Day Twenty - Teotitlan del Valle

Today I met a group of amazing women. We traveled for about an hour and a half…about an hour because of a road block in Oaxaca caused by demonstrators, and a half hour travel time to the small village once we were on the road.

First we stopped at a Mezcal distillery to see the process of making this type of alcohol. Mezcal is similar to tequila in flavor (although a bit more smoky), and is also made from an agave plant. The differences are that Tequila is made from the blue agave plant and Mezcal is made from the Espadin agave plant. Also, while both liquors include boiling the agave and putting it through a distillation process, the Espadin agave is roasted over a fire first (hence, the smoky taste).

After they showed us the step-by-step process, they brought out samples of Mezcal to taste, both the clear types and the cremas (flavored). I tried the regular Mezcal, followed by a sour orange dipped in worm salt (yes, the same worm that is usually seen at the bottom of the Mezcal bottles and which lives in the agave plant). I didn’t like it very much, but enjoyed the cremas…specifically the cappuccino flavor which reminded me a lot of Baileys.  Here's my face after trying the regular Mezcal with the worm salt:

After we left the Mezcal distillery, our group made its way down the road to the village of Teotitlan del Valle. We walked around the small square and walked in and out of the village church, which was beautifully decorated.

Then we arrived at a gate that said Vida Nueva. Vida Nueva is a Women’s Cooperative comprised of twelve local women who come together to weave rugs and other items, in addition to volunteering in the community. After serving us a delicious meal of soup, fresh tortillas, Oaxacan cheese, and chile rellenos (stuffed chile peppers), they sat down with us and described what they do.

Over the past few years, the group has designed various community service projects, including painting and hanging garbage cans around the village, sending gift baskets on Mother’s Day to local elderly women, and planting trees in the community. Then they described the process of making their rugs, including how they produce and spin the wool, the materials they use to create their dyes, and then using the standing loom to weave beautiful designs. I was so impressed by their work and fell in love with a particular design called “Sunset."  I purchased "Sunset" and Jacques purchased "Sunrise."  This is a purchase that I’m sure I will appreciate for the rest of my life. These women should be an inspiration to us all!

When we finally returned to Oaxaca, I took a quick walk to the local marketplace. Since I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, I didn’t experience the delicacy of fried grasshoppers. But today was my day! Many women sit with huge tubs of the grasshoppers – small, medium, or large – and sell them for quite a cheap price (10 pesos for a huge bag…that’s less than $1). I bought a chaser of Gatorade, but Alex wouldn’t let me use it. As it turns out though, I didn’t really need it. The grasshoppers (I bought the tiny ones), were quite tasty…a little on the salty side, with a bit of spice. They were much better than the fried ants…