History Shmistory!

A craft that is prolifically produced here in Oaxaca, is the alebrije (ah-lay-bree-hay). They are animals carved from the softwood of the copal tree. They are then intricately painted.

David and I were lucky enough to visit the home and workshop of a family who have been producing alebrijes 'forever´. They live in a small town just outside of Oaxaca city called Arrazola. The whole town is and has been dedicated to alebrijes since time immemorial.

Something interesting we've learned is that here in Oaxaca many towns share the characteristic of being dedicated to a specific craft. Some only make rugs and weaving, some alebrijes, some red ceramics, some green ceramics. There is one small town that is solely dedicated to creating signature ceramics from its black clay. This may further explain the tianguises (outdoor markets). They travel between different towns depending on the day of the week. I suppose if everyone in  your town is dedicated to only one type of product, it makes it more convenient to have a mixed market that comes to town every week.

While we were in Arrazola, we watched one of the shopowners, a quiet and gentle man, carve a fish alebrije from the branch of a copal tree, right in front of our eyes. He was slow and methodical with his spanish. He was easy to understand. He explained his craft and asked us some questions about the US. While we watched and enjoyed the cool of the concrete walls of his home, some kids ran through the yard. Afterwards we bought a couple of unpainted alebrijes and then painted them there in the workshop.

We could see the mountaintop ruins of Monte Alban from the patio of the family's home. It's hard to forget Mexico's history. It's always in your face, whether it's the ancients pyramids of Monte Alban on the horizon or an indigenous woman selling roasted corn cobs on the sidewalk in front of a designer shoe store.

In the US, when we want to emphasize the irrelevance of something we say "Forget about it. It's history." History is treated differently here. It's so relevant to understanding the world here today. History is tied up in all the many ethnicities, religions and languages here. If you don't understand the history you can't understand the present.