We took up our courage and drove the car into the country on Thursday to a hill town named San Augustin
Etla. It was one of those blind trips without planning and we were well rewarded. San Augustin is on a fertile hillside a bit northwest of the city of Oaxaca and it reminded us more of what we imagine the Tuscan countryside in Italy would be like if we'd ever visited there. Hills, valleys, small fields, pointy trees, red-tiled roofs, long, vistas. There is water someplace in those hills and the countryside was green and blossoming. The town of San Augustin hangs on the hill and at one time had a textile factory, the large spaces of which are now being restored as a cultural/art center. It commands a magnificent view of the valley and someone is now restoring a water system which will provide the water for the center and a good deal of the village without the use of pumps. It reminded us a little of the elaborate irrigation system used in China for distributing water to all the different fields along a mountainside. This one, however, is beautiful and involves a series of shallow reflecting pools stepping down the mountain, tiled channels, rocky
rivulets. I'll post the pictures of the center later. In this posting I'll include the small church in the village and the some of the many plants in the gardens surrounding the center. If you'd like to know more about the activities and see some more comprehensive pictures of the center, go to:
http://www.centrodelasartesdesanagustin.com/Since the church was on such a steep hill, I had trouble standing back far enough to include the whole building. The steeple appears to be repaired with semi-flattened corrugated roofing. This has rusted through in some places and the plants are beginning to take over. The red flowers are the end of the blossoms of a
pointsetta. These grow to about 30 feet here.
The altar of the church. It's unusual for the main altar not to have a
crucifixion. This Virgin is lit by the ever present florescent tubes inside her glass enclosure.
We often enjoy the small villages churches more than the richly decorated cathedrals in the capital cities. This scene is to the right of the main altar and it has all the things that the parishioners have donated over the years, plus a useful clock so that those who don't have watches can tell the time. Or perhaps it's so that the church goers can complain if the priest takes too long over his homily. These churches seem very personal and appealing to us.
The simple vault in the crossing.
Plants from the gardens of the old textile mill. It sits on the same hillside as the church.
It looks a bit like ice that has been trapped in the succulent below, but it's a drop of water.
It's easy to see where the Mexicans get their love of color.
A spiny trunk.
Below is the infant version of the above plant, before it has begun to branch.
