My Image of Mexico

Being a Mexican-American, these are the images of my Mexican family. These are the images that describe what I feel is important to us.

The first is family. Since my immediate family are the only ones living in a different state from everyone else of both sides of the family, Christmas is our big holiday. We travel back home and of course we have to make the rounds to relatives. Holiday parties and gatherings are always happening and everyone is always very inclusive and offering you a plate and a place to stay whenever you need it. Respecting your elders and keeping in touch with Grandma is a big deal to us. We really like to keep the people we love involved in our lives. P.s. this is not my family, I just liked the picture.

Religion and prayer also comes to mind when I think of my family. My immediate family is not religious as in going to church but some of us are spiritual. Prayer has always been a part of our lives whether we personally choose to participate or not. Most if not all of the older members of our family are very religious and are always willing to send a prayer your way if your going through a hard time or just need a little extra something. It is something that I always associate with my Grandmothers. Whenever we would arrive it would be a prayer to thank God for our safety. When we were leaving to go back home, it was the same. Even though I am not religious in the way my Grandmothers were, I do still incorporate prayer into my life as a way to remember them. I don't know if people can read the prayer but it is the Our Father prayer on tile.

I think that to people that have not experienced what our families do or if you are not familiar with an ethnicity and their activities, you refer to it as a culture. To me these things are more of our traditions. For our family, the mecca is Christmas. The special foods that are made at this time of year are only made for Christmas and they are very hard to come by during the rest of the year. Homemade tamales (done right for me are hard to come by other then south Texas) and pon de polvo cookies are two of the top special foods for me. There always present at all the relatives homes and parties and must be homemade and prepared in ridiculously big numbers. Fun and scary stories of the chupacabra, the cucuy, and la llorona were told so you wouldn't sneak a look at presents early or jump in the pool unattended. Mariachis at weddings, the songs, food, and stories are all part of good memories for me that remind me of my family. The image above is of tamales. For those of you who don't know what they are I will try to give my best explanation but don't quote me. For us it's masa which is corn meal flour spread inside a corn husk with meat in the middle of the masa. It's then wrapped up and in the corn husk and steamed to cook them. To eat it you unwrap the husk, throw it away and eat the cooked masa with meat in the middle. They kind of look like a fat cigar.

Sorry for the weird layout of the pictures. I have not blogged before so bare with me as I figure out how to format my blogs better for future posts.