PEOPLE AND PLACES

I met Don Toribio by divine work, at the church of San Luis Amatlán, Oaxaca. Who would have imagined that the altar boy was also the best mezcalero teacher in the community. He invited me to his house, showed me his field of agaves and the palenque that belonged to his family for so many years. It was after a good talk that he decided to share with me one of his greatest treasures; Different varieties of mezcal, distilled by him, with more than 25 years of aging. Espadín, Tobalá, Arroqueño, Jabali, De puntas, Ensambles ... This was a such a unique gift, I must confess I'm not sure when I´ll have another chance to drink such good and sincere mezcales.

Last year, while traveling through Oaxaca, I met the Martinez family in the San Miguel cemetery. They went to visit his wife and mother, who had left this world several years ago. They told me the history of the place, and showed me tombs of writers, musicians and military generals. They had flowers and three smiles to leave at the tomb, their energy was so beautiful that filled the place with joy ... the perfect attitude to greet someone who has not been visited in a long time.

Pluma Hidalgo is a coffee town in the highest part of the mountain range of Oaxaca. For someone like me that loves coffee, was like reaching a little piece of heaven, a paradise between the Mezcales area and the Pacific coast of Mexico. Celsos's business is at the central square, he sells the coffee that his family grows. While we were having an espresso, he told me his plan to export coffee to all parts of the world, and what the producers have done to get ahead with the lack of interest of the goverment for the agricutlture in the region, the plagues cofffee plants and the damages caused by the hurricane Paulina. Although many people live in poverty, their spirit is kind, shared and light ... like a feather.

I met Isabel in downtown Oaxaca, surrounded by textiles made with different techniques and from various regions, her style contrasted with the entire place and at the same time, she looked like part of the expo. She saw me carrying my camera and asked if I could take a picture of her. Isabel is teacher of statistics at the State University and has become a big fan of the crafts made in Oaxaca, this passion is so big that every time she has a chance, she becomes a tourist in her own city; visiting galleries, learning about her people, traditions and expressions.

Looking for a location for a project I stumble upon Martin Castez workshop, an Argentinian shoemaker living in Queretaro. While he kept working on a pair of shoes he told me how he decided to quit his job as finances advisor to do what he really wanted. Although is taking time for his designs to become well known, he was very happy and that was all that mattered. 

I met Nataly and Rodrigo at the basketball curt near by the Benito Juárez stadium in the city of Oaxaca. These brothers are accomplices of the same dream, to become professional players. They told me school for them is complicated; with the strikes, the teachers' union, its conflicts and some classes. I asked them to pose because their energy was contagious, it was obvious this place makes them really happy and that's what drove me to meet them. Although they are not fully aware of what is happening in Mexico and how it affects them, they know perfectly well that it is up to them to change their destiny.

Martha lives in downtown Campeche, a walled city off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico where Spanish and English pirates once fought. I met her while she was buying the newspaper from delivery man right in the comfort of her window. I looked out of curiosity, wanted to know what the important news was in a city I barely knew. She told me about how the area has been transformed; now the houses have very colorful facades, although inside are old and affected by humidity. As a good reader Martha is critic of what happens in her city and considers that the denomination of Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, was just another opportunity for politicians and business man to continue enriching themselves.

Nothing happens by chance, right at the beginning of my mezcales journey in the highlands of Oaxaca I met Joel, heir to a family tradition to which today he prints his desire to innovate. The adventure began with him, it was around 11am and the first seven mezcales I drank were his own distillation. Curiously, Joel and I met a few years ago, when I distributed Vice magazine at La Milagrosa and so, miraculously, I found myself again with this mezcalero teacher who did not stop inviting me to try all the varieties he had with him ... you can imagine how that gathering ended.

Edson Lechuga is from Pahuatlán, a town located up in the Sierra Norte of Puebla, on the east side of Mexico. I met him during the presentation of his book “I dreamed death last night”, in which I was in charge of media operations. Edson has a very peculiar way to give importance to words, not only because he is a writer, but by giving them a special roll within his narrative. For those who knows Mexico well, his stories resembles unique characters from its social and cultural landscape.

I met the Sanchez brothers by chance, a simple turn to the right in San Baltazar Chichicapam took me directly to their palenque. They told me about their family, the tradition of making mezcal, about loving and caring for the land. We drank Espadín and Tobalá ... ahhh how much I miss those mezcales! landscape.

I met Raymundo while he was carving a piece of copal wood; he seemed to be in a trance, using his hands to project the imaginary that inhabits his mind. He learned to make Alebrijes when he was seven years old thanks to his family tradition. Ray is currently 27 and works in the workshop of Jacobo and María Ángeles in the community of San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca; he is proud of his work, of the things he has learned and that he now teaches to new generations. What he likes the most about the process is to be surprised by his own creativity; he confessed to me that sometimes when he starts carving, he does not even know what the final result will be.