I'm a bit behind with posts since it's been very busy. We have clinic service three days a week, and classes all week as well. Last weekend we went to Teotitlan to visit a women's weaving cooperative. We saw several beautiful tapestries and learned about the weaving process, including how to make natural dyes! I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Rained a little beforehand but otherwise it was a beautiful town!

And of course, nature!

An informative mural.

Nueva Vida - the women's weaving cooperative we visited!

 

How to weave:

1) Shave a sheep!

  

2) Comb through the wool

 

3) Twist a bit of the end of a piece of wool to wrap around the spindle

 

4) Pull and turn!

 

5) Yarn!

 

6) Add a bit of dye, and you're done!

But where do we get the dyes from?

From nature! Here, one of the weavers demonstrates mixing bark in water to get a pink color.

Blue, from rocks collected along the coast. Tend to be expensive, so blue tapestries are a bit costly.

Green!

Within a few minutes, one of the weavers made three different colors, similar to those found in this tapestry.

An example of a smaller tapestry made without dyes. Note the rectangular pattern - very common in Zapotec work.

The tree of life - another symbolic piece in Zapotec culture.

Nueva Vida provided great insight into indigenous culture, weaving, and women's roles in Teotitlan. Not to mention we got an amazing meal to end the day!