June 15th
Today Dr. G invited us to go to a concert in a cafe held by a band he knows very well. The group is called Raices (Roots) they play traditional music from the Veracruz area. It’s kind of call and response but also improvisation, it reminds me of music from Colombia. I wonder if it has African diasporic roots because of the style and instruments used. It was a trip and a half to get to this cafe though. First six of us fit into one taxi which took to the wrong destination but not too far off. We were a little late because of traffic, but now having to find our way there would make it worse. The taxi driver took us to the panoramico, which is practically outside the city. This area of the city is on top of hills that were pretty steep so we had to be careful. Always getting a good workout in Oaxaca.
Some officers directed us to a tunnel we had to go through in order to get to our destination since we couldn’t cross the highway, but I’m glad we went through that taxi ordeal because the tunnel was covered in street art! Once we finished observing the art, we finally went back on task and made our way up and down the hills to get to the cafe. We were surprisingly on time, because the group arrived the same time we did. We even had time to order drinks. The performance was great and featured a dancing troupe from a Zapotec town. I felt like dancing the whole time I was listening to the group. After the show we decided to get some dinner with Dr. G and we were able to walk from the cafe to the center. While we were walking down we saw that one house was super colorful and was playing their music loudly, so we could tell it was a special event. It ended up being a birthday party to which we were all graciously invited, but we had to say no. After walking for a good 15 minutes, we found the place, which had great tacos and salsas. Unfortunately the name escapes me, but tortas are in the name. It was a great night, but we had to leave pretty early to get up for our excursion the next day.
Song: Maria Chuchena – Son Jarocho
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