A Book Worth Having

Lots of things going on at Abrazo these days! We will update soon on our progress with our work in Oaxaca and Chiapas but in the meantime, a carrot….. If you’ve ever traveled  in Oaxaca, the Yucatan or Chiapas, you are familiar with the strange fruits, odd trees and crafts that are unique to this region. Author Svetlana Aleksandroff of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, has recently produced a visual delight of a book that identifies and celebrates the flora, legend and craft of the Mayan culture. “Plants in the Mayan Culture” covers everything from coconuts to incense burners in its richly designed pages, walking the reader through the use and traditions surrounding  plants in the region of the Maya. Don’t look for literature but enjoy the visual feast. Check for availability in the US on their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/plantsinthemayanculture

The Embroidered Box

The simple and beautiful Rococo-tee blouse, before modifying it.

A couple of weeks ago, Celina, my assistant in Oaxaca, informed me that a shipment of blouses we had been waiting for from Chiapas, Mexico had arrived. This was exciting for two reasons:

First, the women who make them live in a very remote pueblo where there are no phones and so our contact with them is difficult.

Second, we had asked them to make the blouses in a special way for us.

By “special” I mean we asked for them to NOT sew certain parts of the blouses together. I know that sounds odd but we

The possibilities are endless for what we can do with a diamond in the rough....

had been having such challenges with consistency in the construction of the blouses that we had decided it would be easier to finish them in Oaxaca with women we trained.

So, these blouses were to have the basic box shape, neck hole, and embroidered front with  sides unsewn. Well, the blouses did come in as we had ordered with a little “bonus”…..what looked to be a large bite taken out of the sides of each blouse (maybe done with a knife?). When asked, it turns out they were trying to “help” us in determining where to stitch the arm hole…..sigh…..

That little added “detail” to the blouse altered the way we had to finish it, but in the end, we came up with something beautiful.

Consistency in sizing and patterning remains a huge challenge in these regions. In reality, these concepts are very foreign to indigenous artisans in Oaxaca and Chiapas, which seems especially odd considering how textile traditions have dominated these cultures for centuries.

So, we take the hard part out of the equation and deliver blouses that are sized and well adapted to our American bodies for them to embroider. Easy, RIGHT?

In Pursuit of the Holy Grail….Information

If you read this blog you are familiar with my stories of the challenges involved in doing business in a foreign culture, especially in a developing country. Communication with the indigenous artisans we

Catalina delivering blouses from her village.

work with is often fraught with misunderstandings and assumptions about time, quality standards, commitment, and trust. The results are often comical, and in the end, we almost always compromise and move on with faith that we are all learning.

However, there’s another ongoing, rather curious challenge: our quest for new information and people’s willingness to share it.

Question: “Have you seen this blouse before?”

Answer: “I couldn’t say.”

Question: “We were told Rosita Ortiz made it. Do you know her?”

Answer: “Ah, I don’t know.”

Question: Do you know anyone who could help us find her?”

Answer: “No”

Or: “Have you seen this fabric before?”

Answer: “Maybe.”

Question: “Do you know where we can buy this fabric?”

Answer: “No idea.”

And so it goes.

In general, the artisans we work with in Oaxaca and Chiapas communicate well with us in all matters concerning the work we do together except when it comes to sourcing materials or the maker of a new product we have discovered. Of course, this complicates our work immensely, as one cannot just pick up the yellow pages or Google the things we need in these rural areas. So we spend weeks tracking down the meager scraps of information we are provided, only to find, for example, that Rosita, the woman who made the blouse, is the sister-in-law of the person we originally asked, and the new fabric we are searching for is being sold only a block away behind an unmarked door.

I realized, eventually, that these roadblocks and detours are created in the interest of job security. They are driven by the understandable fear that comes from generations of poverty and the insecurity of not knowing what tomorrow may bring.

We have learned to respect this, and to expect the extra time it takes to earn the trust of the people whose skills we value highly. Working together, we can create more long-term opportunities for everyone.

A Few of my Favorite Things in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

This is by no means a “top 10″ list (maybe we’ll just start with 5) but these are some of the things I love to do/eat on my regular

Shopping! My favorite thing...

trips to San Cristobal for our work with  indigenous artisans from the highlands. ( I will be back there in a week and no doubt will have more to add…)

1. Wander. It is such an amazing city, well preserved from colonial times with high points to climb to, back streets to explore, and unprecedented people watching…The indigenous people (the majority of the population), especially the women, still dress in traditional clothing of their villages. Men from the warmer lowlands walk the chilly high altitude streets  bare-legged in hand woven tunics, and those from high altitudes walk the same streets in furry, sheep felt rugs that look like bear skins. —very fun and challenging to sort by their costumes, (see http://bit.ly/yBfkUg    for a fabulous lo res pdf book about these people and their textiles by Chip Morris, currently only available at Na Bolom museum/B&B in San Cristobal).

2. Eat French pastries. Not to be missed on the Real Guadalupe, made by real French people!

3. Cruise the markets… WOW! Santo Domingo (every day though the government is threatening to relocate it), the Mercado de Dulces (an indoor sweets and craft market, great on any day but especially rainy days) are the two big ones.

4. Slurp frozen yogurt sticks at the creamery (right) off of Real Guadalupe where there is also a daily vegetable market, hmm, near where the walking street ends).

5. Visit the locals market. (You can find it in any guide book) Huge and full of interesting things to see, but, like any market, be vigilante for pick pockets, etc. and be careful about taking photos. Many people take great offense at taking pictures of them or even their wares. Ask (you will probably have to pay) but even if you just wander through, it is fascinating.

More stories and pictures in a few weeks!

The Civilized Art of Riding Buses in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico

I’ve had a lot of people ask me recently about taking buses in Oaxaca and Chiapas so I think it’s time to weigh in. First, this information isn’t necessarily true for all of Mexico, I’m just speaking from personal experience living there. I’m also not an expert on the second class buses. Hey, I’m over 50, I’m done with chicken buses!

Compared to the US, Mexico has traveling by bus totally dialed. The buses (first class) generally run regularly, service lots of cities,  are clean, new (ish), and offer many levels of service to choose from.

When was the last time you were on a bus and the driver, dressed in a suit, came into the passenger compartment to give a welcome speech describing their services, itinerary, and offering to be of service if there were any concerns? (Okay, back again to the fact that I no longer ride the chicken buses.)

One bus company that I love and use regularly which I also find reasonable is ADO, www.ado.mx They basically control the market in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and I am guessing the rest of Mexico. You can check schedules online and if you’re lucky, buy a ticket online if their system is working (this rarely works for me). I LOVE the Platino service which is like riding business class on a plane, wellll, maybe not EXACTLY like that  but for a bus, pretty darn good:  personal video, cushy reclining seats, etc. The GL service is also very comfortable. Cost isn’t bad either. I can take a bus RT to Mexico City from Oaxaca for about $90.

As for safety (everyone’s concern) all I can say is that I have never had a problem, ever. This may seem like a commercial for this bus company but seriously,  I have ridden the bus (different first class companies) during times of strife, even all night buses by myself during times of strife and believe me, the bus doesn’t leave the station if it’s not safe on the road…That has been my experience…

I regularly take the night bus to and from Oaxaca and San Cristobal de las Casas, and for those of you wanting to visit both cities, it is perfect. The bus leaves around 8:30 in the evening and arrives around 8 am, either way.

Something that I find wonderfully unique about the bus experience in Mexico compared to the States is that is on long trips when two drivers are required, one crawls into a little cubby under the bus next to the luggage and sleeps while the other drives. The drivers switch every 4 hours or so. When you wake up at your destination, they are there, in their suits, wishing you good travels…

Recommendations? Buy your ticket ahead of time for better seat choices (trust me, it will matter when you are at the back of the bus for hours of curvy roads and smelly toilets), dramamine, sleeping aids if it’s a long trip, long pants and a fleece jacket as they are always over air conditioned, and ear plugs/buds.(If you are on the economy first class buses, movies (often gory ones) are played constantly over the sound system so there is no escape.)

Down side? At the end of the day, it’s still THE BUS.

Do you have stories about buses in Mexico? I’d love to share them with our readers! Please comment or post on my FB page http://on.fb.me/kgQvzE

Thanks for a Great Year From All of Us!

Happy New Year to our friends and supporters of ABRAZOstyle/ Latin Threads! As the year closes we’d like to thank you for your ongoing interest in our work in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico and give you a short update of what we’ve been up to.

My blogs have been painfully few his last year due to all the attention we have been giving to creating a market for our artisans’ work here in the States, but I will endeavor to post more in the coming year…A good New Year resolution, I’d say!

We are very excited to report that we’ve had a fantastic year with very positive growth in the company and in our circle of  artisans.  Our hand crafted , socially responsible clothing and accessories for the worldly woman are now found in boutiques, specialty gift stores, museum stores, high end garden stores, and even zoos on the west coast, parts of the southwest, the midwest and east coast,  but there is still much to be done!

Plans for 2012 include continued growth in the communities we work with in Mexico as well as expanding into larger markets in the US.

The embroidery classes we started in October in our village of San Pablo Etla, Oaxaca have been going extraordinarily well. (See pictures) The group is now up to a maximum size of 15 members with our most advanced students producing hugely improved, beautiful work. Thank you Ayuda (the NGO sponsoring the classes). In the coming year we will be working with the women to help them to create their own designs and products to market through ABRAZO in the States.

We are also continuing to expand our work with families of women in small villages in the highlands of Chiapas.  Look for some their new and traditional blouses this spring on our web site along with new designs and colors in our totes and scarves. Lots of surprises coming!

We appreciate your sharing what we do with others and, as always, we welcome your comments and suggestions!

If you are interested in following us on Facebook, just click on this link and you’ll get the latest updates as they happen!

http://on.fb.me/kgQvzE

Thank you once again for your interest and encouragement. Abrazos (hugs) from all of us and best wishes for a bright and successful year!

Adele and the ABRAZOstyle Team

Oh, I almost forgot. If you are interested in joining us in Oaxaca this year on a socially responsible shopping tour, please let us know.

The Practice of Stitches, Patience, and Cooperation

The first meeting of the group.

Several months ago, with the support of a small non profit group called AYUDA, the ladies of San Pablo Etla began embroidery classes. It was their decision. The non profit asked me what the group needed and I had my own idea. I thought it would be fantastic for the women to learn to sew on sewing machines and to create clothing (as well as embroidery) to sell. More skills, more income, right? Well, I was pretty off base. When my assistant, Celina, and I had a meeting with the group to discuss the modest funding AYUDA was offering, I gave them my suggestion of what we could do with the money. They nervously looked at one another until one of them spoke up. “What we really want to is to be the best ‘bordadoras’

Abigail, Marta's daughter, joins in the class for fun.

“(embroiderers). They said they “had so much to learn” and wanted to improve upon the skills they were building. Only later would it come out that they were also intimidated to take this on for fear of failure.

What has transpired over the past months has been very interesting. The teacher for the group (a young and very congenial local woman) who has an impressive repertoire of stitches, started the group on some of the more difficult stitches (at their request) and they are moving through them with great enthusiasm. Of the 8 or so women we started with, several have dropped out due to jealousy and envy (a common theme in my blog), but others have made remarkable improvement and are now taking on more difficult embroidery projects. Though their work is not yet at the level of the women of Chiapas who have embroidered for generations*, they are developing a beautiful, consistent style which we will be introducing online this spring in our new beach cover up.

Word has it that a few of the women are interested in trying the sewing machine now but they remain intimidated by the machine and are afraid of breaking it. We will see what develops on this front.The challenge remains to continue to supply these women with work so that they can continue to develop their skills and provide for their families.

On a parting note, Marta, our star of San Pablo, actually paid for the addition of a bedroom to their home from the money she earned embroidering. Humble though it may be (made from corrugated metal with a dirt floor), the pride in her face was obvious when she showed us around. Of course, for fear of shaming her husband, she didn’t mention who paid for it. Celina just whispered the great news to me as we were leaving.

*In fact, a number of the families we work with in Chiapas actually have 4 generations of women sewing in the family.