The kids played in the river where the church had the baptisms. Elizabeth and David are in this pic with the son of Karen and Martin, who pastor the church, and a friend from the church.

Classic watermelon girl

During Carnival Days there are several dances in the city. There are cowboy type dances and many people dress up and wear masks. From what I have gathered the cowboy dances here are traditional to the times when they used to run cattle in the mountains. A local, Christian man told me they would run them to the ships and ship them to Europe. The masks they wear don't really have anything to do with the tradition. Perhaps they just started wearing them in connection with the other carnival dances, in which they wear masks. These particular dances are not the same as the "Danza de los Diablos" (Dance of the Devils) that Oaxaca is known for.

In addition to many cowboy dances, there is also the Dance of the Masks which supposedly dates back to the time of European invasion. I read somewhere that it was about the French being here but someone also told me it was the Spanish. Either way, they were both here and they were European. When the Mixtec people were invaded, they fled to the mountains but would sneak down and observe the European dances the people would have. When the invaders went home, the Mixtec celebrated with dancing and dressed up like the Europeans, wearing white cloths over their faces with European like features drawn on them to imitate the Europeans. They made fun of the Europeans this way with masks and dress and exagerated dance steps. Apparently imitation is not a form of flattery.

The cowboy masks look scary at first but they are intended to be silly with crooked mustaches. Elizabeth and David were taken aback the first time we saw them walking in the streets with their loud whip cracks, music and dancing but after seeing them more closely and understanding the origin, they enjoyed the show.

The men have several different dances. It is most awesome on video but I couldn't get video uploaded :)

Passing on to the younger generation. Watching this little guy dance with one of the men (his dad?) was really neat.

They have the musicians with speakers on the sidewalk. The dancers knock their spurs together for additional sound and they yell alot - Mexican style.

The cowboys were accompanied by ladies who sat and watched for several dances and then joined in for other dances.

A Mixtec woman watches

They march through the streets with music and break out in dance here and there until they reach their destination to dance in formation. There are about 5 groups who dance in cowboy costume so as we followed one group, another one came the opposite way so we followed them. May as well stay close to home.

Have music, will travel

The others who were dressed up like "Europeans" ( and some just silly) also had their own dance, and sure enough, it was very European. Both the groups danced on the same street with their own music so that was interesting. The kids and I had a prime location; between the two. We decided the cowboys were more fun to watch.



Score! Cotton Candy! No, David does not normally look like this - he enjoys being silly. Don't ask me where he gets that from.