Saturday, we divided up into five vans and headed northwest. After several hours we arrived at the village of Tamazulapan, a market town on the Pan-American Highway. It has a church that is much larger and more splendid than anyone would expect. There is a small, restored table organ there, so we had a concert, with Guy Bovet and Barbara Owen playing short baroque or baroque-style pieces on the organ, interspersed 
with pieces played on the marimba and guitar by two very good young Mexican musicians, 
Gabriela Perez Diaz (22) and Vladimir Ibarra (24). A pair of local students played at the end. Afterwards, their mothers presented us with a lunch of sandwiches.
Then we went on to the huge Church of Santo Domingo in the village of Yanhuitlan (population 830). It is being restored and not currently in use as a parish church, but the large organ is
beautiful and sounds very nice too, as a concert with organ (played by the Uruguayan organist Cristina Garcia Banegas, whom we had heard in Minneapolis at the 2008 American Guild of Organists Convention) and choir (again, the Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva Espana)
From there we went to Zautla. Since there is no exit on the toll road at Zautla, a Federal Highways truck had pulled off the road and the men in it flagged down our vans, having removed the blockage that prevented exit directly onto a dirt shortcut leading to the highway to Zautla. The Mexican government is apparently willing to waive standard highway procedures in order to advance the national cultural heritage.
In front of the church of San Andreas our group was met by a brass band, a pair of big, dancing papier mache figures and the older women of the village, who offered us bougainvillea leis, bunches of green leaves (which, I think, is something related to a hangover cure given to party guests in advance) and little plastic cups of mezcal. Then the women led many of our group in a dance. Mary Joy danced very well.
We then went around in back of the church, where tables were set up and we had a terrific meal, at the center of which was pork in a sauce called pipillan (I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but it was very good, though not picante).
There was also more mezcal. I had to ask the ladies not to give Mary Joy any more or she'd be dancing on the table.
Afterwards, we went into the church, where Cristina Garcia Banegas played mostly baroque pieces on the restored medium-sized table organ, and the young Mexican percussionist and guitarist that we had heard earlier played very modern pieces on guitar and multiple percussion instruments.
We got back to our room a little before ten and got to bed around eleven. I'll post more pictures from Saturday tomorrow.
with pieces played on the marimba and guitar by two very good young Mexican musicians, 
Gabriela Perez Diaz (22) and Vladimir Ibarra (24). A pair of local students played at the end. Afterwards, their mothers presented us with a lunch of sandwiches.Then we went on to the huge Church of Santo Domingo in the village of Yanhuitlan (population 830). It is being restored and not currently in use as a parish church, but the large organ is
beautiful and sounds very nice too, as a concert with organ (played by the Uruguayan organist Cristina Garcia Banegas, whom we had heard in Minneapolis at the 2008 American Guild of Organists Convention) and choir (again, the Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva Espana)From there we went to Zautla. Since there is no exit on the toll road at Zautla, a Federal Highways truck had pulled off the road and the men in it flagged down our vans, having removed the blockage that prevented exit directly onto a dirt shortcut leading to the highway to Zautla. The Mexican government is apparently willing to waive standard highway procedures in order to advance the national cultural heritage.
In front of the church of San Andreas our group was met by a brass band, a pair of big, dancing papier mache figures and the older women of the village, who offered us bougainvillea leis, bunches of green leaves (which, I think, is something related to a hangover cure given to party guests in advance) and little plastic cups of mezcal. Then the women led many of our group in a dance. Mary Joy danced very well.
We then went around in back of the church, where tables were set up and we had a terrific meal, at the center of which was pork in a sauce called pipillan (I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but it was very good, though not picante).
There was also more mezcal. I had to ask the ladies not to give Mary Joy any more or she'd be dancing on the table.
Afterwards, we went into the church, where Cristina Garcia Banegas played mostly baroque pieces on the restored medium-sized table organ, and the young Mexican percussionist and guitarist that we had heard earlier played very modern pieces on guitar and multiple percussion instruments.
We got back to our room a little before ten and got to bed around eleven. I'll post more pictures from Saturday tomorrow.
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