Busy, Busy, Busy

Friday was by far the busiest and, I'm pretty sure, my favorite day yet. We were going literally all day. (Hence the fact that I haven't had time to write about it until just now.) In the morning, we all met up in front of Hotel Camino Real and then divided up into these big oversized vans. The first place they took us was San Bartolo which is famous for its barro negro (black) pottery.

 

The pottery's all made from a natural black clay. We actually got to watch one of the guys make a pitcher right in front of us. It was really really neat! They don't use a mechanical pottery wheel since the technique dates so far back so all they had were two slightly rounded plates which they balanced on top of one another.

 

The techniques are all family learned and passed down and even though the guy made the pitcher for us in one sitting, it normally takes a month or so to complete a piece like that because they have to wait for the clay to dry in between steps to prevent it from caving in/falling apart. After he finished the pitcher, our presenter took a plate that was already half way dry and started shining it with a piece of quartz. None of the pieces of pottery have nay sort of glaze on them so all the shine comes from rubbing a piece of quartz over it. After shining them, the pieces are stuck into an over where apparently 30% or so will end up breaking. I can't even imagine spending that much time on something only to have it smash to pieces.

Anyways, then we headed to San Marín to see the alebrijes. Alebrijes are these painted carved wood animal figurines that come in all shapes and sizes and are native to Oaxaca.

 

The place we visited in San Martín was actually sort of like a family owned alebrije factory and it totally reminded me of Santa's workshop.  There were some people carving, some people filling in the gaps in the wood, and some people painting.  One of the guys who worked there did a little presentation for us which was really interesting.  I think my favorite part was when he was showing us how they mix their colors using natural ingredients. At one point he took pomegranate seeds and the white powder from limestone, crushed it together, and what I thought would surely be a red or a burgandy turned out to be a really pretty aqua/teal (yay--my favorite color)!! They said that each alebrije can take several days to months to carve, aroudn 7-10 months to dry, another few months soaking in gasoline to kill the termites, and then several more days to months to paint. The amount of work that goes into each one is incredible. It's no wonder the good quality ones can be kind of pricey.

The next place we stopped at was a market that sold a bunch of different weavings. They honeslty had everything: purses, backpacks, coin purses, rugs, clothes, bracelets, etc. I picked up a coin purse and a few bracelets.

Finally, our last stop of the day was at a GINORMOUS open air market. We didn't stay too long but it was neat to walk around and see the different vendors. They had all kinds of things there and it kind of reminded me of the open air market we saw in Rome this summer, except way bigger.

The didn't stop there though. After we got back home we had about an hour and a half to get ready for the Guelaguetza at Hotel Camino Real. We all got dressed up which was nice. They had a hugee buffet and I ate far too much. (By the way, have I mentioned I love the food here?!) 

Some of the guys from our group dancing with the girls

After dinner, they had dancers come on stage and demonstrate the different dances from the different tribes/regions in Oaxaca.  There were A LOT of different regions and the dances probably went on for almost 2 hours but it was really neat to watch and I loved their clothing.. so bright and colorful!

Pues, I think that about sums up the day. Sorry it's another really long post.  It's now 3am here. I think I'm going to head of to bed. Buenas noches!