Standing in Solidarity (with a little luck)

I pass this two to four times a day.

Every day, I wonder how long my luck is going to hold out.  When is that pole going to slide under my car, flipping it over while spewing live electrical wires all over the street?

It´s been a month now.  So far, so good.

It´s March, which brings to mind St. Patrick´s Day and, consequently the luck of the Irish.  Now, to the best of my knowledge, none of my ancestors were Irish, but today I´m sure looking like I´m pretending I were.

Despite the red hair and ND outfit,
I´ve got NO Irish genes.  

But isn´t that more or less the point of a modern celebration of St. Patrick´s Day?  It´s a day where we all just pretend to be Irish.  I´m not sure how the Irish feel about that, but that´s how we do things in the US.  That, and it´s a good excuse to drink a Guinness.

Very similarly, Cinco de Mayo has turned into a popular celebration in the US.  In the US, people use the 5th of May to celebrate Mexican heritage--and that´s great.  Or, it´s just a good excuse to have some Coronas or a margarita.  But, like St. Patrick´s Day, it appears to be a day that we can all just pretend to be "Mexican" for a day.  Whatever that means.

I do get on my yearly soapbox, explaining that Cinco de Mayo isn´t widely celebrated in Mexico.  However the events of Cinco de Mayo had longer-lasting consequences for the US and, if we knew about them, it would then make perfect sense that we celebrate Cinco de Mayo more in the US than Mexico.  I´ve got more information on that topic here.

But I´m not exactly pushing that soapbox today.  This comparison between how St. Patrick´s Day and Cinco de Mayo are celebrated in the US is striking me pretty hard, particularly this year.  Around 150 years ago, when Irish people were immigrating to the US by the boatload, they were often discriminated against.  They had doors closed in their faces and were openly excluded from jobs, places to live, etc.

While anti-Mexican sentiment has been simmering under the surface of US culture for awhile now, it appears to be coming to a head with the current administration.  What am I proposing here?  I´m suggesting that yes, let´s celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year.  Let´s do it the same way we do St. Patrick´s Day, where everyone pretends to be Irish for a day.  This Cinco de Mayo, let´s all be Mexican for a day.

That doesn´t mean that we all go around wearing sombreros and drinking tequila.  What I´m proposing is that we stand in solidarity with those Mexicans (and other latinos) who live in the US.  We appreciate them for their contributions to our country.  (If you´re not sure what that would be, I´ve got a glaring example here, for those readers who skipped over that link earlier.)

Why do I claim that Mexicans (and other latinos) are being discriminated against?

Trump´s presidential campaign sounded pretty clear to me.  His remarks about Mexico have angered an entire nation.  It´s becoming routine, upon meeting new people here, one of the first questions we´re asked is, "do you like Trump?"  I shudder to think how they´d respond to someone who says they do.  And this new Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office that trump wants to start sounds benign on the surface.  However, it hints at something larger.  My fear is that it will legitimize discrimination against latinos in the US.


But if that´s not evidence enough, consider:

• We have a system of for-profit detention centers where people are held for months, sometimes years, waiting for their immigration case to be process, often to ultimately be deported. 
• These for-profit detention centers require a MINIMUM number of people to be incarcerated in these centers.  Am I crazy, or should detention centers be run by the government (or at the very least, be non-profit).  Because who is making profits for these detention centers?  Right, the taxpayers.  And probably the people held in these detention centers.  
• Those held in these detention centers, not being US citizens, have no legal rights.  They have no right to representation like citizens or legal residents do.  This in another reason why they can be held for years, because in many cases no one is pushing to get cases heard, and the government has no plans to give these people due process--they just plan on deportation.  After they´ve met the detention centers´ minimum quotas, of course.        
• Entire families are locked up in these detention centers.  We´re incarcerating children.  This is not the kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American.  (Precisely the opposite.)

This Cinco de Mayo, let´s stand in solidarity with the Mexican and latino families down the street.  

That doesn´t mean eating a taco bowl.  Mexicans don´t actually eat those.  

That means contacting your representatives and senators, and speaking up for those neighbors who legally don´t have a voice in this country.  Whatever our stance on immigration, I think we can all agree that people should be treated humanely.  

Locking up non-violent offenders indefinitely is not humane.  Our country can do better.  

This Cinco de Mayo, let´s all be Mexican for a Day.



¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

Need more reading about Detention Centers?

Check out:

• the ACLU
• Bring Pedro Home (through a facebook group, I became aware of this family.  At the time, the husband was detained (indefinitely, of course).  In the end, he was held for 19 months.  When his case finally went to trial, his US citizen wife was preparing to move to Guatemala, because it was very likely he was going to be deported anyway.  Fortunately, he was ultimately granted permanent residency, and (as he was before his detention) he has been contributing positively to his community ever since. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Photo Challenge Fail

I had the best of intentions.

And I loved doing the photo-scavenger-hunt-through-December-thing.

But the third week of Advent got the better of me.

However, I DID get one photo that week!  Never mind that it wasn´t on the list for the photo challenge.

My week got sidelined by the Nutcracker.  This year marked the 30th anniversary of the first time I saw the Nutcracker.  I´ve seen it just about every year since.  

But this was the first time I got to be in it.  

OK, maybe "be in it" is a bit of an overstatement.  This Nutcracker had live accompaniment from the state orchestra, and I sing with their choir, whenever they need a choir.  

In the Snowflake Scene, they needed a choir!  Yee-haw!

So this was my view: 

Photo courtesy of the Orquesta Filarmónica del Desierto

In a way, this was a bit of a dream come true for me, so these photos appropriately embody JOY, for the third week of Advent.

For the fourth week of Advent, I was so behind in making cookies, buying presents, and packing to go see my family, PLUS the last week of school and all those Christmas parties, that the photo challenge was officially dropped.  

So, until next year, Advent Photo Challenge!  (At least, until Nutcracker Week.)

Until then, bring it on, 2017!

Advent Photo Challenge--Hope

I´ve been wanting to do something different with this blog, to shake things up a bit.  Or just blog more.  That would be shaking things up a bit.

Reading others´ blogs through the years, I´ve liked the idea of month-long photo challenges.  So when I came across the Catholic Sistas´ 2016 Advent Photo Challenge, it seemed like a great idea.

Maybe just because I caught it early in the first week of Advent.

But, then again, I love me some Advent, so this just seemed right up my alley.

Instead of posting one photo every day (because we all know that isn´t going to happen), I´ll post my 7 photos from the week once a week.

So--here´s this week!



November 27th:  wreath

For the first few Christmases we spent in Mexico, I was a little lost by not spending Christmas in a snowy wonderland.  That, and I was becoming aware that the Christmas we celebrate (even in Mexico) is morphing into a celebration of the idyllic winter wonderland, and not the birth of Jesus.  Let´s face it, Bethlehem in December probably faces the same chilly weather as much of Mexico--and probably the same severe lack of snow.

Our first year in Mexico, we lived in Metepec, in the state of Mexico, that is famous for clay pottery (arboles de vida, in particular).  After searching high and low, this Advent wreath seemed like the perfect souvenir of our year there.

I love that there are no flocked pine needles anywhere to be found on this wreath.



November 28:  violet

         Right before Advent begins, a lot of the daily Bible readings came from the book of Revelations.  Yikes.  That book always reminds me of advice that my neighbor, Gloria, gave me.  "When things seem like they are getting scary, when you need to run away, head into the mountains."

Here´s hoping that I never have to use her advice.  However, when the light hits them right, the mountains that surround Saltillo do turn a bit purple.



November 29:  pray

On Tuesday, a friend of mine shared that someone who had been influential in her life had a comforting habit of praying verses straight out of the Bible.  That idea has been simmering in my mind a bit all week.

On Thursday, I came across this verse, which I just love.

So, for anybody out there in anguish--it´s worth a try!










November 30:  martyr      

          OK, no pictures for this one.  But in thinking about what to show for "martyr day", it reminded me of a story I heard from Nigeria.  Boko Haram has been running loose, making lots of martyrs of both Christians and Muslims.  I´ve heard that in some cities, on Fridays, when the Muslims attend mosque, the Christians stand guard outside.  Then on Sundays, when the Christians go to church, their Muslim neighbors stand guard--both groups doing their best to make sure that there are fewer martyrs overall.

          If that isn´t an excellent example of trying to make peace on earth as we await Christmas a reality, I don´t know what is.  May we follow their example.


December 1:  prepare

Photo my daily planner.  It got hijacked a few weeks ago, and most of November got covered in angry dinosaurs.

But it still keeps me on top of things.

Mostly because those angry dinosaurs are breathing down my neck.





December 2:  Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Gospel reading for Friday was of Jesus healing a blind person.  I don´t know as much as I´d like to about Jesus, but I know that he wants us all to be healed--physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally.  Whatever ails us, I´m confident that Jesus wants it to be fixed.

Also on Friday, my choir went on our Christmas tour to a hospital and rehabilitation center.  Clearly, we didn´t heal anybody.  But lots of people do get healed in those places.  However, we just sang.  But we had a nice time, and I hope that those who heard us enjoyed it, too.  



December 3:  Immaculate Heart of Mary

Confession:  I am not a cradle Catholic.  I was raised Methodist, and while I certainly respect Mary, I´m not much of a Marianist.  I´m pretty sure she´s OK with that.

That being said, thinking about a photo to represent the Immaculate Heart of Mary threw me for a loop.  Fortunately for me, I began writing this post while sitting in a rehearsal of the opera Suor Angelica, where Mary is invoked more or less constantly.  The opera also deals with themes of children born out of wedlock, penance, forgiveness, and suicide.

As a background note, Suor Angelica (set in the 1600s) had a baby out of wedlock, and was sent to the convent immediately after the baby was born.  Seven years later, the aunt who sent her away still has not forgiven her.  Suor Angelica´s life is consumed with penance for having a baby out of wedlock and prays to Mary pretty constantly.  Who else had a baby out of wedlock?  Yes--Mary!  Oh, the irony! Had Joseph not believed her, Mary and Jesus could have lived with the shame and discrimination that other unwed mothers and illegitimate children of that era faced.  (Way to go, Joe!)  

Thanks goodness we live in an age and society where [almost] no one bats an eye at unwed mothers and their children.  May we remember Mary and Jesus´s example and stand in solidarity with those families, families who may have very young parents, families who may have only one parent.  

Boy, there´s a reflection that I didn´t expect today!


What other strange connections will this photo challenge unearth?  We´ll find out next week!

Thanksgiving/First Sunday in Advent

Living in Mexico means working on Thanksgiving.  Therefore, we celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday.

The more often we´ve done this, the more often I like it.  Furthermore, the date seems even more significant on the last Saturday in November.  Why?

The first Sunday in November is usually the first Sunday in Advent.  According to the liturgical calendar, Advent begins a whole new year (in the church calendar, at least).  So sitting down and reflecting and giving thanks the night before seems like the perfect way to cap off a year.

What am I grateful for this year?

Eight adults sitting down, having dinner.
Meanwhile, there were eighteen kids running amok in
the rest of the house!  Yikes!
So thankful for the space to pull this off.  

• All three kids and how they´re growing, gaining independence, and emotional equilibrium.  
• New friendships that we´ve formed this past year and old friendships that we´ve strengthened. 
• Having enough space this year to get a number of those friends together to celebrate Thanksgiving together!
• Having a creative outlet in the Choir of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Desert of Coahuila.
• Seeing all kinds of positive possibilities on the horizon.  (Just reconciling myself with the reality that there are only 24 hours in a day!)
• Setting down roots in this city, and feeling at home here.  
• Hubs and I settling into a good groove (and improved working hours on his part), so we´re not driving each other crazy all the time.  Or, maybe better said, this year we´re enjoying driving each other crazy all the time.  

So many other things I could mention, but those are the important ones!

Here´s to Advent!  Enjoy the season--there´s time to enjoy Christmas during Christmas.

Frustration to Reflection

This is the fourth year that I´ve had a child enrolled in our preschool.  Preschools tend to go all-out for holidays.  For Day of the Dead, we dress up the kids as catrinas (skeletons dressed in fancy clothes), make mini-altars, one class makes a full-size altar, dress up paper skeletons.  It´s very nicely done, but it´s a lot of work for the parents.  Because, let´s face it, while my preschooler can help decorate his mini-altar, making the tiers, and making sure it has the "necessary" ingredients falls squarely on my shoulders.

And let me tell you, nothing makes this former preschool teacher crazier than preschool homework that the parent is required to do.  (Within reason.  Cutting things out so the teacher doesn´t have to spend 6 hours cutting after school is prefectly reasonable, of course.)

So I was pleasantly surprised last Thursday when the teachers posted a sign saying, "if you´d like to bring in an altar on Monday, that would be great."

I loosely translated that to mean, "if you don´t want to bring in an altar next week, that´s OK, too."

So the weekend came and went.  We went back to school on Monday, and it turned out that the homework for the following day was to bring in an altar.  None of this "if you feel like it" wishful thinking that I had been planning on.

Of course.

So I sat down to work, making an altar.  Joey had ideas for decorating it, so after I finally got my 5 tiers somewhat solidly set in the diorama (and covered in colored paper).  I let him do his thing.

We got ready to go trick-or-treating, and it turned out that "his thing" was two odd rectangles and a picutre of his aunt who died this summer.

Knowing that he did want this altar dedicated to Tía Lili (and having a feeling that it might be a bit theraputic for him to take it in to his class, and explain about how he misses his Tía Lili), I sat down and added a bit.  And then I added a bit more.  Then I ransacked the kids´ toys, looking for little things that could symbolize interests that Lili had, things that were important to her, etc.

The more I worked on this, the more I realized that it was good for me, too.

The finished altar for Lili.  I added her computer (because she was always working!);
suitcases, because she traveled a lot; her name in Braille.  Water is
traditional to have on an altar, but I put it there because Lili loved to swim.  

After going through the toys, I found my brailler.  (Lili went blind when she was a teenager.)  It had been missing for years, and I found it again, shortly after she died.  When I found it this summer, it released some pent-up anger I had (because anger is a stage in the greiving process).  I threw it to the back of the closet, thinking "well, shoot--I don´t need THIS anymore!"  I bought it years ago, meaning to write notes to Lili, braille out some children´s books so she could read to the kids, etc.  I learned the most rudimentary braille, and then promptly lost the tools to use it.

Until a few weeks ago.

Our family altar, which Joey was
instrumental in decorating, too.  

So, putting the finishing touches on the mini-altar for Joey to take to school, I thought it could be a great teaching moment for the kindergarteners to see Lili´s name, written in Braille.  So I did it.  And, likely, the kids didn´t notice.

But it was helpful for me.  And, as Joey largely initated the project (or gave it direction), it was probably good for him, too.  After all, in essence, that´s what celebrating Day of the Dead is be about--sitting back and taking some time to remember people we love.  If we never stop to do that, we might never work through the grieving process, and that could just fester and manifest itself in all kinds of weird ways, if left to itself.

So I love that this country sets aside a day to pray, reflect, and remember.  It´s good for all of us.  And it seems that these traditions give even the youngest among us room to express their own grief and emotions, too.

I made pan de muerto this year, and was just so stinkin´ proud that I had to document it here!

Wearing Her Heart On Her Sleeve

I have a seven-year-old daughter.  She is old enough to express herself well, and young enough that she doesn´t censor herself.

For example, early in the school year, she was supposed to write down a goal for the school year and share it with the entire class.

Clara´s goal:  I am going to be better than everyone else.

My response:  Ummm . . . wanting to be your best is, indeed, a great goal.  However, you don´t think that maybe your friends might get offended about you wanting to be better than them?

Nah.  This thought never occured to her.  After I explained it, it still didn´t seem to make much sense.  But I did get her to tone down her goal.  (At least she´s socially saavy enough to try to appease me.)

Then, about two months ago, I found this scrawled across our message board:

Quiero que todos me quieren.
I want everyone to like me. 

How heart-wrenchingly honest.  

Do we all go through this phase when we wear our heart on our sleeve?  How long does it last before reality intervenes?  (Usually in the form of mean kids.)  How many heartbreaks does it take for us to bury our desire to express our need to be loved?  

For Clara, I sure hope it isn´t any time soon.  

Would that this innocence could last forever.

I was afraid that Valentine´s Day might shatter some of her heart-strewn reality.  Unlike in the US, where all the kids in the class buy a pack of Valentines to give to every single child in the class, Clara´s assignment on Thursday was to write one card, to a specific friend, to give to that child on Friday.  

Oh, this assignment was fraught with danger.  What if Clara gave her Valentine to her friend, and her friend didn´t give her a card in return?  What if everybody wanted to give a card to one girl and then all the other girls were left without cards?  Furthermore, Clara went another step, and after she wrote "Happy Valentine´s Day" on the card, she added, "Zoe--you´re my best friend."  

Oh, dear.  Best friend declarations.  This might be more dangerous territory than boyfriends could be in a few years.  Because what happens if Zoe isn´t actually all that attached to Clara?    

Fortunately, none of these thoughts ever crossed Clara´s mind.  And, apparently it won´t occur to her for awhile longer.  Friday´s Valentine exchange must have gone off without a hitch.   

As further confirmation that the world is still a nice place, Zoe came over to spend the afternoon with Clara.  

Whew.  They may just be best friends after all.

May these two, sweet, little girls get to live a few more months in perfect oblivion to the meanness that surrounds them.  

Making Christmas

 " . . . In every winter of the world, Arizona school children fold and snip paper snowflakes to tape around the blackboard.  In October, they cut orange paper leaves, and tulips in spring, just as colonial American and Australian schoolchildren once memorized poems about British skylarks while the blue jays or cockatoos (according to continent) squawked outside, utterly ignored.  The dominant culture has a way of becoming more real than the stuff at hand."

                                        -Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (pg. 296)


      Ms. Kingsolver said it better than I did.  But my question, given my perspective in Mexico, is how the vision of a snowy Christmas got to  be the "dominant culture".  There are very few places in this country that experience real snow.  So why do we see flocked trees, refrigerated ice skating rinks, and snowmen in every park and plaza?  Yes, I agree that the idea of a snowy Christmas is a charming one.  But why are we getting bombarded by these images when they have nothing to do with an authentic, Mexican, Christmas experience?

       Call me crazy, but I´m willing to bet that the Christmas decorations in this country 100 years ago did not celebrate snow.

      I don´t either.

      Now, I´m not one of those bah-humbugs who hates the wetness, coldness, and messiness of snow.  Au contraire, I love it!  When I lived in Indiana in the winter and my coworkers would whine and moan at seeing the snow fall, someone would routinely add, "at least Jill will be happy."  And I was.

     But I believe in being present in my present surroundings.  So Christmas in Saltillo isn´t snowy?  What then, are the things that speak "Christmas" to me here?

• Pointsettias--native to Mexico, the poinsettia is called nochebuena in Spanish.  That literally means that it´s the Christmas Eve plant, as we all know it blooms this time of year.  And if you haven´t been to Mexico before, let me warn you that they can grow to be a good 6 or 7 feet tall!  There isn´t anything like a good nochebuena to help celebrate Christmas, so we´ve got them everywhere.  





Yes, ours is a bit pathetic by Mexican standards.
My idea is to buy a new piece every year.
So, when we´re celebrating our 50th year as a family, we´ll have
a set that will be the envy of any abuelita.  

• Nativity scenes--I´m convinced that there is an unofficial, national competition on who can make the grandest, most elaborate nativity scene.  Mexican nativity scenes not only incorporate the Holy Family, Wise Men, shepherds, and an angel.  No, no--they often include herds of cattle, Satan, washerwomen, nopales, goat roasting on a spit, fish swimming merrily in rivers . . . a tiny town of clay figurines descend on most Mexican homes for two months out of the year, causing significant rearranging of furniture.  I never get tired of checking out others´ nativity scenes.  

• Rosemary--earlier in the month, I wanted to make a wreath for the front door.  But, as we don´t have many pines here, I wanted it made out of something I could easily get.  I have a large rosemary bush in my patio.  A traditional, Mexican Christmas dish is romeritos, which is rosemary covered in a mole sauce.  Thanks to this, I´ve noticed in the last few years that just smelling rosemary reminds me of Christmas.  Furthermore, in a Mexican Christmas carol, Los Peces en el Rio, one of the verses speaks of Mary washing out clothes in a river and hanging them to dry on a rosemary bush.  Furthermore, having cut a branch off a few weeks before this contemplation, the cut branch stayed green for a few weeks.  

         Alas, right before I harvested the rosemary for the wreath, we had a cold spell and the bag I                covered the rosemary with had condensation inside.  Given the freezing temperatures, it just                about killed my rosemary bush.

         *sigh*  Next year, we´ll have a rosemary wreath.

• Advent wreaths.  I had to search long and hard to find an advent wreath that did not incorporate fake pine branches and pine cones.  Granted, that wouldn´t be so bad--there are mountains full of pine forests very close to here, so the pine-theme would be somewhat authentic.  However, during our first year of marriage, we lived in Metepec, just outside of Toluca.  Metepec is famous for clay pottery, and arboles de la vida.  

          While walking around one of the pottery markets one day, I found this.  Not at all Christmas-y,           in the "let´s celebrate snow" sense.  Very Christmas-y in a traditional, Mexican sense.  Makes             for one pleased expat.                

If you also live in a region of the world not blessed with snow, what decorations appeal to you?

More Preschool Dress-Up Days

Mexico celebrated the 104th anniversary of its glorious revolution a few weeks ago.  It´s one of the more important civic holidays on the calendar, so any school in the country would be remiss not to mark the occasion, right?

Right.  However, as the Revolution was a multi-faceted struggle, one that succeeded in some respects and failed in others (and, of course, it depends on one´s point of view exactly where the Revolution succeeded or failed), it´s a complicated story to tell.  Particularly to preschoolers.

So, what should we do?  Gloss over it?  Simply have an extra-long flag ceremony on the 20th?

Nah--let´s reenact it!


Is it just me, or is it true that whenever there´s something to celebrate at the preschool, the teachers ask us to dress up our kids for the occasion.  Independence Day?  Pick a traditional dress from any region in Mexico and sport those colors!  Columbus Day--guess what?  Your little güero gets to be King Ferdinand!  United Nations Day--dress your child up in traditional dress from another country!  Revolution Day--well, let´s all be revolutionaries!

As a mom, part of me is irritated to spend so much time sewing.  (Without a sewing machine, because I did not realize that a sewing machine should be included in a list of school supplies at the beginning of the year.  Those of you with younger kids in Mexico--be warned.)  However, at the preschool stage, history and social studies are tricky concepts to teach.  Given preschoolers´ natural gravitation towards dressing up and pretending, this just might be the perfect way to have them begin to learn about these tricky concepts.

Still, how much solid information are they really pulling out of merely dressing up as a revolutionary?

I have no idea.  But time will tell.

When I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out what clothes we had on hand to turn Joey into a revolutionary, it dawned on me that we had a perfect outfit for him to dress up as Venustiano Carranza, one of the revolutionary leaders.  So I told him he was going to be Carranza.  Fortunately, he jumped on that idea, bouncing around the living room, shouting, "Carranza!  Carranza! Carranza!"
Did he have any real idea who Venustiano Carranza was?

No.

Already being the proper politician and mingling with his constituents.

However, he now can associate the guy with the big white beard (who is NOT Santa Claus) with the 20th of November.  He remembers that he dressed up as that guy.  In the future, when he hears that name mentioned, he might just be a little more prepped to pay a little more attention to find out what that guy did.

Well, it´s worth a shot.

Worst case scenario?  They´re still awfully cute.

Day of the Dead 2014

Both Halloween and Day of the Dead are popular around here and, understandably, the holidays all run together, more or less.  Being part gringo, we trick-or-treat with all the pagans in town (despite being chastized by my husband, the catechism teacher, the little-old-lady Catholic neighbors, younger protestant friends across town . . . sheesh!  It seems that anti-Halloween fervor is one of the few things that both Catholics and Protestants can agree on in Mexico).  But I´ve got new friends who also celebrate Halloween, so we had a great time!

However, in order to preserve traditional Mexican culture, the teachers at school asked that the kids dressed up as catrinas on the last day of October.  They´re the traditional, well-dressed skeletons created by José Guadalupe Posada and popularized by Diego Rivera. I support that honoring of culture. So we dressed as catrinas.  But the kids were joined by plenty of witches, Draculas, zombies, and even a boy wizard.  

The parents were invited to a Day of the Dead Open House at school.  We showed up early, during recess, and Joey was a bit frightened of all the other catrinas running around the school patio.  He clearly didn´t get a good look at his own face!  

Each class displayed Day of the Dead artifacts:  Clara´s decorated skeleton masks, Joey´s class collaborated to make a full-size altar, the students in another class brought in mini-altars, and the last class clothed little catrina paper dolls.

Halloween night, Joey was much happier to be Zorro from Dora, instead of his scary-catrin self from the day before.

Independence Day Changeroo

The kids´ school celebrated Independence Day on a Friday, with the kids all dressed up in costumes.  Joey was told to come as an Indian.  Having seen other kids, I knew that all we had to do was dress him in khaki pants, sandals, and cut a hole in a jerga (mop rag) to make him a cheap serape.  And lots of parents paint mustaches on their little boys´ faces.

That´s pretty much the whole reason I wanted to have a little boy--to paint a mustache on his face for Independence Day.

Joey liked the mustache, and he was surprisingly open to wearing his sandals.  But he hated the serape and refused to wear it.  I packed it along with him, and send him to school in his khakis, sandals, mustache and red "Made in Mexico" T-shirt.

Just imagine him with a mustache--that´s exactly how I sent him to school.

Imagine my surprise when I show up at the program for the parents and he´s dressed like this!

It turns out, he´s a good deal less adamant about having his own way when he´s at school.  Or Maestra Mary´s Indian costume was a good deal cooler than mine.  Either way, he wasn´t the only kid in his class wearing everyday clothes.    

One Festive Plaza de Armas





Catedral de Santiago

The last weekend of November, we were wandering around downtown, probably with a big to-do list, but we found ourselves at the Plaza de Armas while they were decorating for Christmas.  The Plaza de Armas is always a good place to stop and rest, particularly when it´s decorated for Christmas.  It dawned on me that I´ve never blogged about the Plaza de Armas.  For a blog that´s largely about Saltillo, that needed to be corrected.  Fortunately, I had my camera.  Plaza de Armas--documented!  



Elsewhere in the country (farther south) the main square of any city is referred to as the zocalo--an Aztec word.  Since Saltillo is in the far-removed north, where the Aztecs didn´t bother to venture, the main squares in towns in the north are referred to as Plazas de Armas.  I believe this linguistic phenomenon begins around San Luis Potosí, which seems to be the dividing point between central Mexico and northern Mexico. 





One of the nymphs that surround the fountain.







 Every Plaza de Armas (or zocalo) is bordered on one side by the municipal or state government building, and the town´s main church on another side.  Particularly charming Plazas de Armas (like Saltillo´s) have a row of stores on another side, and the sidewalk in front of these stores is roofed and walled with a series of arches.   So that side of the Plaza is commonly referred to as ¨los arcos¨ (the arches). 

The final side of Saltillo´s Plaza de Armas is occupied by the state university´s art school.  They host a great art sale every December (this year, from the 5th to the 15th).  Unique gifts for anyone on your list who might be interested in original art.

There´s a fountain in the center of the Plaza de Armas, but during December, it´s covered up by the enormous Christmas three.  So, this month, all the pigeons have to take their water breaks by the fountain on the backside of the government building.



Clara, in front of los arcos.



Despite that, there were still pigeons all over the place.  A girl very near us wanted to get her picture taken as she startled  a massive pile of pigeons.  It took a good 15 tries or more for her to get a passable picture (or give up).  The people who sell candy on the Plaza de Armas must also sell little bags of rice to feed the pigeons, because she kept coming back with more and more rice for the birds.  We enjoyed her antics, and it was the first time that my kids were willing to consider chasing the pigeons, too.     



As I mentioned earlier, they were setting up the Christmas tree, which is taller than the government building.  I don´t think it´s quite as tall as the cathedral, but it certainly competes with it for height awards.  We stood gawking for a good 15 minutes or more as the men who were attaching the star were lowered down by crane.  Fascinating, yet terrifing!  (At least, for me.  I´m afraid of heights.)  As I watched the second man manouver himself into the crane´s harness, it looked like he was properly attached to the tree with locked carabiners on his belt--and did not unlock them until he was securely in the crane´s harness.  I´m glad there are people willing to do that job, because I sure couldn´t! 


The tree trimmers, returning to earth.





The Christmas decorations are different every year.  They´ve always got a nativity scene and little cottages (presumably for Santa´s elves) and the trees are liberally decked with white garlands, pretending to be snow.  Last year, the Christmas decorations coincided with an exposition of Leona Carrington´s sculptures.  She was a surrealist artist, and I love her paintings, but her sculptures are big and black and bizarre--a distinct clash with happy Christmas decorations.  Fortunately this year, no big creepy black birds or ringwraiths of Leona Carrington´s imagination are putting a macabre edge to Saltillo´s Christmas! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  It´s such a simple, pure, honest holiday--getting together with family and friends to give thanks for whatever we have to be grateful for.  And then eating a lot of really excellent food.  Can this holiday be any more edifying or beautiful? 

But, outside of the US (and Canada, mid-October), who else celebrates this holiday? 

Here in Mexico, those in favor of traditional Mexican holidays are justly concerned that Halloween is upstaging the Day of the Dead and Santa Claus is crowding out the Three Kings from their spotlight at Christmas.  While I´m American, and do celebrate my holidays American-style, I am sad that all the gore and gifts are overshadowing the real meaning of very significant holidays in this country. 

While I realize that there are a plethora of reasons why American holidays are crowding out Mexican holidays in this country (namely by the entertainment and consumer industries), why is it that Thanksgiving hasn´t crossed the border yet? 

True, thanks to Lincoln proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday, it is more of a civic holiday than a religious one (which unsuprisingly is most likely Reason #1 why Thanksgiving the Holiday will never be widespread here).  But it´s such a beautiful holiday that people of any or no religion can get behind and support.  We all have something to be thankful for. 

If, as a culture, we are exporting our holidays all over the world, shouldn´t this be the one that we most actively export? 

And don´t tell me that it´s not marketable.  I´ll eat my hat if grocery stores all over the US aren´t doing at least a little more business this week that they did in any given week in August.

Not that I want to impose my culure on another.  Not at all.  I´m just mystified why Halloween is such a big draw and yet Thanksgiving--this most beautiful of holidays-- is nearly unheard of. 

Fortunately, in Saltillo, we´re changing that up a little bit.  In the past, at the International Church, the American pastors invited other American families over to their house to celebrate Thanksgiving together.  This year (perhaps because the pastors are in the US for a month) , we´re all meeting at the church on Friday night for a big, church-family, Thanksgiving potluck.  I´ve heard a hot rumor that turkeys will indeed be served.  This year, I´m pretty excited to be sharing this holiday, not only with my American friends, but with Mexcian, Canadian, British, Korean, El Salvadorian, German, and Brazilian friends.  They way it was meant to be. 

Sure, it won´t be as cozy and intimate as hanging out at the Tripps´ house in our little gringo club.  But to share such a nice holiday with so many more people . . . it will be a bit more authentic. 

Halloween and Day of the Dead Recap

Yes, I know Halloween and Day of the Dead were a good two weeks ago.  But I had such nice pictures, that I just had to share.  Even if I´m sharing late! 

Halloween turned out to be a crazy, crazy day.  Not only did we wait to carve our pumpkins until the 31st, but Clara´s teacher gave us a homework assignment of bringing in an Day of the Dead mini-altar for the 1st (as the 2ed fell on Saturday this year), AND I was signed up to host the neighborhood rosary on October 31st.  Awesome. 

Clara skipped her nap, just so we could get her homework and pumpkin carving done.  These were our first jack ´o lanterns, so it was a bit of a big deal.  I saved the seeds, and scraped as much of the pumpkin walls as I could, rendering enough pumpkin puree (which broke our blender on its way to being puree) for 2 pies.  Being in Mexico, living near some families who I know are having a hard time putting enough food on the table, I feel terribly wasteful using pumpkins--a huge, expensive, EDIBLE fruit--for mere decoration.  While I know my neighbors don´t know that we are eating as much of these pumpkins as possible, my conscience is lightened. 

These were the first real jack ´o lanterns that I have ever seen on display in my eight years of living in Mexico.  Our garage got quite a few stares as the trick or treaters came around.  Clara was a big, big fan.  And I was pretty happy with them, too.  I´m not one to ge super excited about Halloween (now that I´m an adult).  However, there´s just something special about jack ´o lanterns! 

Unfortunately for me, I was in a bit of a dilemma with the rosary ladies coming over.  There don´t seem to be many things that Mexican Protestants and Catholics agree on, but being adamantly against Halloween is one of those things.  And here I was, inviting a bunch of little, old church ladies over to my house.  On Halloween.  With jack ´o lanterns on display.  [Signs of the devil, no doubt!  ;P  *gasp!*]  To be fair, if I were a traditional 100% Mexican lady, I´d probably be against Halloween, too.  It is kind of sad that it encroaches on Mexican traditions.  However, I am a gringa, and I celebrate Halloween, dang it!   But, just to cover all my bases, and in an attempt to not rain down judgement on me and my house (at least not little, old church lady judgement), I waited to put out the pumpkins until after they left.  In the end, the little old ladies probably would not have minded terribly.   

Anyway, we loved how pretty the jack ´o lanterns were, Clara and Joey got dressed up to go trick or treating.  Note:  ours seems to be the only private residence that gives out Halloween candy.  We hit up all the corner stores (and the tortilla store, of course) within a block radius of our house.  And, for future reference, the OXXO does NOT give out candy!  ;)  No real surprise there!

On Friday, Clara received more candy at school.  Presumably for Day of the Dead, but I realized that goody bags for kids were a traditional part of the Day of the Dead.  But who am I kidding?  This is Mexico and candy bags for kiddos seem to be a crucial part to ANY celebration.  

One of classrooms at Clara´s school was decorated with an elaborate ofrenda for Day of the Dead.  Another classroom sported a graveyard.  (We missed that one!  Oops!)  Clara´s class had their mini-altars on display, and another KIII class made skeleton paper dolls with very elaborate dresses.  Kids were allowed to come in costumes.  There were maybe two pumpkins, one mummy, two kids sporting horribly Freddy Kruger-type masks, but most were dressed as catrins or catrinas--skeletons dressed in elaborate turn-of-the-twentieth-century costumes--THE symbol of the Day of the Dead.    

We celebraed Day of the Dead by making pan de muerto--traditional bread that I eat far too much of during September and October.  I used a different recipe than last year.  It was good bread, but it didn´t call for orange extract, so it just didn´t taste like pan de muerto.  We´ll try a different recipe next year.  

Then on Sunday, the kids were finally allowed to eat their sugar skulls!   They only had a few pieces.  We had five skulls, once for every person in our house.  Two weeks later, there are still four skulls left, as I´m the only one who has eaten theirs (in its entirety).  Give me another day or two, and I´ll be starting in on others´ sugar skulls!  Muahaha!

Joey, attempting to break open his sugar skull.  Great symbolism of how Jesus broke the power that death has over us.  Granted, that may not be the traditional symbolism behind sugar skulls (given Day of the Dead´s strongAztec roots), but that´s the story I´m sticking to!  ;) 

Dress Up Days and Independence Musings

I have been excited about Clara starting school for a number of reasons and one of them was for all the dress up days that Mexican preschoolers are expected to participate in.  First of all, there´s Independence Day, where all the children were asked to come wearing some regional costume.  There´s about 8 different regions in Mexico that all sport different ways of traditional dress.  Fortunately for us, Clara´s teacher asked that the girls wear a China Poblana skirt (typical from the state of Puebla).  Clara´s abuela made Clara and her girl cousins china poblana skirts for the bicentinneal three years ago--whew!  (Of course, if we didn´t have one on hand, we could have easily found one at the market downtown.)

The other dress-up days are November 20, where all the kids are supposed to dress like revolutionaries (as it´s the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution).  The boys all sport mustaches.  That´s my favorite.  Then they´ll dress up again on March 21st, for the first day of Spring.  Then they´re expected to dress like animals, butterflies, flowers, etc.  Kind of makes up for the  hardcore-ness of Revolution Day. 

Thanks to Clara´s homework the other day--we were supposed to tell our kids about Mexican Independence and then Clara was supposed to draw something about what she heard--this is the first Independence Day that she´s ever been clued into.  As in, she had a bit of a clue about what was going on and why.  I explained about the grito, when at 11pm on the 15th of September every year the Mexican president (and every governor and mayor) stands on the balcony of the National Palace, waves the Mexican flag, and shouts, ¨Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!¨  (He also sends some shout-outs to the big-wig leaders of the Independence movement.)  The president does this in rememberence of Miguel Hidalgo doing more or less the same thing 203 years ago, kicking off the War for Independence.  Anyway, even a few days after explaining the grito to Clara, she remembered it, thought that sounded pretty cool, and nearly

stayed up to watch it.  Maybe next year. 

I was kind of sad that she wasn´t able to stay up and see the grito, too.  It´s very ¨pomp and circumstance¨ and would seem very silly except that it is really rather moving.  No matter what we think about the current president (who gets to do the grito), it´s still touching.  No matter how many thing we may complain about what may be wrong with this country, it´s a time that all Mexicans get together and boldly claim that this is THEIR country and they´re still proud to be Mexican.  Like I said, it´s a bit moving. 

And it makes me sad for my country, in a way.  Despite our fireworks and Fourth of July barbecues and Star Spangled Banners before sporting events, we have no one big ceremony to bring us all together like that.  (Then again, given the US´s rampant patriotism, maybe we don´t need that in the same way that Mexico does.)

So, in the end, I´m happy to be a guest in another country and grateful that I get to see the way that people in other countries get to celebrate being an independent nation, too.    

Will I Be Known As THAT Lady?

After a great month of being a hermit, I decided I needed to shake things up a bit.

Then I realized that the Fourth of July was rounding the corner and I hadn't celebrated it for four years.  Time to break that tradition.

Over the last few months, and particularly weeks, gringos have just been coming out of the woodwork in Saltillo.  In April, I met a fellow gringo at our OXXO (convenience store) who lives a street away from us.  He and his wife have been dividing their time between Saltillo and the US for 10 years--how have I not run into them before?!?  Then a few weeks ago, not one--but two--new gringo families started going to the International Church. I've met one family.  The other family has been slipping by me.  However, I almost ran into them at the grocery store checkout.  I think the wife/mom recognized me from church.  She seemed to smile at me (we were a good 30 yards apart, so I couldn't be sure) and I was about to yell, "HEY--WANT TO COME TO MY FOURTH OF JULY PARTY?"

Then I decided that I didn't really want to be known as That Woman Who Yelled At Me At The Grocery Store, so I let her go about her merry way.

Then again, maybe I do want to be known as Crazy Gringa, as I met another half-gringo/half-Mexican family a few days later at the vaccine clinic (seriously, we're coming out of the woodwork).  We exchanged pleasantries as we were leaving the clinic, "How long have you been here?  Where are you from?", etc.  It was on the tip of my tongue to invite these complete strangers to my Fourth of July party.  Like me, she has been here since her marriage in 2007 (which she did not seem to think it was the amazing coincidence I thought it was, *sigh*).  Unlike me, she had the air of someone who had an outside job (ie:  engages in adult conversation on a daily basis) and yelling at them across the parking lot to invite them to my house might make me appear odder than I already appeared.

OK, maybe it doesn't take a "real" job to make that seem real odd.  

But despite all my missteps, we did manage to gather some friends, both new and established, and we celebrated the US, in our own ways, 3 hours south of the border.  I'm not usually one to be an organizer, but I'm glad I did.  It turned out to be one of my favorite weekends of 2013. 

On the other hand, with my Permanent Residence card en route, it been getting clearer to me that this odd focus I have on finding gringo/foreign friends is a bit skewed.  Not that I don't love my international community here--I do, and I sure don't want to lose any of you!  However, I do speak Spanish fluently and I do live clear across town from the "international" section of town, so having a clear preference for English-speaking friends seems a bit silly.  (Which I don't know is a real preference.  It's simply easier to make friends with others who don't already have family and scores of friends based on a lifetime of living here.)

So, in light of this, perhaps I'll host a posada at Christmas for my neighbor friends.  And my gringo friends.  It's a rather all-inclusive time of year.