P’urhépecha Artisans and Cardio

I stumbled across a little courtyard that housed five or six artisans in a collective. One of the artisans had scores of masks and Catrinas (the day of the dead skeletons). Her prices were excellent and her quality was beyond compare. I started loading up with her works much to her surprise and delight. She wrote up the hundred or so items that I gathered together and started the process of packing them for their long journey home. I made sure to grab her contact information since I wanted to establish a long-term business relationship with her.

I had to make a few trips to get all my goodies back to my hotel room. I worked up a good sweat while I traipsed up and down the hilly and cobbled streets or Patzcuaro. A few of the locals got a good chuckle out of me huffing and puffing and covered with sweat. I still was not completely acclimated to the climate and I was hurting! What a great trip…I get to stock up on inventory and burn down my love handles at the same time - Sweet! Tomorrow was the day to catch my bus back to Mexico City so I had to finish up my purchasing, packing, and shipment preparation.

Work it out on over to WORLD NEIGHBOR!

World Neighbor, Carlos and the Crafts

Carlos was a very knowledgeable guide. He told me about the local flora and fauna as well as the local politics. He was happy to have a chance to practice his English. He spoke English very well but it was about a month since he last had some practice. The Monarch butterfly mating season is a popular tourist attraction in the area and the season was now over. This meant there were less English speaking tourists to practice with.








Carlos my Guide, Interpreter and Good Guy...

Carlos told me that while international tourism was generally picking up, this area was still largely a place for national visitors. In Morelia, I did find myself being the only pale skinned gringo walking around most of the time. This made me somewhat of a novelty but everyone was very nice. Unlike Cancun, which is almost nothing but tourists in the resort areas, Morelia is populated with mostly native Mexicans. It is a very relaxed place with no vendors yelling out "Hey Honeymooners!" trying to sell you their imported Chinese crap. On the contrary, Morelia and the surrounding areas are all about century old crafts, artisans and their traditions. As with most big city areas these cultural treasures are becoming scarcer. But the outlying P'urhépecha Indian areas are still managing to keep the traditions alive.









World Neighbor's Wonderful, Award Winning World*












* OK....so I gave myself an award and a pat on the back...

World Neighbor Hangs with the Artisans

I am waiting for my guide Carlos. He is going to take me out to the small villages outside of Morelia and Patzcuaro. I took a nice morning stroll after a hearty Mexican breakfast that was heavy on the cheese and light on the heart health. I took some time to admire the religious art that is pervasive throughout the hotel.

World Neighbor's Funtastic Emporium

Carlos showed up right on time and we sped off to the artisan towns. Our first stop was a small town that specialized in woodcarving and furniture. We met with several shop owners as I searched for the perfect pieces to import back for my World Neighbor friends. I bought quite a bit at two stores. The shop owners were very nice and packed up my goods thoroughly with bubble wrap, newspaper, toilet paper and whatever else was available. Carlos took our pictures and we were on to the next town. Our next stop was to Santa Anna del Cobre, the home of the master copper smiths.

World Neighbor Visits Our Neighbor to the South

I will be leaving on a buying trip to Mexico April 9th. I am looking forward to this trip outside of Mexico City. I will be going Northwest of Mexico City out into the countryside. I plan on bringing back some treasures including pottery, tile, copper works, straw crafts, woven garments, and ceramics. The one thing that I have learned is that even the most wonderful, unique paintings and prints are difficult to sell unless you have a gallery for folks to get up close and personal with the piece. Since I run a web-based business I haven’t had much luck with the paintings and prints. Therefore, I will focus on the substantial cultural crafts and ethnographic arts that have been very successful. As always I will work with the indigenous community and practice fair trade to ensure that we share the prosperity around the globe.