[As part of my backlog catch-up series, this is an excerpt from a recent email]
…So read the headlines of all the papers the day after the massive, outdoor ice rink in the historic city center opened for the winter holidays. Imagine a bunch of tropical Mexicans, many of who have never even seen ice or snow before, on figure skates for the first time, and that was the photo that accompanied the headline. One Sunday after buying at least one of every kind of artisan good (for Christmas gifts) at this new market I discovered, friends and I went to the Zócalo to check out the ice rink. The ice was packed with people of all ages, most wearing thick winter coats, gloves, hats, scarves and probably thermal underwear. I sat in the bleachers (yes, you had to wait in line just to see this spectacle!) with my short-sleeve t-shirt and enjoyed a 60ºF Christmas celebration.
The rest of the Zócalo, as well as every other place in the city, was covered in ornate Christmas lights and decorations, many of them tacky but all of them welcoming a cheerful mood. Streets were lined with vendors selling hot ponche, some kind of punch concoction that I think is made of apples, sugarcane and christmasy spices, but I could be wrong. Star-like piñatas were sold in bulk for the posadas, 12 celebrations leading up to Christmas. My office had our Christmas party at one of our manager’s golf house in the country, and we spent the day outside without jackets on, and the evening around the outdoor fireplace sipping fine tequila. It was wonderful, but it just didn’t feel like the Christmas season to me until my plane landed in the frozen tundra that was Bradley International Airport on December 15 between ice storms. Ahhhh, New England winters…
21 January 2008
November 24, 2007: Música en México
[As part of my backlog catch-up series, here is an excerpt from a recent email]
The weekend after Thanksgiving, I attended a concert of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, for which my office purchased tickets. Sitting in the 5th row, I was able to see the faces of the performers and recognized one of the trumpet players. A quick glance at the program confirmed that it was my 3rd cousin, Chris, who joined the orchestra for their No Borders tour! Neither he nor I knew that each other would be in Mexico, so it was a great surprise!
The Orchestra was on its first official homecoming tour to Mexico. The conductor is a young Mexican woman who is creating a new wave of interest in modern classical music from the Americas. I got to meet the conductor and the solo pianist while I was hanging out with my cousin, as well as many of the young, brilliant musicians. One late Monday night, I took a bunch of my new musician friends to Plaza Garibaldi (after promising the conductor that I would not lose any of them before their early morning flight the next day) to chill with the mariachi bands. Between my cousin who had lived in Mexico, a Mexican-American from Texas, and a handful of brass instrument players, we had sufficient requests for traditional mariachi music. Of course, I love all mariachis after they saved the day when our car got stuck in Guanajuato (you’ll have to read my October blog for that story). It was a fun time all around that led to a really great opportunity for me to become involved with the POA. I’m sure you will be hearing more on that a little later…
The following weekend, Fulbright organized a group trip to the Sala Nezahualcoyotl (try saying that ten times fast) in the University City to see the Orquesta Filharmónica de la Universidad Nacional Autónomo de México (OFUNAM). The concert hall is acoustically perfect and very unique, with seating behind the stage so that audience members can watch the conductor from a musician’s perspective. We heard brilliant performances of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Ravel’s Bolero among other pieces. I can’t wait to go back for some of the major performances coming up this spring!
The weekend after Thanksgiving, I attended a concert of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, for which my office purchased tickets. Sitting in the 5th row, I was able to see the faces of the performers and recognized one of the trumpet players. A quick glance at the program confirmed that it was my 3rd cousin, Chris, who joined the orchestra for their No Borders tour! Neither he nor I knew that each other would be in Mexico, so it was a great surprise!
The Orchestra was on its first official homecoming tour to Mexico. The conductor is a young Mexican woman who is creating a new wave of interest in modern classical music from the Americas. I got to meet the conductor and the solo pianist while I was hanging out with my cousin, as well as many of the young, brilliant musicians. One late Monday night, I took a bunch of my new musician friends to Plaza Garibaldi (after promising the conductor that I would not lose any of them before their early morning flight the next day) to chill with the mariachi bands. Between my cousin who had lived in Mexico, a Mexican-American from Texas, and a handful of brass instrument players, we had sufficient requests for traditional mariachi music. Of course, I love all mariachis after they saved the day when our car got stuck in Guanajuato (you’ll have to read my October blog for that story). It was a fun time all around that led to a really great opportunity for me to become involved with the POA. I’m sure you will be hearing more on that a little later…
The following weekend, Fulbright organized a group trip to the Sala Nezahualcoyotl (try saying that ten times fast) in the University City to see the Orquesta Filharmónica de la Universidad Nacional Autónomo de México (OFUNAM). The concert hall is acoustically perfect and very unique, with seating behind the stage so that audience members can watch the conductor from a musician’s perspective. We heard brilliant performances of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Ravel’s Bolero among other pieces. I can’t wait to go back for some of the major performances coming up this spring!
Thanksgiving 2007, Mexican-Uruguayan Style
[As part of my backlog catch-up series, this excerpt is taken from a recent email]
Thanksgiving 2007 was the first I have spent away from my family. It was also the first Thanksgiving I decided to host the feast, for 30 people. Being that large, frozen turkeys are seasonal things, and that Mexico doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, you can imagine the process I had to go through to track down an early-Christmas bird. Trusty Wal-Mart came through for me with a huge frozen turkey and 4 cans of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce. Several of us scoured the city in search of pre-made pumpkin pie, canned pumpkin or even fresh pumpkin in vain, but soon realized our Thanksgiving desserts would have to feature apples instead.
I took the day off from work and went shopping that morning for all the fresh fixings I would need to prepare a feast. That was when I realized that Mexico has a serious lack of prepared foods, so my roommate, Jess, and friend, Neeti, helped prepare cornbread, candied yams, and stuffing from scratch. We weren’t sure if we could count on our gas supply to cook the turkey for the whole day in the oven, so we had a bit of a dilemma. Some of my Mexican friends informed me that it was typical practice for bakeries to offer to cook a Christmas turkey for a small fee since many people don’t have large enough ovens. Given that it was neither Christmas nor are there bakeries near my apartment, I had to get creative. I asked the Uruguayan restaurant below my apartment if they would do me the honor of cooking my turkey for the Día de acción de gracias, and offered to pay them. They agreed, told me that their oven was hot enough to cook my 19-pound bird in 2 hours, and sent me on my way. Good thing I didn’t listen to a word they said, because the turkey was ready about 7 hours later, just in time. The nice señores meseros talked their boss into lending us two tables and sets of chairs from the restaurant when we also realized that we didn’t have enough space to put 30 people for a sit-down Thanksgiving feast. Fulbrighters, friends, family and coworkers we wanted to introduce to our tradition showed up in full force.
The whole thing went off without a hitch (barring the piñata in the stairwell incident) and it was truly a Thanksgiving for which to be thankful.
Thanksgiving 2007 was the first I have spent away from my family. It was also the first Thanksgiving I decided to host the feast, for 30 people. Being that large, frozen turkeys are seasonal things, and that Mexico doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, you can imagine the process I had to go through to track down an early-Christmas bird. Trusty Wal-Mart came through for me with a huge frozen turkey and 4 cans of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce. Several of us scoured the city in search of pre-made pumpkin pie, canned pumpkin or even fresh pumpkin in vain, but soon realized our Thanksgiving desserts would have to feature apples instead.
I took the day off from work and went shopping that morning for all the fresh fixings I would need to prepare a feast. That was when I realized that Mexico has a serious lack of prepared foods, so my roommate, Jess, and friend, Neeti, helped prepare cornbread, candied yams, and stuffing from scratch. We weren’t sure if we could count on our gas supply to cook the turkey for the whole day in the oven, so we had a bit of a dilemma. Some of my Mexican friends informed me that it was typical practice for bakeries to offer to cook a Christmas turkey for a small fee since many people don’t have large enough ovens. Given that it was neither Christmas nor are there bakeries near my apartment, I had to get creative. I asked the Uruguayan restaurant below my apartment if they would do me the honor of cooking my turkey for the Día de acción de gracias, and offered to pay them. They agreed, told me that their oven was hot enough to cook my 19-pound bird in 2 hours, and sent me on my way. Good thing I didn’t listen to a word they said, because the turkey was ready about 7 hours later, just in time. The nice señores meseros talked their boss into lending us two tables and sets of chairs from the restaurant when we also realized that we didn’t have enough space to put 30 people for a sit-down Thanksgiving feast. Fulbrighters, friends, family and coworkers we wanted to introduce to our tradition showed up in full force.
The whole thing went off without a hitch (barring the piñata in the stairwell incident) and it was truly a Thanksgiving for which to be thankful.
November 1-4, 2007: Día de los muertos
[In an attempt to backdate a whole pile of entries, in chronological order, I have taken this excerpt from the following article I wrote for Lafayette]
...As American Halloween infiltrated the country, we traveled to Morelia and Pátzcuaro for the Day of the Dead celebrations on Nov. 1 and 2. The offerings and cemetery vigils to remember passed loved ones was something I had learned about in class for years, but never really grasped the concept of until I experienced it first hand. During the day on Nov. 1, offerings are created in the form of small altars or large public displays. Orange flowers and candles decorate the ofrendas, surrounding life-size images of passed loved one, along with all of the food, drinks, and usually cigarettes that the person enjoyed during their life, so that they could indulge once again on the night their spirit returns. The offerings could be found anywhere – in a public square, a restaurant, a hotel, or the entrance to a department store.
That evening, we went to the cemetery on the island of Janitzio near Pátzcuaro for the vigils that people kept at the tombs of their loved ones. More elaborate altars were created including guitars, sugar candy skulls and games, and people from all walks of life were wrapped in wool blankets, waiting for the spirits of the deceased to return that night. It was an overwhelming experience, and I tried to understand how the indigenous pagan practices melded so perfectly with the traditional Catholic beliefs brought to this country centuries ago...
The rest of this article can be found here.
...As American Halloween infiltrated the country, we traveled to Morelia and Pátzcuaro for the Day of the Dead celebrations on Nov. 1 and 2. The offerings and cemetery vigils to remember passed loved ones was something I had learned about in class for years, but never really grasped the concept of until I experienced it first hand. During the day on Nov. 1, offerings are created in the form of small altars or large public displays. Orange flowers and candles decorate the ofrendas, surrounding life-size images of passed loved one, along with all of the food, drinks, and usually cigarettes that the person enjoyed during their life, so that they could indulge once again on the night their spirit returns. The offerings could be found anywhere – in a public square, a restaurant, a hotel, or the entrance to a department store.
That evening, we went to the cemetery on the island of Janitzio near Pátzcuaro for the vigils that people kept at the tombs of their loved ones. More elaborate altars were created including guitars, sugar candy skulls and games, and people from all walks of life were wrapped in wool blankets, waiting for the spirits of the deceased to return that night. It was an overwhelming experience, and I tried to understand how the indigenous pagan practices melded so perfectly with the traditional Catholic beliefs brought to this country centuries ago...
The rest of this article can be found here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
