Summer in Patzcuaro

It is summer in the highlands of Michoacan in central Mexico. It is the rainy season. Patzcuaro and the surrounding countryside are lush and green. We get a year-round crop of avocados in our garden at La Jacaranda, as well as a multitude of flowers. The temperature will get into the low 70s Fahrenheit this afternoon, wonderful for walking around this colonial pueblo at 7200 feet of altitude. Tonight the temperature will drop to about 58 Fahrenheit, good for cozy sleeping with a light blanket. Most days bring us rain showers, but most days also grace us with sunshine. Life is good.

The Violin Makers of Paracho

My cousin JL in Dordogne, France, makes violons--for his own pleasure, not commercially. He has to order the wood from elsewhere in Europe. This made me think of Paracho, located about 60 kms northwest of Patzcuaro in Michoacan, Mexico.

Paracho is known for the manufacture of stringed instruments, primarily but not solely guitars. Every year Paracho holds a festival of string music, usually during the first half of the month of August. People come from Mexico and other countries and one can attend excellent concerts free of charge.

http://www.xiranhua.com.mx/afotos/Feria.htm

http://www.emexico.gob.mx/work/EMM_1/Michoacan/Mpios/16065a.htm

Glen and I drove to Paracho on a search for violin makers. We met a very nice woman who, with her husband, makes and sells guitars. She also had a few violins for sale. La Señora told us that violins are made in a pueblo called Ahuiran just three kilometers away, but that only Purhepecha is spoken there. The violin makers of Ahuiran bring their violins to the stores in Paracho to sell. She also said that there is only one violin maker in Paracho and he went away to study his craft. She told us to go the Guitar Monument, turn left on Calle Amado Nervo and go 1 1/2 blocks. On Amado Nervo we spoke to a store owner who pointed out the house (we thought we were going to his shop) of Pedro Zalapa, also called "Pelochas." Sr. Zalapa received us with great Mexican courtesy although we arrived unannounced on a Sunday afternoon.

Sr. Zalapa makes and repairs violins. His customers come directly to him and, no, he does not have an internet site. He said that there is the same problem of obtaining quality wood in Mexico, and if he imports it then the instruments are generally too expensive for the Mexican market. He showed us a violin he had just made. The body is of encino and the top of oyamel. It sells for ca. US $ 750--Pesos 8,000. There is a need for more inexpensive violins for beginning students.

The woods Sr. Zalapa uses primarily are:

1) Oyamel (Abies religiosa). Sacred fir: A fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico; this is the tree where the monarch butterflies hibernate in Michoacan.

2)Cedro rojo (Cedrela odorata). Spanish cedar.

3) Cipres (Cupressus sempervirens). Italian Cypress

4) Encino (genus: Quercus). Some type of oak.

We drove through Ahuiran on leaving Paracho, but we did not see the violin workshops which I would expect to be located behind peoples' homes and not open on Sunday afternoon, in any event.

Adobe Bricks

Driving from Patzcuaro to Erongaricuaro to have a delicious trucha al mojo de ajo (trout sauted in garlic) at the Restaurante Campestre Aleman we spied a good crop of adobe bricks curing in the sun. Adobe has good thermal qualities and lasts well if properly topped off with tiles to keep it from getting saturated by rain. Adobe is mud made from a clay soil with straw added. Don't try this at home during the rainy season--you will end up with what looks like wet cow pies.

Choose your Chair

Each pueblo in the Patzcuaro area specializes in a craft. Opopeo, just a few minutes away by car, specializes in making--yes--chairs. The town even has an annual Chair Fair. But you just get the chair. First, you order the chairs. Then you pick up the chairs. Next you take the chairs to be painted. And finally you cart the chairs home to enjoy. To finish our chairs, we used a young man and young woman in Patzcuaro who paint remarkable free-hand decorations. This pretty chair would brighten up any breakfast!

Theatre in the Colonial Pueblo of Patzcuaro

Theatre in Patzcuaro -Teatro en Patzcuaro
Te juro Juana que tengo ganas
(I swear, Juana, that I have an itch for you)

Play by Emilio Carballido

Patzcuaro is full of surprises, you just have to figure out by the tortuous chayote-vine where and when to find them. The Grupo Echeri Teatro (echeri means our land in Purhepecha) is performing Emilio Carballido’s comedy in April and May 2007, under the auspices of CEDRAM (Centro Dramatico de Michoacan). We saw the play. It was entertaining--and funny! A good parody.

The small, simple theatre adjacent to CREFAL on Avenida Lazaro Cardenas is a cozy venue. The grounds are lovely, and I enjoy these gatherings of Patzcuarense audience and actors.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Carballido

Patzcuaro: Construction Tools for Tomas, Diego and Ari

If you are headed for Patzcuaro's Plaza Chica to one of the hardware stores, one of these may be what you are seeking.

Construction Tools - English-Spanish

Bolt - Tornillo

--Head = cabeza

--Nut = tuerca

--Threaded rod = rosca

C-clamp - Prensa en C

Crescent wrench - Perico

--Thumbscrew = tornillo

--Handle = mango

Drill bit, auger - Broca salomónica

Drill bit, twist -Broca

Drill, electric - Taladro eléctrico

--Pistol grip handle = mango

--Auxiliary handle = mango auxiliar

--Switch = interruptor

--Switch lock = seguro del interruptor

Framing square - Escuadra

Hammer, carpenter’s - Martillo de carpintero

Hammer, claw - Martillo de uña

--Claw = uña--Handle = mango

Handsaw - Serrucho

--Blade = segueta

--Handle = asa

Ladder, extension - Escalera de extensión

--Locking device = broche

--Hoisting rope = cuerda de elevación

--Rung = travesaño

--Anti-slip shoes = zapata antideslizante

Ladder, platform - Escalera de plataforma

Ladder, step - Escalera de tijera

Level - Nivel

Mallet - Mazo

Nail - Clavo

Paint roller - Rodillo de pintor

Paint scraper - Raspador

Paint tray - Bandeja

Pliers, channel-lock - Alicates de extensión

--Adjustable channel = canal de ajuste

Pliers, needle-nose - Pinzas de punta

Pliers, vice-grips (locking pliers) - Alicates de presión

--Adjusting screw = tornillo de ajuste

--Release lever = liberador del seguro

Pliers, slip joint - Pinzas de pivote móvil

--Plier handles = mango

Saw, circular - Sierra circular

--Circular saw blade = disco de sierra circular

--Blade = disco

--Trigger switch = interruptor de gatillo

--Blade tilting mechanism = escala de inlinación

Screw - Tornillo

Screwdriver - Destornillador

Tape measure - Cinta de medir

See also http://www.novinger.com/patz-homes.htm

Oops. It must be the language barrier.

Señora V. speaks some English. She commented that she understands written English more easily than spoken English. It holds still. During a conversation, an americana asked her if there are many Muslims in the Patzcuaro region. “Sí,” Señora V. said she replied in careful English. “We have them domesticated and wild. We eat many. They are very tasty.” When she listened attentively to what must have seemed a torrent of foreign sound, the phonemes of Muslims and mushrooms apparently merged for Señora V.

Guitar Concerts in Patzcuaro

Tucked away in the central highlands of Mexico, the pueblo of Patzcuaro affords us surprising nuggets of cultural pleasure. In April 2007, the XVII International Guitar Festival of Morelia extended into Patzcuaro for three nights of free concerts at the ex-Colegio Jesuita. Cuban, Argentine and Italian guitarists wrapped us in music. The Italian Eon Guitar Quartet, three men and a woman, played with panache. The four guitarists turned out crisply attired in tux with white tie, a delightful tribute to this colonial town based in Purhepecha culture. The Eon spokesman introduced each piece in what he said would be slow Italian so that the Spanish-speaking audience might understand. Fortunately he made this accommodation, because his slow Italian raced along as fast as the musicians' fingers over their guitar strings. International guitarristas and repertoire in Patzcuaro. What a treat for three crisp Spring evenings!

eonguitarquartet.com/repertorio.htm

They build colonial houses in Patzcuaro

It is Sunday. The morning sun quickly warms the day. Church bells toll sonorously across this mountain pueblo at intervals, as they do every day, but today on Callejon del Sol no construction sounds punctuate their peals. The albañiles (construction workers) rest or play on Sunday after a six-day work week. On week-days they come at 7:30 am, have an early comida around 1:00 pm, and leave at 5:30 pm. They take other breaks during the day. All of them, from the most skilled to the peón who is the lowest in their hierarchy and hefts heavy loads of the traditional cement, brick and bright ceramic tiles, come dressed in neat clothes and change on site to work. They change back into street clothes—their public face—whenever they leave the work site.
Saturday concludes the work week. The albañiles are paid in cash every Saturday promptly at 2:00 pm and they leave for the day. Men vie to work at Callejon del Sol; jobs are not easy to find in Patzcuaro. Furthermore, the albañiles know that they can rely on receiving their pay in full every Saturday, which is not always the local norm. Maestro Vicente is exacting and himself works hands-on with the men to build these colonial houses. The Maestro can immediately replace anyone who slacks off from a ready and eager pool of workers with experience.

See http://www.novinger.com/Patz-solyluna.htm

Living, playing and building houses in Patzcuaro

I have, as does my husband, Glen, many years of experience in real estate and in international business, particularly in Mexico and South America. We fell in love with Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico, and bought an abandoned house which we renovated. We moved into La Jacaranda, to enjoy this colonial pueblo with its Purhepecha indigenous presence. We then built, using traditional materials, a few colonial style homes to sell. Each is designed specifically for its location and is unique. Watch this site for some tales of living, playing and building in Patzcuaro.

P.S. We have extensively traveled in Mexico for decades and settled in Patzcuaro in early 2004.