Goofy Gringo Cuentitos Pt. 2

Killer Tamale

A tamale almost killed me.  No, I’m not complaining about the tremendous amount of food that people eat around the holidays. It’s not that I had eaten too many tamales. Rather, as I was walking to work one day, wooooof… I went sailing through the sky and landed flat on my back. As I rolled over to my front side to push myself up from the ground, I was perplexed. How had I slipped? And in such a dramatic way? The ground wasn’t wet and I didn’t remember seeing anything on the sidewalk on my path. As I stood up, the culprit was there, staring right back at me.  It was a huge tamale. The biggest I have ever seen. Sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. Cartoons – and of course, Mario Kart – regularly show people slipping on banana peels, but I’ve never known that to happen in real life. Now I know that the real threat is tamales. 

While you may find it an irritating exaggeration that I claimed to have almost died by a tamale, I have found that Mexicans love to exaggerate in story telling. [As do great story tellers in the U.S. and elsewhere too.] In Mexican story-telling, what matters most is the effect that one’s words leave, not the factual accuracy of one’s statement. In fact, telling the facts right, when the straight facts are unimpressive, would be a greater lie than exaggerating to portray the same feeling that was experienced. For example, there is a huge hill in the middle of the town I live in. On one part of the hill, a staggering number of escalinas [stairs] lead you from the center of town to the top of the loma [hill]. One of my friends claimed there are a 1,000 steps. I didn’t believe her, so I counted. There are 251. But as I think about it now, she was more right than I am. It’s an intimidating number of steps. Enough to make you consider taking another route to get home. The only way to accurately explain the grandness of these escalinas is to share that there are a thousand.

Death of a Globo

After the toasts, the feasting, dancing the cumbia to Juan Gabriel songs, and bilingual karaoke, the Año Nuevo festivities died down. Around 4am, the party began to break up and family dispersed to their homes. A handful of us dedicated partygoers stayed though. We were going to welcome in the New Year by sending a globo a los cielos [ballon to the skies/heavens]. This wasn’t a normal plastic balloon though. It was a balloon made out of tissue paper and glue. Throughout Mexico, people make these types of globos for special festivities. In some places, these globos are gigantic, and elaborate, being formed out of hundreds of pieces of tissue paper. On this night though, we had a simple globo of just four pieces of tissue paper. We wrote our wishes for the new year on the paper, then proceeded to carry it outside with the flammable ring and a box of matches.

Photo taken by my friend Hannah Smith. My family's globo looked much like this one

The streets were dead. We set up in the middle of the busy boulevard linking the bus station with the university in town. Tía Norma took the lead to direct us to echar el globo a los vientos [send the balloon to the winds]. The process works much like that of a hot air balloon. A hole at the bottom of the globo contains a metal ring which holds a donut-looking flammable ring, that is lit, causing the globo to rise in the air. The globo is then carried by wind farther than the eye can see until eventually the ring burns up, and the globo falls to the ground. The process to get the globo off the ground was taking longer than expected, so I proceeded to offer my help. I had watched  the launching of a globo during YAGM Mexico Orientation in Cuetzalan several months before, so I figured that I knew what I was doing. As Tía Norma held the globo, I lit the ring, but instead of lifting up, up and away, the tissue paper walls of the balloon enveloped in flame. We dropped the globo to the ground and watched as our New Years wishes burnt up in flames. ¡Pinche gringo! I thought to myself.*

Globos get as big and elaborate as this.
Yes, this was made out of tissue paper too -
just hundreds and hundreds of sheets of tissue paper.
Photo Credit: Hannah Smith.

*Because I burnt up our wishes for Amor y Paz [love + peace] in the world, I guess I will be responsible when world peace and boundless love don’t come. jaja. On a serious note though, if I can inspire one person, comfort one person, restore one person’s dignity, or ignite one person’s heart with love, it will justify my life.

Holidays!

Participating in Mexican holidays and traditions has been a joy during my time in Mexico. From The Day of the Virgin Guadalupe to the Celebration of the Three Kings and everything between, the following contains my recent experiences with Mexican holidays.

Dec 12 – Día de La Virgen de Guadalupe

“Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres…” [“Blessed you are among all women…”] The words from the Hail Mary [Ave Maria] rose from the lips of the pilgrims. They traveled on foot, on bike, and in the back of trucks lined with benches, pulling trailers that held shrines to the Virgin. The Basilica Guadalupe in Mexico City is the second most visited Christian/Catholic site after the Vatican. Millions of pilgrims visit during the days surrounding December 12^th. The Virgin’s miraculous 1531 appearance taught the first Christians in Mexico to show and give love, compassion, relief and defense, and to hear and relieve pains and misery. Today, her influence is still felt as millions adore her, connecting with this feminine “Mother of God.” This influence was visibly felt in Tlaxcala, where over 75 miles away from the basilica, groups of pilgrims moved slowly along the shoulder of the highway. For several days, the pilgrims left, traveling the journey by bike, foot and car. Once in sight of the Basilica, they would travel the last few hundred meters on hands and knees.

While mi familia and I did not participate in the pilgrim, shortly after 10pm on the 11^th, we headed over to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe – the church in town named after the Virgin of Guadalupe. The street of the church was lined with people selling ponche, pan dulce, hot dogs, and more. Cohetes [fireworks] exploded in the air all around. At 11pm, mass started as a large framed picture of the Virgin was marched in. Though I began to drift to sleep, I was jolted awake by the explosion of mid-mass cohetes less than a stone’s throw away.  The next 24-hours filled with fireworks and fiestas throughout town. Meanwhile, Guadalupe Street in nearby Apizaco, held a carnival for its namesake filled with food, drink and rides for kids.

Jan. 3 - Post-Walk Family Panorama

Navidad

Pastorelas

When the Angel Gabriel came to Mary to share the message of the Christ who would be born, Mary responded, “Why didn’t you just send me a message on WhatsApp, Facebook or E-mail, instead of coming all the way hear?” The translation of this hilarious line was a part of the pastorela at the school at which my fellow-YAGM Alyssa works. Pastorelas are held at schools across Mexico right before Christmas break. A pastorela is essentially a Christmas play in which precious children sing villancicos [Christmas Carols], and reenact the birth of Jesus – sometimes in untraditional ways, such as in the pastorela I witnessed. After the play/musical, everyone drinks ponche, eats buñuelos [a crispy, cinnamon, sugary tortilla treat] and special tortas, and peanuts and animal crackers.

At the Pastorela. Photo Credit: Alyssa Kaplan.

Posadas

The air was crisp but refreshing as we passed through the neighbors gate and approached the image of Mary and Joseph were a group of a dozen were already gathered, reciting Hail Mary’s and a variety of other prayers. This was a posada – the Mexican tradition that takes place during the nine days leading up to Christmas. In many parts of the country, posadas are basically just Christmas parties, but in small towns throughout Mexico, the tradition endures and holds on to its religious roots, remembering Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn in Belem [Bethlehem].

Posada Piñata. Photo Credit: Alyssa Kaplan.

I was able to experience this small-town, traditional posada with the host family of my friend Alyssa. We started at the house, where the posada had taken place the night before. After reciting a numbing amount of prayers, we processed the images of Mary and Joseph across the neighborhood. As we walked, we sung and prayed, and the group began to swell. What began as twenty people, multiplied to over three times that amount by the time we reached the house for this night’s posada. Once we arrived, a series of dialogues were sung between us and the people inside the house as we asked for posada [shelter] in the house until eventually they ceded. Once inside, more prayers followed. After praying, we partook in ponche, a traditional Christmas fruit salad, oranges, sugarcane, peanuts and animal crackers, and best of all, piñatas. Little girls beat the first piñata, then boys, then women and lastly, men. After each person’s attempt to hit the piñata, a song followed, saying either “Esta niña es muy tonta, es muy tonta…” [“This child is very dumb, is very dumb…”] or “Esta niña es muy listo, es muy listo…” [“This child is very smart, is very smart…”] depending on their performance to break the piñata. [I know it sounds cruel, but it's not quite as bad as it sounds.]

Nativity at the Posada. Photo Credit: Alyssa Kaplan.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

In many ways, my Mexican Navidad felt like a New Year’s celebration. The party started shortly after 10pm when we arrived at the house of my tío. Like most other celebrations in Mexico, the centerpiece of the fiesta was eating and drinking. Upon our arrival, we ate traditional Mexican Christmas foods: pierna, Ham with pineapple and a delicious sauce, spaghetti, a fruit salad with beats and jicama, another fruit salad with apples and some sort of sweet yogurt-like sauce, and gelatina [jello]. As midnight approached, we counted down the seconds and made a toast, partaking in wine, sidra [a traditional Christmas drink similar to sparkling wine or sparkling cider], or cerveza.

The next day, we returned to the house of my tío to eat the same traditional foods, to partake in the breaking of a piñata, and to spend more time together. By the way, adult participation in piñatas is no joke. After being blindfolded, adults are spun around, and as they attempt to hit the piñata, the piñata is moved up and down and side to side by men on the roof[s] above; meanwhile, the rest of the onlookers scream directions like “Derecho. Izqueirda. Detrás.” [“Straight. To your left. Behind You.”] I digress. After several hours of eating and lounging, we headed out toward La Malinche – the nearby 14,500ft Mountain – to burn some calories, and breath in the fresh mountain air and scent of pines. Our walk was short, but it was refreshing for my spirit, reminding me of my love of nature and beautiful memories in Colorado.

Año Nuevo

At 8pm on New Year’s Eve, we headed to San Jose – the old Catholic Church in the middle of town. My hermana Karla toted a basket – filled with twelve candles [one for each month of the year], and little plastic bags filled with a variety of seeds and beans and a picture of the virgin – to have blessed. [I am guessing the blessing of the beans and seeds represented bounty, providence and fruitfulness for the coming year.] As we approached the church, we found that it was packed, so we joined the hundreds spilling outside the church and into the plaza. Tío Noe shared that rather than Christmas Eve or Easter, this is the most popular day of the year to attend Mass in Mexico.

After our church visit, we returned to the house. Shortly after 10pm, family began to arrive. We put classical Mexican music on the television and began to dance the cumbia. By 11:30pm, all the family had arrived and we took our seats. 15 till, we began to make toasts. First, mamá Oliva and my tíos [the oldest generation in the family], then mis primos and I followed. As we ushered in the New Year, we toasted to champagne and a peach wine cooler. We then ate a dozen grapes, making a wish with each one. Finally, we feasted. The table was filled with barbacoa, pierna, lomo smothered in nuts and pineapple and mango sauce, traditional fruit salads, gelatina, and pastel [cake]. We filled our bellies, then we resumed with more dancing, and eventually an awkward, half-hearted, bilingual game of karaoke. Around 4am, the party began to break up and family dispersed to their homes. Those of us who were left, wrote wishes on a globo and sent it off to the wind. [See my post entitled "Goofy Gringo Cuentitos Pt. 2" for more on this event.] Finally, we too made our way to bed as the sun prepared to break the horizon.

 

New Year's Dancing

New Year's Feasting

January 6 - Los 3 Reyes

Like many other Mexican holidays, the celebration of the three kings on January 6^th is rooted in Catholic tradition. Throughout Mexico, children look forward to this day in the same way [U.S.] American kids look forward to Christmas, as the 3 Kings typically bring gifts. Additionally, on this day, families drink atole, coffee or hot chocolate and partake in Rosca de Reyes – a specialty sweet bread that is eaten only at this time of year. Because the religious meaning of this holiday evades most of us, some say that the holiday is really just an “excuse to eat rosca.” The tradition doesn’t end with the eating of this pan dulce though. Burried within the bread, are tiny plastic muñecos [dolls] that hold special meaning. If you end up finding one of these muñecos in your pan, you have to bring tamales [or another food or drink] to the family comida on February 2^nd – the Day of the Candelaria [holiday celebrating Jesus’ dedication in the temple]. Additionally, the hard-core rosca-goers adorn their muñeco with clothing. While you won't find me adorning my muñeco, I will remain faithful to this Mexican tradition by bringing tamales on the 2^nd.

Rosca de Reyes

Toque el Muñeco

Muñeco

Cumpleaños

While I have loved all of the above días festivos in which I have participated, birthday parties no doubt remain my favorite Mexican tradition. From the taco stand at my sisters’ joint birthday party to the classy guitar and vocal duet that woke us up on Mamá Oliva’s birthday to playing soccer with family to the dancing and tequila and Mariachis at almost every family birthday party, I will forever remember Mexican cumpleaños as a fun time with familia, partaking in Mexican tradition, and reveling in the joy of life. [Click on the video below to listen to my favorite Mariachi song.]