This is the four generational family that we stayed with. On the left is our host, Domatilla. On her right, Jennie, age 10, her grandaughter who stays with her and goes to school in the community. Next is the Jennie's sister, age 8. Seated is Domatilla's mother. She speaks only a little Spanish and uses her indigenous Indian language (Mixtec) which is also spoken by Domatilla and her daughter, but not the grandchildren. Anna, the children's mother is holding her son, who is about 15 months old. Anna has come during school vacation to visit. She lives with the two youngest children and her husband in Mexico City where they earn their living.
The family is in the kitchen, which is a separate building from their main house. The walls are branches spaced out which lets smoke escape. There is a wood stove with a flat top in one corner. In another is a grinder where corn, mixed with water, is ground. The ground corn is rolled into a ball, and then there is another implement which flattens it into a tortilla.. This is cooked directly on top of the stove. When it is done Domatilla or Anna deftly snatch it off and place it in a basket on the table.
This is lower down the hill than the main house. On this level are the pigs, a building where grain is stored, a building with extra beds where we slept, a building for showers (the water is heated outside over a wood fire), and the outhouse seen here. Our hostess explained to us that the outhouse is kept clean, without a smell by tossing a scoop of ashes down it after use. Besides the chickens and the pigs, there are animals shared in common by the group of farmers in this little community, including oxen and two mules.
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