The town of Coapantla is slightly down hill from the Zacatipa on the same dirt road. There are no signs marking the way, which leads to a lot of uncertainty. As I arrived in town a young man was sitting at the cross roads and I stopped to ask where I was and we started to talk. He turns out to be a promoter for the towns handicrafts is name is Gerardo Hernandez Gonzalez. In the town, there exist a number of handicrafts based on basket weaving and embroidered textiles. The embroidered blouse from the town is supposed to have five colors. The traditional skirt is muslin cotton with a back strap woven strip of embroidery sewn on the bottom; it is dyed with crepe paper. This surprised me, the paper is placed around the bottom of the skirt and then wet, in pre-crepe paper times this could have been died with the juice from berries. On the far right bottom row, six blouses were for sale. These embroidered blouses are sold in the Sunday market in Huejutla. It is worth looking at these blouses to note the different styles of embroidery.
During Carnival, the day before lent starts, most villages in the region have traditional dances. Since only men participate, some dress up as women.
My thanks to Gerardo Hernandez Gonzalez, Anna Maria de la Cruz, Maria Thomas Hernandez Vasquez, Maria Dolores Martinez and Juana Hernandez Hernandez for participating in this project.