Perspectives of Oaxaca

This month I traveled to stay with my family in the mountains of Oaxaca. Here are some images and reflections that came from that trip.

There's something surreal about being in a place so remote, surrounded by immense and magnificent mountains, with people living a basic life, growing fruits and vegetables on small farms, raising some sheep or pigs, a few cattle, and hearing a burro's cry in the night. It feels disconnected reading of the ongoing divisive political rhetoric from the states. Here, I'm a stranger in a strange land, yet feel so welcomed by the same people who are being stereotyped back home. Yesterday, a young man named Angel walked up to me on the cancha, the ball court in the pueblo center, and told me proudly of how he had worked in landscaping for eight months in New Jersey (legally with a work visa), showing me pictures on his phone of the lawns he cared for. Those same people are everywhere in the states, present but never really seen, contributing to the economy and enriching the culture. I just have gratitude to be able to see their home land, and to experience a little of this way of life, and also share something of myself. Maybe I will be able to have a different way of seeing when I come down out of these mountains. All I know is I will want to continue such connections. (30 May 18)

Making tortillas con la Tía Susanna

Yo aprendo un lección muy importante de Susana de las sierras. El poder verdadero de una bruja o un brujo no es en la acción o ritual especifica, pero el poder verdadero es solo en la presencia de la persona de el mago, y se revela en sus acciones ordinarias. (04 June 18)

Reflecting on how the places and people I am most attracted to are on the periphery where life and existence are a struggle. Something of how when the darkness is deepest the light shines more clearly. The souls, the personalities, the art, all seem larger than life. To see the wisdom expressed by those who continue to face and overcome adversity, especially when they bring a message of respect for self and others. #lifelessons (07 June 18)

It is a real and continual work to strip ourselves down, to let go or remove those things which do not belong to us, so as to become new, like a baby inside, and begin to form who we really are, the authentic person and attitudes that we will embody in this world. #lifeskills (28 June 18)