Cultural Experiences

Being in a place where your own language is mostly useless is a cultural experience, but that's the daily routine around Oaxaca.

Last evening, however, we had an interesting cultural experience.  There was a free concert at the Teatro Macedonio Alcala, featuring a musical group called De Estudiantinas, who play traditional Mexican instruments and sing classical Mexican songs.

First, we sat through almost 2 hours of program of which we understood only a very few words.  The music was fun to listen to.  I even recognized a few tunes, including "Spanish Eyes" which I had only ever heard sung in English.

At the end, though, after singing their "last" song, they did another, apparently a crowd favourite, because everyone stood up.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't the national anthem of Mexico, but we stood too, just not really  too sure why.

A fun evening listening to mandolins, guitars and good vocalists.

This afternoon, I was sitting in the main Oaxaca Cathedral, hiding from the sun while waiting for Catherine, when a wedding started.  The most interesting part of this event was basically a mariachi band that was handling the music.  They'd play a bit, the priest would talk a bit, they'd play a bit more.

The other afternoon, while walking down a popular street, we could hear a band playing somewhere, but where was it?  We soon discovered a school band playing in the "street".  They were actually quite good and the audience appreciative.