La Guelaguetza

My pictures turned out really dark, but you can get the idea of what the Guelaguetza was like. It was also hard to take pictures of the dancers because by the time my camera was ready to take the picture they had already turned around or left my sight.
There were 15 different dances with new costumes each time. Each dance and costume represents a different region of Oaxaca. One of my favorite dances was of a region that believes that the woman is able to win the heart of her man by getting him drunk and lassoing him with a scarf. They acted this out really well.
I was glad that I went because I really enjoyed the dances and costumes, but the food was awful and expensive. I had ordered what they said was a yellow mole, but it had a transparent sauce and tasted nothing like mole. It was such a small portion that I decided to order a quesadilla too. You can`t screw up a quesadilla too much, but the guacamole was watery and the whole dish was extra salty. Oh well. I was going to eat somewhere else ahead of time, but I ended up calling Uriel and finding out that he had missed his flight out of Houston because of the immigration and baggage claim that kept him behind. By the time he got to Pheonix on a new flight, he had missed his original flight from there as well.
The airline gave him a new flight out of Pheonix, but not until 9:00 PM. I was on the phone with him and my mom trying to figure out how he would get home at that time. He was suppose to arrive at 3:00 PM if he hadn`t missed his original flight. I had the bright idea of calling Metro (where he works) and asking them when the last Hwy. 17 bus was leaving from San Jose. He ended up being able to catch it and said he even knew the driver. (What a surprise!) Nonetheless, I didn`t talk to him until about a hour ago, and last night I had nightmares about planes. Ug!

Anyway, back to the Guelaguetza. This is a picture of one of my favorite performances from last night. I was lucky enough to catch them in this pose when I took the picture. It turned out so cute, I just wish they weren`t so dark. Yes, I used a flash.
Each region brought a product that was special to their area. For some it was pineapple, pottery or weaved cloth. It was interesting to learn about the different goods that were special to the different areas and see their traditional clothing. I found the dresses and hair pieces to be the most impressive with all the colors and details.
There were a lot of students that didn`t end up going to the Guelaguetza because it was kind of expensive, and maybe they weren`t that interested. I sat and visited with some of the students on the trip that I haven`t spent a lot of time with and it was kind of refreshing to talk to new people.
I`m glad I went even though the food sucked and it was expensive because it was an experience very authentic to Oaxaca.