DIXZA: new Airbnb house in the family compound

Immerse yourself in the traditional Zapotec way of life. Join our workshops: rug weaving, natural dyes, Temazcal (sauna), cooking or learning our native Zapotec language. Explore the countryside and surrounding landscape on horseback riding or hiking. You'll stay in our new Airbnb dedicated house in the family compound. There is a porch where we have looms for weaving. Join us for the numerous festivals and authentic traditions all year round in our village! A family of four: Mario is my Dad, my mom is Leonor, and Celestino also has access to manage this account when I am traveling to showcase our rugs abroad. Our house is only 3 small blocks from the center of town. There is a Farmers Market every morning 8:30 to 11:00am which is a great place to get a traditional Zapotec breakfast. Get your favorite freshly made juice, buy some tamales made with native corn and local herbs, tamal de mole negro or tamal amarillo en hoja de milpa. There are several food stands where you can buy food to go or sit there and enjoy breakfast in the market. There are several restaurants and places to eat. From award winning restaurants where famous chefs have come to learn about Prehispanic foods to a small front shop restaurants run families. (Read more at the bottom). For $150 pesos you can enjoy some of our family cooked meals, we can accommodate for dietary requirements but if you like us to cook you some special menu we charge $250 pesos per meal.   You'll be staying in our new house specially built to host Airbnb guest. The room has a ceiling fan, a small window and mosquito screens.  You will have access to the shared kitchen in the house to cook your meals or take a cooking clas. The kitchen is fully equipped with new and energy efficient appliances fridge, dishwasher and stove. You have all the kitchen essentials, pots, pans and ways to make coffee. The hot water comes from solar water heather installed in the roof top. We have plans to install a wind turbine in the near future. So we recommend taking baths during the day or early in the night if you want to be energy conscious ;-) Epson salt is provided. We have a big family compound with a large patio where we keep some livestock (goats, sheep, horses, cows and free range chickens) you are welcome to help feeding them ;-) we are just happy to share our culture and meet people from all over the world, you'll get a chance to live the Zapotec culture, enjoy listening to our native language, going shopping to the local farmers market and joining many of the village festivals and traditions. Zapotec architecture is centered around the household activities, the house is huge and spread around a central patio. There are separate rooms in compound for other Airbnb guests and our family members . THINGS TO DO: As part of your stay we will show you how we make our rugs; we grind some cochineal to show you how we get different colours from the bugs, my mom is very good at spinning wool and very patient if you would like to try it, we even teach you the very basics of weaving on the looms if you are up for it. In one of the rooms we have a large gallery with a varied collection of rugs, bags, textiles and other small crafts that my family makes. Feel free to take as much time as you like to do your shopping while you stay with us ;-) You are welcome to join us at parties or festivals in the village if there are any during your stay. My aunts run a shop in front of the local market and every morning ladies meet for shots of Mezcal and other spirits before going to the market for grocery shopping; you are welcome to join in and learn about the many varieties of Mezcal and the way in which it can be drank for fun, healing or spiritual purposes. HIKING: There is a trail that goes to the sacred peak in front of my house (picacho) this is where legend has it that our ancestors first arrived to. The great spirit manifested itself in the great sky in the form of a huge beautiful bird accompanied by the seven pleyades. At the top of this mountain, the great spirit gave all the land that the eye could see to the Zapotec people for them to care and live. This why private property was and it is still  not entirely part of the view of life in Zapotec communities. We recommend doing this hike early in the morning or in the afternoon, it takes 1 hour to reach the top on a steady phase. You have to buy a ticket with the local museum to access the sacred site, it costs 15 pesos. We try to buy them in bulk and have them available for guests so also check with us. WORKSHOPS: Workshops are not included in the airbnb price, this are sold separately. We run them everyday when we have guests. NATURAL DYES. Learn how to dye using cochineal (Dactylopius Coccus) a bug that growns on nopal cacti and that changed the way Europeans saw color and did business in the 16th century. We would also dye with another local and seasonal plant to explain how to achieve color variation and fix the dye. All materials are provided and you get a skein of yarn of every color died. The workshop lasts around 4 hours and the next day we take out the died yarn. It costs 1,500 pesos per person. WEAVING. You get access to a warped loom and materials to weave your very own rug with our coaching. You get 6 hours of coaching per day and all the materials and tools you need to weave. Depending on your weaving skills and the pattern you would like to learn you can make a simple pattern rug in a day or a more detailed pattern in 3 days. The cost is $1500 pesos per day. COOKING. Let us know if you would like to cook a prehispanic Zapotec dish with us. Cook mole from scratch, learn how to make hand made tortillas, sopa de guias (tender squash leaves soup), segueza (prehispanic mole), atole or champurrado. We will discuss the recipes according to the season and dietary requirements. The cost is 1,500 pesos, all inclusive (ingredients and teaching). HORSEBACK RIDING. My brother Celestino could arrange horse riding sessions for one or more people to explore the country side, ride on  the foothills, enjoy the landscape of agave fields or stop at the local damn where migratory birds arrive. You can tailor your ride according to your interest. 1 to 2 hours ride: $800 pesos per person. 2 to 4 hours ride: $1,500 pesos per person 4 to 6 hours ride: $2,500 pesos per person TEMAZCAL. We can also arrange the traditional Zapotec Temazcal with an experienced lady healer; she has been healing people for over 20 years and is well renowned in the area. The temazcal is a small adobe room which is layered with healing herbs and then steamed from the hot rocks on the fire pit. You entern the temazcal naked (optional) and lay down on the floor. The healer will use a bouquet of herbs and plants to bring the steam on your body, then you will start to get hot and to sweat. You tell her to stop any time and take a break inside or outside of the temazcal. You can go in and out as many times as it pleases you during the session. The idea is that when you crawl out of the Temazcal you are being born again, this time from the womb of mother earth. The family prepares a hot drink made with toasted corn kernels for you to drink after the experience. The temazcal session lasts up to two hours and it costs $700 pesos per person, payable up front. Check availability in advance. We accept credit cards for all your purchases during your stay. There are no ATMs in the village, the nearest one is 20 minutes drive away in Tlacolula or el Tule. Where to eat: If you go out of my house and walk two blocks you get to Av. Juarez where most of the restaurants and coffee shops are located. Turn right in Av Juarez and you will find Restaurant Guelaguetza, a medium sized family owned restaurant offering local dishes at affordable prices. Two blocks down on Av Juarez is Restaurant El Descanso, very clean and beautifully decorated, the food is tasty and the price range is medium. Once and a half blocks from el Descanso is Restaurant Tlamanalli, run by Abigail Mendoza and her sisters. Abigail has been traveling the world to promote Zapotec food and has hosted famous Chefs like Anthony Burdain, Tomasina Miers and Alejandro Ruiz. The food is well made respecting the traditional Zapotec tradition with no short cuts; abigail uses the Metate to grind all her ingredients. A three course meal with drinks would cost around $1000 pesos, no credit cards are accepted. El Jaguar is a nice and small restaurant down the road from Tlamanalli, it is run by my Cousing Isabel. Just like every other woman in town, she cooks very tasty traditional Zapotec food at affordable prices using local ingredients and ancient recipes. Right next door to Jaguar is Conchita, a small Comedor that serves typical Mexican "street food" and local dishes, she opens until late 10:00pm. Restaurant Tierra Antigua is another well decorated and nice restaurant of the medium scale serving Authentic and delicious Zapotec food at the entrance of town on Av Juarez. Tacos and burgers are sold next to the Church from 8pm until midnight. So you always will have an option to choose from. Find us on social media @dixzarugsorganicfarm @sam_dixza Fan page: dixza rugs & organic farm Youtube channel: dixza Tweet us @dixza Full access to the Airbnb house. Come hang out at the front porch to see us weaving on the looms or sign up for a workshop. Come and go to the rug gallery and take your time to see the rugs that our family and 16 other families have produced over the years. We have staircases to the rooftop so you can enjoy the views, do yoga or jus have some sky space. We welcome you into our family and are happy to interact as much as our work allows and happy to give you all the space you need :-) Teotitlan del Valle is a small village of Zapotec indigenous people who are world famous for their rug weaving tradition.  The town has a daily local market that is full of fresh produce and local traditions. For instance, at my aunt's shop, you could go and mingle with the locals for a morning shot of 'curados'. Curados is a word for infused Mezcal; infusions vary from medicinal herbs, aromatic ones and other mixes are designed to just get you drunk. Many weavers keep an open door policy for their workshops and others have set up dedicated galleries, spend the day looking for the perfect rug for your house our learning about our culture. There is a XVI century church well looked after and decorated with flowers and exquisite hand made flowery candles. Next to it, there is a local museum and rug market. You could also explore the countryside side doing all sort of outdoor activities. There is a cooperative that offers bike rental, horse riding and pedal boats for the small damn full of wild life. There are trails for hiking to the Sacred Mountain and for going up to the Sierra Juárez and pueblos mancomunados. Here are some directions on how to get to our home: TAXI HIRE A taxi hire from Oaxaca city will cost from 200 to 300  pesos. We could send our trusted local taxi drivers to pick you up if you want, they are reliable and already know the house. We could also arrange airport pick up with our trusted local taxi drivers, we would need your flight number and arrival time. Price is around 450 pesos from the airport to my house in Teotitlan. A taxi from the airport to Teotitlan is around 700 pesos. IN TEOTITLAN: Once in Teotitlan, to get to my house you have to drive all the way into the centre of the village on Av. Juárez; you will pass a restaurant (el Descanso) keep goind straight for two blocks; then turn left on  calle 2 de Abril (at the corner of Abarrotes y Materiales del Valle). Drive two blocks down and that's my house on the second corner, a big cream gate with bars. If you pass a bridge over a creek you have gone too far. Bienvenidos a casa :-) PUBLIC TRANSPORT There are buses and shared taxis (all carmine red and a white stripe) to Teotitlan, but they are a bit unreliable. Here is some guidance: Buses ($15 pesos) and Shared Taxis ($20 pesos) to Teotitlan del Valle leave on the hour (7am to 8pm) from the 2nd class bus station/taxi base (near Central de Abastos) and do stop all along Periférico ringway. Pro-tip: if you are near the ADO, I recommend going to the bus stop behind the baseball stadium; in this way, you avoid all the traffic in the city!. Buses to Teotitlan del Valle stop around the 20-30 minutes of every hour on this stop. A faster way is to take a shared taxi towards Tlacolula ($20 pesos) and get off at the village cross roads (in front of a few Mezcal palenques). Cross the bridge and take another shared taxi to the village ($8 pesos). Colectivo taxis stop one block down from restaurant El Descanso on Av. Juarez, from there follow the above directions, it's only five short blocks, about a 7 minute walk. The bus stops Next to Market, get off there turn north towards 2 de Abril and walk down 3 blocks.   We are marked as dixza rugs & organic farm on online maps. There are no direct buses and taxis to Teotiltan on Sundays. On Sunday go directly to Tlacolula bus station and take a bus from Tlacolula to Teotitlan. There is also a colectivo service from Tlacolula to Teotitlan on Sundays due to the big market day there. The colectivos leave on a parking lot on Calle Capuchinas, behind the Hotel and Restaurante Guish Bac. Just bear in mind that this is an active farm, there are animals and a tractor. Farm animals do make noise (we have goats and some times horses stay in the patio) so bring earplugs if you are sensitive to this. Our tractor and big truck will could be a bit of a nuisance when we are maintaining it and as we get ready to leave in and out as we go to do farm work. Our farm is not the tidiest of places but we make sure that all guest areas are clean and organised. We offer you an opportunity for a cultural inmmersion into our autonomous community and our traditional way of life, as much as we do tourism we are not here to provide you the comfort you might be used to living in a developed country. So if you are looking for a place to just relax and be an observer there are many good boutique and high end options in the city. If you come with a tolerant and positive attitude you will make your trip an authentic learning experience and we will try to do our best to accomodate for your needs.