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The "El Lunes del Cerro" festivities, on the two Mondays following July 16, have the city all abustle with music and dance from all seven regions of the state of Oaxaca. (To hear some of the music go to: http://www.aoaxaca.com/guelaguetza/en.htm)
In Zapoteco, "gueleguetza" means "community sharing", a long held indigenous tradition in which everyopne participates in giving and receiving rituals. Along with the two Monday show days it really is a month long cultural celebration with not just the regional music and dance, but also classical and contemporary. The Monday show, held in the outdoor auditorium overlooking the city is a great event in itself, but the parade, where all the audience members, dancers and musicians meander down from the auditorium hill to the zocolo for the fireworks show is really spectacular. There were all these colorful splashes above the trees emanating from these tall, whistling structures and before you know it the whole church was lit up with white firecrackers and lights. Debris was falling everywhere and sparks were coming down on our heads, making it all the more exciting in safety conscious Mexico.

As they say in Montana, "You can't there from here", and that's how it goes in Oaxaca. There's but one winding road over the mountain to get you to where you need to be. A whole transport system of suburban vans twist and turn over the rocky paths, usually going at insane speeds, necessitating the need to take dramamine pills for motion sickness...Nieves, about four hours northeast from Oaxaca City, was no exception, as it lies at the very top of a mountain passage. Even though we thought we might fall over the edge of the cliff trying to get there, the beauty and the tranquility made it all the sweeter. Staying at our teacher's parent's house made for an authentic experience, perfecting my tortilla making on the comal and salsa seasoning in the mocajete.

It's actually quite a thrill to be at eye level or even taller than everyone when I walk down the street...

These natural limestone encrusted hot springs on the overhangs of mountain peaks make for magical musings. To look oh so carefully over the edge is to be like a bird soaring over the ridge.

Question: Just who is setting off all of those fireworks that go off at all hours of the day?

Oaxaca City is a lovely place to be based. My small, centrally located apartment, down the street from the botanical gardens and one block from the Llano Park, is equidistant to both the zocolo and the Welte Institute, where my daily five and a half hour class is held. It's about halfway through the Mixteco course now. We are a motley crew from around the country, from various disciplines. The fourteen of us are from San Diego State, the sponsoring institution, as well as UC Davis and UC San Diego, Univ of New Mexico, Univ. of Wisconsin and Tulane. Are interests range from anthropology, to sociology, to art history, and latin american studies. Apart from looking at the language in a contemporary migration context, it's been interesting to see how it is used in the ancient codices. Who knew that Mixteco would be so popular?

From the varied license plates emanating from the zocolo, migrants from all parts of the U.S. were back for the three day festival in San Juan Mixtepec. The contemporary and the traditional are everpresent as older woman with their robozos walk hand in hand with their young children and grandchildren, who sport t-shirts with interesting English phrases like "squeeze me". The mixing of the religious and the nonreligious make for a curious combination, where everyone participates in the carnival, a big evening dance and fireworks at 5am. The afternoon church mass honoring the patron saint and the mayordomo (who paid for the fiesta) is followed by a street party, where beer and tapache, a fermented fruit punch, flow. Then, friends of the mayordomo descend for the ceremonial ritual dance with their chickens, decorated with multicolored ribbons before going to the field by the river where the chickens are strung up and left to dangle above, before getting their heads cut off by horsemen with swords - all in honor of patron St. John the Baptist, who as the story goes, was...beheaded.

Plan de Guadalupe, an hour on the way to San Juan Mixtepec, is about as big as a blink of an eye. To the west is the school. To the east is the town municipal building and a small store. Directly north is a beautiful vista, with an equally gorgeous one to the south.