A Taste of Mexico

Chiripa is back from another successful buying trip to Mexico. In the past we've chronicled our journeys with a sequential log. For a change of pace the posts from this trip will be random features of some special moments and memories.

We begin with the final day in Oaxaca (February 22) and a final dash through the central market just south of the Zocalo in search of molinillos (the carved wooden whisks used to froth hot chocolate). We find them in abundance.

From the market we head a couple blocks east for a last stop at Mayordomo for some take-home chocolate. The chocolate making is over for the day, but the aroma still overwhelms. 

Of course we take the time to sample a bowl of caliente (hot) chocolate and photograph the young woman preparing our drinks.

Hot chocolate on a hot day in Oaxaca . . . it works. But it will taste even better in the blustery winter weather waiting for us in Wisconsin. We'll sip with memories of the perfectly wonderful time we had in Mexico, February 2011.

August 2010

The last entry from the log kept by JM on the August 2010 Chiripa buying trip to Mexico.

 

Street vendors and Mexican citizens are gearing up for their country’s bicentennial celebration.  Vendors are on street corners, well stocked with flags, noise makers, and even clownish wigs in red, green and white.  Neighborhood residents are stringing papel picado banners across their streets, from one building to another.

Mexico always bustles and there always seems to be a reason for a parade or fireworks at dawn.  Imagine the decibel level on September 16, 2010, when the entire country will have a reason to party! 

Amidst all of Mexico’s problems, we never fail to find a taxi driver, artisan, restaurant worker, or other citizen who is proud of his or her country and heritage.  On this trip, a chatty cabbie spoke fondly of everything from world-class mariachis to the clear, fresh air in Michoacan, and pretty little San Miguel de Allende.  Viva Mexico!

And now we begin to plan the next adventure to Mexico in February of 2011. . . stay tuned.

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.