July 4th, 2012 

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone is enjoying their 4th with friends and family! I am sad that I am unable to be with my friends and family to celebrate today, but the past couple of days have been nice. On Tuesday I went to a Talavera Factory called "Talavera  De la Luz." Like I've mentioned before, talavera is pottery that only comes from Puebla and three nearby communities, Atlixco, Cholula, and Tecali because of the quality of natural clay found there and the tradition of production, which dates back to the 16th century after the Spanish brought it during the colonial period. Today, however only pieces made by designated areas and from workshops that have been certified are allowed to call their work "Talavera." Only nine workshops have this certification, including Talavera De la Luz. Talavera is absolutely beautiful, but expensive. When I visited their warehouse, I wanted every single piece! I spent the past two days looking at different shops that sell it and none compare to the talavera that you will find at this factory. Other than looking at a lot of Talavera, I've explored different shops in Puebla and have spent time with my host family, well mostly with Fabricio and Fany!

The outside of the factory. It's a little odd because this is the only sign/advertisement of the factory. However, what's nice about this place is that they give tours!

Talavera pottery is made with two different types of clay, a dark clay and light clay. These clays only come from the state of Puebla. 

The clays are mixed together, strained and kneaded. Every piece is modeled by hand or pressed in a mold. The pieces are left to dry for 50 to 90 days. Once they are dry they go through a firing and then are hand dipped in a glaze which form the white background of the design. Afterwards, stencil designs are dusted onto the pieces with a charcoal power. Then each piece is hand-painted and for a second time fired. I took some pictures of the process, which I've posted below. 

All done by hand.

The oven (It was extremely hot in this room!)

Before and After

They said they usually set it up to 1000 degrees!

Afterwards

This guy has a great skill in painting. You have to have a really steady hand!

Great skill!

They gave my tour guide and I a piece to try to paint. 

Don't be fooled we painted the messed up part on the left of the tile. The other part with the light blue paint and flower on top were done by the talented worker. 

The warehouse of Talavera! 

The beautiful shop where I wanted to buy everything! Too bad, there is a weight limit for luggage!

This is jicama, which is a big round root vegetable. It can be eaten raw, but needs to be peeled before eating or cooking. The inside looks like the inside of a raw potato, but wetter and crunchier. The flavor is a little sweet and is very popular in Mexican cuisine. It's used in salads, salsas, vegetable platters and as a yummy snack! Usually as a snack it's prepared with lime and chili power.

Paty made me some with lime and chili power and I have to say this might be one of my new favorite snacks!

Today I had steak fajitas and rice made with rajas, which gives it it's green color. It was tasty, but today I had a craving for hot dogs and some 4th of July food!

A picture with almost all of the tours guides that I have had each week!

 Veronica is missing.