Alba Cuevas
July 9, 2026
Meet the author
Hi everyone! My name is Alba Cuevas, a Summer 2026 intern with Ticha, funded through the Bigel Grant at Montclair State University, where I am a Second Bachelor’s student majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Linguistics. My work this summer focuses on supporting the Zaachila and Villa Díaz Ordaz Talking Dictionaries, maintaining our Group Report, creating English-to-Spanish translations for our social media pages, and even authoring a blog post every now and again.
A spark of inspiration
Sara López Cruz, the TD director for Villa Díaz Ordaz, had been interested in the language work she had heard was happening in relation to Ticha. Last summer she had a chance to attend the book launch for Banya, Zhyap Colory Bany (Banya, la niña color de barro), a children’s book written by Geraldina and Ana López Curiel in Dizhsa (San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec). Seeing the book and hearing the work sparked a fire for Sara, She immediately approached the Ticha team with hopes of connecting her community to this project and sharing her goals of creating her own children’s book. When she heard back with the good news– an invitation to join the 2026 cohort– she began preparing for the upcoming summer’s work with the new interns.
Geraldina López Curiel, Ana López Curiel, Felipe H. Lopez at the book launch for Banya, Zhyap Colory Bany at Jardín Pochote in 2025. Photo Credit: Brook Lillehaugen.
A new dictionary: Villa Díaz Ordaz’ Talking Dictionary
Summer ’26. Sara and her daughter, Roxana Abigail García López, came to the Summer 2026 inauguration event ready to work. Not only did they have a vision of what the book’s message would be, they also had a working document of words and phrases from their language to share and upload to their dictionary. Thanks to all the preparatory work they did, this year’s interns (myself, Misha Griffin, and Estrellita Ramírez Arboleda) were able to support in uploading 141 entries with audio (recordings done in the new TichaLab recording studio) in under 3 weeks! While the speed of entries is impressive, it’s evident that Sara and Roxana have been working on this dictionary long before the first word was recorded.
The large pool of words and phrases Sara and Roxana put together has also allowed them to start considering choices related to orthography. They are now interested in making systemic decisions about how to write their language and are collaborating with their community members regarding these. As we continue to work with them, we can see the visible excitement on their faces as they recognize the systems and logic that has always been in place for their language.
Sara López Cruz, Roxana Abigail García López, Estrellita Ramírez Arboleda, and Misha Griffin meeting for the first time and starting to plan the Summer 2026 work. Photo credit: Brook Lillehaugen.
An invitation to the interns
After a few working sessions, Sara extended an invitation to the interns (alongside Dr. Felipe H. Lopez) to visit Villa Díaz Ordaz. As one of the first interns to visit and build relations with the community, it was an honor to be invited and learn about the home she has so enthusiastically told us about. As excited as I was, a bit of nervousness did manage to find its way to me. However, having worked with Sara and Roxana for the past 2 weeks, and knowing how welcoming and supporting they are, any worries were promptly washed away.
When we arrived, Sara greeted us with her warm smile and immediately began sharing her town’s history. Previously called Santo Domingo del Valle, the town changed its name to Villa Díaz Ordaz to honor Coronel José María Díaz Ordaz, leader of los liberales during La Guerra de Reforma, 1860. She brought us to la plaza central which housed their gorgeous church, the town’s main mercado, and the municipio where we had the opportunity to meet with the entire cabildo (town council) to present the TD project. As we sat with the cabildo, we were able to witness the excitement and unanimous support in the TD project (and hear all about their plans to post QR codes in the town kids can access the site directly!). As the day continued, Sara opened her home to us (where we recorded more for the dictionary), fed us delicious mole, and walked us through her panedería, showing us a bit what daily living is like.
Sara López Cruz, Estrellita Ramírez Arboleda, Alba Cuevas, Misha Griffin in front of the church of Villa Díaz Ordaz. Photo Credit: Felipe H. Lopez
The day we spent with the community left an indelible mark for me . Getting to know the community I am supporting and letting them get to know me laid a foundation for this new relationship. I am excited for both the work I will do the rest of this summer and to see the continued expansion of the Díaz Ordaz TD.
Together in Villa Díaz Ordaz: Felipe H. Lopez, Misha Griffin, Alba Cuevas, Roxana Abigail García López, and Sara López Cruz. Photo Credit: Miguel Alexander, Sara’s employee at bakery.
Credits and contributors
Published: July 14, 2026
Author: Alba Cuevas
Edited by: Brook Lillehaugen
Reformatted by: Dahlia Le Tourneau
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, the Ticha team and I can be reached at tichaproject@gmail.com.