How to Make the Most of a Sketchy Situation (In Mexico)

This month I’m digressing from my usual emphasis on living in Baja between 2006 and 2020. I was going to entitle this blog “5 Reasons to Check your Flight Status Before Leaving Home” but I didn’t think of that prior to arriving at Tijuana Airport a few days ago.

After all, I was packed for an 11-day trip, hyped up for my first plane trip in four years, and single-mindedly intent on visiting my hermanita Liz in her hometown of Orizaba, Veracruz. I believed I had a flawless plan until I was told at the Volaris Airline counter that my flight had been cancelled. I felt like the bottom had fallen out of all my careful planning.

Popocatépetl, the massive volcano that sits midway between Mexico City and Puebla, was erupting and spewing ash over the airports which had closed because of the danger that volcanic ash poses to jet engines.

Popocatépetl Volcano erupting, May 23, 2023

What to do? My mind was perplexed but my heart said, “Keep going toward Mexico”. I believed that moving forward with my trip would be easier than returning home. I searched my geographically challenged brain for an airport that could be a jumping off point to Orizaba. Oaxaca was a possibility. I was there fifty years ago and loved it. I was soon in the air for an easy the 3 ½ – hour flight. So far, so good.

When I chose an airport shuttle van to transport me to the Oaxaca Inn Express across from the bus station, things went sideways fast – a baggage mix up, return to the airport to sort it out, another shuttle to the hotel where luggage was exchanged, check-in at a dive of a hotel, attempted inquiry about bus schedules at the station with hundreds of riders in line and no information booth, a sleepless night in an airless room…

The next day was even worse with a teachers’ strike blocking major thoroughfares, the bus station, and airport. Sadly, I shared with Liz that I wouldn’t be able to make it to Orizaba to see her.

Meanwhile, I decided to treat myself to a short sojourn at a boutique hotel and things started turning around. My taxi driver from the previous night was able to locate me and take me to the Fiesta Inn. There I luxuriated next to the pool and got a good night’s sleep in AC and a comfy bed.

The next day, I made the most of a frustrating and disappointing situation and enjoyed two delightful site-seeing days in the outskirts of Oaxaca thanks to my kind-hearted taxi driver. Here are some visual highlights:

May 24, 2023

The Zapotecan Ruins of Mitla

Cactus Handrail at Mitla Ruins

Zapotecan wool rug weaver, Dalila, in her home workshop

Carding to smooth the wool and spinning the threads

Wool is dyed with all-natural substances like walnuts, pomegranate, and indigo.

El Tule, a magnificent Montezuma cypress tree

Over 2,000 years old, this tree is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has the largest trunk of any tree in the world by volume with a diameter of 46 feet. It is 137 feet high.

May 25, 2023, my 79th Birthday

The day started under a gorgeous Royal Poinciana tree

Moto taxis are a popular form of transportation in outlying villages. The driver was a friend of my taxi guy and stopped for the photo.

At the David Hernández workshop, Juan explained the process of carving and painting Zapotecan totem animals called Alebrijes

The Zapotecan calendar. My spirit animal is the owl and my protector is the dog.

Santo Tomás Jalieza is home of women back loom weavers

Cotton table runners

Time for a lunch celebration at Azucena Zapoteca restaurant

A hot, sunny day in lush surroundings

A birthday tradition in the Oaxaca outback celebrated with taxi driver, Ricardo

 Last stop – Doña Rosa Pottery (Oaxacan black pottery showcase)

My motto: “Just say ‘yes’ and keep moving forward.”

Sue Niyazi McDevitt

6-14-23

Where Does the Land End?

May 14, 2023

In south Florida where I grew up, the land and sea merge into the interwoven mangroves. There is no discernable end to the Florida peninsula. Baja is quite the opposite. A rocky coastline defines the southern tip of the Baja peninsula.

Land’s End is where the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean meet at Baja’s most southerly point. It’s the second-longest peninsula in the world (about 775 miles from top to tip). An iconic arch (El Arco) highlights Land’s End and its emblematic image is featured on scores of book covers, magazines, postcards, and Baja guidebooks.

El Arco is easily accessible via a half-hour boat ride from the wharf in Cabo San Lucas on the calm Gulf of California. Valentín negotiates our fare with the glass-bottom boat driver. My watercolor sketch of the wharf features our panga named Jessica.

We’re on our way to El Arco. Behind Valentín is the beach at Lovers’ Cove. (We didn’t have cell phones for shooting “selfies” at the time of this trip.)

Panga drivers patiently wait for tourists who are enjoying the beach at Lovers’ Cove.

We’re circling back from the rough waters of the Pacific and the view of El Arco is the mirror image.

My watercolor sketch of El Arco is from the more turbulent Pacific side. According to folklore, the cave was a hideout for English and Dutch privateers (like Sir Francis Drake), who looted Spanish galleons, laden with treasures. It’s aptly known as Pirate’s Cave.

Passion in Watercolor

4-11-23

I moved to Baja in 2006 to pursue my creative passions and become the artist I was always meant to be. I drove to nearby landmarks that attracted my attention, took photos, and painted at home.

The Cantamar Lighthouse south of Rosarito is an iconic landmark which is falling into ruin for lack of maintenance.

The oceanfront provided points of interest like this keyhole rock wall with its view of the breakers next to the Halfway House Restaurant. (It is the halfway point between Tijuana and Ensenada on the northern coast of Baja.)

A palm laden estuary lies just north of the Cantamar Lighthouse and is home to waterfowl and coastal wetland vegetation.

This faux pyramid structure next to the Pacific was built to attract buyers for homes in a residential development called Plaza del Mar. It is located north of the famous La Fonda Restaurant and south of Rosarito Beach.

This chapel stands on a hillside facing the ocean at Kilometer 18 on the Tijuana – Ensenada toll road.  Sadly, it’s been abandoned for years and has deteriorated significantly.

I was stuck in a traffic jam on the International Highway between Tijuana and Playas de Tijuana and looked up to see this clothesline. The clothing wafting in the foggy breeze attracted my attention and I snapped a reference photo.

El Trailero is a well-known taco shop in El Sauzal at the entrance of Ensenada. I frequently stopped there for delicious tacos and fruit drinks after shopping at the El Sauzal Frutería produce market next door.

My friend, Andre Satie, a pastel artist, painted this tableau of a family picnicking under a palapa next to the ocean, a ubiquitous scene on beaches in Baja.

Tribute to Indigenous Women Leaders and Artisans in Baja

3-14-2023

Valentín introduced me to indigenous leaders from Pa Ipai, Kiliwa, Kumiai, and Cucapá tribes in Baja. They gathered several times a year for ceremonies and artisan fairs. Pa Ipai Elder, Josefina Ochurte, opened this gathering of the elders with ceremonial smudging. She fanned participants with smoke from sage sticks using a large feather.

At another tribal gathering, Valentín introduced me to Leonor Farlow, a Kiliwa elder, recognized for her work in preserving the Kiliwa language. She is one of the last three native speakers of the language and is holding a Kiliwa/Spanish dictionary she created in collaboration with a linguistic anthropologist.

I later painted a watercolor of the photo of Leonor with Pa I’pai friend Tirsa Flores, who is selling her pottery to visitors.

I purchased this Kiliwa grandmother doll handcrafted and signed by Leonor. One of her daughters created the scene below.

This doll tableau depicts a way of life that disappeared after the Spanish missionaries arrived. Acorns were the basis of the indigenous diet. They were leeched for days in baskets and pounded with a grinding stone on a flat piece of granite. The resulting meal served for making mush, bread, pudding, and other staples. Sage was bundled for smudging during ceremonies.

Rosa Maria (Naty) Silva, from San José de la Zorra (Kumiai), leads a basket making class. 

Aydee “Nini” Carreon, from San Antonio Necua (Kumiai), creates her baskets with pine needles and reeds. Her materials and tools are shown.

We visited Margarita Castro in her home in Santa Catarina (Pa Ipai community) and were invited to watch while she formed a pot. Later I painted a watercolor of this scene. Notice that she holds a flat rock on the inside of the pot while she beats the clay with a wooden paddle on the outside. A final piece is shown at her knees.

How I Met my Mexican Lover

2/14/2023

​The moment Valentín Torres Hernández pulled me into him and put his arm around me for this photo, the hair on my arms stood up and my body tingled all over. Instant attraction? Did he feel it too?

​I was drawn to the bright colors of a single-story building near the bay in Ensenada – yellow and orange with brilliant blue wavy lines – the Artisan Center of Ensenada where Valentín worked as a salesman in the Pérez Meillón Gallery.

There were lively arts and cultural events at the Artisan Center and I returned there often.

​Valentín pursued me for a special connection each time I visited the gallery. He lured me with his charming personality, hand polished semi-precious stone jewelry, and tall tales about legendary people and places in Baja. He loved to tell jokes. With him I found laughter in abundance.

His smile was irresistable.

THE LOVEBIRDS

Travels with Valentín coming in future blogs …

Homage to World Renown Mata Ortiz Potter: Juan Quezada Celado

I’d like to acknowledge Juan Quezada’s contribution to the arts in Mexico.

On December 1, 2022, Juan Quezada died in a tragic auto accident near his ranch in Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico, at the age of 82.

Sue Niyazi McDevitt with Juan Quezada in his Mata Ortiz gallery, April 2009

All who knew him, offer our sympathies to his family, pottery making friends, galleries, cultural promoters and museums with whom he worked for many years.

He was a great ceramicist who was known worldwide for reviving an ancient ceramic tradition that had completely died out. In his own style he created a modern version of the pottery linked the to the Casa Grandes culture of Chihuahua.

Many family members learned from Quezada and a pottery making movement spread throughout the tiny village of Mata Ortiz. Quezada succeeded in improving the lives of the people around him.

My Ensenada friend Adalberto Pérez Meillón introduced me to the Mata Ortiz pottery which he sold in his Pérez Meillón Gallery. He spoke highly of Juan Quezada and encouraged me to visit the village. He has provided much of the information in this blog.

Family of potter Rosy Mora and Adán Villalobos.

I had the good fortune of meeting Juan Quezada in April 2009 and spending ten days with neighbors of his – the pottery making family of Rosy Mora and Adán Villalobos.

Future blogs will include stories of the potters I met in Mata Ortiz.

How Nature Inspired my Art Studio in Baja

Sue Niyazi McDevitt

October 31, 2022

In 1985 I had a boring job in San Diego and found myself longing for a life near the ocean. I created a vision board and dreamed I was living near the Pacific in a home with a splendid ocean view. Little did I know that my dream would come true in 2006 when I moved into my new home in Bajamar, a seaside community in Baja California, Mexico.

This is my dreamed of ocean view from my balcony in Bajamar.
I retired to Baja to pursue my passion for painting watercolors and enjoy travel adventures. What a joy it was to convert my dining room into an art studio.

Let me take you on a tour of my surroundings at the interface between the wild coastal scrublands and the community of Bajamar.

Colorful flower beds in spring greeted visitors and residents at the entrance to Bajamar.
A typical walk might include a view of the ocean breakers, ever-present agaves, and natural coastal scrublands.
Coyotes were frequent visitors in the field in front of my home.
Bobcats moved in when the rabbit population increased. They sauntered around as if they were housecats and didn’t seem fearful of people.
I especially enjoyed the presence of roadrunners. Their zippy behaviors were captured accurately by the “Rudy, the Roadrunner” cartoonist. This colorful rendering was spray painted on my garage wall and enlivened the view from my kitchen. Muralist, Christopher Delgadillo, AKA, Dual HEM, was the creator.

In 2020 I returned to San Diego to live and have been writing about my life and adventures in Baja ever since. Thanks for visiting my website and checking out my blog. This is the first of many. I will be highlighting the people and places that made me feel so welcomed and interwoven in the borderlands.