Petra Vicente’s recipe for mole negro
- First chilies: guajillo and ancho (she showed me dried)
- Sesame seeds
- Raisins
- Almonds
- Cinnamon
- Walnuts
- Peanuts
- Pecans
- Oregano
- Thyme
- Chocolate
- Sugar
- Garlic
- Onion
- Tomatoes
- Tomatilla
Petra Vicente's Mole
Angélica Vásquez
“Buenos dias Angélica. Soy Deborah. Estoy feliz de concerla.” My Spanish pronunciation might have been fractured, but I hope what I was trying to say — that I was extremely happy to finally meet Mexican artist and women’s rights champion Angélica Vásquez Cruz — came through loud and clear.
I finally was at her doorstep, atop a high hill just outside of Oaxaca (pronounced wa ha ka) after months of e-mail exchanges — hers in Spanish, mine translated from English to Spanish by a friend in Bloomington — and a failed attempt the day before to reach her home by taxi, when we were turned back because the roads were blocked by demonstrators in this hotbed of political activism.
I’m in Oaxaca, in far southern Mexico, to study Mesoamerican culture, both past and present, and to bring its lessons and history back to my art students at Brown County High School from this National Endowment for the Humanities summer teachers’ seminar.
Visiting with and learning from Angélica (pronounced Anhelica in Spanish) is a key part of my plan. On my second — and finally successful — attempt with cab driver Bernardo (who gave me Spanish and Zapotec lessons along the way), the roads were clear of demonstrators and I made it up the hill as far as the taxi could take me, walking the last few hundred yards of steep dirt road that seemed too extreme for any wheeled vehicle.
Angélica, a master ceramic sculptor whose art has focused on traditional cultural icons and figures from pre-European and early colonial times as well as modern pieces, would introduce me in this first of what I hope will be several hands-on lessons on how to go about making her pieces, employing centuries-old tools and techniques that she is fighting to preserve.
After a short tour of her beautiful garden, Angélica introduced me to the clays, to the 32 minerals that she crushes with a metate (a large flat stone mortar and pestle) to add to the clay for natural coloring and the simple tools we would use in this first lesson, production of a traditional angel figure.
Those tools, which Angélica calls rustica (rustic), are clay, an espina (a spine from one of her trees), water in a clay basin and a chamois cloth for smoothing edges. But the real tools are her hands, which she uses with great delicacy and expertise. Her fingers dance over the clay as she shapes and smooths the figures, occasionally moistening her fingertips to keep the clay damp. I attempted to follow along, my own fingers feeling more like bananas than ballerinas.
Finished and side-by-side, my pobre ángel (poor angel) looked so crude and lumpy next to hers. But everyone, my students at Brown County included, must start somewhere to get anywhere — and this, with its grace and long history, is worth the time to start.
Monte Alban
Tuesday, July 13, 2010Dr. Spores led us on a tour of Monte Alban, explaining the different structures, their purposes and the meanings behind the relief stele and lintels.
Monte Alban was a place of celebration. It was built between 300 and 800 BCE over even older structures and was the first capital center for the area.
Juego de pelota was the ball game played by ancient Mesoamericans. The game involved ritual events, including mediation among groups and sacrifices. The ball represented the sun passing overhead.
The court had stepped structures on either side that were plastered over to make a smooth surface. The ball bounced off walls. The players moved the ball with their hips trying to reach the goal that was near the top of the wall. Balls were made from solid rubber and their size and weight varied.
Below is a Precolumbian sculpture of people watching a game.
Mass at Iglesia de Santo Domingo
July 10, 2010
Mass started at 11 a.m. and was very like our mass at home, except for the lack of music. There were no instrumental pieces and very little singing. I've heard there's standing room only at Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad.
Check out the golden altar below.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to a humble Native American at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now Mexico City.
She identified herself as the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth.
She made a request for a church to be built on the site, and submitted her wish to the local Bishop. When the Bishop hesitated, and requested her for a sign, the Mother of God obeyed without delay or question to the Church's local Bishop, and sent her native messenger to the top of the hill in mid-December to gather an assortment of roses for the Bishop.
After complying to the Bishop's request for a sign, She also left for us an image of herself imprinted miraculously on the native's tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay 478 years later and still defies all scientific explanations of its origin.
source: http://www.sancta.org/intro.html
Viva Espana!
July 11, 2010
Oaxaca, Mexico
NEHers watch Spain win World Cup.
You could hear the cheers throughout the city.
July 3, 2010
Bloomington, Indiana USA
Spain beats Paraguay in the semi finals.
Arriving in Oaxaca
July 10, 2010Approaching Oaxaca I was greeted by many beautiful cloud formations above the lush valleys of Oaxaca. I delighted in seeing so many ancient Mesoamerican sculptures floating by, changing from one form into another. Could the clouds have suggested the visual forms of the gods?
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