Double Celebration..............

Mexico is celebrating a double whammy in 2010 - first the Bicentennial on September 16th marking 200 years of Independence, quickly followed very recently by the Centenary of the Revolution on November 2oth marking 100 years since the uprising by Zapata and the like.....

There have been parades, fiestas, events, shows, spectacles, dances, concerts, reenactments non-stop this year in a country already renowned for non-stop celebration - and the end is not yet in sight...........

What is currently being celebrated where you are right now???? For more global glimpses around the world this week, check out My World Tuesday by clicking here....Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 80 - Miami South Beach

There is something about near-deserted beaches as evening falls and shadows lengthen which is altogether extremely appealing.....















This was my first sight of Miami's South Beach a few weeks ago at the beginning of November...

Not many people about to soak up these scenes of windswept beach, scudding clouds, blue sky, white sand, and long, long shadows....just me and the beach huts!!

For more shadowhunters from around the globe, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here... Enjoy!

Welcome to Xochimilco....

Welcome to Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City where you can spend a perfect afternoon floating down the canals and picnicing aboard the brightly coloured trajineras (gondola-style boats). All the boats have these vibrant designs for their headboards and female names - choose between Lupita, Julietta, Maria, Veronica, Sabine, Monica, Teresita - even Queen Elizabeth is here...

Xochimilco means "Place where flowers grow" in Nahuatl and it is where the Aztecs first had their floating gardens (chinampas) which became the economic base of the Aztec empire. Vegetation and mud was heaped into Lake Xochimilco, an offshoot of Lake Texcoco, to create these fertile floating fields. The area is still under cultivation today and flowers, plants are produced for the whole of the city in some of the most beautiful garden nurseries (viveros) - marigolds for Day of the Dead, poinsettias (Nochebuenas) for Christmas. Many people come down here quite specifically to buy all their flowers and plants....

Nowadays much of the lake has been transformed into a series of canals - almost 180km of waterways, and they are a very popular day out destination. At weekends, the place comes alive with Chilangos (Mexico city dwellers) coming down in large family groups to hire large boats and eat large lunches aboard. There is a truly festive party atmosphere with music, singing and general carousing...

If you forget your own food there are always sellers punting up alongside your boat to sell you whatever you need to eat or drink......

And if you forget your own sounds, there are always wandering Mariachi boats packed with musicians who will always deliver you a song or two for a few pesos.....

If you are with a big group and in a party mood, then it is always wonderful, but sometimes it can get rather raucous and noisy with boats jostling for position on crowded canals. Last time I was there, I found the perfect antidote if you are in the mood for something more mellow. I took a boat trip from Embarcadero Fernando Celada at the golden hour just before sunset, and this is what I found - quiet, tranquil backwater canals with very few other boats in sight and wonderful light and reflections.....

It is difficult to believe that these scenes are from the seething megalopolis of Mexico City - we have not left the city behind yet at all. Boats seat 14-20 people and are very reasonable to hire at a fixed rate of only 200 pesos per hour per boat (17USD). You can easily get to Xochimilco by taking the metro down to Taxquena and then transferring to the tren ligero - it is the last stop on this line.

Here are all the trajineras tucked in for the night at the Embarcadero Fernando Celada. For more global glimpses this week, check out the My World Tuesday postings by clicking here. Enjoy travelling the world with the click of a button....

Shadow Shot 79 - Monte Alban, Oaxaca..

Where is this beautiful and boldly shadowed window on the world?? It is at the entrance to the museum at the archaeological site of Monte Alban, Oaxaca (featured in the previous post). The uninterrupted views and vistas from this hilltop site are second to none....

But I was also struck by this strong pattern of shadows which tells you just how strong the sun was on that day.....

For more details and information about the magnificent Monte Alban site, check out the last post....

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..and for more fun with shadows, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!

The Magnificence of Monte Alban......

Oaxaca is the artistic, cultural and spiritual home of Mexico - the heart and soul of the country. One reason for this is the presence of Monte Alban, one of the most magnificently serene sites in the whole of Mexico...

Monte Alban is the ancient Zapotec capital and was first inhabited around 500 BC. The elite here were probably the first people to use writing and calendars in Mexico. Not only are the pyramids and other architectural structures extremely well preserved, but the surrounding views of the mountains and countryside are simply breathtaking. The site stands on a flattened hilltop 400m above the valley floor creating a 360 degree panoramic view. The serenity of the setting and the uninterrupted vistas just cannot be beaten....

The details of the carvings are also fascinating - there are many stelae with beautiful ornamental details, and here are the carved Danzantes (dancers) panels of the sacrificial victims - the awful grimaces are due to castration being part of the sacrificial rites....

With the beautiful architecture, the echoes of the past, the setting, the skies and the scale, it is impossible to avoid contemplating your place in the universe, your relationship with the world around you, meditating on the meaning of life itself......

I can never resist adding a splash of red to wherever I find myself to be....

Monte Alban is just a 10 minute drive from the centre of Oaxaca city, and it is very easy to reach by taking a hourly shuttle bus from the Hotel Rivera del Angel on Calle Mina. It is worth at least a three hour visit if not more to fully appreciate all there is to see. For more windows on the world this week, click here for My World Tuesday postings.

Shadow Shot Sunday 78 - Oaxaca

We are all used to Grinning Death or The Grim Reaper casting his shadow over us, and making us shiver with presentiments of our own mortality, but here in Oaxaca on Day of the Dead, artists were turning the tables.....

and casting their own shadows over Death as they laboured to create the Giant Sand Paintings (los tapetes monumentales) for the Day of the Dead festivities in front of the Cathedral...

Such pieces of folk art depicting skulls, skeletons, bones and Catrinas are all typically part of the traditions in honouring the dead for this unique festival here in Mexico.These are particularly wonderful in their fragile transience and ephemerality. For more details about the step by step construction of these giant sand paintings see the previous post.......

For more fun with shadows around the world, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday....

The Magic Carpets of Oaxaca...

Oaxaca is a very special place - the heart and soul of Mexico - its ancestral, spiritual and cultural home. It is a place where all the traditions of Mexico are followed and the festivities of Mexico are celebrated, and when this is combined with Oaxaca as the city of artists and folk art, then this is the result - the Day of the Dead tapetes monumentales (giant carpets).....

Oaxaca is a wonderful place to witness all the amazing Day of the Dead celebrations, and central to those celebrations is all the folk art associated with the festival. In front of the cathedral this bicentennial year, there was an exhibition of five giant sand paintings to honour the dead , and I was lucky to see the process of constructing these contoured carpets from start to finish...

First the sand is poured into the frame, kept moist with watering cans so it can be easily moulded, and then gradually shaped by hand into the contours of skulls, skeletons, snakes, and bones. Initially the site looks like some kind of strange archaeological dig in reverse with bones being created instead of uncovered....

Powdered paints are applied to the contoured shapes in strict colour order - first white to literally create the skeletal framework of the images, then the primary colours reds, yellows, and blues, followed by the pastel colours pinks, lemons and lilacs....

The colours are applied by sifting powdered paints through an ordinary household sieve, and the last colour to be added is always black....

Special attention is always paid to getting the details just right, especially the eye sockets and the teeth of the skulls....

Then the final touches are added, a few extra sprinkles from the sieve, getting all the tiny little details in place....

Then it is time to step back and admire the fruits of such artistic labour - six solid hours of hard labour - with these wonderful final results....

I felt so privileged to witness this extraordinary process from start to finish, and hope you enjoy this sequence of photographs which documents the different stages involved. For more windows on the world this week check out the My World Tuesday postings by clicking here....

Shadow Shot Sunday 77 - Mexico

Back to the vibrancy of rich colours from Mexico for these two shadow shots. First is a bust of Don Filomeno Mata (not Joseph Stalin!!) which can be found in the Centro Historico here in Mexico City, and second is this charming cafe table in the former mining village of Real de Monte....

I linked these two totally incongruous images immediately in my mind because of the boldness of shape and shadow, but also because blue and orange is such a popular colour combination here in Mexico; one that certainly would simply just not work in England or other grey climates...

For more fun with shadows this week, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here...

Communing with Calaveras.....

Day of the Dead is a unique festival celebrated in Mexico from October 31st to November 2nd whereby loved ones who have departed this world are welcomed back for a night of festivities. First come the "angelitos" (souls of children) tempted back by sugar candy...

...and then it is the turn of the adult ancestors who are honoured with "ofrendes" (altars of offerings for the dead) containing their photographs and all their favourite foods and drinks and cigarettes all in a haze of candles, copal incense, marigolds and Calla lilies....

At the cemeteries all night vigils take place at the graveside with families holding a celebration for the return of their loved ones. Graves are meticulously scrubbed and decorated with fresh flowers predominantly marigolds and lit with candles to welcome back those who have departed. Wandering graveyard mariachi bands help with the summons...

The atmosphere is one of joyous and festive celebration, acknowledging the continuous circle of life and death, with not even a hint of morbidness. There are no taboos surrounding death in this country......

I have now celebrated five Day of the Dead festivals here in Mexico in Oaxaca, Patzcuaro, and Real de Catorce, and one in Nicaragua. It is such a special festival, I would not miss it for the world, and if you get a chance to visit during this time, then grab the opportunity of witnessing something unique. This year I was down in Oaxaca and will be posting soon about the "Tapetes Monumentales"!! In the meantime get more of a global glimpse this week by checking out the My World Tuesday postings. Click here. ...and as always enjoy!!