Typical deep blue Oaxacan skies.
One thing you can almost always count on in Oaxaca is blue skies.
For me, coming from Oregon in winter, I can’t tell you what joy that simple fact brings me. Life, in general, seems more rosy and, well, sunny! The rhythm of the pueblo is the same as are the sounds and smells.
I just returned from a lovely evening in the zocalo (town plaza) where lots of people were milling around amidst music, colorful balloons, and the remains of the massive Christmas celebration.
Today we made the rounds to lots of fabric wholesalers only to discover that, due to the heavy rains, the cotton crop of Mexico was lost in previous months and manufacturers of thread and fabric are sending prices through the roof twice — once a few weeks ago and another big jump will happen next week.
As a result, we are buying and stockpiling like squirrels. In many stores, there is no cotton fabric to be found because store owners have put their stock of fabric back into their warehouses, waiting for prices to go up in order to maximize profits.
It appears Mexico is importing cotton from the U.S. or parts beyond and, as a result, prices are jumping somewhere around 20 to 30 percent. So, we are thinking of making our blouses 20 to 30 percent shorter in order to make up for the increase in prices… just kidding!
Artist, traveler, and social entrepreneur, Adele Hammond divides her time between Hood River, Oregon and the home where her heart is, Oaxaca, Mexico. The raw texture and color of Mexico became a part of her life when a year abroad with her family in a small Zapotec pueblo outside the city of Oaxaca gradually evolved into an extraordinary five.
Adele blogs about the culture, the crafts, and the people of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico as well as her experiences in working with indigenous artisans there. Her travels take her down the back roads and into the workshops and homes of these people, where their diverse, ancient traditions and crafts are still being practiced today.
Her business, Latin Threads Trading, showcases and brings to a world market the work of these talented artisans while encouraging enterprise and empowering individuals to flourish independently and through their communities.
