Tag: latin

Cinco de Mayo

M's Adventures

Americans, gringos, are obsessed with Tex-Mex food and celebrating anything with margaritas, chips, and salsa. May 5 is a day that gringos have taken to heart as a reason to eat Tex-Mex food and drink Corona beer and margaritas (first invented in the 1940s). But what was Cinco de Mayo? Is it Mexico’s national day? No, that is on September 16.

Some bar… I can’t even recall. I think I was with my tia…

Cinco de Mayo, also known as Battle of Puebla Day, is a holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. The battle lasted one day but the Mexicans won so May 5 is a local holiday. The French went on to win the war but their occupation of Mexico was brief.

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is an change to celebrate Mexican culture. Depending on which source you believe, the celebrations began in 1863 in Columbia, California by Mexican gold miners celebrating Mexican resistance. Other sources say that in the 1960s, hispanic activists began looking for a way to honor their history and culture. What is clear is that in the 1980s, beer companies started using the day as a sales campaign. In 2013, beer sales ($600 million) for Cinco de Mayo outdid those for the Superbowl. The biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in cities with large Hispanic populations, such as Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and New York.

In 2005, the US government issued a resolution (a resolution is not quite a law but is official) to make May 5 a day to officially observe the celebration of Mexican/hispanic culture.

This was from a Mexican place in Poland.

Today, almost every bar and restaurant uses Cinco de Mayo as a commercial opportunity, and do not really care about the actual reason behind the day. And when the day falls on Tuesday… for Taco Tuesday… watch out. Or take Wednesday off.

The main plaza in Mexico City.

But now you know. Also, as an aside, Mexico City did not have a Day of the Dead parade until after the James Bond movie, Spectre from 2015. Since 2016, Mexico City has celebrated the Day of the Dead with a massive parade, tacos, margaritas, and beer.

¡Salud!

The God of Misrule – Farsinus

M's Adventures

When I worked in Bangladesh, there were notices about being wary of mishap. One day, a local colleague came up to me and quietly asked me about the unlucky Mr. Mish Ap, as he seemed to be most unfortunate.

Ten years later, I find myself in a completely different world — in the Roman world of bureaucracy, calamity, inanity, and farce. For this, I’ve created a god named Farsinus. Yes, sounds bit like a fart (for the purile) and that other four letter F-word. I asked a Roman if there was a god of mischief, a cousin to the Nordic Loki, Lord of Misrule. I imagined it must be Bacchus, the god of wine and debauchery. I was confusing him with Faunus, or Pan to you G(r)eeks. Apparently, the Greeks had a goddess of mischief, Ate (“Ah-tay”). According to the great oracle in the ether, Wiki, Ate was “of mischief, delusion, ruin, and blind folly, rash action and reckless impulse who led men down the path of ruin. She also led both gods and men to rash and inconsiderate actions and to suffering. Até also refers to an action performed by a hero that leads to their death or downfall.”

Well, I may not be a hero, but I’ve been trying to become a devotee of the God Farsinus. To enjoy the calamity of life… and public transportation in Italy.

The chocolate fare was mostly about shopping.

The God Farsinus came to me when I was going to the Bastia Umbria (I’m told that if I don’t add the specifier Umbria, you might think I meant Sardenia — as if anyone has heard of Bastia, either one) for the Eurochocolate frenzy. I will start out by saying that, generally, it’s not like this. But, then, some days, it is, and the day will unravel like a standup sketch by Russel Howard. Or, Karl Pilkington. On the day in question, I needed to get to Bastia Umbria, but the train to Perugia did not stop there. So I had to take the train to Perugia and then take the train back to Rome which did stop in Bastia Umbria. I am not sure why I still think there is logic, but why do people from Perugia get to stop at Bastia Umbria but people traveling from Rome do not?

There was a small stall in the actual town of Perugia.

Next week, I’ll get back to talking about nice things.

Italian for Beginners

M's Adventures

The title of this blog posting refers to a Danish movie from 2000, and my current activity. “Italian for Beginners” is a lighthearted entertaining movie about Danes who want something a bit more interesting in their lives so they go to Italian class. Romance and “viaggio” to Italy ensue.

Learning Italian is a bit topsy turvy for me as Italian is, in many ways, the opposite of English and Spanish. For example, the “che” is a “kah” sound and the “ci” is “cheh” sound as in “ciao.” The double ell in Spanish is spelled with a “gli” in Italian but the double ell like in “bello” is a really forceful ell sound. The ñ in Spanish is spelled “gn” in Italian so that “gnocchi” is “ñ-o-key” — and so on.

Actually, the phrase I’ve learned the best is “attenta su pronuncia” – watch your pronunciation.

But, it’s most important to say hello, goodbye, please, and thank you. So far I’ve learned that the Italians are very formal so one should not use “ciao” unless you are family or you are close friends. (Also, “Ciao” derives from an old Venetian saying for “I’m your slave.”)

Hello: “buongiorno” (bwon-jorno) until sundown and then it’s “buona sera” (bwon-ah sarah)

Goodbye: “arrivederci” (a-riv-eh-dare-chi)

Please: “per favore” (pear fa-vore-eh) or “per piacere” (pear pah-chair-ee)

Thank you: “grazie” (gra-ts-ee-ay)

Excuse me: “scusi” (skoo-zee) is the formal form and “scusa” is the informal.

One thing I have learned about Italian is how to say “good luck!” Contrary to direct translation, it is not “buona fortuna!” Instead, it’s “jump inot the mouth of the wolf!” Or “In bocca al lupo!” This is the equivalent to “break a leg” in Italian.