Time Out in 2019 named the barrio among the 50 coolest neighbourhoods in the world
Menu
An old Mexican proverb says, El amor entra por los ojos, “Love comes through the eyes.” Is this what life could be, wakening to the high-altitude light in the oldest community in the city of Oaxaca in the tiny neighbourhood of Jalatlaco, low-slung colonial buildings bursting with colour, street art vividly provocative, family-owned shops, a yoga studio! This was not a daydream; it was our daily happiness for fourteen days in January. This was not magical realism; it was the reassuring reality that magical places still exist.
Formerly a Zapotec village,the name Jalatlaco was derived from the Nahuatl word Xalatlauhco, meaning sandbank. Although there’s no sign of it today, a river used to run through the middle of town, all year, or just a few months, depending on rainfall.
El que nace para tamal, del cielo le caen las hojas (A Mexican proverb that means, literally, if you’re born to be a tamale, the leaves will fall from the sky, meaning if it’s meant to be, it will be.)
“Here in Mexico they see only the present. This communion of eyes and smiles is elating… the mind is quiet, the nights are lullabies, the days are like gentle ovens in which infinitely wise sculptor’s hands re-form the lost contours.” Anaïs Nin
Jalatlaco was famous for its tanning industry (particularly leather saddles) from the late nineteenth century-middle of the twentieth century.
Homes are 15-200 years old and are single-family; there are no condos. Garages can’t be added to any building more than 100 years old.
The exterior architecture and colour schemes of its eighteenth and nineteenth century houses (50% of the buildings) are protected by the federal government’s Instituto Nacional de Antropologíae Historia.
“The Mexican is familiar with death. He jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it. It is one of his favorite toys and his most steadfast love.” Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat
Estudio 711 Yoga. Spice is taking Alosja’s classes online three days a week, so you can guess how much she likes her unique style of alignment yoga.
Visiting Þingvellir, spelled Thingvellir in English because the Icelandic letter Þ is pronounced like th in English, was one of the highlights of our trip.
The sun and the movement of the earth—the oldest phenomena our naked eyes can see. Imagine an artist whose life’s quest is to show us
After a 63-day-round-the-world trip to Oman, Bhutan and New Zealand, the question most everyone asks us is, “What did you like best?” While it feels unfaithful to choose just one when each of these unique countries surpassed our (high) expectations, here’s the long answer to why Oman’s Empty Quarter won the lottery.
When we first saw Joshua Tree National Park and its eponymous Joshua trees, the autumnal landscape had the burnished glow of copper. We, like many
One of the joys of hiking in Europe compared to most anywhere else in the world is the reward of eating lunch at a restaurant
Mixtecs, indigenous Mexicans, have been in the news lately. Half a millennium ago around February 18, 1519, Cortés and his crew landed at Cozumel. Mexico’s new
This handy little widget allows you to easily click to our most recent stories, as well as our most popular posts and comments. You can also use the category widget to refine your search. Enjoy!
[Coming Soon!]
We’ve got lots more travel stories to come, so please sign up below to continue the journey. Using MailChimp, we’ll notify you each time a new post is added to our site, more or less weekly. Your info is safe with us — we promise not to send it on any trips.
We have lots of categories and tags to help you easily refine your search in our stories, but feel free to use this feature to find unique items. Perhaps try something delicious like ‘paella’.
2 Responses
Interesting the idea that death is familiar to the populace, not a bad idea as we all will get to know that part of our lives, no exceptions. The skeletal faces are interesting in the paintings, nice change from the standard we always see. Seems to be a lot of skulls, again why not.
Cheers,
Indeed! As Judith Cooper writes in her book Oaxaca, which is mostly photographs, “The skeletal spectacle is a joyous comical rebuff to death.”