Arriba las chivas!

It's been a really busy time. I'm building a simulator of the stander. The first idea was to use wood, but it's more flexible to use cardboard if there are changes... So I got a few plates of corrugated cardboard, and in fact, there were some changes and it was easier to just cut and glue again. Sorry I can't show you yet the full images of the standers.

The hardest thing was to find a wood-shop. Most of the wood-shops around this area are now closed... and the prices at Home-Depot are just sky high. So after a few hours of driving with both books of the yellowpages on the passenger seat, I decided to try "El Coli". El Coli is a very poor neighborhood in Guadalajara. If there's a place where there is a traditional old style carpenter, it should be at such a place. In fact, there were several traditional carpenters (sorry, pictures later) Most of them Huicholes (indigenous). For 30 pesos (3 USD) I've got most of the wood I needed and cut to size. I discovered what I called "corrugado aligerado" (light cardboard) which is just a sandwich of triply and cardboard. First, I thought about using a single side of wood just to have a hard surface to put on some screws, but when I saw the nice finish, I decided to put triply on both sides. So I had to return to the Huichol carpenters.

But I couldn't find the place... there was a tianguis along that street! So before buying my pieces of wood, I visited the tianguis. It was amazing, So many stuff, food, objects, pirate movies, shrimps and prawns for just a few pesos. I ate some quesadillas with pumpkin flowers, and huitlacoche... and to drink: chivacola. All my friends know that I am loyal to Cocacola, but I couldn't resist having a Chivacola. Of course it is manufactured by Omnilife, and the bottle will go into my collection of cola bottles. The can is nicer, but I had to let go of my cans collection, because they didn't survive this last move to New Zealand =(

Anyway, back to my Huichol carpenters... there was a guy that wanted to return a chair. The carpenter made a very nice carved frame with 4 lathed bars. But the guy said he wanted 6 bars and just a table on top and no carved frame. He had difficulties explaining that to the carpenter because he (the carpenter) barely spoke spanish. I was somehow annoyed, because it was not a matter of language, but the guy was not clear enough explaining what he wanted, and the carpenter did a very good job. Next weekend I'll take my camera to the tianguis and perhaps I'll take some pics of my indigenous carpenters.

ciao