Real Mexican Hospitality

August, 2012.  We are traveling in Mexico, searching out fine artisan crafts for Chiripa.  We are now in the beautiful colonial city of Puebla.

Puebla Street

Miguel Paredes has a lot of skeletons in his closet: amusing and mischievous little skeletons made of clay and wire. The skeletons appear in all kinds of garb, and act out all kinds of scenes from ordinary (and not so ordinary) life. The skeletons remind us, in a fatalistic but most humorous way, of ourselves. They are big favorites at Chiripa. Miguel is constantly inventing new things, like this skeleton Jack-in-the-Box:

Miguel with Skeleton Jack-in-the-Box

Miguel has a whimsical sense of humor and a love of invention. He also has a deep love of art and humanity, and a profound appreciation of Mexican culture and traditions. He has painted the walls of his house with beautiful murals, representing religious, historical and traditional themes. The house is filled with fine artisan crafts from all over Mexico.

Miguel, with small friend, at home

Miguel lives in Puebla, Mexico, with his charming wife Liliana and his son Daniel. The family operates a tiny retail shop in the city, where they sell skeleton figures and other items made in the equally tiny workshop behind their house. Miguel and Daniel are the artisans (Daniel, who just turned 20, is also studying ceramics and painting under a renowned master craftsman from the village of Azucar de Matamoros). Liliana does the many other tasks needed to manage the family business and household.

Daniel, Miguel and Liliana

On our last day in Mexico, Miguel, Liliana and Daniel invited us to their home for a special seasonal meal of Chiles en Nogada (chiles with a special filling made of nuts and other ingredients, and covered with bright red pomegranate seeds). Liliana prepared the special meal to mark a saint’s feast day, as well as the 20th birthday of son Daniel the following day. We were honored to share in this special family feast.

Chiles en Nogada

The mid-afternoon meal began with a savory bowl of fresh home-made vegetable soup, then on to the rice course and the Chiles en Nogada. This special recipe is made only at this time of year, when the chiles and other fresh local ingredients are available. We were already stuffed when we moved on to a dessert of special fruit gelato, homemade custard tarts with chocolate and fresh fruit, and then fresh local plums and coffee. It was all we could do to stand up from the table.

Homemade custard tarts with chocolate and fresh fruit

Miguel and Daniel were recently invited to demonstrate their work at the Day of the Dead exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. They were eager to pick up their visas in the nearby town of Cholula that afternoon, so we went with them. They took the opportunity to show us around Cholula, which is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Americas.

Cholula has many churches, and one of them is built atop an enormous pre-Columbian pyramid that is reputed to be bigger than the great pyramids of Egypt. In 1519, Cortes destroyed Aztec temples here, and put the city to the sword as part of his campaign to conquer Moctezuma’s empire. 

Cholula church built in 1552

We visited one of the churches built by the Spaniards in 1552, shortly after a disease epidemic had decimated the indigenous population. Miguel pointed out a whipping post, just outside the church, used to inflict punishment on native residents who failed to conform. This Spanish church had already been standing for more than 70 years when the Pilgrims landed in North America. But the indigenous American community had called this place home for far, far longer. - JM

Amiable guides, ancient place