At birthday celebrations, once assembled guests finish singing the lovely words of the traditional song, "Las Mananitas" and the candles have been extinguished, the guests begin chanting "Mordida, Mordida, Mordida!" (Little bite, little bite, little bite!)
For NOBs (north of the border), unused to Mexican tradition, it's the unexpected "face in the cake" moment. The guest of honor is obliged to take the first bite of cake without using utensils or their hands---just leaning down to take a bite out of the cake. Then, usually, strategically positioned behind the honoree is someone else ready to slam their face into the cake when they lean down. It also usually means that is how big of a piece of cake you get to eat. For a more complete explanation about the mordida, click here to read the blog "Mayhem in Mexico".
Ana is merciless when it comes to the mordida...every time she does it to a participant, we say, "Ana, no tip!" But it doesn't stop her! On the February 23 program, one of our favorite alumnis, Terri Hensley, happened to select Manix restaurant for her birthday celebration. Unlucky her! That happened to be the night (Tuesday, February 26) that the Focus on Mexico group was there! Wouldn't you know it, Ana struck again. After helping Terri to make her wish and blow out her candle, Ana very gently (yeah, right!) helped her take her first bite! Remember Ana...trust broken is very rarely regained! Thank goodness Terri has a GREAT sense of humor and took it all in good fun. Everyone enjoyed it, and of course, we have the pictures to prove it. We hope she enjoyed her cake...we're equally sure no one else wanted to share it! Happy Birthday, Terri...thanks for 'letting' us join in the celebration!