Oaxaca briefs. Part 2 - Arrazola

Intrigued by vivid colors of carved wooden animals since my second day in Oaxaca, my next stop was pre-determined days before. I had to go to a small village of San Antonio Arrazola famous for its alebrijes.

Already knowledgeable about taxi collectivos, I got the last spot to Arrazola on the front sit with an older lady, twice my size. I loved my 40-minute authentic drive. I was stuck between the driver and my neighbor, trying to pull off some acrobatic moves to reach my water under the seat. I was listening to non-stop chat in Zapotec language of two girls behind me, with one of them breast feeding her adorable baby. Upon arrival I asked the driver where the village center was, he looked at me as I was mad. Those two streets were the center.

I arrived in the worst part of the day - the sun was burning my skin, I could just feel it. No wonder I was the only tourist around.

I was approached by a cute kid who offered me to see a store for alebrijes. These were not hard to spot as they were the only entrances in town with signs. A store was basically a room in a house, in a lot of them - no electricity, no nothing. Just mural walls with shelves full of painted animals and an artist who sells and paints at the same time. So I asked the kid to show me a store where I could buy some water instead.

For the next three hours accompanied by an 8-year old I toured all the stores twice, some of them three times. From the abundance of choice my head was spinning. It took me one tour to decide what magic animals to bring home. Since I was coming back to New York I could allow myself a shopping spree. Both my friends and these artists (some from need) would benefit. I did not bargain as the prices were already low (and lower than in Oaxaca) and I just could not dare to knock a $1 off $8 price tag for a day’s worth of work. An hourly minimum wage in the US is higher than the price of a small hand painted hedgehog.


Some of those art pieces were truly amazing. In one of the stores I asked how long it took to paint a large owl in those tiny strokes. The answer was a week. The price would have been around 100 USD at most.



Thanks to my new friend I went to some houses, which were not clearly marked as stores. I was greeted by the residents and taken through their home to a little show room. I felt that the majority of Arrazola’s residents were artists and I felt somewhat guilty for not buying a piece in each house.

I called him my little guía (guide) and everybody smiled. How else could I have called him if I asked his name four times and still could not understand it. Finally I asked him to write it on a piece of paper - after all he was already 8 years old and attended school. He scribbled Alan Isaac.



Before heading back to Oaxaca I rewarded both of us with some ice cream. I had a truly great afternoon.