Focus on Mexico Blog

by Kristina Morgan

Unless you’re completely out of touch and don’t watch the news or read tabloids you’ve heard of 2012. There’s even an action-packed movie by Mel Gibson that promises to scare the heck out of you if most websites about 2012 haven’t already. So is 2012 the end of the world? The beginning of a shift in spiritual consciousness that heralds the Golden Age of humanity?  Or just a bunch of conspiracy-theorist hype?

A History Channel program titled "Decoding the Past: Doomsday 2012: End of Days" says a galactic alignment or magnetic disturbances could somehow trigger a "pole shift."

"The entire mantle of the earth would shift in a matter of days, perhaps hours, changing the position of the north and south poles, causing worldwide disaster," a narrator proclaims. "Earthquakes would rock every continent; massive tsunamis would inundate coastal cities. It would be the ultimate planetary catastrophe."

Living in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico makes the Mayan prophecies that originated here particularly fascinating to me but I wondered what the Maya really think of their prophetic date and about being at the source of all this hoopla, especially where it concerns a prophecy that may be ladled out in heaping mugs of fact-distortion and fear—or mean the end of the world. So what do the Maya have to say about these interpretations of their calendar?

Happy Mother’s Day in Spanish—The Traditions and Customs

May 10, 2009

"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”
~Marion C. Garretty

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! This is one of those rare and special times when we share Mother's Day with Mexico! (It's always May 10 here).

This is a very special day in Mexico and it’s celebrated in colorful fashion. Children honor their mothers and thank them for their efforts in bringing them up and according to a custom in Mexico, “sons and daughters make themselves present in the house on the eve of Mothers Day on May 9.” Mexicans are very sentimental and as a rule, even today, the mother is the matriarch of the home regardless of her age. And, there are flowers for sale everywhere. And, if they can’t afford to buy them, there are beautiful wild flowers that mothers will appreciate even more!

The day is usually celebrated with gusto and some churches in Mexico organize a special mass. The highpoint of the event is the orchestra which plays “las mañanitas” and distribution of ‘tamales’ and ‘atole,’ the traditional early-morning meal to all local mothers.

Bill was awakened at 5:00 this morning by a band. Around 9:00 a.m., they were right outside our gate playing for a mother whose daughter (the daughter is around our age!) arranged it. They played several tunes for the neighborhood and then went down to the Ixtlahuacan Plaza where we heard the band and firerockets for several minutes. It is a very special day in Mexico, and I love to be a part of it all.

 If you are using Firefox and do not see the following video, click here to check if you need the firefox plugin... 

In his Mother's Day proclamation, President Barack Obama wrote, “Mothers are the bedrock of the American family—vital to their children's growth and happiness and to the success of our country…Mothers are role models, teachers, and sources of unconditional support. There is no substitute for the bond of love between mother and child, and nothing is more worthy of reverence.”

And, did you know that the founder of this special day was very specific about the spelling of the holiday. It was to be Mother's Day, singular and possessive. The idea was to recognize the maternal leader of each family, not just mothers in general.

Mother's Day has become a world-wide celebration. No matter the gift, the message is the same, "Thanks, Mom. We love you."

My friend and co-worker Tere shared a story of what Mother’s Day means to her and I hope it’s okay with her for me to share it with you:

“For the first Mother's day in my life, I had the Mañanitas played outside of my house, because, yes, those trucks that make so much noise promoting their product with loud speakers, can also be used sometimes to play Las Mañanitas all over the town for Mother's Day.

To me, as I haven’t had a Mother since I turned 5, Mother's Day was always a very dramatic day for me, assisting to mass and performing a festival to the mothers of my friends who would always congratulate me and pamper me on Mother's Day.

But since I had my daughter Andrea, who is my gift from Heaven, Mother's Day became "the Day" of the year, one of my favorites. I loved to see my daughter performing dances in the Mother's Day Festivals when she was a little girl. Last year, Andrea finally made it to my town after learning about buses and ways of transportation, at 4 pm, tired and with a dead flower in her hands. Today, a year after, she is on her way now, and I am sure we will enjoy a great Mother's Day together, cause she is my greatest gift of all. I love Mother's Day, and I always thank Mother Marie for protecting me and my daughter as a loving mother.

In a way, I always had lots of Mothers, as my friend's mothers always looked after me.

I also remember the times my brother and I fixed breakfast in bed for our mother, and celebrated her special day until her death in 1992. I still miss her and "talk" to her almost every day. I’ve also been very close to my step-mother, and felt especially appreciative of being able to call Margie today and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

PLUS...I got two special calls today. One from one of my nieces that I’m very close to, Angie. She said, “Happy Mother's Day, Mommy #2. I love you and miss you.” I miss you too, my love.

And, our dear Ana called to wish me a happy mother’s day too, which touched my heart in ways I cannot even begin to explain. I was also able to wish her mother Cristina a great day too…what a special family they are…I love them all! I am very blessed with the family and friends I have, and, so, before I get too weepy, I’ll just say…Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere and to all women who mentor and influence the lives of others in a positive way!

Take a few minutes to wish that special mom in your life a wonderful day – qué tengas buen Día de la Madre.

Focus on Mexico had a holiday party on Wednesday, December 13, as a thank you to our speakers and the staff at Vita Living Concepts. It was a wonderful party, and we had a great time.

However, I have to share with you a particularly funny and wonderful moment. At the party, Berta (our driver Manuel's wife), who is a wonderful singer, sang a couple of love songs to us for our anniversary. What luck...the party was the same night as our third anniversary!! Rodrigo, a very handsome young man with Stewart Title decided to sit next to me to tell me what she was singing to us (in Spanish, of course!).

The words were just beautiful, and if you saw all the pictures, you’d realize I got a little emotional at times! However, the funny part is that I kept leaning farther and farther over to Rodrigo as he was whispering all these 'sweet nothings' in my ear until I realized what I was doing...that's the second picture.

It was a wonderful time and a great moment..

We all have special memories of Christmas that make us think about what we can give to others and not so much about what we will receive. A day or so before Christmas, we were all meeting and discussing what we were going to be doing over the holidays. Ana looked at us with that special look only she can sometimes have and said "I would like to share something with you that is very special to me."

She opened her purse and took out her wallet and went directly to a piece of paper folded very carefully in a special pocket. As she unfolded the paper, she shared with us a very special Christmas story that she is allowing us to share with you.

A few years ago she was working long hours and very hard in order to give her twin boys a good Christmas. However, even with the extra work, she had very little money to spend on presents.

She bought all she could afford and decided that it was time to discuss with the boys where the presents really came from...that it was her who bought the gifts, not Santa Claus or the Infant Jesus. Her boys seemed okay with what she told them, and they opened what presents there were, and after a while, they all went to bed. When Ana awoke the next day, she found the note (pictured above) from one of her sons. I have attempted to translate the note as best I can, and hope it conveys the feeling we saw as Ana explained what it meant to her:

"Mommy Merry Christmas

Thank you for the ball. This letter is to give something very special for you

1. You told us that we would not receive gifts if not from you.
2. The gifts are not the meaning of Christmas but the love and all that that lives inside.
3. This year I am grateful for the time you give as I know you are very hard-working, although I don't get to see you.

Merry Christmas Mommy

From Emy For Mommy"

Ana carries this note with her always to remind her that the true meaning is not what you give or can afford to give, but what is given from your heart and with your love.

We are very touched by this story, because it also reminds us of the true spirit of Christmas...that it is the love of family and friends that is the true gift of the season. We hope you have had a wonderful and special holiday this year.

Our participants on the March 20, 2007 program had a very special treat in store for them. We spent the evening of March 21 at Monte Coxala ushering in spring. The Spring Equinox celebrates the renewed life of the Earth that comes with the spring. It is a solar festival, celebrated when the length of the day and the night are equal (this happens twice a year, at spring and autumn equinox).

The equinox is very special in Mayan history. The Mayans planned their lives around the sun; their daily lives centered on the sowing and harvesting of their crops, especially corn. At the spring equinox they planted the crops, and the fall equinox was their signal to begin the harvest.

It was a glorious night…not too cool; not too warm. Almost everyone was dressed in white…we had contacted our participants beforehand to make sure they brought some white (or cream-colored) clothing with them.