Mar 12 2009
My Suitcase Was a Bit Heavier After Oaxaca
Woodcarvings in Oaxaca--photo by Lisa
Of of the major reasons I went to Oaxaca in Southern Mexico was that I had heard so much about the amazing craft markets and the many surrounding villages that are dedicated to the production of handicrafts. Most tourist agencies and hotels offer day tours to visit weavers in Teotitlan del Valle, potters in San Bartolo Coyotepec, and wood carvers in San Martin Tilcajete. It is also possible to go to all of these towns on your own, which would have been preferable so I could have spent more time exploring the shops, but I don’t really drive and I was a bit too lazy to figure out how to do it by myself on public transportation.
Woodcarving in Oaxaca--photo by Lisa
Every village also has a market day, and I happened to go to the Friday Market in Ocotlan. The Friday Market is one of the larger ones in the area and is an endless maze of rows offering anything that you might want to acquire: mountains of chilis, live turkeys (who may have also been shopping as they were wandering around quite a bit), fresh produce, handicrafts for the gringos, medicinal herbs, and tons of household goods.
Market in Oaxaca--photo by Lisa
Of course you don’t have to even leave Oaxaca City to enjoy markets. One of the main attractions of Oaxaca is strolling through the overwhelming Mercado Juarez and just looking at the things for sale. I was tempted to buy lots of stuff mainly because I always get caught up in the excitement of the atmosphere and am a sucker who can be easily persuaded by even the least skilled sales people. But this time, I resisted until I reached the shopper’s paradise of MARO. The Moon Handbook to Oaxaca highly recommended stopping here and for good reasons. MARO, which in Spanish is the acronym for Craftswomen of the Regions of Oaxaca, was a quiet refuge for shopping after the more chaotic markets around town. They sell the usual offering of handicrafts, but they seemed to be more interesting and of better quality. Plus you got the added benefit of knowing that you were supporting a grass-roots women’s movement of artisans and that none of the items were mass-produced items and/or “made in China.” I also liked the fact that all of the items had price tags and there was no bartering involved. I am notoriously horrible at bartering and have even bartered up, which led one salesman to explain the whole process to me. I’m still learning.
Read more: Mexico, Oaxaca, Shopping, TravelLisa can usually be found staring longingly at the Eastern European shelf at the Globe Corner Bookstore. However, she really wants to go to Colombia.
Lisa! I live in Scituate (you blog for the Globe Bookstore, so does that mean you work there? I check the store blog site daily btw). My wife and I are taking our daughter who just turned 21 and will be home on her spring break to Oaxaca on March 16th. I’d really, really like any tips you’d have about places you ate, ruins you visited, other sites you would recommend. We’ll be there for four full days. We’ve never been to Mexico; done several trips to Italy/Spain/Greece though. So if I call the Globe tomorrow and leave my phone number/email address, would you be willing to give me some more information?
HI! It’s very interesting to see what have you seen in Oaxaca. Of course the markets are one of the best things in Mexico, so you can read a beautiful description of them in the work of Neruda (“Confieso que he vivido” – I don’t know of a translation to english, but sure must be one).
Again, greetings from Mexico