Besides our missionary work, we were “tourists” too. Our hosts called this a mission/vision trip, and so we got to see and experience a variety of things not connected with the Covenant in Oaxaca. We went to a black pottery shop, where we had a demonstration of how this unique pottery is made (pictures of Jimmy Carter, Nelson Rockefeller, and other leaders and celebrities adorn the walls of this shop).


We went to a weaving center and saw how the people there do everything by hand, from carding the wool and spinning it, to dying it with natural ingredients, to weaving it on a variety of looms.


The deep red “cochineal” dye was my favorite. It is made from a little bug that eats white fungus off of a certain cactus! It was one of the most prized exports when the Spaniards ruled Oaxaca and was traded as far away as India. I bought a rug with this brilliant red dye from an old woman who had made it on her loom, and I am now redoing one of my bathrooms with a Mexican touch, just to showcase this beautiful weaving.