Chiapas

Chiapas





We met Will, Naomi’s brother, in Chiapas, on his way back from Nicaragua, where he studied Spanish in a mountain village. Chiapas is a gorgeous state in the south of Mexico. We met in San Cristobal, which is a beautiful colonial city surrounded by green mountain peaks.



Our hotel's courtyard

In the afternoons it stormed, and we joyfully welcomed the rain, because it had been very hot and dry in Querétaro.

Our second day we arose early for a tour of Palenque the Mayan ruins in the jungle. On the way there we stopped at Agua Azul, a stunning series of falls of the most beautiful blue water.

When we arrived we took photos and enjoyed the scenery.

At the last minute it got hot, and we decided to swim in a still pool. It was the perfect temperature, cool and refreshing, but not cold.

We continued on to the next waterfall, which apparently was the one Arnold jumped off in Predator. It was out of season, so the waterfall itself was not so impressive, but we were able to go behind the waterfall into a cave with another waterfall inside, which was also not so impressive.


When we got to Palenque it was HOT.



It is a huge site, and we wandered around trying to find cooler, shady paths from one place to the next. The views from the tops of temples were incredible.





The most exciting part was going inside the center ruin. We went through underground passages and could almost imagine a different time.



There were beautiful plants and trees, including the flamboya tree, which was pretty flamboyant with its bright orange blossoms.

We had been warned not to make the 4 hour journey through the curvy mountain roads twice in one day, however, the tours are set up like that, and if you don’t come back the same day, it’s up to you to find your own way back. Plus, we wanted to enjoy San Cristobal more. Luckily, on the way back we were in more of a bus than a van, and it was dark, so the carsickness was not an issue anymore.
The next day we went to market day in the Mayan village of Chamula. On our way we saw a parade with impressive costumes.








We asked why the clowns were made to look so fat, and were told, “that’s the way it is here.” We have very few photos of Chamula, because it is disrespectful to take photos of the people and their beautiful traditional dress. Most men wore white, including fur vests, and the women had incredible blue and purple woven shawls and black fur skirts. The centerpiece of the village is a large white church with blue and green trim full of symbolism of the four directions, earth, air, etc.

The joining of indigenous culture with Catholic was clearly visible inside and out. We bought tickets to go in the church, (again no pictures because of the belief that the camera takes ones soul), and all the pews were pushed to the side. The floor was covered with aromatic pine needles, and everywhere you looked there were candles lit, on the floor, in front of shrines to saints, on altars. People were sitting in small groups on the floor, chanting, with bottles of soda near them. Traditions have melded, and it is believed that drinking the soda, in conjunction with prayer will get rid of bad spirits. Sometimes eggs are used, and in the most severe cases, a chicken is sacrificed. We didn’t see any chickens.

A lot of things were still closed because of the flu scare, so we missed the jungle zoo with endangered species in Tuxtla.



Will came back to Querétaro with us, and we got back into the swing of our normal life… briefly. Two things happened that shifted things for us significantly:
1. Naomi got a bacteria in her gut (origin unknown, since she and Will ate all the same things) that set her back for a week, and then it took another week to regain her energy.
2. At the same time, we discovered we did not have water at our house. Not such a good combination. Will and Jose were heroic in their care of Naomi, as well as their determination to figure out the water situation. Oddly, the water situation took a full 2.5 weeks to be resolved. In the meantime, we decided to move on. We easily found a small colonial house closer to the center, and packed our possessions. Our dear friend Barry, who was on his way out of town, offered us his home, right in the center. This was the biggest blessing of all; we were able to relax and recuperate, with the comforts of water, a breezy house, and beautiful views. It was healing to wake up to views of church domes.

Mask Mania

Masks Sold Out


On Wednesday night, at our weekly Scrabble game, my friend Renata and I started talking about an idea we’d both had… to decorate the ubiquitous flu masks. We decided that it was now or never. So Thursday morning I got up to go to my 7.30 yoga class and went directly to her place to get started on our adventure. We knew that masks were in short supply, so we contacted Renata’s friend who has a medical supply business. Turned out she was in Mexico City, but she made several recommendations, so we headed to various locations.

At one medical supply place they said they would have more after 5pm. So back to our original idea: sew the masks. We went exploring and found that we were not the only ones who had the idea to make masks… in the fabric store there were tons of people buying the fabric. And the elastic was sold out!


But we eventually found some and set up shop at our friend Rosemary’s place. We created an assembly line for cutting, sewing, threading the elastic through the sides and then ironing on our images.


A little before six we ran out of elastic. I trekked over to the medical supply store and was told, “10 masks per customer.” So we sent friends over to get more. I also went to get more elastic at a little shop where the news was blaring, “wash hands frequently. Wear masks. Avoid crowds…” I asked the shopkeeper what he thought of all the news and he said he hasn’t seen the media go quite so loco since “the Twin Towers.”


When I got back we finished as many as we could with the supplies we had. Exhausted, we decided it was time to close up shop and go to the square to sell our wares. We listened to Cuban music, chatted with friends and sold masks.

Laura with Scream


Renata with Virgen de Guadalupe


Early Thursday morning we made more masks. They are for sale in Renata’s shop the Quinto Real
http://www.quintoreal.com.mx/

And I have some masks here with us in San Miguel, where we are visiting our friends and having a relaxing weekend. The calm after the storm of mask making.

More masks below

Renata's daughter with Speak No Evil Monkey


Renata with Funky Pirate Smiley Face


Renata with Porky Pig


Naomi with pig snout


Naomi with moustache

Holy Week

My mom’s cousin Dan came to visit for Holy Week.

Dan at the local juice bar.

The beautiful view of the aquaduct arches.

We went to our friends' for a piñata party


On Good Friday, we headed out to watch people walk the Stations of the Cross on various routes throughout the city center.


People had set up stations outside their homes and there were refreshments offered at the end.


The procession up near Iglesia de la Cruz was the most intense: costumes, nuns, effigies of Christ and Mary, representations of the holy shroud...


In the evening we walked to be near the beginning of the route of the Procession of Silence. This was the most incredible experience. Silence. The hour-long procession began with garbage collectors. At first I was confused by this, but later it made a lot of sense.
Garbage Collectors clearing the way for the Procession of Silence

Then came the police and the Masters of Ceremony,

then the angels and the women in costume.




Then came hooded (in every color you can imagine!) men and children carrying crosses and large, heavy, bloody representations of Christ




Women dressed in black


People BAREFOOT carrying extremely heavy crosses (then it was clear WHY a clean up crew was so necessary!), dragging heavy chains attached to their ankles.






Walking with the hooded, barefoot, chained cross carriers, were people whose job it was to help them transfer the unwieldy crosses and effigies from one shoulder to another.

And to pick up stray stones and fragments that could cause serious damage to tender feet with lots of weight on them!

Onlookers, including children, sometimes leapt out to move dangerous objects that had been kicked up by the dragging chains.

It took over an hour for the entire procession to pass by our spot. They continued to parade through the center for at least 4 hours!

And the procession ended with another clean up crew.

The Holy Week Market. The devils have fireworks attached to them and are set off on Glory Saturday.

The next day my cousin Dan and I headed out on a whirlwind tour of the 5 Silver Cities: San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Guanjuato, San Miguel de Allende, and back to Querétaro.

We had lunch in San Luis Potosí, which was built on a much grander scale than Querétaro.

Then we drove to the city of Zacatecas, which lies in a narrow valley and is incredibly stunning. This year the Cultural Festival coincided with Holy Week, so it was a lively weekend with lots of live music, theater, street markets and people from all over Mexico. But hardly any foreign tourists.

We had dinner at an amazing restaurant in a hotel that is a renovated bullring! You can see in this picture that the restaurant is multi-leveled and used to be seating for spectators.

We were fortunate that there was a family party right below us and they had hired musicians… so we were serenaded for the entire meal.

There is a stunning rock formation above the city called La Bufa, which is apparently from a word for wineskin.

On Easter Sunday we climbed up to the Bufa and had amazing views. It was lovely to be outside so much.


Incredible stone work


At the top of the mountain I met an eight year old girl who was on her own selling handmade
beaded bracelets and necklaces. I noticed her sitting alone studying and started to talk with her.
It turns out she is from the state of Querétaro, from an indigenous pueblo called Amealco. Despite my feelings about her climbing the mountain alone and spending the whole day alone in a semi-isolated spot, and child labor in general, I decided to buy a couple bracelets from her. She told me it took a day to bead them.

Check out the HUGE bag of Cheetos the scouts have in this pic!

An homage to my husband JOSE

The churchyard at the top of the mountain, with la Bufa behind.


I decided to take the Swiss-built cable car across the valley for views of the city.


Everyone waiting in line was entertained by clowns.


I had a great time taking pics as I wandered around town.


Easter Sunday soccer in the square where concerts were held

The theater

The cathedral


The amazing hotel next to ours… we walked through as often as possible. And had breakfast there!

Evening view from my hotel room

Morning coffee in a courtyard

We stopped for lunch in Jerez, the hometown of my friend Marcela’s parents! (Thanks Marcela for the great tip!) It is a beautiful town and there was a lot of activity: a mass in honor of migrants, the crowning of beauty queens,

and a music festival.

Next, we arrived in Guanajuato, which like Zacatecas is in a narrow valley… so narrow that burros are used to carry goods up the tiny winding streets.


We stayed in an amazing hotel

And I stayed up late to enjoy the sauna.

Breakfast on the roof

The first time I went to Guanajuato, last fall, I didn’t experience the tunnels. This time Dan and I explored the winding passages that used to be river (it has since been diverted to avoid flooding).

stairs down to the tunnels

Everyone seemed to be on a mission to get Guanajuato looking its best



Aaaaahhhh, the colors!

And then we lunched in San Miguel de Allende on our way back to Querétaro and saw some amazing murals

And the exhibit of my colleague Angelina Perez (actually my Fulbright application was to work with her, and even though we don’t live close enough for me to work with her regularly, I did take a series of workshops with her).

We arrived back in Querétaro exhausted and amazed that in 4 days we toured Central Mexico and hit all 5 Silver Cities!

Xalapa, Chachalacas, Veracruz

Xalapa, Chachalacas y Veracruz

Missy came to Querétaro to join us on our trip to the State of Veracruz to visit Katie and Martie. Colleen and Becca made the trek from Mexico City for the weekend of fun. We journeyed through the Great Salt Lake of Mexico to the city of Xalapa, and watched the landscape change drastically from dust storms to lush green.


There’s only one road into Xalapa and there was major construction, so we were stuck for at least 45 minutes up in the mountains.

Vendors took advantage of the traffic jam and we were offered cookies in the shape of pigs, pound cakes, lollipops and loose cigarettes.

We finally arrived in Xalapa and went to our friend Martie’s art opening, which was specially designed to attract the general public, who don’t usually make it to galleries. Martie and her assistant created artesanal paper and constructed a map of Xalapa with photos of some of the many, many taxi drivers who crawl through the streets.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant with live performance. We were initially told that they had no room, since we hadn’t made reservations. But then we were seated at the stage!



The dancers were incredible and the guitarist was mind-blowing. We discovered after the show that the dancers had started taking lessons about a year and a half ago. Check out this video of the show:


I don’t know what this means, but it made me think of my dad, the Manchurian expert:

Saturday morning we headed out to Coatepec, a beautiful colonial town that is now a nice suburb of Xalapa, for a papermaking workshop with Martie. It was held in the courtyard of a beautiful building with a signal tower.

We were told that there was a system of signal towers extending to the coast, so that when ships used to arrive in the port, people could head for the city of Veracruz with their coffee beans and other goods.

We each got to make several different kinds of paper using:
Cooked down local fibers
Recycled cotton fibers
And a version of Japanese thin paper using cooked down nopal (cactus)


Then we visited the nearby home of fellow Fulbrighters:

And had delicious paella and risotto at a nearby restaurant. The Spanish mainland influence was strong.


On Sunday we headed to the coast to enjoy seafood and walk along the beach in Chachalacas (which was recommended to us by our taxi driver the day before). The restaurants were built right up to the beach.

We had delicious fish and shrimp, and marveled at the toothless shark.

As we were serenaded by a local musician, who sang of being a pirate from Veracruz (Katie, our music expert, had requested that he sing “Veracruzano”).

The beach was very casual.

We walked for kms.

And sometimes had to avoid ATVs and dune buggies that were headed for the dunes.

As we drove to the port city of Veracruz, we saw lots of sugar cane and smelled the fields burning.

Veracruz the city was rocking. It is a major port that calls itself the oldest city in the Americas.

It has the feel of the Carribbean and was super lively on a Sunday night.

We saw dancers performing, and later musicians playing the complicated beats for the local danzon. The audience carefully stepped to the rhythm that was anything but straightforward. Katie informed us that first you count to 11 and then to 13, or something like that. It was beautiful to watch.

The music was interrupted (the musicians and dancers paused and patiently waited) by a parade that looked like Mardi Gras, yet it was a week before Palm Sunday. Katie and I asked some of the performers what the occasion was, and were informed that it was in honor of the president of the Carnaval committee.

The following morning we saw the Navy Band headed out for their Monday morning parade.

And then we went to breakfast at the landmark Gran Café de la Parroquia, where they clang a spoon against the glass as they bring the coffee to your table.

They have an incredible 1920’s coffee maker from Italy. I had eggs, beans and fried plantains to continue the Carribbean theme.

The First 2 Months of 2009

JOSE
It’s been awhile since we last blogged, so I’ll give you a brief summary of the past 2 months. Since returning from the holidays we’ve been working with the government and the mental health institutions here in Q-town to set up a domestic violence couples group called JUNTOS. It’s been a lot of work coordinating with all the therapists and locales and I’m excited to say that we have six different sites up and running, servicing approximately 40 couples.

We had our first visitors Eric and Danielle who were great to have. Will arrived shortly after they left and stayed about a month. Naomi, Will and I have also been traveling locally and getting to know a bit of our surroundings.


We got to visit El Geiser a hot spring on the border of Hidalgo.


We also got to climb the second largest monolith in the world (4th tallest) called the peña in Bernal.

This small town attracts people from all over the world and they say the people who reside there live to be 100.



For my birthday we went to visit with our good friends Josh and Missy in Guadalajara.


We celebrated by going to Lucha Libre and pounding back Josh’s amazing pizza. The man can cook!

The last few weeks I’ve been preparing for my mid-term evaluation for the Fulbright and Naomi, Will and myself hauled ourselves down to Mexico City for a the mid term and little fun with friends. My presentation went off with out a hitch. The Fulbright commission put us up in the same fancy hotel we stayed in for our orientation. The “Museo de Arte Popular” was a hit with Will.

We almost lost him to a few devils at the museum.

We were also hosted by Tim who was gracious enough to let us stay in his pad and got to meet his friends Jen and Warren who are amazing and hopefully we’ll get them to come up to Q-town for a visit.

We also got to spend some time with a really sweet friend of ours Yamel and her partner Coy.

After 5 days of fun and mid-terms we’re ready to head back.


NAOMI
Traveling on the bus….
We’re on our way home from Mexico City, where we reunited with the Fulbright crew. It was really incredible to see people again, and see their midterm presentations.

The variety of topics and projects was impressive, including: studies of artists and writers, multiple lenses on migration (for example, how it affects education when kids move back and forth between the US and Mexico, migrants on their way to US from Central America who impact and are impacted by Mexico, Americans living in Mexico, and indigenous families who move to cities to find work), artistic endeavors (the amazing photo journalism of Josh Meltzer, Black Feminist Performance Art, modern dance, a story project, print and papermaking, la musica and poetry combat), language instruction and developing programs to validate and measure fluency in indigenous languages, rainfall in the Sonoran Desert and how weather patterns are shifting, transportation and carbon emissions issues in Mexico, public policy to address drug trafficking, explorations of health insurance in Mexico, studies of lizards and tree fruits, and of course Jose’s fabulous short documentary video of his work here.

I was inspired and provoked by the many different ways of approaching and interacting with Mexico. It is easy to get caught up in our particular situation, our projects and our ways of being. It is always good for me to be reminded of the myriad of possibilities available in life.
We also got to laugh a lot and visit with friends. All of this came at just the right time. Since the holidays things have gotten very, very busy, which meant that it was a relief to go to a hotel and be social for a while!
Right before heading off to Mexico we finished our second draft of an article for a special edition Art Therapy journal, that is being jointly published by Ibero-Americana Universidad of Mexico City and Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles.
We also had our 4th supervision for the therapists involved in our new project JUNTOS.

You may remember that we attended a training on Group Couples Therapy to address Domestic Violence. We have been involved in adapting this program for the state government where we live. So far, groups have met 2 or 3 of the 18 weeks, in 6 locations around the state. It is pretty amazing how quickly things can happen here!
My brother Will was with us for about a month, and got to join us in D.F. (Mexico City) on his way to study Spanish in Nicaragua. We had a great time hanging out with many friends, and one of the highlights was our journey to the southern part of D.F. where there are canals. Long ago, the Aztecs anchored rafts in a lake and planted fruits and vegetables on top. Now, the rafts are islands topped with nurseries and everything visitors might need on an afternoon boatride.

We hired a driver, who used a long stick much like the Gondolier pushers in Venice, and we took off down the canal at an unheard of pace, crashing into other boats as we moved along! Smaller boats sidled up next to us to offer freshly cooked elote (corn on the cob, or in a cup, slathered with your choice of toppings: lime, chile, mayonnaise…), quesadillas, cervezas, flowers, whatever our hearts desired.

We made pitstops to pick up other friends, use one of the many toilets available for a small fee (but the largest I’ve ever seen in Mexico… about 30 cents!), and to get ice cream! Meanwhile, there are boats of mariachis who perform,

and we saw more performers at Quinceneras and weddings along the shores. There was also an amazing dancer on the shore, who might have been a little off balance, but was great fun to watch.

There was a traffic jam that was caused by a low hanging electrical wire that got caught on the Name Facades on top of two of the boats. One driver jumped up and down to detangle the wire from his boat, while on the shore a man used a broom to try to lift the wire our of harm’s way. It was easy to imagine that that happens many times a day, and difficult to understand why it wasn’t hung higher…

Another highlight was an impromptu jam session with 2 talented musician friends at a small gathering.
Now that we have completed midterms it feels like we have limited time to travel around and visit all the people we know and explore the many places we haven’t yet seen! We also have more projects going on now in Queretaro. Vamos a ver!

Will and I had the pleasure to go to the land of Monarch Butterflies in the state of Michoacan. The butterflies come down in November from as far north as Canada and winter in the mountain reserve until mid-March.

It was a little overcast by the time we got to the top of the mountain, so we didn’t see millions of butterflies flitting about, but we saw them huddled together in the trees

and saw and heard thousands of butterflies. That’s right, heard. Who knew? The sound of the butterflies’ wings flapping was an amazing noise to behold. Will likened it to a gentle rain. We had a great time following our guide up the hill… he was very comfortable with the altitude as we climbed from nearly 9,000 to 12,000 feet! We also supported the locals by buying delicious blackberries and avocadoes.

On our way out of the nearby small town we had the weirdest experience. We came up to a corner and noticed the sign:

At the same moment we heard John Lennon singing on Will’s iPod. He says he doesn’t have much John Lennon music on there. Synchronicity.
We also saw a bus trying to make its way out of a tight situation.

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year!

Una Fiesta, Un Congreso y La Biblioteca

JOSE:

A few weekends ago, Naomi and I attended the XI Congreso Nacional de Terapia Familiar (National Conference of Family Therapy) in Querétaro. Flocks of family therapists from Mexico City and other cities in Mexico, came to listen to over 150 speakers and attend dozens of workshops ranging from "Pseudoencopresis" to "Art Therapy."



Ana Laura Treviño and Beth Rosenblatt presented at the conference and it was amazing to watch two colleagues as well as friends passionately deliver an amazing perspective on Art Therapy. Naomi and I attended this workshop and a Dance Therapy demonstration.

Ana Laura and Beth

Art Therapy Workshop


That first evening, El Congreso treated us to some yummy canapés (finger foods) and champagne at El Museo de Arte about 5 blocks from where we live. The building was amazing. It demonstrated the fine colonial architecture that is commonly found through out Querétaro. We met Yamel a psychotherapist from Mexico city who is also involved with the LMU art therapy program in San Miguel De Allende coordinated by Beth.
El Museo de Arte

Yamel and Me at the Museum Reception


The Congreso was held en el Centro Cultural y Educativo "Manuel Gómez Morín," a huge complex with coliseum like structures and domed buildings attached by small bridges
This cultural center hosts an array of expositions and openings which included a small exhibit of Dali's 100 years of existence. There was also an exhibit of amazing photographs by Pedro Meyer, who we heard about from a good friend Josh Meltzer who is also an incredible photog. They also have a wonderful science museum for children filled with all types if interactive displays.
Isn't it Ironic


That evening we threw our first impromptu party, which started at 10:30pm. We put together something quickly, which I think was one of the better spreads Naomi and I have put together. Mind you it wasn't my famous rice and beans with roasted chicken and sweet plantains, but the guac, salsa and the variety of Mexican cheeses held together quite nicely. It was very, very chilly, so we ended up on the rooftop huddled close together under warm blankets.
Rooftop Party

NAOMI:

To our good fortune, this year’s conference for the Association of Mexican Family Therapists happened to be in Querétaro recently. We could walk from our place to the really interesting complex where it took place. We had visited the complex a few times before because in addition to being a convention center it houses a Children’s Science Museum,

the public library, a National Geological Information Center, playgrounds, community activities, and art galleries. The current exhibitions are Pedro Meyer, a very impressive photographer and a collection of reproductions of Salvador Dalí paintings that is being sent to Catalan communities around the world by the Catalan government.
Looking at Pedro Meyers Work

The main building has a huge open-air plaza in the middle with a fountain and there are exhibits about art for children. They get to climb inside structures and learn about various art forms.

At the conference we attended workshops and lectures on topics ranging from Pre-Hispanic families and indigenous cultures to Pseudoencopresis treated with Narrative Therapy. We also saw impressive presentations by art therapists and participated in a fantastic art therapy experiential workshop.

We met Family Therapists from the U.S. and Canada and numerous states in Mexico, and we extended our network of therapists working here in Querétaro. The first night there was a reception in the courtyard of the art museum, which is a beautiful Baroque building.

We had our first party with 8 people, which was an adventure because we only have 5 chairs! Our guests braved the unusually chilly and windy weather and huddled under blankets on the roof before retreating downstairs. As we were making food for the party at 10 pm I told José that we have really adjusted to the Mexican schedule… our guests didn’t arrive til 10:30pm!

After the conference we went into the centro historico, which was in a festive mood, as it is most weekends! We went to the Regional Museum and saw black and white photos taken by children in Pozos, which is a ghost town and former mining town. Some were incredibly striking. And of course the building itself, a former Franciscan monastary, was very beautiful.

In the courtyard there was a small festival for “economic solidarity” with “games, art, culture, regional products for sale, and exchange and social action.” The regional products included: wooden bowls and utensils, beaded items, embroidered shirts and towels, potted cacti, baskets, and jars of honey, shampoo and soaps. There was also a model of a sustainable farm designed by the University of Querétaro.