30 September 2007

La Guelaguetza

My friend Alicia and I went over to Oxnard to the Oaxacan festival called La Guelaguetza today.

She and I have both traveled to this southern Mexican state separately and we both loved it there. If you ever want to see lots of photos, check out my other blog Oaxaca Diary, a long-winded account of my 3 weeks studying Spanish in the capital city of Oaxaca, also called Oaxaca (wa-HA-ka, in case you are wondering).

Dancers from each of the 7 regions of the state perform and then toss the items typical to their region into the audience as gifts. Some of the items are coffee, fans, hats, and, yes, pineapples. Today, they handed out the pineapples, but down in Mexico, they really throw them and you had better watch out lest you get a concussion.

These beautifully dressed women are the pineapple dancers


My favorite baby dancer from the Feather Dance


There were so many cute kids there. As is typical, they had more fun with each other than with the show - here one shoots his brother with a cell phone camera


Toward they end they switched from almost on-key live band music to really, really loud recorded music. The kids did what I felt like doing, fell over and clapped their hands to their ears:


After the dances were over, we bought some food made in Oaxaca, including chapulines, the tiny crunchy grasshoppers that are a beloved Oaxacan snack. Alicia won't eat them - she's afraid of the little legs that get stuck in your teeth.

It was a great day - almost like being back in Mexico. Que bonita.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a cute little baby dancer!

These pics remind me of the two summers my mom and I spent on the "pow wow circuit."

BetteJo said...

Grasshoppers? Uh .. no. I like my Mexican food Americanized. Way too finicky to try bugs!
Looks like it was a very colorful day though!

SUEB0B said...

Bettejo - they are fat-free and 1/3 oz gives you over 50 percent of your protein for the day. Yum yum.

the mystic said...

I always think I'm an adventurous sort... and then someone suggests eating grasshoppers...

But otherwise that sounds very fun. I've never been to Oaxaca.

LittlePea said...

That last picture with the boy covering his ears is my favorite. What beautiful dancers.

SUEB0B said...

BetteJo, Staci - I don't actually eat chapulines. My excuse is that I am a vegetarian. I just got a bottle of them for our big Day of the Dead celebration at the end of the month.

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Awesome photos! And I have to agree about the grasshopper legs stuck in one's teeth; I don't think I'd want that either.

Suzanne said...

That looked like a lot of fun, and the grasshoppers sound oddly tantalizing. You sell them well.

Chris said...

Looks like a lot of fun! The baby dancer is just adorable. On eating the grasshopper, um, no way Jose. I am vegetarian and I think that would be eating meat.

Meg said...

So adorable! I love the photos.

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