At 64-years-old, Oaxacan born and lifelong resident, Serafin Muñoz, says he is sad and lonely most days lately due to the death of his wife of 40 years just one year ago.
However, he quickly changes the subject, and says, “We have to be better than yesterday,” and as his eyes begin to light up, asks,“What do you think?”
What brings joy to his life now he says is teaching sports to kids, and this time of year, because he gets to make intricate designs out of radishes for La Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes) – a tradition that has been happening in Oaxaca every 23rd of December, for more than a century.
Muñoz says the tradition started with the carving of lettuce, onions, and radishes in the markets during Christmas time to encourage sales, but with time, it became just radishes. Today, it is a full-blown city-wide contest where the government provides free radishes to all those that register (also free), and the first place winner gets 15,000 pesos.
It has become such a popular event that many people don't even get to see the works of art that are displayed in the zocalo on the 23rd. The lines are so long, that it's over before they get there, Muñoz says.
He says that he was only about 15-years-old when he began keeping this tradition with his parents. And with almost 40 years of experience in this unique agrarian artistic field, no one has beaten Muñoz' record yet of nine first place wins, two second place wins, and three third place wins.
What sets him apart from the other contestants he says, is that he likes to keep some of the shape of the radishes. He doesn't carve to perfection – he likes his images to still look like it comes from a radish – in this way he keeps it authentic.
"I know love, because I love doing this," says Muñoz. "This is how one should love people - from the heart, not through words."
This year, he is repeating a theme he won first place for 35 years ago - a depiction of the first mass that was celebrated in Oaxaca 400 years ago at the bank of the Atoyac River, under a huajes tree (the leaf of which Oaxaca is named after).
It's an anxious time he says, because not only is the work tiring, but it's also nerve-wracking to wait to see who wins.
“One needs a lot of patience,” says Muñoz, while his son sprays water on some of the new radish creations beside me to keep them from dehydrating.
It's been four years since Muñoz last won a contest, but his determination does not falter. He's been carving with four of his six sons for the past four days, and tonight plans to be up till whenever they finish.
“He who doubts fails, and he who decides triumphs,” he tells me. “What do you think of that, eh?”
(Published in the Guadalajara Reporter)
