Nicole Simmons on tue 27 jan 98
Clayarters,
Well I have been home from Eric's Workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico (and my =
friend's
wedding in Cancun) for about two weeks and have finally made through some =
200
e-mail messages. And I wanted to make sure that everyone in the world gets =
to
hear what a great time I had=21 For those of you who have no idea of what =
I am
referring: Eric Mindling hosted a workshop in Southern Mexico where I and =
some
really wonderful people got to learn pottery from some really wonderful
teachers.
Part of this is a response to someone's request for pottery related things =
to do
in Cancun. Save your money and go to Oaxaca. When the workshop was over in
Oaxaca I jumped on a plane to meet my husband in Cancun. It was extremely
humid, very expensive, and very little real pottery to see. There is a =
museum
downtown at the convention center. It is small but has some great examples.
The only thing I really enjoyed, (I do not enjoy being a tourist) was going =
to
Chichen Itza. Very worthwhile and I found a little book on Mexican-Indian
ceramics in the gift shop.
Let's start with the most important issues: Montezuma and broken pottery. =
If
you are going to go to Mexico you do NOT want to come home with either
Montezuma's Revenge or broken pottery. I easily escaped ol' Montezuma =
because
Eric thoughtfully supplied safe drinking water BUT I broke two of my =
biggest
and best pots. And everyone made fun of me for buying so many pots, I =
figure
it is the law of averages. I broke my comal (for cooking the corn tortillas=
on
an open fire) in my hotel room and the oval bowl for collecting ground corn =
at
the airport. But I managed to make it home with 21 other pieces. The =
secret is
carryon in well padded bags. (You might want to bring packing material with
you.) It is crucial you don't try to cheat on the size limit for carryon
baggage, in Oaxaca if it hadn't been for the good-looking captain who took =
pity
on me I would still be sitting in the airport trying to pack and repack my
bundles to meet the size requirements.
I also should talk about the amenities. Having heard some not so great =
stories
about the quality of health in Mexico I was pleasantly surprised at our
accommodations. We stayed at Casa Arnel in Oaxaca and the Tourist Y'ou
(spelling Eric?) in San Marcos. Casa Arnel is an older (which means don't
expect brand new) hostel type place that had extremely pleasant staff and =
clean
rooms but most importantly a hot breakfast. The tourist place in San Marcos=
WAS
new and had a great view and was very clean. Most of us slept in bunkbeds =
with
Polonia and Elizabeth in the loft. The food was absolutely incredible and =
you
should have no fear of getting sick when you are with Eric and Lora.
I would highly encourage anyone who is interested in checking out the =
pottery
in Southern Mexico to give Eric Mindling a call. For those of you that are
worried about the fact you heard about this on the internet, have no fear, I=
had
an very safe and rewarding experience. My grandmother was convinced I would
come back in a pine box. I think it is important to stress here that I was
prepared to the extreme while others just packed the night before (Numo) and=
she
didn't have any trouble either.
Eric's skilled translating is what will make the trip truly a cross-cultural
experience. Through him we were able to laugh with our teachers at our =
sorry
attempts to replicate their pottery style. I would try and explain how it =
works
but I am sure someone like Numo could do it better justice. She did some =
great
drawings of the process and took notes. The most important lesson I learned
from our teachers is that clay can take whatever you give it as long as you
understand how clay works. Through many years of experience (whether it be
theirs or their mother's) they knew what worked and what didn't.
To anyone who is considering taking Eric up on his workshop I would =
recommend
the following: Leave for Mexico a few days before the workshop, it will =
give
you time to settle in. You also might want to consider staying on a few =
days
afterward. I did not do either and was envious of those that had. If you =
don't
speak Spanish, don't worry, most of them don't speak English. Laughter is =
your
best communicative tool. I can't count how many times I would try and ask a
question and they would point me straight to the bathroom. The one time I =
asked
about the bathroom IN SPANISH, they brought me another drink. So we were
fortunate to have David, Elizabeth, and Numo around when Eric wasn't. I was
also fortunate to have a roommate that liked to talk as much as I did. =
Holly
and I spent our last nights in Oaxaca staying up laughing and talking. The =
most
important thing you should do is leave all your American tourist =
expectations at
home. While this is not a stay at the Hilton, it is infinitely more =
rewarding.
Also you might want to practice treading water because it like to have =
killed
me=21
Nikki Simmons
Training Coordinator
ComputerLand
117 Commerce Drive
Jefferson City, Missouri 65109
800.635.9177 toll free
573.635.1607.41 voice
573.635.4227 fax
573.680.8120 pager
http://www.computerland.net CLand Page
nsimmons=40computerland.net
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