For three days beginning on July 25th Beth and I celebrated the wedding of a dear friend's daughter in San Baltazar. We first met Epifanio, his wife Paula, and their eight children back in 1994. How frustrating it was trying to communicate with our very limited knowledge of Spanish. Needless to say our pocket translators were well used. Added to the problem was Paula's inability to speak Spanish. It would be years before she spoke outside of her native Zapotec. Beatrice, the bride, was three years old when we first met her. Through our twice a year trips down to Oaxaca we got to see her grow into the beautiful young lady that she now is. 

Beatrice and Marcos 

As Beth and I now have a home here we eat more traditional American meals. Three days of Oaxacan food was a little rough. In Mexico when an animal is killed it is eaten immediately so the flavor is much stronger than in the States. Also many foods are heavy on spices and chilies. It's kinda like a natural laxative.

Epifanio and his family are Seventh Day Adventist, consequently, missing at the celebration was the presence of any hard liquor, (a rarity here in the valley). Usually extended celebrations include lots and lots of drinking of mostly Mezcal. 

A couple of weeks after the wedding, Jacobo, Beatrice's brother, came to our house to do some brick work. During lunch Beth and I were horrified as Jacobo related Beatrice's new living conditions. The groom was from Mitla so the two are now living there. They reside in a one room home made of sheet metal. The floor is dirt. There is no running water so drinking water is carried in and bathing is done, (not so privately), in a nearby river. Meals are taken in the standing position as they have no chairs. A good nights sleep is hampered by the constant scurrying of rats around the room. 

A few days after our conversation with Jacobo three couples came to our home to visit. As we talked I mentioned in detail Beatrice's new living conditions. After I had finished I was surprised at the so-what looks I received. It turns out they all began their married lives in a similar manner. They saw nothing unique about Beatrice's life. I had some hard times growing up and remember starting out with little. My new perspective on "little" has shown me just how fortunate I have been. It's comforting to know that Beatrice is going to be fine. She and her husband will spend their lives working and making life for themselves and their future children as comfortable as they are able. They will grow up as fighters and will be proud of their accomplishments. 

I remember when America was more that way! Today in America they would be considered victims along with the other several other million that have been given that label. How strange that millions of Mexicans pass through life working hard and expect little from their government. Many Americans seem to feel they are unable to survive without government. In Mexico going without means that you haven't used your mind or your back sufficiently to obtain what you want. In America somehow the government hasn't done it's job if you lack for anything. 

The other day Beth and I took a walk East of our home. We passed by a well that is fed by an underground spring. Not too many years ago women from the surrounding villages came to the well to wash clothes. Dipping water from the well was much easier than drawing water from their deep wells a bucket at a time. Flat rocks surround the well to accommodate washing clothes. A major change here in the valley is most villages have a communal well. The water is pumped to a cistern and gravity fed to each home. This doesn't mean there is water in the house. Most faucets are in the yard where water is drawn for cooking and cleaning. Running water in a kitchen is almost unheard of. More and more people have updated to a more modern bathroom. More often than not these modern bathrooms entail having a faucet near by to fill a bucket to pour into the toilet to flush it. This means that they have installed some type of septic tank. Many kitchens here are separate structures away from the home. They are usually covered, have a gas stove, a local made wooden table, a way to cook with fire wood, and multiple multicolored plastic buckets filled with water to prepare food and clean. 

Our walk provided us with a view of our home that we normally don't see. 

Last week we took a ride to Xaaga, (pronounced Saw-gah), to see the sister Hacienda of our home. It too was built in the late 1600s. The Xaaga Hacienda is owned by the village and there is talk of restoring the site as a tourist attraction. The village is largely inhabited by ancestors of the people who worked at the old Hacienda. For that reason Zapotec is not spoken. The Spanish insisted that Spanish was the spoken language. What a treat it is to view structures that are over three hundred years old. While Beth and I enjoy the remaining structures of the Zapotec people we find the Spanish archaeological remains much more interesting. I suppose it's because they are more intact and there is less conjecture as to how they lived. 

Here is Beth and I in front of the Xaaga Hacienda

More pics of the Xaaga Hacienda can be found at  http://edeese.zenfolio.com/p148421161