Dîa de dar gracias

Don't ask me why, but I've almost always celebrated Thanksgiving in Mexico, whether my family's eating tacos de cabeza in Hermosillo or an actual turkey in Bahia de Kino. My Mexican family usually joins in, taking some time off of work to help with the cooking, or just stopping by late to eat. It's pretty amazing to see how Knorr Suiza chicken bullion (a Mexican kitchen must-have) adds that certain taste to stuffing.

I thought I was one of the only ones to experience this until I ran into Lorena Barraza, a journalism student, who plans on traveling across the border to celebrate the holiday with her grandparents in Guaymas.

"I don't get time to see my grandparents that much," she said. "This is a good opportunity for me to spend some quality time (with them)."

Lorena, who "can't even boil water" appreciates the fact that her grandmother goes out of her way to actually crate a full-fledged Thanksgiving menu.

Surprisingly, this year my family has had a turn of events and I'll actually be spending Turkey Day in Nogales, Ariz. Even more strange, family from Mexico will be joining us.

Missing Anything?

On a recent assignment to Nogales, Sonora, Mex., I noticed the most important subjects were missing: the shoppers. This alley, few steps away from Avenida Obregon, is usually filled with shoppers from "el otro lado," according to Maria, a vendor stationed near the alley who refused to give her last name.

Maria remembered a time when a "puente," or long weekend, would bring in countless shoppers from the United States and fill the entire shopping area near the border.

Look closely to the photo above. The only people in the alley are vendors and their buddies, most of whom quickly turned their Spanish slang into, "Come on in, we have good price for you," as soon as I walked by.

So what happened to all of the shoppers? "It all started when the twin towers went down," Maria said. She blames the higher security measures and the "bad publicity" that Nogales has been receiving since September 11, 2001 for her slow sales. Though other shop owners didn't say why, they also noted that the absence of shoppers was pretty odd for a long weekend.

Talking about American shoppers, this article on about.com provides a "guide" for spending a day in Nogales and includes bartering tips and dining recommendations, which I suggest you read, but don't necessarily follow. Instead, experience the sights, sounds and flavors on your own. Pick up some antibiotics on your way out (just in case the seafood you ate was sitting out a bit too long) and say hi to Maria for me.

Sino ¡Esta Bien!http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

The latest release from "hands down Mexico's most important rock band," Cafe Tacvba has finally hit shelves, or itunes, whichever you perfer.

Cafe what?
Like I said, Mexico's most important rock band. You should get to know them, and this is the best time to do so.

Sino, the band's first studio album in four years is a great mix of songs that include vocals from all the band members, something the band has been toying with for the past 18 years, but until now is full-fledged. An eclectic and at times random mix of every Mexican musical element, this album a pretty good follow-up to Cuatro Caminos, which won a Grammy and a Latin America VMA.

"I had no idea who they were," said Jesus Wences, a self-proclaimed music lover who just recently discovered the band. "I really need to get in touch with my Mexican roots huh?"

Wences found out about Cuatro Caminos from a co-worker and fell in love with the four man band from Mexico City. He had been waiting for a month until the album was released October 9.

"I can't wait for their new tour," said Wences.

But for now, he'll need to satisfy his urges with the video from their first single, "Volver a Comenzar," courtesy of Bareto on YouTube

Sin Documentos

"Dejame atravesar el viento sin documentos, Que lo hare por el tiempo que tuvimos. . ."

The song, Sin Documentos, originally released by Los Rodriguez in 2002, has recently become my favorite song by Julieta Venegas. In fact, when I heard it on her new album, Lîmon y Sal, I had no idea it was someone elses!

The substitution of the guitar by her famous accordion, genius! But the REAL point of my story is this: The song has now been "Guitar-Heroed."

Two weeks ago, on a trip to one of the many weddings in Hermosillo, we went out to a bar and saw that they were having a Guitar Hero contest. I thought, huh, maybe they have a new Spanish version? Nope. My GH fanatic-boyfriend had to play "Freya" to hundreds of people who barely knew the lyrics.

Alex playing at Gato Pollo Live House in Hermosillo, Sonora.

Then, last week, he called me so excited about "the new Spanish song on the game." When I heard what song it was, I was confused. . . "There's no guitar in that song. . ." but also quite surprised that the people Harmonix, the makers of the game, acknowledged that many many Spanish speaking people actually play GH.

Well, kudos to them. I'm sure fans everywhere can appreciate the music, no matter what language it's in or if the guitar is replaced by an accordion.

Here's a video of someone else playing the song on Guitar Hero, courtesy of "machineofadream" on You Tube:

Alley Cats

Shoot me now, I went to Los Angeles for a journalism conference this weekend and I FORGOT my CAMERA.

Have no fear, I'm loading this post with a bunch of links so you can kind of to retrace my steps.

Back to my story:
After a long night at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown L.A, I decided to wake up at what seemed like dawn and take a walk outside (I don't really recommend this for young ladies who are alone and don't know where they're going). Per my own recommendation, I recruited an other University of Arizona student, Evan Pellegrino, to go with me.

And we're off. For being on completely different levels, me on a mission, he just trying to survive his hangover, we made pretty good time to the Fashion District. There it was, Santee Alley. If you've ever seen downtown Nogales, this is way more crazy and culture shock-ish (take the tour and you might get what I mean).

I was pretty oblivious to this until I saw Evan's face, cigarette almost falling off his bottom lip and his eyes just staring at a purple suit with a $49.99 price tag on it. I swerved in and out of the "stores" looking for gifts for my sisters, but he just calmly waited outside and peered into the shops like a nervous boy who doesn't want to touch anything.

I used my bartering skills and ended up with more things than I could carry. With his help, we stopped by a hot dog vendor, bought pretty much everything but hotdogs, and went on our merry way.

Here's a blog I found with nice pictures that look like what I would have taken pictures of.

Dia de Los Muertos

It's almost here! The 2nd of November is a lot closer than many of you might think, so get excited.

Why am I making a big deal about this? Well, on my trip to Hermosillo, Sonora this weekend, I noticed my aunt had a pile of supplies by the door. A broom, some candles, a framed photograph of my grandparents and little palo fierro figurines that my grandfather loooved.

So you're thinking, "Ok, I get it, Dalina's crazy. She's talking about a day that's 3 weeks away and observes that her family gathers odd things."

Well, yeah, but there's more. The supplies my Tia Ana had by the door are actually going to accompany her on Nov. 2nd, better known as Día de Los Muertos. She'll pick up a pan de muerto on her way to the cemetery, where she'll sit and pray for a couple of hours and clean my grandparents' graves, just as she does every year.

When my sisters and I were younger and happened to be in town for this occasion, we'd sit there, bored and kind of upset that we would have to clean. Then we'd all go home and eat the bread. As far as I remember, it was kind of yucky. It looks wonderful, but seeing as it is made for the dead, and they no longer have taste buds, it doesn't have to taste so good.

Living in Nogales, we didn't follow up with the tradition, no family in town=no graves to clean.

Fast-forward about a decade and I'm in college. I have family in Tucson and graves to visit, but never really followed the tradition and it had lost all meaning. People around me ask about the "holiday" and invite me to the huge procession on Fourth Ave. Not really interested.

Then my grandfather died. Last year, I spent most of my summer in a daze. Suddenly, it was November and my aunt invited me to the procession. I still have the prayer form. It's waaay different than what I experienced in Hermosillo, but I hear it's similar to the smaller towns in Mexico, where this is a bigger deal.

Here are some pictures of my experience:

Photos by Dalina Castellanos

My Tia Janette and her husband Sean getting ready for the procession.

One of the many colorful floats during the procession

A mini-float

Part of the procession

Preguuuuntame...

Una pregunta.
What year are we living in?
Last I checked, it was late 2007. But somehow I feel that things are going backwards. You see, raised in a border town, I never gave much thought to the color of anyone's skin or what language they spoke, much less if they had health insurance or how far they went in school.
What we learn from our past is supposed to shape how we live in the present and how we'll create the future. So didn't we learn anything?

Last week, this article was printed in the Tucson Citizen's Family Plus section. A Tucson couple, who already had two children, tried in-vitro fertilization to have just one more child. They ended up with four.

During a brief interview with the section's editor, Gabrielle Fimbres, the issues of writing a story about multiple births were raised.
The story idea had been in deliberation for weeks before editors at the Citizen decided it would be "a slice of life" story showing how the family was preparing their home for the quads.
The article states that the woman conducted the interview in Spanish, and suddenly a wave of comments about how this "illegal" woman is using these unborn children to be her "anchor babies."
Now I doubt this woman would have let the press release her name and photographs if she were illegal. Also, the article explains her reasoning for keeping all four children and why she suddenly can't afford them.
In May of 2005, Fimbres herself wrote a story about a family who already had two children and wanted to add one more to the clan (sounding familiar?) They ended up with three boys.
"The only difference is that they have blond hair and blue eyes," said Fimbres.
She also said the only comments that were left for "The Barker Bunch" were those of congratulations.

Ethical concerns can be raised about why the doctors choose to implant so many and why the parents decide not to reduce the number of embryos, the taxpayers who foot the hospital bill... and so on and so forth. But why all the negativity?

Even a Citizen columnist had something to say. "I hate to say it, but this is a seriously shoddy piece of journalism on the part of the Tucson Citzen," she writes about the recent article. (I won't mention her misspelling of Citizen) Lovely.

The woman's daughter did a very good job in her response to all of the comments and did it in a very positive way.

I'm not taking sides, I really am not. I believe (almost) anyone has a right to their opinion. Those excluded: silly people who don't do background research and blurt out the first negative comment that comes to mind.

Now, please turn your thoughts to this column, written by Gustavo Arellano, titled "Ask a Mexican," stating:

"Got a spicy question about Mexicans? Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net. Letters will be edited for clarity, cabrones—unless you’re a racist pendejo."

The "spicy" comments that the Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star receive daily about border issues and Mexicans could easily be diminished and peace restored if only people did their research and thought with an open mind.

Isn't that what we're working for?

Sauna Twin

Last week, I was sick and decided to go to my grandmother's house for some much needed T.L.C. We were watching novelas when commercial graced our screen:



It promises a slimmer figure in three weeks without having to do any work! Can you imagine?

I can't.

As my nana was reaching for the phone, I wondered: we eat tamales and beans pumped with lard, tortillas and pan dulce packed with carbs, and our community has its own diabetes association, but we constantly look for products to help us find the easy way out.

The Latino Diabetes Association says that starches, fruits, milk, starchy vegetables such as corn, and sweets are all carbohydrate foods, something that diabetics need to keep in check.

So I wandered around my nana's kitchen and noticed corn tamales, peach and fig empanadas, potato pancakes, and a half a cup of milk ready to be mixed in with some coffee (I really needed the pampering) and was really astonished that no one in our family has diabetes.

While I'm taking that as a blessing, my nana just shrugged and said, "I brought the good genes into the family," as she takes a bite of her empanada.

How much is that baggie in the window?

Can you imagine seeing this on the runway? This shopping bag costs $2.00 at El Barrio Market at 1001 South Sixth Avenue and is seen all over downtown Nogales stuffed with inexpensive clothes and toys. Actually, it's seen all over Mexico's marketplaces and are widely used for their durability and low cost.

Now check this out. It's a link to view Louis Vuitton's Spring 2007 ready-to-wear collection on style.com. And what are the stylish models holding? A VERY similar bag, only it's made out of braided leather, has the luggage company's stamp and the costs about 1,000 times more.

I really don't understand fashion sometimes.

The lady behind the counter at El Barrio Market laughed in my face after I told her about the designer bag. "So what, they can't come up with new ideas?" she retorted in Spanish. After a brief conversation about how designer clothes is supposed to make you look more classy and not cheap, we both decided everyone is better off with the two dollar version.

"At least everyone will know it's not a knock-off," she said.

Time for a "chower"

Wedding season is here. In fact, I don't think it has ever stopped. In the past year and a half, I have been to eight weddings. EIGHT. That's almost one every two months! And don't even get me started on the bridesmaid dresses and the bridal showers. . . (Or should I say "chowers"?)

No, not because I was chowing down on the food, but because that's how it's pronounced. There was a huge debate in one of the two chowers I was at this weekend (yes, two. Meaning there are two more weddings coming up real soon) over how Mexican women from different regions make the "ch" sound.

The women from northern Chihuahua say they're from "Shiwawa" and some of the old-fashioned families in the south scoff at those who can't say they've visited CHapultepec.

Strange conversation to have at a chower, but not as strange as the topic that followed.

I might be familiar with chowers, knowing there are themes and such, but seeing as I've never been married, I had no clue there were different types for different crowds.

Is your religious grandmother coming to celebrate your engagement? It must be a "Shower Biblico." Symbolic gifts are given to keep the love and happiness in the marriage going and excerpts from the bible may be read, or a rosary may be prayed, or both.

Next, "el Shower del Abanico" or the Fan Shower. In this particular one, the bride-to-be's closest friends all agree on a set amount of money to give to the bride and then once it's all gathered, it's fanned out and tied, later to be included during the wedding's dollar dance.

"El Shower Personal," "El Shower de Casa" and "La Pedida" all translate to the Personal Shower (where lingere and bath and body products are given), the Shower for the House (self-explanatory) and the engagement party, respectively.

Being as curious as I am, I googled many of these titles that night and found little more than announcements for most. The next day, however, at the second chower, (which was a Shower Personal) I asked the married women for their take.

Many had a couple, if not all, of these chowers and still received gifts at the wedding. Making a mental note that these women will owe me my fair share of Kitchen-Aid deluxe mixers and silky pijamas, I sat there wondering what the cuchillos (knives) from the night before might have meant to the bride, seeing as the chower was not "de la casa," but a "biblico" one.

¿This is a quesadilla?

Growing up "Sonoran," quesadillas were part of my (almost) daily diet. In the northern Mexican state where both my parents are from, the tortillas were always made with flour and the cheese was a deliciously melted Oaxacan type.

Over time, I came to find that corn tortillas are also acceptable as is melting some ham in with the cheese. Yum-O! But as far as I was concerned, that was it. No fancy garnish, no wild flavors. In fact, I almost cried when I saw the Taco Bell commercial announcing their version stuffed with chicken or beef (But please, they use "panadero bread," what the heck is that?).

Much to my surprise, quesadillas do get fancy! On my trip to Mexico City in May, as I was hovering over the small attendees of a swap meet-style marketplace I saw this:

I know, totally unappetizing, but it was GOOD! The tortillas were made in front of me with blue corn and the lady stuffed them with things I never thought I'd actually let near my lips. I had one with huitlachoche and flor de calabaza. I guess this excerpt I found off of Food Timeline will help a bit in my explanation:

"Quesadillas are one of the Mexicans' favorite simple snacks. They are, in fact, uncooked tortillas stuffed with one of various fillings and folded over to make a "turnover." They are then toasted on a hot griddle or fried until golden. In many parts of Mexico they are filled with strips of Chihuahua cheese, which melts and "strings" nicely--a Mexican requirement...the farther south one goes the more complicated they become. For instance, in central Mexico the simplest ones are filled with some of the braided Oaxaca cheese, a few fresh leaves of epazote and strips of peeled chile poblano. Potato and chorizo filling--that used for tacos...--is also a favorite version, while the most highly esteemed of all are those of sauteed squash blossoms (flor de calabaza) or the ambrosial fungus that grows on the corn blossoms (huitlachoche), both of which are at their best during the rainy months of summer and early fall."--The Tortilla Book, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1975 -(p. 106)

Notice the part I put in bold: farther south one goes the more complicated they become. Yeah right. I thought huitlachoche was bad. . .

This weekend in Phoenix (which is not south from here as far as I know), I decided to have brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The Morning Quesadilla sounded simple enough, here's the description from their online menu:

A Flour Tortilla Stuffed with Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Peppers, Onions,Black Beans, Cilantro, Cheddar and Jack Cheese and Tomatillo Cream Sauce. Served with Guacamole, Sour Cream and Salsa.

It was rediculously large. I couldn't hold it up with my two hands! I must have read wrong because I thought half of the things listed were on the side. Nothing had ever prepared me for that. My poor stomach is still punishing me.

More coming soon, but for now, beware of impostor quesadillas from the "south". . .

Bienvenidos!

Que es la moda?

It's a fashion, a trend, a way of being. Much of what we see nowadays is influenced by our friendly neighbor to the south. But really, how much and from how far south?

La Moda Beat will introduce you to various trends that are somewhat unique to the border towns on Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. Varying from fashion to culinary fads and including speech and modismos (mannerisms), this blog (hopefully) will provide some insight to the eclectic mix that is la frontera.

Deviating from the disposition that lies in the southern Mexican states and the Northern American ones, la frontera is a truly particular place to experience.