Day 10: Back to Santa Clara del Cobre

Thursday, August 13: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Today's plan is to hop on a bus back out to Santa Clara del Cobre to meet with Lulu and Alfredo and to take in more of the copper fair. I'm confident that the day started with breakfast at I Turbe, a nice hotel with a restaurant serving a great breakfast and the best coffee we can find in Patzcuaro.

Starters: fruit plate, coffee, and little powder sugar cookies in the little basket.

This refreshing start is followed by a large plate of traditional Michoacan food . . . or pancakes.

Then it's a hike to the intersection where buses to Santa Clara pass frequently. The ride up the mountain (maybe "mountain" is exaggerated, but the elevation increases significantly) passes the daily life of Patzcuaro.

A flowering vine jumps out of it's humble surroundings.

Last February's trip to Santa Clara included a breakfast with Lulu Paz and her husband, Alfredo. Alfredo operates the furniture business that makes sinks and wood pieces with beautiful copper panels. Lulu operates a traditional copper storefront with a great copper-making demonstration area (not pictured here). The shop is called Casa Felicitas at Pino Suarez #88.

Lulu and Alfredo with February's travelers.

All over the city you can hear the "ping-ping" of hammer on copper and the whoosh of a bellows fire. The travelers are sure to have a full day of decision making. I'm hoping for some copper fair photos to share at a later date.

Day 9: Bus to Patzcuaro

Wednesday, August 12: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

The travelers arrived in Patzcuaro and in the evening sent this email describing their bus trip and the subsequent trip up to Santa Clara del Cobre:

"We left SMA this morning on the 7:45 am bus and got here around 12:30 pm. We immediately left for Sta Clara where the copper fair is in full swing. Devils and dancers, Purepecha bands on stage, the square was full of folks. And there was a parade of sorts down the main drag -- a couple of toddlers in costume sitting on the hoods of cars. Yikes!

"Tonight we had a great meal at Primer Piso, sitting on the balcony overlooking the square [in Patzcuaro]." Beth

Copper judging and awards in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico 2008

No word on competition purchases this year. It's fun to put the photos with the winning pots that we can purchase. We try to encourage the young artists to continue their craft.

A winner in the 8-13 year-old division 2008

Days 7 and 8: San Miguel de Allende

Monday and Tuesday, August 10 and 11: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

I have not received any communication about this leg of the trip, so, I'll go by the original plans for inventory buys and share what seems like an impossible list for two days.

The San Miguel de Allende Artisan Market. This is a strip of booths on both sides of a pedestrian walkway, maybe 3 or 4 "blocks" long. Besides local artisans, one can find rugs from Oaxaca and Huichol bead work from Nayarit.

It is at this market where we met Hector Bustamante.

Hector with his wife and daughter at the marketplace booth

His workshop called Luciano creates whimsical figures out of metal. We carry his catrinas and catrins, cats and dogs and angels. Perhaps the most loved piece he sells is the Tree of Life. It brings joy to people.

Other treasures at the market:

Inexpensive and popular blue painted clay figures, suns and boxes.
Coconut masks and coconut heads with bodies.
Tin star and angel ornaments for the coming holiday season.
Jewelry, milagros, Lotteria games . . . and the list goes on.

But there are other stops besides the market for these two short days:

Felix Bautista Ramirez was our first mirror maker.

Our first trip to Felix's was in the back of a pickup truck.

He lives outside the city and is often not reachable by phone. This requires resourcefulness and patience as we track him down to place an order. This time we'll be looking for more mirrors, his painted tin cacti, tin stars, and tin luminaries.

Felix with his wife and a pile of stars for Chiripa.

A second mirror maker, Ricardo Banda who, along with his family create differently styled mirrors that have proven popular in Wisconsin: mirrors with doors, oval highly decorated painted mirrors, as well as more traditional tile mirrors.


Ricardo also manufactures our metal switchplate covers. Maybe there will be something new from this visit.

A short distance from San Miguel de Allende is the city of Dolores Hidalgo. It is home to some colorful talavera pottery workshops.

We shop regularly at Liceagui right on the main drag i.e. bus route. Our supplies are not depleted from our trip here in February, but there are some special requests (a fish sink!) and some holes to fill in inventory.

Beth will make a new stop in Dolores Hidaldo at Chiles y Chiles the factory that makes the chili peppers we found last year at the trade show. It will be fun to see the operations and meet the people who make the colorful peppers that hang from the ceiling at the shop.

I'm hoping Beth and JM have time to stop in the Zocalo for some of the homemade ice cream. It's a special treat to pick out a flavor that we'd never find in the U.S.

With so many stops--not to mention a trip to the bank or money exchange to change travellers checks--those of us back in the US worry that meals are being missed. Rest will come on the bus ride tomorrow!

Day 6: In search of Etla

Sunday, August 9: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Eric Chavez (see Day 2) has offered to take the travelers to Etla, the paper city. We had made one attempt a couple years ago, but, either had the wrong city or the wrong day because we didn't find any paper products. What will they find: papel picado (cut paper banners) or pinatas, or????? We will have to wait for followup news on this adventure.

Plans then call for Beth and JM to bid farewell to Oaxaca and get back on a bus heading north to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.

KZ will enjoy a couple days of leisure in Oaxaca before heading for home in Wisconsin.

Day 5: Shopping for Alebrijes

Saturday, August 8: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Arrazola, Oaxaca, Mexico is today's destination. The shoppers are in search of mid-price alebrijes, the colorful painted figures that are carved of wood.

The lizards at Chiripa come from the Arrazola workshop of Oscar Carillo and his wife Josefina. Oscar is the carver and Josefina the painter.







The lizards have become a trademark for our shop and adorn the walls and shelving ends. I've heard from Beth that the expedition was a success. I'll have to wait for the shipment to see the beautiful creatures.

Saturday night's activity is packing. This will be a marathon event. Every item that has been purchased to date will get two labels: "Made in Mexico" and "wood (or whatever it is)." Each piece will be carefully wrapped and packed in a box. (At some point boxes and bubblewrap and packing tape will have been procured.) Then each box will get a packing list detailing the contents, the source, and the material along with an address label for Madison, Wisconsin. These boxes will be picked up by Bulmaro who will see that they get sent to our shipper in Guadalajra along with the rugs we purchased from him.

Now that's a Saturday night!

Day 4: Around Oaxaca

Friday, August 7: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

Friday was to be the trip on the road between Oaxaca and Ocotlan with stops at Santo Thomas Jalietze, San Bartolo Coyotepec, San Martin Tilcajete, and of course a stop to see the famous Tule tree. Just writing the places wears me out!

Ocotolan is the farthest out and is the home of the Aguilar sisters and their workshops. The delightful figures have become collectors items for many customers and we try to restock our supply when in the area.

A women's collective of backstrap loom weavers can be found in the center of Santo Thomas Jalietze. Colorful cotton table runners and placemats as well as handbags are presented for sale in small booths staffed by the woman who made the items. We shop from many vendors to spread the money throughout the group.

San Bartolo Coyotepec is home to the famous black pottery. After a very successful shipment two years ago, we no longer worry that the fragile pottery won't arrive. But this is a place where we rely on a larger producer (Dona Rosa) with experience crating their work. We don't want to be the amatures boxing up precious pieces to find them shattered when they arrive in Madison.

Of course San Martin Tilcajete is the place with the highest expectations. It is the home of Jacobo and Maria Angeles, masters of Mexican alebrijes. To our travellers' dismay, they would miss seeing Jacobo and Maria by one day. The special piece we ordered was ready. Further purchase details will wait until Beth returns.

A quick stop in Santa Maria del Tule to see the world's largest trees is a must.

I'll try to add photos of some of these places and workshops as time allows (and there hasn't been much of that!).

Day 3: Teotitlan del Valle

Thursday, August6: The Chiripa 2009 Summer Buying Trip to Mexico

The plan for this day is to visit master weaver Bulmaro Perez Mendoza of Father and Sons Rugs in Teotitlan del Valle, a short bus ride from Oaxaca city. But, first there will be a brisk walk to the local bus station near the Abastos Market. Then one waits along a busy street and flags down the bus heading out of the city in the direction of Teotitlan. Imagine horns honking, people hawking, and general chaos as life goes on.

Bulmaro provides a valuable service to Chiripa. He coordinates the shipping to Guadalajara for all of our Oaxaca purchases. I don't know if this is a common practice for this savy businessman, or, if he is doing us a huge favor. We consider it a Chiripa (a happy accident) that we found this kind man.


When the travellers get back to Las Golondrinas in Oaxaca they may find swans on their bed.