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In Good Times, As Well As In Bad
One of the busiest times during the year in Mexico is Christmas. For Westerns it’s a time to relax in front of a cozy fireplace while snow is falling outside, and to recover from a year’s hard work. For Mexicans, however, a few days before ‘noche buena’ (Christmas Eve), the hard work really starts. Since one is going to meet (almost) the entire extended family, …
Bruce Willis for Christmas
A few days ago the house where I’m living in has been transformed into a Christmas world. A nice Christmas tree (plastic and with electric candles, so it can be used again next year), a beautiful stocking for the kids with their names on it (I’ve got one as well), various lights around the house and a large number of noche buena, a plant with …
Bitter Sweet Black
Although tomatoes are most prominently used in the Italian kitchen, this red fruit originated in South America. Antique cultures also cultivated many other products, most of which are global commodities in today’s world, among them cacao. Chocolatl, as it was called by the Aztecs, was a drink associated with the goddess of fertility and thus was of high value to the people. Only the rich …
The Leaving Sun
El sol sale, the sun leaves if literally translated, in Mexican Spanish means that the sun rises. Indigenous cultures believed that the human beings were living on a flat earth, surrounded by an endless ocean. The sun thus comes down from ‘heaven’ every morning and ultimately drowns in the ocean when night comes (thus the expression el sol muere, the sun dies). Modern Mexico, however, is …
Between Heaven and Hell
Ciel (cielo means sky or heaven) is one of Mexico’s most prominent bottled waters. Annual consumption per person of bottled water soared to 234 liters in 2009, according to IPS News. Not only in terms of water reach Mexicans to heaven. People call themselves ‘catholics’ and, as far as I can tell after having experienced local customs for two weeks, they surely are. Elderly and …