WE GET TIRED of hearing those old stereotypes expressed by outsiders about México: It's hard to get anything done; Nobody shows up on time; There's always a fiesta going on. I try to set the record straight, but along comes a month like this one and . . . well, what can you say?

The fact is that it's almost nonstop partying here in May. Okay, part of that is due to the fact that, in México, every trade, profession and social group has its designated special day on which society recognizes their contribution.

For example April 30 was Day of the Child. May 1, of course, is Labor Day, May 3 is Day of the Bricklayer. Then there's May 8, News Vendors' Day; May 15, Day of the Teacher and May 23, Day of the Student. And, most important of all, May 10 is Mother's Day.

That doesn't include the festivals based on the liturgical calendar, always an odd mixture of the spiritual and the profane: Day of the Holy Cross, Feast of St. Isidore the Peasant and, well, you get the idea. Alright, never mind. Sorry I brought it up. Don't worry, be happy.
-- Warren Sharpe, editor

OUR COVER: The painting of Chatino women harvesting coffee is by Santa Fe artist Barbara Bruneau Cleaver. It graces the label of Finca Las Nieves coffee. organically grown at high altitude and has been called among the world's finest. Read our story

This Month in Puerto

Tuesday May 1
Labor Day
May Day is a national holiday: banks, some businesses and government offices will be closed.

Thursday May 3
Day of the Holy Cross
Bricklayer's Day
It's not an official holiday, but it might as well be. Why the Fiesta to honor the sacred symbol of the Christian faith and the day to salute bricklayers and building laborers coincide is unknown. But they have become irrevocable linked. Anybody involved in construction will be in fiesta mode, after placing flower and ribbon-bedecked crosses at their construction sites.

The devout observe the day, of course, but the cross has deep symbolic roots in indigenous culture, often associated with sources of water, the essence of life. Families, friends and neighbors will gather today to eat tamales and drink some cold beers to honor the occasion. The Holy Cross is occasion for the annual fair in many communities, including Barra de Colotepec and the Santa Cruz colonias in Chila, San Pedro Mixtepec and Rio Grande, for example, and it's especially important in Santa Cruz Huatulco.

Huatulco's Legend of the Holy Cross: The resort city to the south once was the major port for trade between New Spain and Peru, but because of its vulnerability to attacks by English pirates, the Spanish destroyed and abandoned the port in 1616.

(Settlements were moved inland, which explains why so many municipalities here are administered from towns virtually unknown to the tourists who visit Oaxaca's glorious beaches - - San Pedro Mixtepec, Colotepec and, of course Santa María Huatulco.)

The name Huatulco comes from Quauhtlelco, a Nahuatl name that means "place where wood is worshipped" (from cuauhtli - timber; telosa - to bow; and co - place). The legend has it that when the Spaniards first arrived there they were astonished to find the Indians praying before a cross. They were told that long ago, an old, bearded white man came from the sea and presented the cross and told them to revere it. For the Catholic church this mysterious visitor was the apostle Saint Thomas, but there are obvious similarities here to the prehispanic legends of the Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcoatl or Kulkan, the bringer of culture and wisdom for the Toltecs and the Maya.

The cross is said to have even withstood those pirates attacks, including Thomas Cavendish's attempts to burn it and pull it down with his ship as he sailed out of the bay in 1587.

In 1612, Bishop Juan de Cervantes brought part of the cross to the cathedral in Oaxaca. From this piece he fashioned a copy of the original, which can be seen today in the church the pleasant town of Santa Maria Huatulco. Other fragments are said to be kept in the cathedral of Puebla and in the Vatican.

Saturday May 5
Cinco de Mayo
Although this holiday to celebrate the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Pueblo is a national holiday --- banks, post office, government offices and some businesses will be closed -- it's not that big a deal in México, even though it has become such a huge festival of Mexican pride in the U.S. and elsewhere

Thursday May 10
Mother's Day
It's not a moveable feast in Mexico, it is always celebrated on this date, which falls on a Thursday this year. Mothers' Day was created in Philadelphia in 1907 by Mrs. Ana Jarvis, much to the delight of Hallmark cards and florists everywhere. In México Moms' Day was initiated by a guy who worked for the Excelsior newspaper in Mexico City. And it is a very big deal in this country; the celebration of motherhood will span the entire week, with special events and promotions at many local hotels and restaurants. If your mother is here, take her out for dinner and buy her flowers. If not, relax: Mom's Day is usually on a Sunday most places. But why not call her anyway?
Special program for all Puerto's moms will begin at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Thursday 10 - Sun 13
Annual Fair in Rio Grande
Rio Grande is a rich agricultural town about 45 minutes to the west on the main highway to Acapulco near Chacahua Lagoon National Park. It's a bustling community of some 30,000 people, built on cattle raising, limes, peanuts and copra production. Rio Grande is the biggest community in the Municipality of San Pedro Tututepec.

Archeological evidence seems to confirm that the Chatino culture was the first to inhabit the coastal plains. But with the arrival of the Mixtecs from the mountains, the Chatinos were subjugated and became tribute payers to the Mixtecos and were confined to the mountainous zones where they predominate today.

Legend has it that Chatinos arrived from the Pacific in the year 400 B.C., shipwrecked at the mouth of the Rio Grande river. The ship was hurled against a cliff by a terrible tropical storm and sunk to the bottom of the sea, leaving enough survivors to start the town of La Encomienda and possibly La Palma and La Concha. It is said that a large golden cross from the ship remains and at times can be seen as it glitters at the bottom of one of the huge crevasses in the rocks where the waves crash with a sound that recalls the disaster.

The town's patron saint is the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patrona of all of Mexico, whose feast day is normally observed on December 12. But when Rio Grande was a tiny settlement, originally known as Piedra Parada, "Standing Stone", after the ancient stone markers found nearby, the circuit priests were just too busy in larger communities to officiate there in December. So it was decided the town would observe its feast day on May 12 instead.

The major fair of the year salutes the area's cattlemen with a major Cattle Show, elaborate rodeos, dances, cockfights and horse races.
Program includes:
Thursday 10 Cultural presentation
Friday 11 Opening of the Cattle Show
Calenda procession, 7 p.m.
Cultural presentation, 9 p.m.
Castillo Fireworks, 11 p.m.
Saturday 12
Jaripeo Rodeo, 5 p.m.
Dance with live music, 9 p.m.
Sunday 13
Horse Races, 2 p.m.

Sunday 13 - Tue 15
Festival of St. Isador the Peasant
Not much is known about Saint Isidor. He is believed to have lived during the 12th Century in Torrelaguna, near Madrid and that he was particularly pious and hard working. San Isidro Labrador is the Spanish worker saint who tilled the soil, obviously a popular patron saint for rural Mexico. The Oaxacan coast is no exception, which means lots of traditional fiestas in the area.

La Barra de Colotepec is one of many communities in the area that will host fiestas in honor of their patron this weekend - Bajos de Chila also reveres San Isidro as patron saint and will hold observances during those same days, even though Chila's major annual fair takes place around St. Valentine's Day in February. That's when the inhabitants, mostly workers in agriculture, traditionally had more money to spend. Chila lies west of Puerto Escondido on the road to Manialtepec Lagoon.

Tuesday 15 is the actual saint's day, so the peak of the festivities will take place on the eve of the feast, Monday 14. This is the night of the traditional castillo, or "castle", a wondrously choreographed display of pyrotechnical magic. The cohetero, "rocket maker", also creates los toritos, "little bulls", effigies of bulls and other figures, carried on the head and shoulders of local youths as they rush around the square in a loud explosion of fire and smoke.

Other community fiestas for San Isidro include: San Isidro Pochutla, on the coast highway about 35 minutes east towards Pochutla, San Francisco Cotzoaltepec, located on a dirt road off the same highway some 20 minutes driving time, and San Isidro Nopala, reached along the highway to Oaxaca, via Sola de Vega.

Tuesday 15
Teacher's Day
Day to pay tribute to the nation's maestros. Apples all around.

Saturday 19
Ponzoña Musical
Dance featuring the big band oompah sounds of this group from Durango. Plus Banda con Clase.
11 p.m. La Costeñita Rodeo Grounds

Wednesday 23
Students' Day
Special programs and a day off for the kids, and a busy day on the beach.

Wednesday 23 - Thu 24
Annual Fiesta
La Luz Tutútepec, Santiago Cuixtla
Specific details were unavailable.

Saturday 26 - Sun 27
4th Annual Children's Festival of Surf & 1st National Kids' Championship
The hospitable waters of the beautiful Carrizalillo Bay is the venue for this splendid two-day surfing festival open to all kids aged 4 to 15. There are two categories kids aged 4 to 8 (all of whom will be winners, prizes and certificates provided by Central Surf and other sponsors) and 9 to 14 years, with prizes going to the top four.

There is no charge to sign up for the event (at Central Surf Shop on Zicatela Beach Tel: 582-2285, e-mail: (centralsurfshop@hotmail.com)
So come out and enjoy a laid-back family affair and watch the surfing stars of tomorrow.
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Playa Carrizalillo
Tournament Meeting: 9 a.m. Saturday on the beach.

Read This Month's Feature Article:
Oaxacan Coffee's Great Comeback