Guelaguetza

Our two weeks in Oaxaca are over, and we are back home in the US. I plan to write several more blogposts about this vacation, but the semester will be starting soon, so please don't hold your breath.

In the meantime, you may have noticed that even though the two weeks of our vacation corresponded with the heart of the Guelaguetza activities in Oaxaca, I havent written about it at all. Certainly that is the reason we scheduled our vacation as we did, and we attended the main Guelaguetza in the stadium on the first Monday and a 'smaller' (but still very crowded and hectic) performance in Zaachila on the second Monday. And they were both amazing, overwhelming experiences, so it would be natural to devote many words of blogposts to them. But I haven't.

That's because it is hard to figure out what to say. On one hand, there is so much information about the Guelaguetza online that it is hard to figure out what new there is to say -- groups come from all seven (or is it eight? different sources seem to differ) regions of the state of Oaxaca to perform their traditional dances and music in a giant festival. And there is lots of excitement and energy and the dancers throw gifts into the crowd. And you can find great photos all over the Google.

On the other hand, these pictures and words do not really do it justice, as the event is overwhelming (mostly in good ways) and a sensory experience that is unlike things I have experienced -- certainly the mock Guelaguetza events thrown by several restaurants in town do not do it justice at all. But better writers than I cannot really capture it in blog form, so I don't even think I can try. Except to say that if you are at all interested in Oaxacan culture (or even Mexican culture. Or just culture in general), I recommend planning a vacation around the Guelaguetza some July.