Fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe

On December 11th we were invited to spend a couple of days in a village called Tlahuitoltepec in the Mixe mountains which is about a 4 hour bus ride away from Oaxaca City. There, they were in full fiesta mode (the fiesta actually going on for 5 days in total) to celebrate the Virgen de Guadalupe. We were very kindly invited by a young man, Jacobo, who Tristan met when he went on his trip with Milpas. It was a fascinating visit although it was a bit like being at Glastonbury festival as we didn't shower for 2 days and stayed in what can only be described as basic lodging with pit loos! But it was really interesting to see how a real indigenous village (they all speak an indigenous language called Mixe in the village - although Spanish is also spoken it is very much as a second language) celebrate things - this seemed to consist of a hell of a lot of alcohol which can be a bit scary as every man you see is completely eye-rollingly drunk. If you can't beat them, join them eh? Here is an account of our trip. Unfortunately there are not many pictures as the Mixe don't really like their photo being taken, but hopefully you can still get a generally idea!

The fiesta itself was fun with music constantly being played by about four different bands in the main square - when one stopped another started. There was also a rodeo ring built by the church. The rodeo started with a parade of the decorated bulls and continued with a few men trying to sit on a bull or two. It was like it was in slow motion though as it took ages for anything to actually happen - and when it did it was usually over within a few seconds! In the meantime there was a few unintentionally comical turns by some drunks who thought it was a good idea to go up to the bull and jump around making noises at it, or try to untie it! The bull usually won on those occasions when it bothered to react! There were fireworks in the main square as well as clowns the first night we were there. The fireworks were fun - there was one man with a bull's head on dancing in a contraption which had fireworks all over it so that they went off all over him! A few other men danced around the firework tower amongst the burning embers!! There was a big dance the second night on the outdoor basketball court in the centre of town. Tluhui is a place of extreme temperatures being very hot during the day and freezing at night (luckily we had three blankets on our bed!) So at the dance I was bloomin' freezing until Carlos, a local dignitary, asked me to dance! He was very nice and tried to teach me to dance salsa - but he failed as many have before! I just can't be led it's not in my nature! But he did buy the table some more beer so that was very nice of him! Tristan was too busy chatting with Alejandro to take a photo of me attempting to salsa - in retrospect probably quite luckily!

There was of course some religion tied up here as it was meant to be the Virgen de Guadalupe fiesta! There were several masses with so many people that they had to stand outside of the decorated church. People offered flowers and gifts to the virgin and we saw one mini procession where the virgin was walked through the town and people came up to her crossing themselves whilst saying prayers.

One of the traditions is that the community club together and each band gets some food and drink at a particular place after they have played . If you happen to be there then you get food and drink too! So we climbed up to a house above the town following the sound of music. When we got there the band were all sitting around the edge of a balcony type thing playing their hearts out. We were immediately given home made mezcal from a Jose Cuervo bottle! It was incredibly strong and luckily being a girl I could refuse a top up - Tristan had to have several more! The custom in the village is to spill three drops of the drink on the ground as a blessing to, I think, something like mother earth, god, and then yourselves. So we dutifully did that! Then we sat around chatting to various people mainly Jacobo and his friend Alejandro, while the band ate some food and some very drunk men danced around to taped music. We were given beers and more mezcal and looked at the amazing view!

Other people came to chat to us too mainly to find out who the hell we were! One old chap, whose place it seemed to be, was very nice and said how he remembered during the 2nd World War when pound sterling was the strongest currency! He made sure we were well looked after and told us that it didn't matter what colour or race we were, we were all humans first and we were very welcome. We didn't see one other gringo the whole time we were in Tlahui and kids stared at us a lot, although the same man informed us that some time ago there was a French person and a Japanese woman who had lived in the town. After the band had eaten we were shown to a table in the eating area and given a plate of meat, rice and beans which was very good, plus of course more beer. There was more chat and lots of eating but I felt a little uncomfortable as I felt we were intruding slightly, and also I was desperate to go the loo! But everyone else was very friendly so after a visit to the quite disgusting pit loo (which was literally on the side of the mountain with a few plastic sheets to cover my modesty) I chilled out too.

There was a lovely altar in the eating area with 3 different virgins,candles, flowers and decorations. After lunch we were given this drink which was basically toasted maize with a bit of chocolate. It had been fermented with another drink called pulque (which tastes a bit like cider and is the first fermentation from the maguey plant - it was also sold in the main square by women with big plastic water bottles and served in huge bowls and is very alcoholic). We had to spill the drops again as an offering before we drank. I thought it was quite horrible and couldn't drink it all. Unfortunately another tradition is that you have to have a top up! Then someone (the son of the nice old man!) came along and gave us a necklace with some beads and a tin cross on it. Then someone else came along and offered us cigarettes and we had to take three, not to smoke but as a offering again. It was fascinating to see the mix of Catholicism and their own religion. The town is surrounded by mountains and is itself 2000 metres up, but the highest mountain that we could see has special religious significance. It is called sacred mountain and the people still make offerings there, and also sacrifice chickens and turkeys to their gods, although usually on the same days as they are celebrating some Catholic festival.

Our friend Jacobo is a very intelligent. articulate and caring young man. However, as it was fiesta time he, like most 18 year olds (hell like most 29 year olds too!), got very drunk on one of the evening we were there - it isn't that difficult to do with the amount of very strong alcohol available especially at fiesta time and as we found out to the detriment of our heads the next morning! Life is pretty damn depressing for such young men as Jacobo and the frustration really reveals itself after a few beers. Their way of life was explained again and again, normally through a haze of beer, but this served to make their point even more forcibly and passionately. You can see how revolutions begin with the kind of helplessness, frustration and anger that was expressed. As indigenous people they have few rights or opportunities. Many of them don't want to leave their community which, as it is completely isolated in the mountains, means that their lives will probably be much the same as their parents even though they have had the benefit of formal education. You can see the huge problem for these intelligent articulate young people who want to protect their cultures and stay with their families but who will, I think, definitely want more from life than tending their family plot, and drinking themselves into stupors. Alcoholism and boredom are huge problems. We saw loads of fights, and not just between young men. The most horrible was 2 women, one of whom had a baby strapped to her back, really laying into each other. On the whole people don't stop it but just watch. As Tristan said life there is a weird mixture between wanting to preserve their cultural identity by living in a close knit community and beating the living daylights out of each other, which doesn't seem very community spirited. It kind of reminded me a bit of Frome on a Saturday night after kicking out time - messy. It was quite an eye-opener for us as so far we have lived with and talked to very middle-class bourgeois people here in Oaxaca city.

Anyway it was all really fascinating, although I have to say we were very pleased to come home, have a shower, sleep in a comfortable bed and not have to worry about going to the loo! Soooo middle-class! And we were absolutely knackered as we didn't sleep much because they don't finish playing music until 6am and they start again at 7am! By the way Jacobo is desperate to be pen pals with a young chica inglesa - any offers then let us know!!

-Tamar, December 2000.