Put on your Shades!!.....It's Time for Tlacotalpan!!

I know a lot of you living up North in the land of eternal winter and snow are weary of the weather, and eagerly awaiting the first signs of Spring....and a splash of colour. No need to wait any longer!! Feast your eyes on this banquet of vibrant hues courtesy of a very sleepy town in the state of Veracruz....namely Tlacotalpan. It surely is the most colourful place on the globe!! of course all the streets are a fine mixture of all the colours of the rainbow, cheek by jowl, by I couldn't resist colour coding them according to a Comex paint chart. What do you think of the results???

Red and yellow, and green, and blue.....Yep they are all here!! Which is your favourite?? Think I am plumping for the sizzling hot, hot pink!! For more global glimpses of the world this week, check out My World Tuesday by clicking here....Enjoy!! And Spring is surely just around the corner.....??

Shadow Shot Sunday 93 - Tlacotalpan

I felt in the mood for some real vibrant colour this weekend, so luckily I am in the right country! Mexico has no shortage of sun, shadow, and vibrant colour - especially in the small town of Tlacotalpan in the state of Veracruz. Designated a UNESCO world heritage site, all the colonaded colonial buildings are the most amazing vivid colours....

Tlacotalpan is a quiet laidback town where locals chill out in rocking chairs on the porch at dusk, retire from the hot sun in the middle of the day, and cycle round the quiet streets in the late afternoon - the flavour is distinctly Caribbean. For more fun with shadow, shade and sun, check out photography from around the world by clicking here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Exhaling in Xalapa...

At this time of year before the rains, it can get a little suffocating in Mexico City, so a weekend in the hilltop city of Xalapa proves to be the perfect getaway. It is a university town best known for its fresh air and views, as well as its parks and gardens...

Indeed it is very hard to believe that you are still in the city centre when you visit Parque de los Lagos (Park of Lakes)....

Or the amazing nature park Parque Tecajete which is indeed a slice of subtropical rainforest....

Veracruz is a lush, verdant state where anything grows well, and so of course it is also well known for its rich coffee spawning endless coffeeshops and cafes, as well as its rich produce in the markets....

Culturally, Xalapa also has much to offer the visitor, and one of the undoubted highlights not just of Xalapa, but Mexico as a whole, is the beautiful Anthropological Museum. Laid out in verdant grounds, with descending marble steps, and lush garden display rooms, you can find all of the archaeological treasues of this region of Mexico, starting with the famed giant Olmec stone heads...

The museum is awash with treasures, far too many to display in this post, but the Veracruz smiling female heads always make me smile too, as they are so infectious, and such a contrast to the rather dour expressions on the male stone heads!!

Wandering and browsing the streets of Xalapa is also pleasureable in its own right, as there are colourful streets of colonial architecture to admire....

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.as well as the more official sightseeing of grand public buildings such as the Palacio Municipal, the Palacio Gobierno, not to mention the bright canary yellow Cathedral and Parque Juarez which acts as the rather delightful zocalo full of gardens, balloon sellers, shoeshine stands, stalls, outdoor cafes, and more gardens still......

Xalapa is five hours away from Mexico City, easily reachable by bus or car, in the state of Veracruz. For more windows on the world this week, don't hesitate to check out My World Tuesday postings. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 92 - Veracruz

I am spending this weekend in the beautiful state of Veracruz, five hours away from Mexico City towards the Gulf of Mexico. Veracruz itself is a lovely port city open on the water with a strong Caribbean flavour. The marimba bands, dilapidated colonial architecture, white-suited salsa dancers in the main plaza, and numerous coffee houses are all reminiscent of Havana in Cuba. Up in the hills an hour away, is the cool mountain University town of Xalapa, home of the jalapeno chilli pepper and an impressive Anthropological Museum displaying the huge Olmec stone heads. Twenty minutes away is the delightful magic village of Coatepec with its pretty patios and cute coffee shops. Veracruz State has a lot to delight the visitor...... as has Shadow Shot Sunday where you will find some stunning photographs from around the world......

"Splendour and Solitude" Cai Guo-Qiang at MUAC......

Don't miss the trip down to the UNAM University campus to see Cai Guo-Qiang's first solo exhibition in Latin America " Resplandor y Soledad". The Chinese artist is renowned for his "explosion events" using pyrotechnics and fireworks on a large scale, as well as his gunpowder drawings (production pictured above), and site specific installations. In Chinese, the word gunpowder literally means "fire medicine" and Cai plays with the healing and destructive tendencies inherent in such material. Look at the transformation from destructive explosion to created serene and tranquil scene......

Cai's site specific installation for MUAC has created in the gallery space a highly dramatic and theatrical panoramic landscape of volcanic rock and lake which echoes Mexico City's foundation on Lake Texcoco.....

The lake is actually made from the alcohol mezcal which seems to give it particularly vibrant reflective qualities....

Around the lake are a sequence of fourteen gunpowder drawings that represent aspects of the Mexican landscape and culture - from cacti and maguey to Quetzalcoatl and Aztec warriors presided over by an immense exploding sun....

The images may be Mexican, but the sensibility is certainly Chinese, and it is extraordinary the detailed effects he can create from the gunpowder explosions which are so reminscent of the delicate inkwashes and fine brushstrokes of traditional Chinese art....

One of the most fascinating aspects of the exhibition is the room in which videos are shown of the artist at work - never has the production of art seemed so dynamic or intriguing with a cool, calm, and composed Cai in the middle of explosions whereby his assistants are either running for cover or dashing in to dampen down the flames. Here is a final image of the tranquility and solitude created from the violence and destruction of the explosions....

Indeed his social idealism which characterises all change, however, violent as carrying the seeds of positive creation seems particularly relevant and topical when viewing current global events. Cai Guo-Qiang is widely recognised as one of the most important figures of the contemporary art scene to emerge from post-revolutionary China. His exhibition continues at MUAC (Museum of Contemporary Art) until the 27th March 2011. For more global glimpses this week, check out My World Tuesday postings by clicking here. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 91 - Taxco

Taxco is a beautiful town two hours from Mexico City famed for its silver markets - I have spent many weekends here tracking down lovely Mexican jewellery. The town is a historic hillside white village with winding, cobbled streets and narrow, steep alleys. All the lettering and signage is in black as is the wrought iron ornamentation on all the historic buildings making this the perfect monochrome town - even the white VW taxis fit the colour scheme.....For more fun with shadows this week, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here....

To build up the stamina required for a day spent trawling the silver markets for treasure, the breakfast burrito at Cafe Sacha is an absolute necessity!!

Having a snowball of a time at HarvardMUN.....

Harvard Model United Nations Conference is held annually at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston for 3000 High School Students, organised and entirely run by Harvard students who are studying International Relations. Each school is assigned a country to represent, and students spend months preparing for the committee debates on their two topics of global urgency, and writing their position papers. The idea at the conference is to try to negotiate a resolution with the greatest consensus as a way forward in solving world problems. Debates are run in strict accordance with United Nations Parliamentary procedure.....

This year I took 16 students to Boston from my school here in Mexico City, and we represented the country of Singapore in all the committee debates, even managing to win two of the prestigious individual awards. As well as working very hard, we also had a lot of fun sightseeing and playing in the snow (some of our students had never experienced snow before!!)

At the end of the 4 day conference,it seemed a shame to have to leave and return home, and even the city of Boston seemed reluctant to let us depart......

The fervent pleas were everywhere we turned just begging us to stay longer.....

Until reality finally kicked in of course - delivered by Rey - one of the students who won an individual award at the conference....

For any educators who don't know about Model United Nations, this is a wonderful learning experience for students, as the magnetic context of drama role-play simulation as delegates, motivates them no end to research, debate, present, justify, write and negotiate - all skills vital in the modern world. For more windows on the world this week check out My World Tuesday posts by clicking here. In my next post, I will return to writing about Mexico - but only up until July, as in August, I am moving to the South of France to take up a position at the International School of Monaco... it will be tough to leave Mexico after 6 years, but change is in the air.....

Shadow Shot 90 - Boston Common

I know lots of you are sick of the sight of snow and can't wait for the spring thaw, but living in Mexico for six years, a few days in the snow is stunningly beautiful. Last week I was in Boston for 5 days with a group of 16 Mexican students representing Singapore at the Harvard Model United Nations Conference. We managed to arrive just before a major snowstorm and we managed to leave just before the next one which was even worse. Some of the students had never experienced snow before ever, so a walk on Boston Common was truly unique for them......The sun was out and the shadows were striking....

Here they all are having lots of fun in the snow, discovering the joy of snowball fights.....

For more shadow shots around the world this week, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here.... You won't be disappointed!