A Small Gamble Pays Off

 From the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 26. Late afternoon found us in the dusty little bus depot in the town of Dolores Hidalgo, the cradle of the Mexican Independence movement. We had walked the town hunting for Talavera-style ceramics, for which Dolores is famous. We ended up at the bus depot after a short respite on the zocalo, where we watched the people and sampled the ice cream.

We always use public transportation (buses and taxis) to get around Mexico. We are big fans of the Mexican bus system, from which the U.S. could learn much. The bus system is cheap, safe and efficient, and serves a huge number of people of all income classes. We go to the bus depot without reservations and, within minutes, we are on a bus traveling to our chosen destination – near or far. The long distance buses are roomy and comfortable. The only negative is the bad U.S. movies played en route.

An hour later, the bus from Dolores dropped us at the depot in San Miguel de Allende. We asked a taxi driver to take us out into the countryside, to Rancho Cienguieta, where our friend Felix lives and operates a tin workshop with his extended family. We hadn’t been able to contact Felix by phone, so we took a chance on a taxi.

Happily, the gamble paid off. The taxi driver, somewhat bewildered, dropped us on the rural back road near Felix’s home. We walked down the lane, and were happy to catch Felix at home (he was just getting ready to leave). He was equally happy to see us. With the family looking on, we ordered some of Felix’s ever-popular star luminaries, then caught a ride with the family back to town. 

They dropped us at the market, where they were shopping for the week’s supplies, and we strolled the steep cobbled streets back to the hotel. 

Hunting for Papel Machado

From the log kept by JM on the August, 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

AUGUST 25.  From Patzcuaro, we took the long bus ride to San Miguel de Allende, via Morelia and Celaya. The on-board U.S. movies were loud and bad, as is customary. They always help to make the trip seem much longer.

This afternoon, in San Miguel de Allende, we visited the workshop of our good friend Ricardo, who makes fine tin and ceramic mirrors for Chiripa. We asked about other crafts in San Miguel, and Ricardo offered to take us to a workshop that makes papel machado (paper mache). You probably made paper mache figures in elementary school, but in Mexico this humble craft has been raised to a community art form. In Mexican parades, you will often see huge papel machado puppets that dance ahead of the marching band. They have a blank, weird look, but somehow seem to be running the show....

Ricardo picked us up at 8 PM, as planned. Minutes later, we picked up his older brother Rosalío, who operates a fine artisan craft store in San Miguel (Casa Artesanal San Migueliense). When he was still a boy, Ricardo followed Rosalío to San Miguel after their father died. Ricardo credits Rosalío with teaching him the tinmaker’s craft, but adds (smiling): “Now I am better than he is.”

Darkness fell as we bumped our way through a maze of cobbled streets at the far end of town. We stopped in front of a closed doorway that did not look promising. But moments later we were inside, confronted by a wild assortment of paper maché figures, including giant clowns, oversized chickens, masks, skeletons on sticks, and a colorful assortment of peppers, fruits and vegetables. 

We enjoyed our visit with workshop owners Juan José and María Eugenia, who showed us the techniques they use. In short order, we had purchased a big boxload of their creations for Chiripa.

The next day, we took a long hike to another part of town in search of a second papel machado workshop, called Papel Maché Originales. After a fair number of wrong turns, we finally found the workshop on a dusty side-street. A handful of workers were busy forming, drying and painting a mad variety of papel machado figures.  

When we rummaged through the inventory, looking for good pieces to buy, we were startled to find Bucky Badger stools and paper mache badgers that looked like Bucky’s cousins. The shop owner told us that he once had an order from some “personas de queso” (cheese people) in Wisconsin, but then he never heard from them again....
It was hot on our way back, so we stopped at a little corner store and bought a frozen, chocolate-covered banana to share. It was cold and delicious.... 

Peeking into Tzintzuntzan

From the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 24, 2010. In Tzintzuntzan (Michoacan, Mexico) there is a handcraft market that offers a mountain of goods, including ceramics, straw baskets, cornhusk flowers, wood carvings and much more. You can see local people binging their wares for sale. 

Patient sellers often pass hours or days between sales, so Chiripa is glad to bring them needed business. The recent wet weather, with its occasional heavy deluges, has made life even ore difficult for open-air market vendors.

Behind the market is a centuries-old church and an old walled park with ancient olive trees. We cross the park, and pass through a doorway in the far wall near the church. Just down the street, and around the corner, we knock on the door of Ofelia Gamez, who is well known for the hand-painted lead-free ceramics she makes in her home. 

We interrupt Ofelia's work long enough to pick out some nice pieces for Chiripa. Ofelia's son, Manuel Morales, who also has a workshop in Tzintzuntzan, has gained an international reputation for his elegant ceramics. This sample is currently at Chiripa.

In the Garden of Stone

From the log kept by JM on the August Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 22, 2010. It rained last night in Patzcuaro – hard. The water poured down the tile roofs and leaped into the streets.  Sheets of rain lashed crumbling adobe walls and soaked through improvised roof patches.  People huddled in doorways and sat in groups under the arcades. Cars looked like boxy boats navigating swift-flowing tropical rivers.

After the violent rains, the morning dawned cool and soft. The carefully-clipped grass on the renovated plaza was wet and lush. Walls were washed with luminous morning light. The wet green moss was bright against the red clay. It was a perfect morning to explore the stone garden.  

To tell the truth, it is not exactly a garden. And yet, in a way, it is. You can find it right along the roadside, as you approach the town of Tzintzuntzan. The stone garden is actually a rambling roadside display of fine cantera stonework – open to anyone who wants to stop and wander through it. High on the hill behind the stone garden, is the imposing pre-Columbian ruins built at the height of the Tarascan Empire. And just down the road there is a lovely cemetery where ancestral spirits are welcomed back to life -- with bright marigold bouquets, sweet confections and candlelight -- on the Noche de Los Muertos.

 In the stone garden there are hundreds – no, thousands – of sculptured cantera figures created by present-day local craftsmen. There are whimsical angels and demons, creatures of legend, owls, lizards, and fish with human heads. There are pensive maidens, cheerful drunks, fierce predators, quiet doves, Madonnas, and sleeping figures tired from labor. There are smiling suns, strong west winds, dragons, shepherds, saints, frogs, lumbering turtles and scavenging pigs.

And here is the best part: they are all strewn on the ground together, right next to the road: large and small, time-worn and newly carved, animal and human, earthly and spiritual, fine and crude.  There are no fences, class distinctions, security barriers or dividing walls. Each figure seems to have its own secrets, but they are all lying together in the damp grass, gathering moss. 

They are all for sale if you can get them home.  But we warn you, they are heavy.  Chiripa has done the heavy lifting, and brought a few of these stone spirits home for you.  They will bring your garden to life, and your purchase will make a stone carver happy.

Dining Room with a View

From the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 21, 2010. It seemed like a fine morning to eat at the Hotel de la Basilica. The hotel, which sits on a hill in the center of Patzcuaro, is named for the basilica that sits just across the street. The basilica was constructed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Its huge bells ring out across the city, a soulful reminder to faithful and unfaithful alike.

The hotel dining room offers splendid views over a jumble of red-tiled roofs (reminiscent of hill towns in Italy) to the lake and mountains beyond. Morning clouds hang half-way up the mountains. The dining room is small, but we have our choice of tables because tourists are scarce these days. The hot coffee is delicious on a cool morning.

 A lovely table setting features hand-made ceramic plates from the nearby village of Capula. (Chiripa has just a few of these very same plates which are made with a lead-free glaze.) The centerpiece is a colorful, handmade castle of firecrackers (not available at Chiripa), of the sort commonly put to use at fiestas here. The centerpiece also includes hand-woven straw ornaments from the nearby town of Tzintzuntzan (which we plan to visit after breakfast). Heavy, hand-blown glassware and hand-formed ceramic mugs complete the table setting.

In Patzcuaro, hand-woven table linens are also a specialty. Men weave the fabric on heavy wooden looms. Skilled seamstresses then fashion the fabric into napkins, placemats and tablecloths. At Chiripa you can find Patzcuaro table linens in a riot of bright colors. They look great with hand-made ceramic plates from Capula and hand-blown glassware from Tlaquepaque! Enjoy the colors, textures and hand-made character of Mexico in your home.

Beautiful, But Sad

From the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 20, 2010. We arrived in the village of Santa Clara del Cobre after the close of it's annual Copper Fair. The craftsmen of Santa Clara create some of the finest hand-hammered copper in the world, and each year they display their very best work at the copper Fair.

Some of the pieces from the fair were still on display, and they were as stunning as in the past years. But this year, according to frequent prize winner Roberto Castro, the annual fair was muy triste (very sad). The Mexican economy is in trouble, and attendance at the fair was poor.

That was costly and disappointing for the artisans who risked much of their annual livelihood to create prize-winning pieces for the exhibition. An artisan may spend months creating a single piece. Copper (from scrap) is repeatedly fired, water-cooled and hammered into shape (the finest pieces are created from a single piece of metal). The artisan then works carefully, with smaller specialized hammers, to bring out the surface design and characteristic red glow of the finished metal. In the hands of a skilled artisan, the result is a glorious work of museum-quality art. The elegant final shape will last for hundreds of years.

Although we missed the Copper Fair this year we did manage to bring home some fine copper pieces. At Chiripa, you can find a wide selection of hand-hammered copper to suit your taste and budget. Your purchases help preserve the copper craft in Santa Clara del Cobre.

Old and Eccentric

From the log JM kept on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 19, 2010.  The old Hotel de los Escudos, in the center of Pazcuaro, is not what you would call luxurious. But it is clean and economical ($29 a night at this time of year). It is also interesting, in an eccentric and centuries-old sort of way. The desk staff remembers us, and it has a handy location right on the serene Plaza de Vasco Quiroga. It has big pine pillars and beams, and limestone steps indented and worn smooth by centuries of foot traffic. There is no security to speak of, but it feels comfortable and safe. So it suits us, and we keep coming back. 

Morning light hits Los Escudos on a prior trip. 

Note: the zocalo has not been rebuilt.

This time we stayed in the hotel “annex,” which has a lobby with a stuffed deer and a picture of the plaza covered with snow on July 16, 1996. Our interior room was almost too quiet, except for the rooftop bells that reminded us of the time every 15 minutes. In the corner of the room was a round brick fireplace that might be as old as the hotel. Patzcuaro nights can get cold, and firewood is provided. The blackened brick in the fire chamber suggested that the fireplace has seen plenty of use, but we paused when we saw that the brick on the outside of the fireplace was also blackened.

The ceiling, resting on heavy pine beams, towered 20 feet above us. The bathroom looked like a quaint little 10-ft. tall house within the 20-ft. tall room. It had brick and stucco walls, a pine door, and pine-encased semi-transparent windows that could swing open. Like many hotel bathrooms in Mexico, it was raised 8 inches above the bedroom floor. In the middle of the night, you must remember to step up on your way in (and down on your way out) or you will come to a bad end.

Once you have negotiated the step and entered the little house-bathroom, you must close the creaky pine door. The door does not shut unless you pull hard, and then it slams (waking your spouse). It is pitch black inside, so you try to find the light switch. The light shines through the window into your spouse’s (now open) eyes. If you are male, you raise the toilet seat, but it does not stay up by itself. You improvise by addressing the toilet from the side, and holding the seat up with your knee. If you are lucky, you finish the operation before the seat slips from your knee and slams down with a loud slap.

When you finish in the bathroom, you turn out the light, force open the creaky door with your shoulder, remember to step down, and grope your way back to bed. You misjudge a bit, and curse when you slam into the bed with your shin. You eventually get back to sleep, but your spouse will be awake for several hours….    

"Going green" in the interior lobby at Los Escudos.

A Bit of Luck in Tonala

From JM's August 2010 log of the Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

August 17, 2010. We have never had much luck in Tonala. The town on the outskirts of Guadalajara is reputed to be a major center of craft production. But we have always found it frustrating. There are a lot of workshops, but much of the production we've been able to find is kitchy grade B stuff--not the high quality traditional crafts that we seek.

Today we decided to give it one more try. We had a specific mission in mind: to find the workshop that creates interesting metal work under the name of Marco Polo Designs (we had failed to find it once before). 

The taxi dripped us on Alfereros street, where we had heard the workshop was located. But Alfereros is not a continuous street. It stops, changes names, travels several crooked blocks under its new alias, and then resumes liife under its original name. The house numbers follow no discernible order, and seem to be assigned by a random number generator.

Despite these difficulties, we persisted. Finally, after asking several friendly pedestrians and shopkeepers, and consulting with a helpful policeman, we found the little yellow house and workshop at Alfereros #8. We rang the bell, but there was no answer. Again . . . No response. Once more . . .  Nothing. It looked like yet another defeat in Tonala.

But we weren't quite ready to quit. After polking around the back streets for another hour or so, we returned One more time to Alfereros #8. This time the door opened, and a friendly figure emerged. He smiled when he saw us, and waved us in.

We ordered some really nice luminaries (table and wall), a big dancing Catrina skeleton, and other good metal pieces, including some clever geckos to climb all over your walls. Tonala is still hard to figure out, but it may be growing on us.

Farewell to a Friend

From the log JM kept on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

"I am so glad to see you, but I have some very bad news." We held our breath, waiting for what Tina would tell us: "My husband Carlos has died."

 Carlos and Tina in February, 2010.

It was just this past February when Carlos had drawn us a big glass of tequila from the barrel in the back room. (Carlos had received the barrel in payment from a small tequila maker who could not afford to pay cash for the special hand-blown glass bottles that Carlos had made for him.) When we protested that the glass was too big, Carlos just smiled and said "the tap closes slowly . . ."  We laughed, and he told us about the avocado trees that he was planting on their little farm. He hoped to sell the avocados to provide retirement income.

On a hot afternoon just one month later, Carlos was watering the young avocado trees when he suffered a stroke. He wanted to clean up before going to the hospital, but he naver made it. Carlos was gone, and Tina is left to tend the trees herself.

Tina and Carlos were maried for 43 years. As newlyweds they moved to Tlaquepaque to live in his mother's house, just across the street from the old Rufugio monastery. For many years, the house served as glass-blowing workshop, retail store and residence. 

Tina misses Carlos "more each day." But at least for now, she bravely carries on the family glassware business. Chiripa is proud to be one of her loyal customers.

Farewell, Carlos.

Oaxaca Parade

JM normally provides the content for the Chiripa blog, but, since he's just back from Mexico I thought I'd do another post with images from the March trip that didn't illustrate the log from that trip. 

I make it a point to visit the English language bookstore in Oaxaca to get ideas for books we might carry at Chiripa. One late afternoon in March I was casually browsing the shelves when I heard a loud commotion outside the window. Looking out I saw a parade in the making. 

The "band" stopped right by my window and the young women in traditional Oaxacan dress started dancing. 

Just as quickly as it had started they moved on down the street delighting the crowds outside.

The workers in the bookstore just kind of shrugged when asked about the reason for the parade. It had something to do with education, but they weren't really sure.  

It was fun, colorful, and unexpected.  A perfect Chiripa (happy accident) for me.

The Beauty of Buses

JM normally provides the content for the Chiripa blog, by, since he's off to Mexico I thought I'd do a couple posts with images from the March trip that didn't illustrate the log from that trip. 

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that we travel by bus throughout Mexico. It is a convenient, efficient, and safe way to travel. This is a typical bus station in a major city.

We see all sorts of travelers and amazing baggage. On this day I noticed a woman getting off a bus carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers. By the time I could get my camera in gear she was almost out of the picture.

The woman walking behind her saw me and stopped her friend so I could get a better picture.

And then they got me in the picture. And finally, as we were parting ways the woman gave me one of the red roses from her arrangement.

This was all done without words except Gracias.

Blouses from Oaxaca

Below you will see 12 styles of blouses made by women in Oaxaca. Chiripa is considering carrying a small amount of clothing and we'd like your opinion about these blouses/tunics/huipils. All are cotton, many are hand embroidered, and the source is a woman-owned busines in Oaxaca. The owner decided to form a business after traveling with a Mexico Ballet Folklorico group. Wherever they went people would ask her how they could buy clothing like the women in the group were wearing. She began working with women and women's cooperatives in the Oaxaca city area. 

FEEDBACK is what I'm looking for. Please respond with a comment.

What # blouse is your favorite(s)?

What # would you consider purchasing?

If you would like to see the blouses in person, stop by the shop at 636 S Park Street in Madison Wisconsin. They will be on display for two weeks.

Thanks for your help!

 

 

A Misguided (But Thrilling) Ride

The final entry from the log kept by JM on the Feb/March Chiripa buying trip.

March 6, 2010. Reliable local sources suggest that we should visit the remote mountain village of San Pedro Cajonos where there is wood carving and jewelry made from silkworm cocoons. But they warned us that getting there would be somewhat difficult. They told us to start by catching a collectivo taxi near the Benito Juarez monument on the outskirts of Oaxaca.

We got to the monument OK, but it was not clear where we should board the collectivo (or which one we should take). Our cab driver and a food stand operator thought they knew, so we joined a group of people waiting at one of the stops.

When our turn came, and a collectivo drove up, we climbed aboard. Other people were waiting (and probably had more pressing needs), but they courteously deferred to us. We soon wished they hadn't, because it quickly became apparent that we were heading in the wrong direction. We were headed high into the mountains, but not to the place we had intended.

For the next hour and a half, the cab driver roared up steep switchbacks until we grew light-headed and dizzy. It was a thrilling ascent, and the scenery was spectacular, but at the end of the ride we arrived at the town of Ixtlan de Juarez (not the village of Benito Juarez, where we had planned to change collectivos to get to our ultimate destination).

The driver said he would gladly take us to Benito Juarez, but the road was bad. It would take a long time and cost us a fortune. So we gave up, and just looked around Ixtlan. In this remote spot, we might have expected to find a poor and backward village, but it was actually rather modern and prosperous. There were excellent covered basketball courts (with nets, a rarity in Mexico), a mural of Michael Jordan, and kids with their names printed on their team uniforms.

A pleasant place, but not what we were looking for. So we swallowed some Drammine pills to control the dizziness, and headed back down the mountain to Oaxaca.

That night we loaded up our packs and walked to the first-class bus depot. At midnight, our bus departed for Mexico City. We slept fitfully, and at 6 a.m. we stumbled out of the bus into the TAPO terminal in the big metropolis. A taxi took us to the airport, where we made ready to fly home to El Norte.

A last look at Oaxaca night-life from a rooftop restaurant.

Hand-Made Paper

From the log kept by JM on the Feb/March 2010 Chiripa buying trip.

In the foothills north of Oaxaca is the town of San Augustin de Etla. There you can visit an interesting workshop that produces high quality hand-made paper. They are happy to give demonstrations, and there is also a nice shop where you can buy interesting paper items of all sorts (we did).

Paper drying in the bright Oaxacan sun and hand-made paper kites in the shop.

The natural setting is beautiful, and on the hill above the workshop there is an old mill that has been converted to an art school and display gallery. 

The unique architecture makes effective use of the water that flows down the hillside and right through the facility. The lush vegetation and hilltop views evoke the Oaxaca region as it may have looked before an exploding population, industrialization, deforestation and traffic took their toll.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can get to San Augustin for just 10 pesos per person (less than a dollar) by taking a collectivo taxi from a location next to the Abastos Market. From the zocalo in downtown Oaxaca, walk west on Trujano until you get to the market area. Cross busy Periferico at the end of Trujano, and you will see an area where the brown and white collectivos are parked. Be sure to ask for a collectivo to St. Augustin de Etla. If you take one that is just marked Etla, you will be disappointed to find yourself in a very different place.

Pounding The Streets

From the log kept by JM on the Feb/Mar 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

March 4, 2010.  They are pounding the streets in downtown Oaxaca. This is not repaving of the usual sort. To preserve the historic character of the city, the streets are paved with big cobblestones. Workers pound with hammer and chisel to cut and fit each cobble by hand. The fitted cobbles are then set in concrete, in decorative patterns. The workers toil late into the night, and on weekends, in order to finish the street in time for the Mexican Independence Bicentennial Celebration.

We are also pounding the streets of Oaxaca, collecting and carrying boxes of handcrafted treasures from the Oaxaca Women's Cooperative, the Artisan Market and other places. We found an abundant selection of small items to catch your eye, add interest to your home, delight your friends and make you smile. Something for every budget!

Fine Food and Fantastic Crafts

From the log kept by JM on the Feb/March 2010 Chiripa buying trip.

March 2, 2010.  This morning we traveled south to the villages of San Bartolo Coyotepec, San Martin Tilcajete, and Ocotlan. We picked up a good selection of Oaxacan black pottery at the Dona Rosa workshop in San Bartolo, where Dona Rosa's son still presides. 

Dona Rosa was, of course, the woman who discovered the technique for making the famous shiny black pottery (you can find it at Chiripa) and a piece or two online.

In Ocotlan, we stopped at the tiny home workshop of the famous Guillermina Aguilar, where we picked out as many clay figures as we could carry. 

But the main event was in San Martin Tilcajete, where we met Jacobo and Maria Angeles for breakfast at their restaurant, Azucena Zapoteca (Zapotec Lily). The day was already hot, but there was a cool breeze under the veranda. Jacobo and Maria offered us a spectacular array of traditional Zapotec and Mexican dishes. The food was fabulous, and the presentation reflected Maria's artistic touch (Rick Bayless take note!).

 The restaurant, magical as it was, was just a prelude to the workshop. Jacobo and Maria are among the most highly regarded artisans in all of Mexico producing exquisitely carved and painted alebrijes that are in great demand by collectors throughout the world.

Jacobo and Maria with a lion in progress March 2010.

The carved wooden animals have an uncanny lifelike but abstract quality, and the painting--well, you must see it to believe it: elegant designs are executed in unbelievably minute and precise detail, using traditional Zapotec motifs and stunning natural colors. The colors are from natural ingredients grown in the Oaxacan countryside. You can see some beautiful examples at Chiripa. 

We also hope to bring Jacobo to Madison in October, so you can meet this great artist (and wonderful human being) in person.