Our Upcoming Journeys, Fall/Winter 2008/09 It is impossible not to have fun with us this winter. We’ve put together a very special selection of diverse workshops and trips. All of our journeys take you into rural Mexico, into villages and homes of artisans, to out of the way markets and into the heart of festivals and the exotic world of this little known land.
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Preparing for firing in San Marcos. |
We have pottery workshops in Oaxaca and Jalisco where you work side by side with ancestral artisans.
We offer two different natural dyeing workshops with indigenous masters in Oaxaca and Chiapas where you’ll work with cochineal, indigo and even murex!
We are offering a NEW tapestry weaving workshop in the mega-weaving village of Teotitlan as well as a backstrap weaving workshop with the Maya of Chiapas.
And if you want to explore, learn and see new things, but keep your hands out of the clay and wool, we offer focused journeys into the world of Mexican artisans with our visits with the potters of Michoacan, travels among the fiber artists of the Oaxacan uplands or along the Pacific coast as well as immersion into the world the highland Mayan weavers.
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Altars are filled with the foods that the dead loved. |
We also offer trips into the world of Mexico’s brilliant festivals with our Day of the Dead Oaxaca journey and our adventure into Michoacan built around her artisans and the pre-Easter celebrations and super (as in huge) Easter market in Uruapan.
And just in case weaving, pottery making, natural dyeing, visits to folk artisans, market explorations and village hopping aren’t enough for you, we are also offering a couple of NEW ventures this season with guest guides in photography and cuisine.
For more details on all these trips, see below.
As you can see, there are PLENTY of reasons to come to Mexico with us this Fall or Winter. And if there aren’t enough reasons here, I’ll give you 10 more, just peek below the trip descriptions below to hear what they are.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Day of the Dead and Festival Arts of Oaxaca, Oct 25-Nov 3rd, 2008.
The most glorious time of year in Oaxaca! Off-the-beaten path visits to potters, weavers, crumbling churches, small town markets and graveyards filled with marigolds and candles, plus the delights of Oaxaca city. 9 nights, $1,980.
Flavors of Oaxaca, A Culinary Tour with Professional Chef Scott Thornton, Nov. 7 – 16, 2008. We introduce you to some of the best authentic Mexican food coming from the mega diverse state of Oaxaca. Work with a variety food specialists, from professional chefs and instructors to traditional family cooks, and sample some of the unique fare of this region. 9 nights, $2,485.
The Oaxacan Clay Workshop. Jan 3 - 11, 2009. Hands-in-the-mud workshop
doing pots the way they’ve been done for 4,000 years in this Zapotec village from digging clay to bonfiring the vessels, and a rare experience of cultural immersion. 8 nights, $1,765.
Oaxaca in Images with Paul Boyer, Jan. 31 – Feb. 8, 2009. Combining Paul’s 20 years of photographic teaching and travel experience with Traditions Mexico’s deep knowledge of Oaxaca, we’ve created a photography course and tour that will immerse you in the image-rich world of Oaxaca. 8 nights, $2,495.
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Diamond pattern on a taupe field, by Arnulfo Mendoza |
Zapotec Tapestry Weaving Workshop. Feb 1 - 10, 2009. Tapestry weaving on Spanish floor looms with master weavers in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Introduction to natural dyes. Based out of the village of Teotitlan, a village of 5,000 weavers. 9 nights, $1,980.
The Masters Potters of Tonala: Polychrome and Burnish. Feb 7-14, 2009. A goldmine town of nationally recognized master potters. Ornate surface decoration with oxide slips, mica burnish, low, mid and highfire glaze work. One-day hands-on slip/burnish workshop, visits with 8 master potters. 7 nights, $1,695.
Fiber Arts of the Oaxacan Highlands. Feb. 14-23, 2009. A village of 5,000 weavers, the last Spanish silk cultivators, backstrap weaving, mountain villages, colonial Oaxaca City, crumbling ruins, overflowing markets in the Northern Sierra, Mixteca and Central Valley of Oaxaca. 9 nights, $1,980.
Murex, Cochineal and Indigo! Oaxaca Natural Dye Workshop. Feb. 14 – 23, 2009. A stained-hand workshop focused on Oaxaca’s superstar dyes. Cochineal, indigo and other dyes worked with in the mega-weaving village, Teotitlan del Valle. Bush planes take us to the Oaxacan coast to dye murex with the last of the Mixtec dyers. 9 nights, $2,490.
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Manuela
Martinez hand-carding wool in the south coast weaving village of Huazolotitlan |
Fiber Arts of the Oaxacan Coast. Feb. 22 - March 2, 2009. Some of the very best of Mexico’s indigenous weaving is found along remote reaches of the Oaxaca coast. We go there visiting Mixtec and Amuzgo backstrap weavers and natural dyers. Trip to the shore with one of the last of the murex dyers. 9 nights, $1,795.
Mayan Fibers and Culture, March 7 – 16, 2009, From the Mayan jungle lowlands and the legendary ruins of Palenque to the uplands of the Mayan weavers. Visits to villages, weavers, Mayan churches. Largely based out of beautiful San Cristobal de las Casas, guided by Mayan expert, Chip Morris. 9 nights, $1,980.
The Potters of Michoacan. March 14 - 23, 2009. An adventure through the beautiful highlands of Michoacan. Five-foot tall vases, slip and burnish decoration, bizarre dreamlike figurative work, lead-free low-fire glaze work, colonial towns, markets, indigenous culture. 9 nights, $1980
Mayan Backstrap Weaving and Natural Dye Workshop. March 21 – 29, 2009. Based entirely out of the gorgeous highland town of San Cristobal de las Casas. Focused instruction in backstrap weaving and natural dyeing. Field trips to Mayan villages, markets. 8 nights, $1,680,
The Traditional Arts of Michoacan. March 29 – April 7, 2009. Into the marvelous, but seldom visited Purepecha highlands of Michoacan for the Easter folkart market, largest in the country, plus visits to potters, coppersmiths, mask carvers, reed weavers, beautiful colonial cities, markets and rural churches. 9 nights, $1,980.
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10 reasons to travel to Mexico
So close! You can get to Mexico City, Oaxaca, Morelia and many other cool destinations in 4-5 hours from most large airports in the US.
And yet so far. Mexico is our neighbor, but the roots and history are so deep and present here, this land is a world away. Jump in the van for an hour with us and we’ll take you 1,000 years back in time.
One of travels best kept secrets- the REST of Mexico. Most people think of Mexico in terms of resorts and beaches. Good for them! That leaves the rest of the country welcomingly open for those of us who like to explore.
The buck still has a bang here. One dollar gets you 10 pesos, a pound of avocados, 2 pounds of mangos or a hand made pot.
The Sun. The skies are bright and blue all winter. How convenient!
62 countries in one. Indeed- with the enormous cultural diversity of a country with 62 different indigenous languages spoken Mexico is anything but monotonous.
Friendly. Maybe it’s the sun, maybe it’s the cheap avocados, but Mexicans are some of the most friendly and hospitable people you’ll meet anywhere.
Food! Forget what they feed you in your local Mexican restaurant and come and discover the food that has inspired so many cook books and PBS series on Mexican cuisine.
Fast! No, sorry, Mexico is not fast. If you are in a hurry, go to New York. If you want to stop and take in the world around you, meet folks who have time to stop and laugh with you, then come to Mexico.
Great Tour Guides! Yup, that’s us. We’ve been showing people the best of the rest of Mexico for a dozen years, providing safe, fascinating journeys into this endless land.
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Tales from the South
Editor's note: Back in the day, before Traditions Mexico was even a gleam in founder Eric Mindling's eye, before he was sharing Mexico with us by creating these tours, he travelled throught Oaxaca, discovering and exporting Oaxacan pottery. A young man discovering a new world, he shared his delight through good old-fashioned letters home. The tales in those letters became the basis for one of the hidden treasures of this Website. From time to time we will be featuring some of those tales, such as the one below. In the meanwhile, you may find more at Tales from the South.
Of Rain and Corn
August 1997
| A long drought breaks, and El Grande is made to understand that rain is more than a nuisance... |
The rain came back this afternoon. Out of the east, a dark sky full of water. The shepherds on the hill hid under their little squares of plastic or took shelter on the lee side of large cattle. The drops turned to vapor as they hit the hot dry earth, disappeared into the crisp brown leaves of the field corn. It has been forty nine days since the last drop of water fell from the sky into this valley.
The Oaxacans, corn farmers, subsistence farmers, people who eat no meal that is not
centered around corn, who's dreams are permeated with corn, planted their corn in late
May, as they do every year, with the onset of the summer rains. In July, with corn waist high
and ready to flower, the last drop fell that would fall for six weeks. For the couple
weeks or of this unwelcome blue sky, thirsty eyes read the horizon, there still being hope
that the heavens would return with their generosity. After that, with the healthy green
leaves fading and curling in, the tips yellowing, the dust swirling in the afternoon wind,
there was no longer need to watch the skies. The harvest was lost. The stalks would be
salvaged for feed, and maybe a planting of late season pinto or garbanzo would help hold
things together through the long dry season.
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Potters in Pueblo Cuquila, in the Mixtec Highlands |
The rural potters, like everyone living under the whims of nature, watch the sky like hawks
trying to read it's mood, predict it's will. A rain mid-firing can mean the loss of a
seven day's hard work. Generally the potters here close shop during the rainy season and go to work
in the fields. Wet soil, wet wood, mist, vapor, tremendous afternoon thundershowers take
too heavy a toll on the fragile pots to make potting worthwhile. Clay and pots from
October to May. Mud and corn the rest of the year.
In spite of their hawk eyes, I bet this afternoon's shower caught them unawares. And I
bet they didn't mind a bit, for potters are farmers too, and this rain, which is
continuing into the night, gives the vital hope that a harvest of some sort can still be
made this year.
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Visiting in San Marcos |
A few Augusts back I was out in San Marcos, an ancient village of valley Zapotec
potters who make smooth and round, burnished, red pots and the essential comal, upon which
tortillas are cooked. I was buying pots to fill a truck with old Catalina and her clan.
Daughters and daughters in law, sisters and cousins and nephews. There were perhaps a
dozen women gathered in Catalina's yard, together with the goats and turkeys and pigs and
one tall gringo. As it usually is when I go to buy pots, after the haggling is done, there
is chatting, laughter, food sharing, and story telling. That afternoon I was entertaining the group with
hopped-up tales of my follies that rainy season, of getting stuck on muddy roads, being
chased by oncoming showers or caught in the open and soaked through.
As we were working the clouds were rapidly building along the ridges above. Worried
that I was again going to get hit by a big shower and that all the pots and packing
cardboard would get wet, I summed up my story telling with a bold, foolish statement.
"Damned rain!".
 There was a sudden silence among the women, an enormous still and almost silent
utterances of "madre mia!", "ai, senor!" and some bit of Zapotec that
I couldn't understand. And just as quickly, recovery. The chit chatting resumed as if
nothing had ever been said, for the Oaxacans are nothing if not hospitable and
accommodating. But old Catalina, with her broken spanish, the matriarch of this clan, said
to me very seriously, "rain makes the corn grow. Rain is a blessing from Nuestro
Senor".
Of course I was immediately aware of the depth of my verbal blunder, even as the words
left my mouth. But the words left. How could I explain to Catalina that where I come from
it never rains in the clean, wide, flourescent rows of the fields where I take harvest.
Not only that, but it doesn't matter if it's June or January, there are always green
veggies and red apples.
 I only have it by theory that rain and food are united. I have not lived with the need
to watch the skies every day for sign of water. I have not had to follow the rhythms of
the seasons nor worry the hot blue sky. I have never lived the glory of the feasting at
harvest, the juicy sweetness of fruit that you can only get and eat during four weeks of
the year, the good pleasure of eating your own hard earned reward.
Or at least I hadn't, but I'm not in Oaxaca for the good weather, though God knows I
watch these days, for it tells me things about the lives of my friends, these farmers and
potters. I'm here because these potters and farmers know a whole lot about things of which
I know squat. I'm listening, I'm learning.
And it's ok, they know we gringos have our tricks, but in general are fairly foolish.
Such an understanding helps me enormously amongst these good people.
Eric Mindling
Head Honcho, Traditions Mexico Hands-on Tours
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