Journal #5

Photos of Artwork and a great day!
Photos of Yagul and riding in the back of truck.
On January 3rd, we visited the regional museum next to the Church of San Pedro y San Pablo in Teposcolula (the 2nd church we visited, the one with the open air chapel). The museum opened four months ago and houses artifacts from excavations on the nearby mountain where there were many towns inhabited by the Mixtecs when the Spaniards arrived there in the 1520s. The mountain towns overlooked a lake in the valley below. The Spaniards drained the lake, built the church there, and forced the Mixtec people to move down into the valley to farm.
On January 4th, we visited the regional folk art museum in San Bartólo Coyotepec, the town known for the black clay pottery produced in this area for over 2,000 years. Like the museum in Teposcolula, this is a regional museum. Such museums generally explain the history of the people, their lifestyles, art (and sometimes music and dance) traditions. They are often funded by or led by successful artists from the region. Which objects and displays interested you the most in these two regional museums, and why? How do these museums compare to the ones discussed in Oaxaca at the Crossroads?
There was one piece that really stuck out to me. I forgot the name of it exactly. Something like "beating heart". It really stood out to me because there was a lot of detail in the work and the concept of the art is very touching. It shows a kind of connectedness our emotions have to nature. How we can be affected by it and how nature is affected by us. It just struck me as a theme that is innate within the minds of people living in Oaxaca.



Yagul was an independent city-state six miles from Mitla, occupied from about 100 to 1200 CE. The architectural remains are primarily palatial and administrative structures with patios, and tombs. The ballcourt at Yagul is the second largest in Mesoamerica (the largest is at the Maya city of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan). How does the site and plan of ancient Yagul compare to the site and plan of Mitla? If you were a Mixtec ruler, which site would you choose to build your city?
Oh my gosh, I really loved Yagul better than Mitla. I said at some point that Mitla was one of my favourite parts of the trip just because the buildings were big and it was my first time to really get a grip on what life was like for native back then, but Yagul is a great site for those who've done some prior research and already been to Mitla and Monte Alban. Its still "under construction". That is, they're still digging it up and its noticeable that they are, but at the same time, you can see more details. We saw god figures that seemed very clear and distinct unlike the other sites we've been to where the gods seemed to be erasing away if we were lucky enough to even still see them there. Yagul had a good defense plan, I think. There were some easy steps (we took the hard, long way up) to get to the top of a hill that could see all of Yagul and you could hear people from the top of the hill. I cannot objectively say which plan was better (Yagul vs. Mitla) because I do not fully understand how they lived their life to the point that I could say what kind of things the societies needed the most. I would choose either site if I was a ruler. I don't know enough about the details of how war worked, how the government worked, how the religion worked, how trade/money worked, etc. to give a good answer.




At the red clay pottery workshop, what did the 87 year old grandmother tell us about her life in Tamulzapan?

It was interesting how she continued talking for so long. It indicates that she isn't asked about by visitors very often. Even before she began speaking, her daughter told us how much the mother would like to conversate and answer questions, but since she doesn't know english or spanish, it is very hard. She probably loved this opportunity to share her life with others. She told us about how when she was younger, everyone only made traditional designs on the red clay pots and she has always made large pots which are great for wedings to make otola. All the houses were made of reeds and tortillas were made by hand rather than by press. She used to trade her pieces for food because she and her husband were so poor. To live in this modern time feels like heaven to her. She also told us the sun never felt so hot in the past. That's really interesting!

STUDENT CREATED QUESTIONS
How did today's mass differ from yours?
The mass was very similar to my own mass because I am a catholic. The placement of the holy water was a little different. It was also interesting to go to mass in an old chapel in a different language. But it was so like back home. Some people were well dressed and some people were dressed normally. Right after mass, the kids got on their cellphones. It felt normal to me.

Compare workshop families
All the workshop families are similar in that they practice their art as a part of their tradition and history in an attempt to make sure it lives on. Some of the families are very modern, with children going to colleges studying computers and practicing law while some families live very simple lives and still speak in Zapotec.

Compare US puppets to Mexican
In America when I think of puppets, I think of many different types of puppets. Hand puppets, sock puppets and puppets on strings -- all small. In Mexico, puppets are HUGE and they operate with someone's whole body, not just their hands.