? But, of course! Back in the day of the dinosaurs, this part of Morocco was underwater. I kid you not. Take a look at some of the pictures, and you will see shells and sea-like creatures fossilized in the rock... They are called Orthoceras

Why did the camel cross the road?

2009-07-15T09:53:00.005-05:00

To get to the watering hole, of course! As we were on our way to Merzouga (the desert), we came across this camel driver and his herd. He kindly let us take pics.

This one in particular, liked to flap her lips/ head after every drink. Pretty funny.

The blonde one was my fav, she nuzzled my hand. :-)

Don't know how those camel babies don't get cricks in their necks!

Dades and the Gorges

2009-07-09T11:38:00.007-05:00

The drive is long between Ouarzazte and Merzouga, so we stopped in Dades. This country is amazingly diverse, so you can see the dry red sand but then we toured an oasis. It seems that families each have their own plot to grow and cultivate whatever they wish, and there's a pretty extensive irrigation system (from the Dades River).

Amazing what they can and do grow there: beets, rutabaga, corn, squash, tomatoes, alfalfa, almond trees, date palm trees, pomegrante, figs, and more!

PICS

At one point, Youness (our guide) and I were at the back of the line and a little old man stopped us and begins talking to Youness. He wanted us to see his garden, so we followed him a few steps and he led us behind the mud walls and there was his beautful garden, full of all the wonderful things growing. Next thing I know though, this sprite tosses off his sandals and scurries up the nearest date palm to the top!!

Turns out, Youness asks him how old he was... He said proudly 75! To give perspective, Youness is alittle over 6 ft tall.

So after about an hour in the oasis, we head to the Gorges. A really neat place where families gather to swim, picnic, relax etc. We had a nice lunch there.

Love the water wings on this kid!

Ait Benhaddou

2009-07-09T11:26:00.009-05:00

About 19 miles north of Ouarzazte, the ksar (fortified city) of Ait Benhaddou backs up to a large hill. This location has been used for many films, including Gladiator. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. And, yes, we climbed all the way to the top.

The kasbah's crenallated towers are decorated with blind arches and geometric designs in negative relief. Today there are only 10 families living here.

Like the kasbah in Ouarzazte, it is also made of mud bricks.

On the way down there was a guy painting and selling watercolors using only saffron, henna, tea and indigo. Here he has painted on the paper with tea, and in order to get it to show up, he has to warm/ slightly burn the back of the paper. Pretty cool, huh?

We stopped at an Amazighen Women's Weaving Co-op also that day. Here, a lady is hand knotting a rug. Lots of work, and very much worth it's expensive price tag.

Ouarzazte - The Kasbah

2009-07-09T11:12:00.006-05:00

So, as mentioned previously before, the bus broke down on the way to Ouarzazte, I was one of the people that was welcomed into the Imazighen family home **. I don't have any pics of that available, hence no real post about it. But I will say that they were the kindest people, serving us mint tea. Showing us their home. Then making us bread and rabbit stew. When we told her that we had to get back to the bus (it was fixed), and couldn't eat, she was DEFLATED. So we all agreed to stay for just a bite and her smile quickly returned, brighter than before. It is pretty much required that if something is offered, you should accept.

** as a side note, you'll notice in Carol's post referenced above, she uses the term Berber. Berber is an acceptable term to use in this day and age, however it was given to this group of people by the Romans and means "barbaric". I prefer to use the term Imazighen (Amazigh is singular) as that is what they call themselves. It means Free People.

So, on to Ouarzazte. The next morning, we went to the Glaoui Taourirt Kasbah. Such a beautiful place. Kasbah means castle in Spanish.

Some beautiful iron work screens in the windows, all done by hand held together by tabs.

It is a lovely place, but unfortunate to see it in its deteriorating state. In one room, we came upon recent graffiti carved into the walls.

The walls are very thick, made of mud brick. With all the ventilation, it's not so bad inside temperature-wise. Speaking of ventilation, in this next pic, the small holes below the window are for just that when the window shutters are closed. A/C of sorts!

Goats in trees

2009-07-09T11:05:00.005-05:00

So on July 2, we headed to Essaouria and stopped at an Argon Oil Women's Cooperative. Argon oil is used in cooking and cosmetics, and as you will see from the pictures, not so easy to produce.

First, the argon tree:

Yes, those are goats in the tree. They like to eat the argon nut.

Once the nut has dried well, the outer shell must first be removed. This outer shell is used as a fire fuel. Then the second layer is removed. This layer is used as animal food. (sorry no close ups of this, but I am bringing home an argon nut!) All the ladies do it by hand with a stone...

Then you finally get to the meaty part used for the oil.

This last pic is of the nuts being ground (by hand and a heavy stone, you'll notice... the nuts are dropped in the hole in the middle and as the woman turns the stone the nuts get ground up).

And this was just a random donkey on the street waiting for his owner to finish lunch. Aren't those the fuzziest ears EVER? Too stinkin' cute!

Essaouira

2009-07-09T10:57:00.005-05:00

Awesome place. Wish we had stayed longer. Just wanted to share some pics.

Oh, and this was on the way to Essa... Such awesomeness. Three (you can't see one, but I assure you there were three!!) in the bed of a small pickup.

And a side note to tell you all know that it is much harder to post these blogs without your own personal computer: the keyboards are AZERTY instead of QWERTY (left top five letter keys on your keyboard), which makes all letters out of wack and the extra stuff hard to do as well (i.e. the @ symbol is not above the number 2, but rather on the far right middle above the shift key), so typing takes twice as long... AND the fact that I have to go though all my pics on my viewer before I can post them to the computer... So, that said I am trying to get stuff up as quickly as possible! :-)

I kissed Obama!!!!!

2009-07-08T14:52:00.008-05:00

Seriously, I did!!! It happened while we were in Marrakech. Call all the tabloids, there will be a scandal I assure you! If only because I really, really wanted to take him home with me... Scroll down for the pictures.

Meet Obama:

Adorable, no? He is the unofficial mascot of SPANA. He is about 4 - 5 weeks old. He is named, of course after our president, and the fact that he is the symbol of the Democratic party. His mother died of pneumonia. :-( So, he will stay at SPANA to help educate the local kids.

SPANA is a wonderful, wonderful organization. They educate animal owners and local school children about how to properly take care of animals. Sad, but true that it needs to be taught... It has been the highlight of my trip so far.

Not only do they take care of equids, but also dogs and cats.

Their services are strictly for those who cannot afford care for their animals. They also take care of injured strays (dogs and cats), who are then available for adoption. They have a free spay/neuter program, of which all the potential adoptees take part (though I can imagine some take part not so willingly!)! And there are a few storks running around the grounds who were injured and can no longer take care of themselves in the wild.

Here's Obama making sure I am filling out the donation form properly. He's so stinking cute!

Chez Ali: Arabic DisneyLand on crack

2009-07-08T13:32:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to stay about this place, so will send you to Casey's very good description of the evening we had there...

You'll note she's more update on her blog... the advantages of having your own computer on the trip...

Best part of the night for me was getting to see some Barb horses (and a few Arabians)... The bottom pic is of them re-enacting a Fantasia, hence the fake gunfire... Unfortunately, no real Fantasias while I am here.

Marrakech and environs

2009-07-08T12:55:00.011-05:00

Ok, so I have kinda lost track of time/dates etc... It has been a whirlwind of activity the last 7 days and am behind on postings... So last week we went to Marrakech.

Walked to a mosque in the AM one day, non Muslims aren't allowed inside. Can't find the picture at the moment, so you can use your imagination!

Let's take a short tour of the medina, shall we?

First is an blacksmith making a iron screen, Note that that screens behind him are not soldered or welded but held together with tabs. We'll see more of that up close on the Ouarzazte kasbah post.

Next, we have what I like to call the rainbow. Scarves and a handpainted table.

A man making handmade string instruments.

Recently dyed yarn drying before being used to make rugs.

I have MANY more pics of the medinas we have visited and will try to post them in short order.

Volubilis

2009-07-05T04:35:00.008-05:00

We went to Volubilis (6/27) which is near Meknes. The site was settled as early as the 3rd century BCE (Before Common Era) and prospered to 40 CE (Common Era a.k.a. AD). The Romans annexed the town in 45 CE.

It is an odd town, with mixes of Roman, Greek and Berber architecture elements.

It was known for it's olive oil production. Below is an industrial olive press for making the oil.

Volubilis is also known for beautiful mosaics. They are unfortunatley being damaged by the elements as they are uncovered and are also not guarded, so easily walked upon by uncaring tourists.

The art and architecture is unusual in this odd city, as there are elements of Roman, Greek and Berber art elements. For instance, the columns have Greek tops (Corinthian style), with Roman style bottoms, then there are Berber symbols (wheat, flowers etc.)

One interesting animal fact is that storks (not sure what kind) winter here (though some stay year round), and they build thier massive nests everywhere, in the highest spots... this particular stork (below) has built their nest (they are monogamous) on top of one of the old columns! In a true display of being a good neighbor, sparrows nest in the bottom part of the nest.

2009-07-04T02:29:00.002-05:00

So, the bus broke down yesterday, turning a 9 hour drive into 12 hours... Niiiice. Still not much time to post, as we are in Ouarzazate today and on the way to Merzouga (will get to ride a camel there! :-)

Will catch up on posts when I get back to Ifrane in a couple days...

Ang

Donkey Hospital!!!

2009-07-01T02:54:00.003-05:00

We are in Marrakech... I am behind on posts since I am currently using Casey's computer, I don't want to monopolize her computer to do the long posts I want/need to do. I still need to blog about Volubilis, before I blog about Marrakech. I'll get to it, I promise!

Just a quick note that I am going (alone!! yeah!!) to the SPANA donkey hospital this morning. Quite excited about that!!

There is a new post (July 27), that I just now posted (a few posts below this one).

Different perspectives

2009-06-28T02:20:00.003-05:00

The address the to the UCLA Fulbright GPA Morocco blog to give you other people's perspectives... the posts I put on that blog are copies of the ones I put here, so nothing new from me there...

10 things about Morocco you probably don't know...

2009-06-27T16:50:00.006-05:00

A quick post while I am Marrakech. I actually wrote this up several days ago.

So thought y'all might be curious about some of the basic everyday things here in Morocco which seem mundane to the locals, but somewhat interesting to us Americans...

1. The currency is the dirham, which at the moment has an exchange rate of ~ 8 dirhams to 1 US dollar. Basic pricing for a few items:

"local" beer: 30 - 35 dirhams = ~ $4

Budweiser: 80 dirham

small bottle of water: less than 10 dirham = abit more than ~ $1.5

leather sandals I had to buy our first day: 150 dirham

100% cotton embroidered shirt also bought the first day: 90 dirham = less than ~ $11

2. Morocco is an absolute monarchy, though is considered "democratic" in the sense that there is a Parliament. But with close to 35 different political parties, no one party ever has a majority... Smart thinking on the king's part, no?

3. The official language is Arabic, but most people also know French. Arabic here is different from Arabic spoken other places, with the Moroccan Arabic called Darijii (sp?). The Amazight (Berber) people speak Tamazight. Some Spanish is also spoken (mostly in Tangiers), while English is usually only spoken by the upper-class and those involved with the tourist industry. Most people here speak Arabic and French, but than can be said for mono-linguistic Americans.

4. Air Maroc sucks.

5. The capital is Rabaat, but airlines fly into/out of Casablanca which is the largest city in Morocco.

6. The movie Casablanca was not filmed in Morocco, there is no Rick's Bar, so you can't ask Sam to play it again...

7. Not all the women cover themselves in hijab... you'll see women on the street in anything from a form fitting short-sleeve dress and heels to capris, a t-shirt and sandals, to the full length "robe", all worn with or without head cover...

8. You must bargain/haggle for most anything you buy... Bargaining is expected. Can be lots of fun actually, as the vendors way over inflate their prices, so you give the shocked face and tell them how crazy that price is and then you low-ball them... then they laugh and say no it really is worth that much, so you laugh and walk away, then they shout out a better price... and on and on it goes until you both reach an agreed upon price, usually quite abit lower than the original one. But let's but honest, as a tourist/ traveler, you will never get the Moroccan price.

9. The people are incredibly diverse ethnically... I'll go more into later.

10. Moroccan mint tea is SWEET (gives Georgia sweet ice tea a run for it's money) and should never be refused if offered.

Oh, and an extra one for you:

11. Did I mention that Air Maroc can suck it? :-)

12000 horses

2009-06-27T11:12:00.008-05:00

Disclaimer: I am still trying to figure out how to post pics to this blog, so sorry if the page seems out of sorts! If you know how to work blogs, let me know! Thanks.

Finally! A short trip to someplace less isolated and less Western feeling than the university... as an aside Ifrane (location of the uni) is called Little Switzerland... so that should give you some idea of what it is like... built by the French as a resort town in the 1920s.

Anyhow, we arrived in Meknes yesterday and after dropping bags at the hotel, we got back on the bus for a quick tour of Meknes and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. Meknes is a large city (1 mil people I think)... the old medina (city) has the longest emcompassing wall of any city in the world at 25 mi total!

The gate we saw (there are 3) is called the Bab el-Khemis (Thursday Gate) pic above, called so because of the Thursday market that drew people to the medina. A lovely gate, with same aeration holes all throughout where swallows and chickadees have made their homes. Lucky birds!

We then drove to see the stables and graineries of Moulay Ismail. Moulay Ismail was a great sultan, who ruled for 55 years (1672-1727)... to put that in perspective, he was a contemporary of French King Louis XIV (14th). We couldn't go inside the structure, but was told that Moulay Ismail stabled 12,000 horses! My kind of guy! :-)

The Mausoleum of the Moulay Ismail was next (above). A beautiful structure, containing 3 rooms with wonderful zellij (geometric tilework), fountains and carved cedar wood ceilings. Although we could go inside, we weren't able to go into the actual room where the tombs are located.

We walked through the medina, which I loved. I love markets. Here is a shot of a man stoking the hammam fires by throwing sawdust in the fire...

We took a group photo in front of one the medina gates, and one of our guides was taking our pic with my camera, when a little old lady comes toddling by slowly in between him and us... we wait for her to cross, but she stops in front of Youness and tells him in Arabic "take my picture!" So he did... funny because she was very adamant and didn't ask for money!

The Fulbright GPA Morocco gang!

L to R front row: Maceo, Jen, Manny, Jenny, Angela, Azeb. L to R back row: Beate, David, Sherry, Laura, Sylvia, our Meknes guide Abdellah, Casey, Carol, Julani, Shondale.

A small request: PLEASE ask me questions via the blog comments... Admittedly, they are keeping us very busy, so sometimes when I get time to blog, I am soooo brain dead, I have no idea what to write here... Odd, no? So I need your feedback as to what you want to read about!! Hopefully it will be easier to post pictures in the near future...

Next post: Volubilis

Ana Mush Fahim...

2009-06-25T15:06:00.004-05:00

...means "I don't understand" (written phoenetically of course)... and that is about how Arabic language is going at the moment! :-) However, today was better than yesterday, at least language-wise.

My day started off really icky... was up at 3 am, couldn't go back to sleep (no Ambien, trying to wean) as I had a dream about my Maxx :-( I know he is better off, as he was so much more sick than realized, but I miss my sweet cat. So, started the day tired, sad, stressed and frustrated...

On the bright side, our luggage arrived today in Fez (about an hour from here). Azeb (our fearless leader!), Beate and Jalani (both fellow Fulbrighters with knowledge of French) braved the wilds that is Moroccan baggage claim and customs to retrieve everyone's luggage. Bless them! Nice to have clean clothes.

Arabic was much better today, though it still is difficult and it doesn't help that the classroom has no insulation so every little sound echoes... makes it hard to listen and repeat. Getting easier to "hear" though, and I am finding the writing part really fascinating... the calligraphy looks very artistic (to me at least), so as an artist I enjoy it, but it is a challange... Writing and reading is right to left which is awkward. And, the letters change how they look/ are written depending on where they are in the word (front, middle, last) and if they connect to another letter or not... It's hard to explain without pictures... so I will try take some of writing and it explain it better in another post when I can get some pictures downloaded.

Im addition to Arabic in the AM, we have history and/or culture class(es) in the afternoon. Today's talk was really interesting, but not sure how much y'all want to hear about all that, so let me know.

Tomorrow after Arabic, we go to Meknes for a couple days then back to Ifrane...

Oh, so far the food is REALLY disappointing... Generic American-tourist-college type food... BLAH. I am hoping for some real Moroccan food, even if it means eating from a street food cart (which while on the topic, so far no traveler's stomach, if you know what I mean! :-)

Where's Waldo?

2009-06-24T12:45:00.004-05:00

If you find him, can you see if he has my luggage?

*sigh*

No joke, every single person in my group had their checked luggage delayed (that's at least 25 pieces of baggage, people! 25!)... KLM got the bags to Amsterdam no problem, but Air Maroc apparently has issues... Big ones. Bought a pair of very cool sandals and shirt and sharing toiletries for the last 3 days since I had to carry-on the photo equipment. Joy. BUT, I am not alone in my lost luggage misery... We should get our bags tonight, but won't believe until I see it.

Arrived to Casablanca late Sunday, drove to Ifrane on Monday and have been here at the the university since then... Had first Arabic class today. Lord help me. Very interesting, but not easy, and I *swear* teachers are the worst students. A couple people in my group just don't get it (i.e. shut up when the professor is instructing!)... But Inshallah it will get better.

My brain is alittle swimming in that sense, since I know neither French nor Arabic, so I am mentally tired. Physically notsomuch, thank God for Ambien! More later, some pics when I get my cords (in the checked bags).

10 1/2 hours of sheer joy

2009-06-21T09:55:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update: I'm in LA, as we had a quick briefing yesterday at UCLA. My flight leaves LAX at 5:30 today... I then have a lovely 10 1/2 hours to Amsterdam... Ugh. The not so fun part of traveling... :-)

Soon to be Rockin' the Kasbah!

2009-06-03T17:00:00.003-05:00

This blog will be a chronicle of my almost 6 weeks in Morocco this summer as a Fulbright scholar, studying the arts, history, culture and language of Morocco.

Me?!? A Fulbright scholar? Who'd have thought... but yeah... I am one of those people. Cool. :-)

So watch this space for me rockin' the kasbah! (sorry for The Clash reference, I couldn't resist!)

- Angela