Final Week of Music Class!

Makin' instruments in the Children's Library

On Sunday, after a day of rest from our adventure in Juchitán, we joined Edgar Serralde in the Biblioteca Infantil to make a variety of pre-hispanic instruments. We made drums, buzzers, and whirly-doodle noisemakers, but our favorite by far were the clay whistles. The drums were made by stretching animal hide over the rim of a clay pot and lashing it to a wicker ring affixed to the bottom of the pot. The drums were by far the most complex instruments to construct. The buzzers and the whirly-doodle noisemakers, on the other hand, were much simpler to make. The whirly-doodle noisemakers were comprised of a string and a piece of wood, and the buzzers were made using a small sheet of metal and a short length of elastic. Finally, we were provided with two lumps of clay and given the freedom to shape our whistles into any form we desired. The instruments that we made fell into three categories: vibrofonos (noise through vibration, such as the buzzer), membranofonos (noise through membranes, such as the drum), and aerofonos (noise through air, such as the whistle).

Elena demonstrating the whirly-doodle noisemaker

The instruments we made, minus the whistle, which still needs to be fired

The next day, we gathered at a dance studio in CEDART for a jam session using our drums and flutes we made in Juchitán. We learned multiple forms of rhythms, from "va-ma-nos Jua-ni-to" to "chu Jua-ni-to". We took turns playing bass drums, smaller drums with a timbre more reminiscent of a tenor instrument, and turtle shells. Everyone played their hearts out, especially our professor Sergio, who is a master of the flute. This was our last formal music class before our final lunch at Sergio's house.

Comida at Sergio's

On Thursday, we all traveled via taxi to Sergio's marvelous homestead, located in San Felipe del Agua. The taxi ride was hot and sweaty, so our first course of action upon arrival was CANNONBALL! right into the cool, refreshing water of his pool. After a lovely amount of splish-splashing, we were ushered over to the comida table laden with frijoles, tostadas, radishes, lettuce, and queso fresco. Yummo. We were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of Victor Robless, a troubadour who was our fantastic guide in Juchitán. Sergio's wife presented us with savory pozole, and we spent many hours jovially conversing and enjoying the company of wonderful friends, family, and pets. After comida, we hung out on the lawn, played games in the pool, and performed acrobatics on the jungle gym. We concluded the afternoon and the music class by presenting Victor and Sergio with cards thanking them for sharing their knowledge of music with us and for making the class a wonderful experience.

Happy Semana Santa!
Reed & Patrick

Music Class trip to the Istmos!

 Greetings from the Music Group!

On Monday, March 11th, 2013, the music class got ready to leave for the Istmo of Oaxaca. It was a long 6 hour trip to the coast, but it was definitely worth it. The region of the Istmos is very different than Oaxaca City. It has a tropical windy feel with a heavy emphasis on music. Our purpose for this week long trip was to explore and discover musical identity in relation to the Zapotecs of the Istmos in Juchitán.

The beautiful center "Zocalo" of Juchitán

Our first day started off with an introduction of our wonderful guide Victor and our professor Sergio. We were able to get together in a community member's home, where we listened to Victor sing Zapotec songs and play the guitar. It was a lovely and welcoming experience followed by Mexican comfort food...delicious!




Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 we were privileged to hear two amazing groups. The first musical act was performed by students from a local school.  Using turtle shells, pre-hispanic flutes, as well as drums, we heard sounds unique to the region. Afterwards, we went to a home of a brass band member where we were blown away by the skill and energy of the group members. Also, we participated and watched a conquest dance, traditional to the Istmos.

 On Wednesday, March 13th, 2013, we felt the power of the wind. The windmills in La venta, Juchitán play a major role in the social/political aspects of the Istmos.

We also listened to the musical genius Pancho, who had made his own instrument called 'La Tina.'

On Thursday, March 14th, 2013, we made our own pre-hispanic flutes. It was an interesting process. First we had to cut the mouth piece, sand it, burn holes for the fingers, and insert wax into the mouth piece. After the final product, we all got to practice a song on our homemade flutes!

To finish off our day, we went to a music school where a whole orchestra performed classical songs of the Istmos.

Friday, March 15th, 2013, it was finally time to say our musical goodbyes to the Istmos. We were all sad to leave our amazing week! It will be happily remembered :)


Abrazos,
Kat y Kristi !

Food Systems Track: Week 2

Aprons on, and ready to go!

This week for Food Systems, we started cooking! On Monday, we were in the classroom with both Amy and Cynthia teaching our nine person class. They are both French-method trained cooks so they put a lot of stress on noticing taste and being organized and precise with our cooking. We reflected on our experience in Huayapam seeing how the corn gruel drink, Tejate, is made from Sunday. Then we learned how to write a “mise en place” which means “everything in place” in French. It is a way of rewriting a recipe so that it includes the precise order and timing that every step of the preparation of the foods and cooking requires.

Mid week we spent two days at COMI learning some basic cooking skills and preparing two huge ‘comidas’ for our class as well as several COMI employees and migrants from Honduras and Guatemala. On Tuesday morning, we all met at Mary Lou’s apartment to compile an ingredients list. We then headed to a market to compile our ingredients for the day. Once arriving at COMI,  Cynthia taught us some basic knife skills—how to properly chop and mince an onion, how to julienne a carrot etc.  Afterwards, we divided into our groups to tackle the huge meal we were going to prepare. One group on the appetizer, another the salsas,  another on the main meal, and the last group the tortillas and drinks. Amazingly, we pulled it off without any major mishaps (unless you count Sean completely unscrewing the bottom of a blender filled with pureed black beans). After several hours of hard work we had created a beautiful meal of enfrijoladas, arroz de chepil, botana de cacahuates, salsa de pasilla, salsa de aquacate, blandas, jamica juice and Oaxacan hot chocolate. By the second day, we were really able to fine tune our skills…we made another awesome meal of tlayudas, salsas, a beautiful salad with vinegar dressing and platanos…overall a great couple of days at COMI. Cooking a huge meal for ourselves and the amazing staff and migrants at COMI was definitely a rewarding way to practice our new found cooking abilities.

On Thursday, we arrived bright and early on Calle de Crespo in order to catch our cabs out to a pueblo called Teotitlan. We eventually arrived at the Vida Nueva compound, ready to cook. We were separated into groups, assigned to a family, and set to learn how to make either soups, desserts, or the main courses. We embarked with our hosts to fetch ingredients from the market, then took note of recipes as we watched them cook—we hopped in with our tea/tablespoons to measure salt added, which the women planned to otherwise toss in by the dash. For the soup-group, we made sopas de caldillo (with cactus petals, peas, and shrimp), calabaza (squash), and garbanzo. For entrees on the first day, we didn’t have time for a mole, so that group made tamales de chepil and frijoles (beans). The final group made flan, arroz de leche (rice pudding), cirvela de dulce (I think we just used peaches in this recipe), and several juices. We observed, built up our appetites, and dined like champions. We then returned to Oaxaca, compiled our recipes, and prepared for the day to come.

First meal that we made at COMI: enfrijoladas, rice, salsas, hibiscus juice.

Friday marked both International Women’s Day and Good Samaritan’s Day. We followed the same routine as the previous day, only this time we came prepared to cook. With recipes at hand, we replicated the meals that we’d already witnessed—except the entrée group had the opportunity to make a mole negro, a sauce that is considered comida especial here in Oaxaca. Before the meal, with everything prepared, some of us explored the town. Because of the Catholic holiday, there was a massive assembly of people at the church handing out free juice, from horchata to agua de calabaza. We filled ourselves up on these sweet drinks, and once again, had a feast. Both days were hugely successful, met with delicious foods.  The mole on our last day, with its broad range of flavors, really topped it off however. After thanking our hosts and gratefully presenting them with gifts, we returned to the city for the weekend with plenty of work to do.

Abrazos y Besos,
Amanda, Corey, & Gretchen :*

Good Samaritans Day celebration (March 8) at the church.

Gretchen, Amanda, and Jess making tamales

Us with the ladies of Vida of Nueva and our meal on Friday.

Spanish Track: Week 2

Pretty view from Quialana

This week Torey and Gabby had a pretty good week.

 On Monday, we had class in the morning in a library next to the botanical gardens of Santa Domingo.  Here we learned lots about different plants, from their different classifications to their different medicinal uses.  We hope to be able to explore the botanical gardens soon after learning so much of the different plants their.  There are over 7,000 species of plants in Oaxaca according to Edith and half of those are in the gardens here!  Wow!

View of the pueblo

After a short break and comida, we met up with Edith again to visit the pueblo of Quialana.  First, we picked up Edith's sister and had a second comida with them and then we were off.  The pueblo is about an hour outside of Oaxaca and is very quant and beautiful.  We spoke with some women there who were embroidering beautiful clothing and bags.  We were also lucky enough to speak with one of the leaders of the community who was a very strong and respected woman.  She spoke about the history of the pueblo and its various leaders in the past. Our other conversation was focused around the privilege that we have as Americans to enter Mexico so easily while Mexicans need to work for years, save up a lot of money, and go through the process of getting a Visa.  Even after all this, many times they still can't enter our country.  We also discussed the struggle the woman of the pueblo have to obtain a visa since many times everything they own is in the names of their husbands and for this they do not seem like very good candidates for a Visa.

The church

The market

On Friday, we stayed in the classroom and looked at the different political and ethnic regions of Oaxaca.  Finally today, Sunday, we got up bright and early to go to Tlacolula, which is about an hour outside of the city.  Here there is a huge market every Sunday that people come to from all different pueblos around Oaxaca to both sell and buy.  We saw everything from clothing to brightly dyed chicks.  We also visited a church in Tlacolula that is located right next to the market. This church was built in 1561 and was gorgeous inside.  There was great detail everywhere and you could see the Spanish influence throughout the architecture.  We ended the day by eating some delicious chicken tacos.

That's all for this week folks! Our last class with Edith is Wednesday so these final days should be filled with learning!

Con mucho amor,
Gabby y Torey

Arts & Science track week 2: The Beginning of Our Music Class

After the adventures from the week prior, the Arts & Science track had the ability to rest a little bit on Monday morning. Although our bodies may not have been busy, our minds were racing with thoughts on what our first music class would be like. We eagerly met at the Zocálo (our common meeting place) at 4:30pm with bellies full from comida to walk to our new class. Our teacher was more than delighted to have us. We introduced ourselves to our new music teacher, Sergio (a fellow anthropologist!) and jumped right into an exercise to allow us to become acquainted with the dance studio we were sitting in. We spent our first class opening up our minds with exercises in interpretive dance. Such exercises included mirroring one another, and leading the group in making different sounds with our bodies and our voices. At the end of class, we reflected on the exercises through understanding our bodies as instruments, and understanding the movement of our bodies in space.  

On Tuesday, we returned back to the dance studio for a lecture on pre-Hispanic music, and the influence of European, as well as modern folk music. For this class, we learned about the functional and traditional uses of music. We explored different instruments, and what various functions they served. For this class, we were lucky to work with local musicians who played various songs and instruments. Towards the end of the class, we were able to play various percussion instruments along with the musicians, learning some of the rhythms that we had previously discussed.

On Wednesday, we had class in a classroom located in a different part of the city from that of the dance studio. For this class, we explored music as culture, and various themes that exist within that. In the beginning, we split off into groups to discuss one of these various themes. When we returned, we had a fruitful conversation where we reflected on themes of musical occasions, music and history, as well as music and identity.

Thursday morning we met at the site of a nearby organic food market to visit an 18th century organ located in La Iglesia de Jeronimo in Tlacochahuaya, a pueblo outside of the city. 

La Iglesia de Jeronimo

Before we went inside, the group was able to take in the splendor of the church courtyard while our teacher narrated the reason for it. Pre-Spanish conquest, the native people of the land performed their religious ceremonies outside. When the Spanish began building churches, they constructed both the church itself and magnificent courtyards to facilitate the incorporation of Spanish religious practices with the Zapotec practices of the time. 

Rooftop view!

Along with a tour of the church, including a tour of the neat roofs, we also learned about different art restoration projects. One of these projects included an organ from the 18th century. We enjoyed learning everything about the organ from its history to how it functioned. In fact, the organist told us that it use to take five people to successfully work the organ; one to play the organ, two to operate the bellows and two operating the knobs of the organ.       

Inside the church standing in the area where the organ is.

We then rode for 20 minutes to visit Teitipac where we toured parts of the town’s church. We were lucky to have a performance by some local musicians. At one point, Josie graced us with her sweet dance moves. She did learn from the best, after all. The mayor of the town showed off his dance moves to us while teaching Josie how to do one of the dances. Although a long, eventful day, we truly did learn about the musical customs going on within these communities.

The church in Teitipec,

On Friday, we returned to the classroom to learn about music and migration. We watched a documentary that our professor helped create on how Oaxacan musical customs are being maintained within migrant communities in Californian communities in the United States. We then wrapped up the week through experience a musical performance that also explored themes of migration and music.

          Our first week in our music class was truly eventful and fun. Next week, we are heading off to the Isthmus for a week long adventure so we can further explore Oaxacan music! Que divertida!

Con Mucho Amor,
Codi y Enya

Here is a video of the gentlemen performing for us! Muy maravilloso!

Arts & Sciences Track: Week 1

After spending last week working with different cooperatives in small villages, it was nice to reunite as a group back in Oaxaca city this week. First thing Monday morning we had class at SURCO, but this time we were the teachers. Each group put together a short presentation about each cooperative to give the rest of the group a better idea of how everyone spent their week. It was interesting and informative to learn how different each cooperative was and the unique experiences of all the group members.

            Tuesday kicked off the first day of our tracks, which means you will all now have three different blogs to read every week! As members of the Arts and Sciences track, we went back to Solexico for our fifth and final week of Spanish classes. The majority of us were in the same class and were intrigued by our new professor, who really just wanted to chat with us in Spanish. After talking mostly about riddles and jokes and then playing BASTA, the Mexican version of scategories, we realized this final week would be more fun than tough. We did have to complete a final exam and hand in one last paper, but then we were taken out to cafés and mercados as well as chocolate factories and museums. I think we all felt that this was a great way to improve our conversational Spanish skills and get to experience more of the city that we had not yet.

            At our group meeting on Thursday, Mary Lucia passed out our village stay reflections and gave us a few moments to read them over and think about any other realizations we might have come to since writing them. We then went around and, based on our village stays, shared one thing we wanted to start doing for the remainder of our time here and one thing we wanted to leave behind. It was very beneficial to hear what everyone had to say because it made us think about things we might not have thought about otherwise.

            Friday counted our final day at Solexico and it was a bittersweet goodbye. We are all excited to move onto the next phase of our trip, but a lot of us will be missing Spanish class. As the weekend rolled around, Mary Lou informed us of some cool and uniquely Oaxaca things to do. On Saturday morning a handful of the group went to Abastos, a market that had an infamous reputation and lets just say you should not wear nice jewelry and you should put your money in your pants. You can also expect to see the unexpected, such as a box of crayola-colored chicks. After about two hours of walking through an overwhelming and massive market, and not passing the same thing twice, everyone went home for comida. But the day was not over yet! There was a traditional dancing event going outside of El Soledad, one of the many churches in Oaxaca. Although we were hit with some of the coldest temperatures we have had here, some of us still went to enjoy the festivities and it was completely worth it!

            As we look towards next week, the Arts and Sciences track will begin our music class and we are all thrilled to start that adventure!

Con mucho amor,

Brittany and Kathleen 

Food Systems Track: Week 1

As the first week of our specialized tracks comes to a close the wild reality that we're well into the second half of our trip is setting in!

The ingredients we collected at the market

Our week began by wrapping up our village stays. On Monday morning we all gathered, and group by group shared our different experiences to compare and learn about commonalities and differences between all of our experiences in the villages. Then it was time to part with our village stay pals and regroup into our new groups for the tracks that we will be in for the remainder of our stay.

And so the food systems track began our first course: Food, Culture and Health in Oaxaca. We started out by completing some introductory readings and response questions about the cuisine and culture in Oaxaca online by Tuesday night because our first professor, Amy Trubek, had not yet arrived in Oaxaca.

Wednesday morning we met with our teacher's assistants, Amber and Carey, to travel to Etla market, a larger market that was a bit of a bus ride away. Once we got there, our assignment was to split up into three groups to collect designated ingredients and to label what they were; the groups either had to purchase as many chilies, herbs, or spices as they could with 100 pesos. This proved to be more difficult for some groups than others, as often things referred to as spices, we may normally call herbs or seeds and vice versa. But nonetheless we completed our task and even made it back in time for comida in the city!

Our professor Amy arrived Wednesday night and we met her for the first time at Solexico on Thursday morning. We discussed our experiences here surrounding food thus far, learned a bit about Amy and what her experiences have been, and finally, we laid out the ingredients that we collected at the market the day before on a table. We tasted the ones we knew, and tried to identify the ones we did not.

 

The group in Huayapam

Friday morning we met with Amy and walked to a small nearby market together. We did a tasting/sensory evaluation of atole (a popular corn based drink in Oaxaca) and of champurrado (the atole drink combined with chocolate). We then walked around the market and tried to pick out what we thought were the primary fruits and vegetables, as well as some of the not so common ones, and to note any we could not identify. After, we returned back to Solexico to share what we had found. We then moved to our discussion surrounding tejate, another popular, historically significant cacao/corn based drink in Oaxaca. In the market Amy bought a mamey fruit, as the seed of the mamey is actually a crucial ingredient for the tejate. We were all more than happy to help her eat the mamey itself, which we decided has the consistency of an avocado but looked and tasted something like a sweet potato. We discussed the process of making tejate and started to prepare for our visit to a small pueblo outside of Oaxaca which is famous for their tejate, called Huayapam.

The Rosita de Cacao tree

We arrived in Huayapam on Sunday morning and began by taking a walking tour of the town to see the tree with a special necessary ingredient for the tejate making process: the Rosita de Cacao. Huayapam is said to be the only pueblo that grows this tree, so it is one of the reasons why their tejate is special. Ater that we went to a restaurant owned by a local couple for a tejate making demonstration, a process that requires far more skill and technique than any of us could have imagined. 
    

The tejate making process

When it was finished, we had the pleasure of tasting this unique Oaxacan drink. It is quite rich and filling so we then took a walk to the church to work up an appetite for the comida they were preparing for us. It’s a good thing we did because the food just kept coming and coming! We sat around a table with our hosts and discussed some of the looming questions we had about our observations before heading back to the city to hopefully finish, but perhaps get started on, our first food systems paper due in the morning! 

Next up, a week full of cooking (and of course eating) to look forward to!

Abrazos y Besos,
Olivia and Sandra