In English, when we fast forward part of a story, we use “Blah blah blah” (and a few other fun phrases).
However, I kinda like the Mexican version: Sha la la, Sha la la
Example:
Much more sing-songy, doncha think?
During yet another trip to The Surfin Burrito in the Cancun Hotel Zone this past Saturday, I was listening in on the conversation of the 2 tables next to us. Why was I listening in, you ask? Because they were speaking so loudly I had no choice. Of course, they had to be gringos.
In Cancun, American tourists have a reputation for being loud. I’m here to tell you that this stereotype is pretty much dead on, to an extent.
When I hop on the bus to go into the Hotel Zone, it’s filled with mostly Mexicans for awhile… and the bus is silent. Once the bus leaves downtown Cancun and enters the Hotel Zone, tourists start to get on. And the volume level goes way up. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty amusing to see dozens of Mexicans sitting quietly in their seats on their way to work while my fellow gringos scream things like “WALMART??”, “DUDE! STEVE WAS SO WASTED LAST NIGHT!” or “HILTON? HIL-TON? YES? SI? YOU LET ME KNOW! OK! GRACIAS!”
I even heard one guy shout aloud on the bus, asking in all seriousness where the bus stop for “COKER BONGER” was. Jorge and I assume he meant to say Coco Bongo.
What I’ve noticed after 7 years here is that most American tourists are low-key when in public, so the stereotype isn’t 100% true. However, I’ve also never seen anyone from another country act that loudly unless they’re at a party or a sporting event.
In a nutshell: Not all American tourists are loud, but all loud tourists are American.
It’s not a bad thing or an offensive thing to be loud in public. (Especially not in Cancun!) It is pretty funny to watch, though.
What kind of tourist are you?
**Edit: After posting this, I’ve been told by a few friends that it’s not just Americans. Turns out Canadians can get quite rowdy as well. 😉 Party on, Canada. Party on.
I dunno if these kids have become at all popular in the US yet, but for the last few months the Vazquez Sounds have been taking Mexico by storm. This family of 3 kids became famous with their cover songs on YouTube, and they are really good! (and adorable)
The one thing that bothers me, as my hermosa amiga Jessica from Mexican At Heart pointed out, is that all their cover songs thus far have been English songs… and the lead girl seriously needs to improve her accent. I’m not saying all Mexicans should speak English, but if you want to make a living off of doing cover songs in English… learn English! You can tell she just memorizes the sounds and doesn’t really know what she’s singing.
Accent pickiness aside, they’re really good, especially because they sing a lot of my favorite songs. Check out the Vazquez Sounds:
What do you think? Amazing? Sickeningly cute? Annoying accent? Charming accent?
Last Saturday, we went to a birthday party for my suegro.
Jorge’s grandmother had traveled from Yucatan to celebrate, and a visit from Abuela Elsy wouldn’t be complete without some fabulous Yucatan cuisine.
First we had San Simon. This dish is basically turkey with broth, covered in lots of toppings. The toppings can vary depending on the recipe, but our San Simon was covered in fried plantains, onion and homemade french fries.
It sounds like the most random combination of ingredients ever… but it was DELICIOUS.
For dessert, I got to try Caballero Pobre (“Poor Gentleman”) for the first time. I feel like this dish is basically the “french toast” of the Yucatan. It’s a baguette soaked in egg, fried in a bit of oil, then covered in a syrupy-cinnamony sauce.
Jorge’s been going over to his parent’s house every day this week to get some more of Abuela Elsy’s food.
What dishes are popular in your area?
Did I ever tell you how I broke my culture shock? The defining moment when I went from “I hate it here, why don’t they do things my way?” to “Well, this might be ok after all!”
I was in my second year of university here in Cancun. I had a world geography class that totally blew my mind. As I looked up at the world map for several weeks, I thought to myself, “This is wrong. Why is the professor teaching wrongness? Why are my classmates not correcting him? Does nobody care or even notice that the map is wrong?” (Gosh, I’m such a typical American.)
In the US, we’re taught early on that the world has 7 continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica.
In Mexico, they’re taught that the world has 5 continents: America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Under this model, what we Americans consider to be North and South America is actually one large continent of America, and Antarctica doesn’t factor in at all!
MIND. BLOWN.
But wait! It doesn’t stop there! North America is everything north of the Panama Canal, right? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Get this: Mexicans don’t consider Central America to be part of North America. Here, the large continent of America is sub-divided into 3 regions: North America (Canada, the US and Mexico), Central America and South America. In this model, Central America is no longer part of North America, it just borders North America.
North America in blue, Central America in yellow, South America in green... 3 regions making up the continent of America
After a few months of fuming to myself, I decided to look it up on Wikipedia to prove that I was right. Instead, what I got was this:
Number of Continents
And that’s when it hit me. My way isn’t the only way.
Even though I was taught something as fact, there still might be millions of other kids in other parts of the world learning it differently.
It was a huge step for me as an expat to realize that I can believe there are 7 continents, and my friends can believe there are 5 continents, and people on the other side of the world can believe there are 6 continents, and we are all correct.
This led me to realize that just because Mexicans don’t do things the way I might want them to, it doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Sometimes their way is even better than my way! (Except when they put ketchup on their pizza. After 7 years, I still find that unacceptable.)
I spent my first year in Mexico trying to make everyone more like… me. Then I spent the following 6 years trying to become more like them. All thanks to one geography course.
The last 2 Saturdays, Jorge and I have gone to his aunt’s house to sell our used stuff at the local tianguis (pronounced “Tee-AHN-geese”), a kind of Mexican flea market. In his aunt’s neighborhood, people set up stands along the street to sell snacks, books, used clothing, video games, makeup, and the list goes on and on. In previous years I’ve sold my used clothes to earn up to $500 pesos in a day (about $50 dollars for my US readers). We haven’t been so lucky the last 2 weekends because we keep getting rained out, but we’ll keep trying until there’s sunshine. At any rate the afternoon is never a total loss since Jorge’s aunts always have tamales, brazo de reina, and fried fish on-hand for lunch!
Here are some photos from Cancun’s Saturday tianguis…
This last photo is my makeshift used clothes stand. I love so many of the clothes I’m selling, but many no longer fit me since I’ve lost weight. And some of those shoes have amazing memories! I haven’t had the chance to wear them in years (I wear a work uniform 6 days a week), but haven’t been willing to let them go for a very long time. I also have 2 bridesmaids dresses from my wedding, but I doubt I’ll be able to sell them at the tianguis since they’re more expensive items.
What kind of local markets do you have in your city?
The president of my company sends out a daily e-mail with a Bible verse and Catholic lesson… and a prayer to “La Virgen”.
Why do I get the feeling that in the United States, this would result in a company-wide lawsuit?
Sometimes I’m not sure which country is weirder.
When I first moved to Mexico, I was fascinated by all the stories about run-ins with ghosts, hauntings and mythical creatures. Being the skeptical American that I am, I brushed it off as a cultural difference for several years.
But now… I’m starting to realize that Mexico is just filled with some crazy, crazy stuff.
Long-time readers may remember the stories about the mythical Yucatan alux (pronounced “ah-LOOSH”) that friends and family had told me. The stories made me start to think, “Maybe there’s some truth to this.”
And then on New Years Eve, I’m pretty sure I saw one.
Jorge and I were riding in a 15-person van from Cancun to Chabihau for his cousin’s wedding. During the 4-hour drive along the highway, we pass through mostly jungle with a few small villages along the way.
Around 7 pm, it was already dark. We were just leaving one small Yucatan village and entering the jungle again, going slowly because of the village’s speedbumps. Up near the driver, I saw the head of a black figure standing right by the van, in the middle of the road. From the height, the shape of the head and the way it moved, I immediately thought it was a child, except it was … blacker than black? As in I couldn’t even make out features or anything, just an outline filled in with entirely black. I was unsettled and wasn’t sure why.
As we passed the thing, I turned back and saw that the figure was actually hunched over and huge. It was shaped more like a dog than a child, but at the same time the street dogs in the Yucatan aren’t giant or black (at least none that I’ve seen!) Plus… dogs just don’t move like that.
I later told Jorge and his family that I’d seen an alux, and they didn’t seem the least bit surprised.
Those of you who took high school Spanish might remember a popular Latin American holiday: El Dia de Reyes (or “Three Kings Day”).
Falling on January 6, this holiday is celebrated throughout Mexico. The three “Reyes Magos” (aka the Three Wise Men) bring gifts to little kids, Santa-Clause-style.
Another popular tradition on El Dia de Reyes is cutting the Rosca de Reyes (King’s Cake). If you find a tiny plastic Baby Jesus in your slice of cake, that means you have to bring tamales for everyone to enjoy on February 2nd, El Dia de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day).
This past Friday, my office department ordered our Rosca from a popular local bakery called Tere Cazola, complete with cream cheese filling. (yum!) I did not get the Baby Jesus figurine at our office Rosca-cutting! Saved!
My Jesus-less slice at the office
In the evening, however, Jorge and I were invited to a get-together with some of our friends. I wasn’t feeling well and stayed home, but Jorge cut my piece for me. Turns out I got the Baby Jesus and will be one of the lucky 3 friends bringing tamales to our get-together on February 2nd.
My coworker's slice of Rosca, complete with Baby Jesus
In other words… El Dia de Reyes is a great excuse for Mexicans to throw TWO parties: the rosca-cutting on January 6th, and the follow-up tamale party on February 2nd. Gotta love Mexico, right?
Hopefully I’ll get to blog about all my tamale-parties on February 2nd! Can’t wait 🙂
For New Years, we once again went to the fishing village of Chabihau in the state of Yucatan to visit Jorge’s family. This year there was even a wedding! Jorge’s cousin Yeni (pronounced like “Jenny”) got married to her long-time beau, Armando.
We also did some crocodile watching out on Chabihau's salt lagoon
I’d heard before about a special tradition in the Yucatan known as “Año Viejo” (“Old Year”), but this year was the first time I got to see it. On our ride from Cancun to Chabihau, we passed through several villages that had dummies set out by the front gate of the homes. These dummies are known as “Años Viejos“, and they’re filled with rockets and fireworks.
Read that again… rockets and fireworks.
On December 31, the Año Viejo dummies are set out by the front door, and at midnight they’re ignited in the street to represent the end of the “Old Year”. Make sure to keep your distance! It can get pretty loud.
An "Año Viejo" in the town of Cansahcab, Yucatan
From what I could gather from Jorge’s family, it seems Año Viejo is a popular tradition throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as in the state of Veracruz.
Since I was at the wedding at midnight, I didn’t get to see the Año Viejo lit up this year, even though we did have some regular fireworks and sparklers. Oh well, there’s always next year!
What did you do for New Year’s?
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