mrs-roboto's Diaryland Diary
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A Pictures Worth A Thousands Words But I Still Keep Talking
So out of the hundred or so pictures we shot in Oaxaca, about twenty look decent. Sadly, I am one of those people who feels compelled to document everything. For example, I have many pictures of food I've cooked over the years. Holiday cookies, Thanksgiving turkeys, Oysters Rockafeller for New Years Eve - they are all represented in my collection. Someday, my predecessors will look through my photo albums and say, "Wow, Mrs-Roboto really enjoyed her salmon and green beans." I have many photos of things that struck me as interesting at the time but in retrospect are dull as hell, like a hat on a chair or the canned goods in our pantry (the colors really stood out at the time, I swear and I wasn't using any hallucinogenics). Anyway, I'll share just a couple of the more interesting vacation shots so as not to bore everyone to tears.
This is one of the hundreds of fantastic shrines we visited while in Oaxaca. It was dedicated to the grandmother and grandfather of this particular homeowner. There were gifts of chocolate, fruit, and mezcal. Grandfather was apparently one heck of a caballero and his gun was on display to prove it. Hey, when I die I want a shrine, okay? You can skip the tombstone or urn just give me an annual remembrance with flowers and an altar and maybe a vanilla martini or two (I am not a big mezcal fan).
Remember How I was going on and on about the alebrijes in San Martin Tilcajete? Well, here is a lovely Senora painting some up. Just thinking about detail that goes into these pieces is enough to make my eyes cross.
This particular piece was stunning but far too large to carry back. I did manage to smuggle many holiday gifts back but of course, Pete and I are now having issues about parting with them. Perhaps everyone will get smoked salmon instead. A very popular piece was the Chupacabra which I had always thought of as a Puerto Rican phenomenon but apparently it crosses many cultural lines. We have a small one in our collection along with an entire skeletal Mariachi band, several iguanas, a monkey or two, and Satan. Once we get everything together, I think we'll have one killer shrine.
On the evening of the 31st, we visited several graveyards. The families of the departed gathered around decorated graves and music played and they celebrated a next life. It was far from the somber occasion death is often made out to be here in the States. We brought gifts of candles and flowers which we left upon empty plots and drank more mezcal. There were fantastic sand paintings on many a plot. Unfortunately, our $20.00 flash went out and we were unable to capture those memories.
And finally, this is a Saint Pedro, the Martyr. Pedro was a Dominican friar who lived in the 13th century. He was appointed Inquisitor General of Milan by the Pope and his preaching was so perturbing for heretics that he ended his days on a road at the hands of a hired assassin, who sank a knife into his cranium and thrust a sword into his chest. Before dying, the saint managed to write on the ground, with his own blood, "Credo in Deum." Here he is depicted with an ax in his head but no sword in his chest. Curious. This, like many other religious statues about town, was a little more graphic than I am used to. One thing's for sure, the Mexicans love their churches almost as much as they love their mayonnaise (seriously they put this stuff on everything).
Okay, no more talk of vacation. It's time for me to move on. Thank you for suffering through this semi-slide show. I promise to look at your vacation photos when the time comes, okay?
In other news, the first monthly meeting of the Beat the Winter Blues Book Club (I took the liberty of calling it that for my own personal reference) took place on Thursday night at my place. I got to know some fabulous ladies a little better, enjoyed some fantastic pecan pie, and laughed a whole lot. I can't wait for the December meet up where we will be discussing The Red Tent and other related items (like Mariah Carey's relationship with Eminem - we're a very serious group). Thanks again for the food and fun, ladies!
10:37 a.m. - 2002-11-10
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