San Andrés Solaga

     On November 12th 2012, my mom and I went to San Andrés Solaga .  San Andrés Solaga is a pueblo in Sierra Norte and has only 1,600 people.   The Sierra Norte is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. 
    We went there because my mom was taking photos of a workshop for high school students.
    The bus we took was a second class bus with no restroom on board. It took about 4 hours each way.  The veeeery road was bumpy and curvy through the high mountains! 
In Solaga I liked seeing a little baby sheep who nibbled on my pinky and a shepherd dog who came to check on his sheep when they were bleating.  Their bleating sounded like the word "baaaaaad."
The one thing I did not like was how cold it was in the night and we barely had any blankets.  
It was a great adventure!

This is me walking next to the town iglesia (church in Spanish)

Dia de los Muertos

    Last Friday was "Dia de los Muertos".   Dia de los Muertos is a world wide  holiday(was originated in Mexico) where friends and family gather at the cemetery to honor the deceased.  They also create altars decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds and favorite food and drink of the family members who have died.  They celebrate this holiday on the 31st of October and the 1st and 2nd of November.

    

    We went to two Comparsas in our pueblo, San Pablo Etla.  A comparsa is a party where bands walk to different houses, where there is open space, to play music.  Performers in costume dance and represent different spiritual characters like el diablo (the devil) with goat antlers and Calaveras (skeletons). The first was much better than the second because it was dark and that made the dancing and mood creepier.   Here is a video of our comparsa so you can hear the music and see the dancing.
At the comparsa  my friend Hank and I tried to pull one of el diablo's tails.  At school, we made an altar and we also got to have tamales and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) for lunch. 

this is a dancer holding a turkey

this is a kid dressed up as a skeleton Mariachi member(Mexican band)

this is a tuba player in a comparsa 
walking down the street

this is part of our altar