Village Stay at Vida Nueva

Zac xtili! ('buenos dias' en Zapoteco) We are feeling a little strange adjusting to life in Oaxaca city since spending our past week in the small weaving community of Teotitlan. We still find ourselves wanting to shake hands and say hello as we pass people on the streets. When we first arrived to Teotitlan we were graciously welcomed into the Vida Nueva Women's Weaving Cooperative by our moms: Pastora, Petrona, Senaida, Rufina, Teresa, Isabel, Maria, and Sofia. They all made us feel like part of the family and community the minute we got there. We had a brief talk about how Sofia started the cooperative to provide new opportunities through weaving for the women of Teotitlan, and how these progressive ladies were able to learn

and be open about the traditionally taboo subjects like domestic violence, sexuality, and alcoholism. We also got to hear about their annual service projects like planting trees, painting buckets with positive messages to encourage trash separation, and delivering baskets of food to mothers on Mother's Day.

Each mother took in one (or two!) of us eager children for the week and allowed us to participate in daily activities with them. Some of our activities included dehusking and degraining corn, doing dishes, cooking meals, planting seeds, making tortillas and shopping for food at the market. Because each of us had a different family and we didn't have many pre-planned activities, our schedules varied. Every morning at the market we would see other UVM gueros shuffling along behind their tiny mothers, and exchange a brief 'zac xtili!', handshake, and smile before buying the rest of our food for the day. You could be sure to spot Danielle with her mother and little sister (Milca) selling their fresh tortillas that they had made earlier that morning. You could also always spot Stefan and Joe towering above all the petite older Mexican women. If one of us was unfortunately separated from our mother in the market, it was nearly impossible to relocate her among the other Zapotec women wearing identical dresses, mandiles (aprons) and rebosos (scarves) that covered their baskets. Other activities included a talk about traditional healing and another about the weaving process using natural dyes.

We ended our week with a really great talk with Charlie (aka Carlos) about his migration story. We drove to his one room brick house that he is building by hand and sat on his concrete floor while listening to the twenty-eight year old man recount his life story to a bunch of us white kids. While he looked so young, he had so many experiences and hardships that he was willing to share with us. He first went to the United States at the ripe old age of three because his mother fled from his abusive father. He grew up in California amongst gangs and violence, and he found himself in a bit of trouble. He was in a getaway car during someone else's robbery, so while the trial was pending, he spent more than six months in jail. However, when released from jail, Charlie was deported and therefore, he was unable to report himself to the parole officer. He is now unable to return to the States for twenty years, where he had to leave behind his two daughters. Despite all that he has gone through, his face lit up when we started talking about basketball. Even though his is so young, he has had a lot of time to reflect on his life and change into an honest person that the community of Teotitlan can depend on and trust. He is currently working on building a home for his daughters on the land that he inherited from his uncle. It was quite an experience listening to his story and hearing about his impressions of our country. Although we didn't have many traditional classes throughout the week, we certainly learned a lot about Teotitlan, family life and Vida Nueva by living in home stays and being a part of the community.

Brought to you by Stefan, Joe, Sophie, Sam, Shana, Ashley Hill, Marisa, and Danielle!