Conventions

Every state in México has its own traditional arts and crafts, food, and culture. I think a lot of this is due to the indigenous influence in each region, and now international influence. Up north there is a significant American influence, while down south more of the indigenous cultures survive. Recently there was a convention where every state in México was represented, and I got to see some of the uniqueness of each one. Especially interesting was the states where I´ve been, since I could compare my previous observations with what I saw at the convention.



I also saw this hilarious advertisement, trying to get Americans to join the Méxican revolution...

Weddings and Thanksgiving in México

Last Saturday, Nov 28th, I had the chance to go to a wedding of a coworker. I am not very familiar with Catholic weddings in the states, but it seemed like a very traditional ceremony. The funnest part was seeing them blowing bubbles afterwards instead of throwing rice!



The hospitable, former PCV in Saltillo hosted a Thanksgiving bash last Sunday the 29th and invited all of the norteños over for turkey and traditional food. We got to hang out with some folks in the new group who will be our new "neighbors" and catch up with some of the volunteers who are leaving. The host put together a great party with a ton of food--including a 10 kg (22 lb) turkey! Here are the remains after we 11 or so guests got through it.



During the week I was also shown the trompo, or top. It seems like everyone here learned to play with it as a kid, and some still remember some pretty neat tricks. I have gotten as far as the basic spinning action, and once or twice I have been able to flip the trompo onto my hand. I still need more practice for some of the between-the-leg style tricks. There is also a type of taco filled with meat called trompo (in the south, this style of meat is also known as pastor)--it is different cuts of meat layered onto a spit, with the end result looking like a top. Here is a local advertisement showing Taz attacking the spit.