Walls of Oaxaca

an artisan workshop in Oaxaca

"My pride is in my roots and in corn." These are the people who cultivated corn thousands of years ago.

The walls of Oaxaca tell the stories of a proud people. Workshops (talleres) and galleries abound in the neighbourhood where Janet and I are staying this year.

The building has been beautifully restored.

We've been here four days. Yesterday, we went out to a pueblo school and visited a restored building that had once housed a cotton mill.  The mill, built in 1883, was restored with the support  Francisco Toledo, a renowned and generous artist, and the Harpú Foundation. It now houses El Centro por las Artes de San Agustín, an art workshop and gallery facility which overlooks the valley.

looking out from the print workshop

The village of San Agustín de Etla has, of all things, a Lebanese restaurant. Our group had a beautiful lunch of falafel and fruit before we returned to town. A French-speaking group passed our table. I always speak to strangers when I travel. They were from Northern Ontario. So I'm with a Mexican, an American and a Canadian friend in a Mexican town of fewer than 10,000 and who do I meet but
fellow Canadians! Oaxaca is a such a fabulous destination for arts and cultural travel!

We met this man on our way home.