Recap: Tlaquepaque y Tonola

Last week Chris and I also spent some time in two of the major towns for artisanal crafts here in Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque and Tonola. Fr. Aaron Michka flew down on Sunday for a few days (yes the same Sunday we got back from Mexico City) and we spent Sunday afternoon with him in Tlaquepaque. Tlaquepaque is a town world renowned for its galleries and is definitely the higher end of the two towns. While the art was certainly interesting the main purpose for our trip was not the art but rather the Mariachi. Tlaquepaque has a large square in the middle of town that is often occupied by Mariachi or Ballet Foclorico groups. Conveniently the square is surrounded by restaurants, which makes for the perfect opportunity to rest, have a little tequila and enjoy the entertainment. After taking in the sights and sounds and strolling through some of the galleries we headed home fairly early so that Chris and I could get some rest. Later on in the week Chris and I headed to another Tonola with some of the other students at CIRIMEX, this was in their words "a cultural field trip." Tonola is another town near Guadalajara that specializes in artisanal crafts. The difference however between the two, as my host mom put it, is that Tlaquepaque is for the gringos and Tonola for the Mexicans. The crafts made and sold in Tonola in a sense represent better the traditional crafts of Mexico and are a bit cheaper, they include ceramics and other clay products, glass, and paper maché. This being a cultural field trip, the teachers arranged for us to see not only the shops, but the workshops behind them where the crafts are still made. In many cases these "factories" are still family owned and operated with the skill of glassmaking or ceramic making passed down from generation to generation. Also on a cultural note at the glass factory Chris, who had also been to the Waterford factory in Ireland noted the stark difference in safety precautions between the two places. The craftsmen at the factory in Tonola worked in fairly crowded conditions with molten glass at the end of 4 to 6 foot poles, yet all of them had on shorts and T-Shirts, meanwhile in Waterford all the craftsmen where covered in some serious layers of protective clothing. The most interesting stop on the Tonola trip was certainly the ceramics factory. This factory has been in the same family for several generations and produces a unique type of ceramics with a labor intensive cross-hatch pattern. Not only did we get to see all the beautiful wares they produced, but we also got to see the family members at work in the back carefully detailing each piece of clay, shaping the clay on the turntable, or firing it in the kiln. The shop was also filled with pictures and letters from celebrities around the world with their plates/bowls/cups. The most prominent photo at the moment was one of Prime Minister Harper of Canada, President Calderon of Mexico, and President Obama having lunch on their dishes. President Obama was apparently so impressed, he took his napkin ring and then bought a whole set for his family at the White House.

That's about all for our past two cultural outings. I am actually on the plane home at the moment and will post a recap of our last week in Mexico shortly.