Celebrating Mother’s Day in Mexico

Celebrating Mother’s Day in Mexico
May 8, 2011
By: Gina Roman
(Article originally written for the May 15, 2009 issue of “The Lake Chapala Review”)



This was an unusual Mother’s Day, but it is fit in my own family, traditions and life perfectly as I am Mexican American and most years it’s confusing, deciding which day to celebrate our mother. The U. S and Canada always celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May which coincided with May 10 – always Mother’s Day in Mexico, no matter what day of the week it falls on.

Mother’s Day was first celebrated in Mexico when Rafael Alducín, a jounalist for the newspaper El Excelsior gathered a large group of influential people back in 1922 to select the date for the recognition of Mothers and all the work they do.
While Mother’s Day is celebrated differently in various countries, all the traditions serve the same purpose; to honor Mathers as the core, strength and support of families.

On May 10, Mexicans shower their Mathers with gifts and tenderness, usually spending the entire day with them, giving them special attention, taking them to fancy restaurantes or other lovely places, presenting them with beautiful gifts, bouquets and cards.

We even gather early in the early morning to awaken our Mothers, grandmothers, wives, aunts, sisters, cousins with a serenade – with a trio of mariachis if we can – to open the celebration of the most important and admired person in the family. It’s most exciting when we can have mariachis – the musicians Dresde in charro suits – the tradicional costume of the horsemen and of our state. This impressive serenade of songs about Mathers and the romantic tunes about women given even more emphasis to this most Mexican of holidays, steeped in Mexico’s culture.

Even in the business world, women and moms, are remembered on Mother’s Day when some companies hire mariachis, gather all the Mathers into one room so they can enjoy the enchanting voices of the mariachis, along with the cake, flowers and balloons that celebrate their day.

When hiring mariachis is not within the Budget, groups of friends get together and make a circuit singing to one mother and then another until all the mom’s have been honored. They choose a starting point at 4 or 5 a. m. on May 10 – sometimes at 3 a. m., if the list of Mothers and grandmothers is long. At each house they begin y singing the traditional songo f the serenade, “Las Mañanitas” which goes like this:
“Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el Rey David, a las muchachas bonitas, se las cantamos así despierta, mi bien despierta, mira que ya amanecío. Ya los pajaritos cantan, la luna ya se metío.”
(These are the little morning songs that were sung by King David, to those beautiful girls, we come to sing to like this, Wake up my dear, wake up, look here is the dawn already the little birds are singing and the moon is already gone).
For those who are not acquainted with this custom, it may seem strange to awaken our hard-working Mathers so early on their special day. Most Mathers are very flattered that their children made a big effort to get up at the crack of dawn to sing just for them an dto see that these traditins are still alive in such an accelerated world and that the children are willing to carry it on.

This day is given such high importance that schols throughout the country put together special programs with children presenting skits and traditional dances and Raffles for the Mathers. Many government employees are entitled to take the day off to be honored by their family or so they can be with and honor their own Mathers.
That’s why the Virgin of Guadalupe is called “Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.” She’s not only the mother of Jesus Christ, she told Juan Diego when she appeared in 1531 that she was his mother and the mother of Mexico as a Catholic country. Also known as “Patroness of the Americas.” She is the most popular religious and cultural image, the focus of an extensive pilgrimage and the force that holds Mexicans together.
On the December 12 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe many people gather around her, bringing her roses, bowing to her feet and showing her love and respect in numerous ways – the same way we do with our family Mathers on their special day in May. Also like our Mothers, the Virgin of Guadalupe is known to be very miraculous; she’s the one to grant all her children’s wishes. As a woman and a mother, she’s very understanding and caring, overlookig all our sins and wrongdoings – just like Mamá.

Mother’s including the Virgin, are held in such high esteem that the fastest way to enrage a Mexican is to insult their mother – even as a joke. There is a whole section of Mexican Spanish that is reserved for times when Mexicans want to offend each other – sometimes in jest and sometimes seriously. They use profanity such as, “madrecita, (lessening the significance of the mother), “ni madres” (no way), “no tener madre” (don’t be so cruel), “estar hasta la madre” (to be totally fed up), etc. Of course there are also much more offensive expressions – ones that it’s best to find out on your own.

tatau

"tatau”

May 1st, 2011

By: Gina Roman

http://ya-somos-tapatios-wey.blogspot.com/2011/05/tatau.html

The word “tatoo,” originates from the Tahitian word “tatu,” or “tatau” meaning “to mark something.” There are different similar speculations according to research which in the end coincide. Another major derivation comes from the Polynesian word “ta,” which means striking something. Another version states that the word tattoo was borrowed from a Dutch word, “taptoe,” meaning “ tap to – shut the tap.

The history of the word tattoo began over 5000 years ago and it is as diverse as the people who mark themsemselves. Back in the day criminals and prostitutes were marked so they would stand out from the rest of the population; nowadays animals are also marked but in that case people use the word “brand.” Many years ago to tatto meant to classify people as low class and vulgar and many much worse classifications.

Last week school was out and there was a little more idle time so I decided to investigate this topic in more depth.The more I’ve read about it, the more intrigued I become and so this morning I woke up with this word in mind.

The reason why this word entailing body art keeps popping into my head is because I love tattoos.......... or so I did ten or fifteen years ago when I was going through the craze of youth, just like every young person, I wanted to venture new experiences and I ended up getting five of them. Looking back at my adolesence although I was never into drugs, there were many things I wouldn’t even come close to doing now.

At this stage in life I wouldn’t necessarily say I love tattos, I mean there isn’t anything wrong with them and like people say, “todo con medida,” or “sin exceso.” Everything is within a limit or without excess. In other words, I’ve been thinking about my body and what it’d be like without all those visible and colorful marks. I had never been so self-conscious or aware of my tattoos until I came to Guadalajara. Many years ago I’d walk around very proud revealing my marks and when I became a young adult I didn’t even think of them they were just there without a specific meaning.

Now that I am in my 30’s I yearn for my old body, the body that I was created with and I think of how much I’ve abused it throughout the years. If I were given the choice to mark my body now, I would be very adamant to say, “No, I don’t want to do it.”

One of the reasons why I’m so conscious about this is because many people in Guadalajara and all over Mexico are very “old-fashioned. ”They promote family, marriage, morals, values, respect, religion, yet they break their own rules behind the scenes many times. Given the nature of my work, I have met many people from all walks of life and it is very interesting to have direct contact with people, especially as they get to know me more they let more and more out. For instance some people admit how they cheat on their spouses and the fact that the only reason they got married was to secure their financial future.

I don’t want to judge anyone or be critical but when specific people have noticed my tattos they can’t hide their expressions of disgust. Someone actually did make a comment once and I told this person, “tattoos, don’t harm anyone, they are in my body,” so is a tattoo really all that bad? What about marrying someone for the wrong reasons and much worse cheating on them?”

I am not a perfect human being but as I get older I strive to become a better person and let my bad habits only affect me.

In fact the other day I told a friend about a few serious changes I’ve decided to make in my life to which he replied, “I think it’s a waste of time, you should go around experience new things now that you are still young.” I don’t have anything against his beliefs but the bottom line is that everyone will always have an opinion so that’s when we have to NOT be afraid to take a stand and fight for our beliefs and stick to them. When I was much younger I was easily influenced and many times I went with the flow, like when I got my first tattoo, I got it because someone very close to me got me into (not forced me) getting it. Another time I got into an accident on a Thursday at the crack of dawn when I was on my way to work, two days later, on a Saturday I was at a concert with my boyfriend in San Jose because he didn’t accept a “no,” since he had already bought the tickets and he didn’t want to waste his money. At the tender age of eighteen I was very vulnerable and influenced by many people unlike now. As an adult, I have a choice to whether or not I want to adopt good habits.

That includes decisions that involve my body as it is the greatest gift life has given me. As an adult I’ve decided to not accept ANY negative criticism over it, I don’t want to ever lose power over my sense of me. I don’t want to be blinded by an empty and superficial society, I don’t want to let anyone ever use it only for their own desires, I don’t want to let anyone ever think that I’m too weak only because they think that I am too skinny according to their standards, I don’t want to let anyone ever take advantage of it, I don’t want to use it to fill in a void of insecurity, I don’t want to use it in any negative aspect. When I was a little girl I didn’t have control of me nor was I able to stand out for myself but now that I am fully capable of that and I want to honor it.

With these reflections in mind, I was flipping through the bible and I found this beautiful verse:

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Finding a place to live in Guadalajara

Finding a place to live in Guadalajara
April 25, 2011
By: Gina Roman




“Semana santa” – lent was very quiet since school was out last week and this week so I wanted to take advantage of this time and relax and really take an entire week off. Many times taking time off is almost impossible due to the nature of my work, working as a freelance can have its advantages but there are many disadvantages as well.

I was already thinking what I was going to do with all this time off when my landlady dropped by unexpectedly last week to let us know that her son is moving into this place at the end of May.
Oh Lord, Here we go again! Moving can be a very unpleasant experience as they have a very funny way of handling things.
Things don’t work like they do in the U. S., people don’t get their crédit checked. That would make everyone’s life a lot easier but unfortunately they are a bit behind in some things.

What they do instead is they ask for an “aval” or “fiador,” which means a Guaranty, backing, a bail, a countersignature or pledge to pay someone else’s debt.

Basically they want a property owner having his/her property completely paid off.
It is illogical to find a property owner in the first place and in the second place, someone who has their property paid off. It is out of question. I totally agree the fact that they aer skeptical about everyone and that they want to avoid getting screwed out but sometimes they over do it.

Last weekend I checked out some websites and took a stroll around this neighborhood and some surrounding areas, I jotted down some phone numbers and made some calls today. Today I checked out three places and one of the houses I checked out was a lot more expensive than what I can afford but the owner was very polite and she sounded very interested even though I don’t have an “aval.” The problem is that the rent is almost double than what I am paying now and she’s asking for three months rent plus one month’s deposit.

Right now as I type I am stressing out BIG time as I don’t know what approach to take. I don’t like losing control over things that is why I love my career and work because that and my actions are the only things I can have control over. That and my lifetime plan. What do I do now? Get my butt off my bed, workout, continue juggling all my activities Pray and have faith because there is an answer and a solution for absolutely everything. I am pretty sure that a month from now I’ll be looking back and thinking about all these stressful moments and I’ll let out a big sigh of comfort.

Translations Gone Wrong

Translations Gone Wrong Monday April 18, 2011 By: Gina Roman My early morning wake up was very unexpected as I worked the entire weekend. Last Thursday one of my clients requested a translation of a 34 page legal document, an “Acta de Asamblea General Extraordinaria de Accionistas,” Minutes of Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting. Legal documents always leave me very energy and mentally drained, they suck up all my brain cells because the terminology used is like a whole new language in both English and Spanish, more so in Spanish because of the fact that people in México use too many words. Many times I’d say they are unnecessary words. Every time I skim through a legal document a get a good laugh or I end up with a huge question mark above my head, for example in México (I don’t know if in other parts of Latin America as well) contracts “are celebrated,” “se celebra este contrato,” meaning, “this contract is held.” When one thinks of the word, “celebrar,” the first image that comes to mind is a party as in a festivity, not as in a political party.
Sometimes the use of so many words in Spanish can lead to awful translations to English and other languages. For example, earlier this year I got this ten day contract to translate a company procedures manual from Spanish to English in which I hired three people to help me out. It turned out very counterproductive in the end because English was none of the Translators’ native language so needless to say the work turned out into a mess, I had to hire someone else to edit their work which I had to pay from my pocket and of course I lost the client. Now I know what NOT to do in the future. That reminds me of one time when I went to Cancun, I saw this huge sign at the airport that read like this, “Feel yourself at home.” In Spanish we say, “Sientete en casa,” “Sientete,” is the equivalent of “Feel.” Very frequently people claim to be Translators or they translate to a language that is not their native language which is when odd things come up. When I completed a certification at the Organización Mexicana de Traductores, http://www.omt.org.mx/we came across many hilarious things, my classmates and I made many silly mistakes. One day we were translating a recipe for a Thanksgiving Turkey from English to Spanish and we thought “piece of cake!” but NO WAY! The damn recipe turned out to be a lot harder than expected. One of my classmates got a small sentence that read “Insert the bird…..” as soon as the rest of us read the sentence we immediately predicted what she was going to say in Spanish so we were hoping she wouldn’t but it was too late. She said, “meta el pájaro,” in Spanish “pájaro” is a slang word for Dick. It was one of the most hilarious translating experiences, our instructor was the only man in class surrounded by women and his entire body blushed. In more than ten years of translating and interpreting experience I’ve seen too many things. Many times the real meaning of the text gets lost in translation. I found some excellent examples: Translationg Gone Wrong http://www.tallrite.com/LightRelief/AdvertisingSlogans.htmThese are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award. This is (said to be) given out in honor of GM's fiasco in trying to market the Nova car in Central and South America. "No va" in Spanish means, "It Doesn't Go". The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are You Lactating?" Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea." Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux." Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into Germany only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "Manure Stick." When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what's inside, since many people can't read. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa). Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the Wax Tadpole" or "Female Horse Stuffed with Wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokoukole", translating into "Happiness in the Mouth." Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken," was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate." When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." The company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant!" When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish!

“La mortalidad del cangrejo”

“La mortalidad del cangrejo”
April 10, 2011
By: Gina Roman

Since the year started I’ve re-discovered a new love, a new passion in my life;
When I started writing, it used to be such a drag to get myself motivated to get going. If I remember correctly, it was more towards the end of 2010 and even more so at the beginning of January that I accomplished my goal to write every week if not every day. In the middle of 2010 I made a promise to write 250 words every day, to not let a day go by without writing but since that goal is a bit hard to accomplish, I committed myself to be more loyal to one of my greatest loves in life So Sunday has become my day to sit down and disconnect myself from the universe to express myself in writing.
Before my lack of motivation only allowed me to write every once in a while but little but little that excuse of “there is nothing to write about,” got too old. Looking at things from a different angle, now I truly believe that there will always be something to say even if it’s not of any importante to anyone. All I want to do is share my thoughts, my dreams and goals, my motivation, my lack of motivation at times, my drive in life. I want to share with the entire world the fact that there are days when the simple fact of hopping out of bed can be a real hassle for everybody, how tough it can be to squeeze in working out especially when there are long days lying ahead of us. How despite the fact that are emotions interfere, we still have to keep going and so forth.
Writing has always been a part of my life since I learned how to write. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a professional writer but now looking at it from a different perspective. I want to keep writing about anything that comes to my mind without caring so much about all those punctuation and grammar rules that can be tedious sometimes. As a Translator and Proofreader, it is not easy to overlook those things but I want to leave “perfectionism” behind for once.
As we speak about writing about anyting that comes to my mind, I remembered earlier this week when I ran into one of my previous students. She was approaching me and I waved but she seemed a bit distracted. As she got closer to me I said hello and all of a sudden she snapped out of it. She was indeed very distracted that she hadn’t realized I had said hello.
She told me this expression that I had already heard many tapatios use – I am uncertain as to whether this phrase is used all over Mexico or only in Guadalajara. She said, “I am sorry, I was very distracted thinking in “la mortalidad del cangrejo.” – The mortality of the crab meaning that my mind was wandering around, thinking about many things, bombarded with questions that I wasn’t completely there. My mind was trying to decipher the answers to many questions.
When I first heard someone use it I couldn’t figure it out but now it totally makes sense.
There are many phrases in Spanish just like in every language that when we stop and think about them, we are able to decipher the real meaning behind the words.
I've always been one to question every single thing about everything.
There are other phrases that I will share once I share the real meaning behind.
For example, there's this very interesting one that I've heard people on the radio use, "meterse en camisa de once varas."

My temple

My temple
April 4rd, 2011
By: Gina Roman




Yesterday was a beautiful Sunday, a lovely day to do some bird watching, to take in the refreshing nature or just simply get out there to enjoy the sun. As hyped up as I always am, it was not the case this time since my week was very overwhelming; it was mentally overwhelming because of work related issues and because I was barely recovering from a knee injury but I over did it at the gym again so I’m back to basics. It was a week full of disappointment which has dragged up to this day.
One thing I ponder about the most is emotional exhaustion; sometimes when we are extremely exhausted, it can affect us physically as well that is one of the reasons why many years ago I chose to lead a healthy lifestyle. Right after High School I became a Health and Fitness enthusiast and very curious to learn more about “my engine” – my body and what I can do to improve it. Not so much on an outer beauty aspect but more on a health and strength level and what it is capable of doing and widthstanding.
In the midst of trying to find answers to recover from my injury and stop the pain for good, my mind took me back to when I was a little girl. Back in the day I used to be very chubby, I looked like a chubby tomb boy because my mother used to cut my hair very short. I was never able to run as fast as my sisters and I was the fastest target to get to every time we played tag. Being so young, I was never bothered by it until I reached adolescence. Being a teenager I started noticing and liking boys but not a single one looked at me because they thought I was a chubby one of their kind.

Every time I looked at myself in the mirror I wanted it to reflect a slim and curvy girl but it didn’t happen so that made me feel even more insecure because I thought it impossible to look better.
I’d always skip P. E. class because I hated it, and I was always too timid to go into the girl’s locker room because I didn’t want anybody looking at my body. I was never one to go around the dressing room in my undies and much less naked.
There was one thing I loved more than exercising though, as most teenagers I loved dancing and watching others dance made me feel so infatuated that I wanted to dance like them.
I took dance classes at school, our instructor had us put on little dance routines and it was so much fun that one day I talked to my sister about it and we decided to “try out” for the cheerleading team. And so we did but I wet my pants laughing every time I think about it because we ended up ridiculing ourselves and needless to say, we were not chosen.

My years of being “la gordita,” fatty, (what my parents and siblings called me) changed right after High School when I started playing soccer in a co-ed team. I loved the adrenaline running through my veins when I went after the ball.
Then my college years came and I joined the Cross Country and Track and Field team. I started shedding all the extra pounds, it felt as if I were another person. Changing my diet was the biggest factor on losing weight which was not easy at all. As a Mexican we used to have big meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner and most of all, we had to have meat two or three times a day. It has taken a lot of mental discipline and to this day I still have many flaws but I've developed better eating habits.

Now when I see my image reflecting in the mirror, there is not one single trace of the chubby little girl there was once.
14 years after I stepped up and decided to make big changes to my body, I feel like never before. I feel more self-confident, physically and mentally stronger.

I look at my imperfect body and I am able to appreciate the fact of how it’s been the only one to keep up with me and to pull through all the strain I’ve put it trhough.
When my body started changing and I started losing weight I became a little vain and inclined more towards the outer beauty aspect but as time went by, I made a whole new Discovery of it and now I can see what it’s capable of doing, accomplishing, the endurance of running a marathon, resisting an intense workout when I kick my butt at the gym, all the strain and exhaustion of my long work days (many times I have to work LONG hours only allowing me to work out at the crack of dawn), the pain it’s able to bear by giving life to another human being – I don’t have kids now but I can imagine what giving birth would be like. The challenge of going back to our skinny jeans after having a baby, the hard word and commitment with ourselves after reaching another decade or our journey.

Now my body is more like the most powerful engine and I cherish it despite all its imperfections. I try to clean out all the clutter because it is a temporary room that I will have to abandon someday.
http://www.steppingoutsecrets.com/download-ufk.html

Rules For Being Human

Rules For Being Human
April 1st, 2011
By: Gina Roman
 
This morning my first thought was lent and the fact of how some people decide to fast and others don’t eat meat during these sacred weeks. This time is always a time for rebirth, a time to rejoice and make promises to be better human beings.
That led me to ask myself, “ Who do you want to be for the rest of your life?” With that inquiry in mind, I took a stand to make some very serious decisions that will impact the rest of my life. Some of these decisions require A LOT of mental discipline which I am Ready for.

I made an oath to change a few bad aspects of my life for the better. The reason why I made this decision is because many times we tend to ask, request, plead, and beg God and life to bring nothing but good things to our life yet we are rarely willing to give up our flaws or sacrifice our mundane desires. Many times we wonder why we are not showered with blessings when in reality we are but we neglect to see it and much less do we accept divine guidance. Most of the time we act out of impulse and we make many mistakes because we refuse to listen and then we wonder why we are so unfortunate and unloved by God.
 
Although lent is a time to repent for our wrong doings and be better persons, we don't have to wait for this specific time. In fact, I just finished reading the biography of  Mother Theresa and this line touched me very deeply and I promised myself that now is the time to start going by this,  “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier,” and, “The world is not only hungry for food, but also for love, affection and inner beauty.”
Give love to every single person that comes across your journey as every single one of them comes to your life for a reason; whether it be to stay in your life forever, to teach you a lesson, to help you know yourself more, to help you be a better person or for many more reasons.

At times when we go through down moments we become very negative and we tend to take it out on the wrong people in the wrong way. I've done that in the past and I didn’t realize it or much less accept the fact that sometimes life puts us through situations to test our faith and to see how we will react.
The good thing out of this though is that I now know that life gives us many opportunities and they won't sit around waiting for us to be "ready." They come very quickly and they vanish much quicker; but best of all is that there is always tomorrow because that tomorrow always gives us a chance to start all over again if we want to make it happen with all our heart.

With this in mind, the older I get, the more rules I set
 
Rules For Being Human:
You will receive a body, you may like it or hate it but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
You will learn lessons
You are enrolled in a full time, informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevante and stupid.
There are no mistakes only lessons.
Growth is a process of trial, and error experimentation.
The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “Works.”
A lesson is repeated until it’s learned.
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it, then you can go on to the next lesson.
Learning lessons does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons.
If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
“There” is no better than “here.”
When your “there” has become a “here”……
You will simply obtain another “there” that will, again, look better than “here.”
Others are simply mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person.
Unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need.
What you do with them is up to you.
The choice is yours.
The answers lie inside you.
All you need to do is look, listen and trust.
You will forget all of this at Birth.