I've just returned to this lovely small surfer town on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, where I have been involved with a group of good friends in building an amazing round-building with a reciprocal green roof, inspired by Earthship techniques. Last year we managed to put the roof beams in place right during the most serious lockdown, which was a stunning achievement in the face of all odds. But now it's really time to finally cover the roof.
Just like every year, the first weeks after arriving is spent organizing the place, arranging our living quarters, like bathroom and kitchen, and preparing a place where we'll be doing the work. This year, this also meant setting up the circus tent for some shade under the brutal sun.
This tent has an interesting story... I guess at some point it must have belonged to an actual circus, where it was the top section of what they call a Big Top. My friend Steph got it for free as it was about to be discarded, in his home France. He used a private courier service to have it shipped to Mexico, where it ended up at a logistic center for a few weeks. When we called the company to inquire about our shipment, they said it will be delivered when all outstanding dues are paid. Since they had wanted full payment before shipping, this caused some confusion. In the end we found out that it was the Mexican state that was charging an import tax, even though the item was used (up to the point of being declared trash), and the courier service played the accomplice in this scam, by not being clear up front about the cost related to delivery.
In the end it arrived well (once we decided to go along with this extortion), and we hung on to it for two years... So finally now, I was excited to see it go up.
The Mermejita Circus Festival
So originally I only wanted to post a few pics of how we pitched this circus tent. But then it turns out this also happens to be the week of the annual circus festival in Mazunte, organized by the Circus Mermejita. What a neat coincidence! So I couldn't just post a circus tent here without mentioning the actual circus in town.
Mermejita is actually a permanent fixture here. They are named after the gorgeous beach where they are located, only a few minutes walking distance from Mazunte. As a result, their clowns, acrobats, and areal artists are a common site representing and supporting many events in town. Right now, however, they are the ones in the spotlight... or they would be if things were normal.
Exceptional Times for the Circus
These days, it seems like, everything is a bit out of the ordinary. It's still Covid after all, even though you would never notice in Mazunte. Last year the Circus Festival was the last gig of normality. I even remember clowns making jokes about how popular the coronavirus has gotten. At that point the pandemic was still just another news story, only days before it actually became part of the local reality: The following week the beach was closed, dry laws were implemented, and a roadblock "filter" set up to stop anyone from entering town who didn't belong here.
By now the tourists have returned, alcohol sales are up, and supposedly even the last restrictions will be lifted next week. Whoo-hoo for the green light! Still, since we are officially still under Covid law, the Mermejita Circus decided not to have any shows during this year's festival. Instead, they are focusing their efforts on online circus workshops.
Pitching The Big Top
So let's see about this circus tent. In previous years we didn't even bother unpacking it, since it was just the tarp, needing poles, stakes, and ropes. It's not like we didn't have enough stuff lying around, but they needed to be organized, accommodated, possibly repurposed, and certainly cut to size. This year, however, we made sure to be prepared.
First we installed a tall pole in the center, lifting up the entire tarp. It took two people supporting it, while the heavy tarp got them close to suffocating. Fortunately, the rest of us pulled out a corner at a time, placing a bamboo rod under the edge at one of the ten points. They had to be pulled out by a rope, and staked down.
Eventually, once we had most corners raised and staked, the tent started to take on shape. On top of each bamboo rod we placed a coconut to keep it from piercing the tarp.
A few adjustments here and there, raising the incline on one pole, or tightening the rope on another, we got the tarp tight enough to look ... well, just like a circus had pitched their big top on our property. Since my friends are a theater group, it's not entirely out of place, actually.
So now, we have a nice flat area under permanent shade, where we can work. This is something we had been wishing for since... well, since the first time we got here. Of course, the red-yellow stripes may probably attract clowns of all sorts. In our international group we have been joking around a lot about Cirkus (Hungarian), Theater (German), Casinò (Italian), Bordel (French), all meaning some disorganized craziness, which certainly applies to our place, by any standards.
