*CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE?* Valentine's Day is a big deal in Mexico, so much so that the entire month of February is referred to as "The Month of Love and Friendship". Valentine's also means the return of the mother of all fiestas: the Annual Fair in Chila and we all love that! And the residents of that growing town would love for you to join in the fun. Fun, love and friendship; this beautiful and romantic corner of the planet certainly seems to generate all of the above in abundance. So have fun, find or strengthen your love and be nice to each other.

Coincidentally an exhibition entitled "The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present" just opened at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. Information, (213) 744-7432 or at www.caam.ca.gov

And be especially nice to those lovely people who advertise in this magazine. I really love them all, because they make it possible for me to live my dream: to live in Paradise and share its joys with others.

Please shop, eat, lodge and play with them first; their presence in these pages shows that they really value your patronage.

*Now we return to our program:* Over the last 10 years, I've written about several of the cultural groups which comprise this most ethnically diverse of states. The Costa Chica over the last several centuries has been a place where African, Indigenous, Asian and European descendants have evolved a culture of ingenuity, survival, and celebration that, more often than not, overlooks its African roots.

March 14 to 16 the 12th annual *Encuentro de los Pueblos Negros* will take place in Santiago Llano Grande, close to the Guerrero border.

This coming together of Afro-Mexican communities from around the region and the nation is supported by Conaculta, the Mexican government's arts and cultural support institution. This event has become a driving force in the recognition and appreciation of what some call the forgotten root.

I must admit that I am also guilty of not having written more about this aspect of the local cultural stew, especially since I am very familiar with the town of Llano Grande and count as special friends some families from this extraordinary area. And I have visited the only museum in Mexico dedicated to the African-Mestizo experience in Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero. I hope to attend this gathering and will report further in upcoming issues.

*- - Warren Sharpe, editor*

This Month in Puerto

Friday 8 - Saturday 16
6 p.m. Cock Fights
Av. Cinco de Mayo, near the entrance to Chila

Saturday 9, Sunday 10
9 a.m. Pelota Mixteca, Mixtec Ball Game
Sports Complex

Tuesday 12
7 p.m. Cultural Event by students from Cobao college
8 p.m. Boxing Tournament

Wednesday 13
4 p.m. Convite festive parade to launch the festivities
7 p.m. Calenda night time parade with candle filled globes
8 p.m. Folkloric event featuring dancers and musicians from Santos Reyes Nopala

Thursday 14
8 p.m. Folkloric event featuring dancers and musicians from San Juan Lachao, including a gastronomic fair, with emphasis on local products such as honey and coffee
10 p.m. Fireworks begin, with los toritos
11 p.m. Castillo, elaborate tower rigged fireworks display
12 p.m. Dance, with participating bandas, brass and percussion bands

Friday 15
5 a.m. Mañanitas serenade to patron saint, followed by Dawn Mass and noon mass.
1 p.m. Community lunch
4 p.m. Jaripeo, bull-riding rodeo
9 p.m. Gala Dance with Grupo Ligero from Durango, Fiesta 85 and Alvaro Monterrubio

Saturday 16
9 a.m. Junior Soccer / Basketball
9 a.m. Chess Tournament
4 p.m. Jaripeo, bull-riding rodeo

Sunday 17
9 a.m. Women's Soccer
4 p.m. Jaripeo, bull-riding rodeo
9 p.m. Gala Dance with Mar Azul, Bernal, Cumbieros del Sur, Dony's from Guerrero and Recuerdo 89

Monday 18
2 p.m. Horse Races

Thursday 14, Fri 15
Our Lady of the Cures
Santiago Jamiltepec
One of the important fiestas in this interesting and historic Mixtec market town and regional administrative center. According to the legend, the Virgen de los Remedios, whose image can be seen in Jamiltepec's handsome Dominican church, appeared to some iguana hunters in a geyser rising from the nearby hot springs, which are still today considered to have curative powers, hence the name given to this saint.

SANTIAGO JAMILTEPEC is an ancient Mixtec settlement whose history is very closely linked to that of Tutútepec, the original capital of the Mixtecs on the coast of Oaxaca. (More on Tutútepec next month). It was originally called Casando'o, for the warrior chief who helped spread Tutútepec dominion over 200 km of the coastal region, from Ometepec to Huatulco. According to the legends, Casando'o settled down, married and had a son he named Jamil, who snatched by an eagle from his cradle and devoured in the highest branches of a huge tree. It is said that the distraught Casando'o buried the remains at the base of the tree, now the site of Jamiltepec's church and the reason for the town's present name.

Today Jamiltepec is the district capital of a region that encompasses all the counties from the Rio Verde to the state border with Guerrero. Despite this administrative importance, the town has retained its charm and indigenous characteristics. It's a colorful, bustling market town; about 60 percent of the population is indigenous. The Indian ladies from the surrounding villages come here for supplies and to sell their produce. You'll see women in traditional dress: huipiles, embroidered blouses and the pozahuanco, the mauve and purple striped wraparound skirt. The men wear calzones, white, draw-string pants and shirts of heavy cotton. The people of Jamiltepec were called malacateros, for malacates, wood and clay spindles used for spinning cotton. The area was a center for cotton-growing and the town is best known for its textile crafts - - hand woven and embroidered clothing, table clothes, napkins - - but families in Jamiltepec also traditionally produced finely-crafted knives and machetes, some engraved with prayers or amusing sayings.

The town's central plaza, with its kiosk and colonial sundials atop classical columns has been undergoing a seemingly endless process of remodeling and the market stalls have been relocated. You can normally find crafts in the plaza at the side of the church. The no-name crafts store in front of the Biblioteca, the town library, has great selection of regional weavings and crafts, including colorful ceramic ashtrays with figures of malacateras. Plus, of course, the malacetes themselves which are also used as hair ornaments.

You can get a decent meal at Restaurant Dany. Sr. Luis Steckand his wife Eva are proprietors and Sr. Steck, who speaks excellent English, is a font of information on the area. It was he who told me about the cemetery, whose Greco-Roman-style entrance bears the symbol of a black "O", bisected with a key. It's a play on words. It means "Oh, negro, partido!" , a lamentation on death which more or less translates "Alas, poor homeboy bought it!" Santiago Jamiltepec is about 140 kilometers from Puerto Escondido, so it is a full day trip, but a very satisfying one.

Wednesday 20
Lunar Eclipse
Total lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon, when the Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. While the Moon remains completely within Earth's umbral shadow, indirect sunlight still manages to reach and illuminate it. However, this sunlight must first pass deep through the Earth's atmosphere which filters out most of the blue colored light. The remaining light is a deep red or orange in color.The effect is eerie and quite beautiful. The eclipse will be visible throughout the continent. Check it out between about 9 p.m. and midnight.

Wednesday 20, Sat 23
Puerto Blues 2008
Sugar Ray Nocia, Enrico Crivellaro, Gwyn Ashton
The grand finale of this year's Blues Festival justifies all those flags that adorn the Blues Fest program. This line up is truly international. Consider: New England-based Sugar Ray Norcia has made his mark on the blues scene for over thirty years. He first gained attention as the lead vocalist for Roomful Of Blues, a position he held throughout the early nineties. However Roomful's style, powered by one of the mightiest horn sections in R&B, didn't leave a great deal of room for Ray to showcase his superlative harmonica skills. That's something we can look forward to hearing. Welsh-born Gwyn Ashton migrated to Adelaide, Australia, in the '60s and, from the age of 16, played every seedy bar, festival and biker show in the sticks. After moving to Sydney in the '80s, he made an impact nationwide and began recording in the early '90s,

Born in Padova, Italy, but later relocating to Los Angeles, Enrico Crivellaro has been able to prove that passion and talent can transcend political and cultural borders, becoming a well-respected, upcoming figure in the international blues scene. His versatility in different musical genres has allowed him to build an extraordinary experience, playing all over the world with blues, rock, jazz and country bands.
Don't miss this great line up for the blues finale.
8:30 p.m. Villa Belmar Beach Club

Tuesday 24 - Thur 28
Anniversary of Santa María Colotepec
Feb. 27 marks this neighboring town's 294th anniversary founding as an independent county. There is normally a program of civic and cultural events planned, but their program was unavailable at press time.

Thursday 28, Friday 29
Noesis
Interesting group whose music is contemporary interpretations of traditional Mexican themes. Guelaguetza Rock?
8 p.m. Playa Sol Beach Club

Friday 29
Friday of the Good Samaritan
Part of the Lenten observances, it marks the kindness of the Samaritan woman who gave Jesus water during his 40-day ordeal in the desert. It is the custom for people to offer flavored drinks (such as jamaica water) to passersby.

Fourth Friday of Lent
San Andres Huaxpala celebrates the Day of Jesus the Nazarene with a bustling, colorful fiesta which transforms this Mixtec town, midway between Jamiltepec and Pinotepa Nacional, into a huge country fair and bazaar. Here is the home of Tata Chu, a dark skinned Christ greatly revered in the region.This long-established fair and market brings together not only the local Mixtec Indians from the coast but also Chatinos, Amuzgos and Mazatecas,

No formal program was available, but the festivities go on for several days. (Incidentally, Lent ends with Easter Week. Semana Santa begins this year with Palm Sunday, March 16. See more on Lent)

Saturday, March 8
International Women's Day

Grand Rodeo/Dance
Puerto's splendid rodeo arena, La Costeñita, celebrated its 6th anniversary last month with a marathon line up of bull riding competition and an all-star dance concert, headed by the popular band La Apuesta. The show must have proven very successful, because it's being repeated this month. Actually La Apuesta is gaining nationwide fame. It was started in 1993 in Mexico City by Enrique and Juan Casaos originally from Oaxaca's Sierra Juarez. Also on the bill: Guerrilleros de Saavedra.
(Be warned that although the show might begin at 9 p.m., the headliner is unlikely to take the stage until midnight or 1 a.m.
9 p.m. Plaza de Toros La Costeñita

Jacob Cruz Quartet
Latin and classic Jazz
8 p.m. Playa Sol Beach Club

Read this Month's Featured Articles:
Chila Fiesta
Lenten Feasts
San Agustinillo: Tropical Paradise sans Music or Bars
More Good Stuff