Summer in San Luis Potosí

Rain has come to the state where I was born...

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In the south of Mexico we're used to seeing rains the whole year. Yet in the centre of the country it doesn't rain very often. San Luis Potosí's weather is generally dry in three seasons. But in summer it's always bucketing down.

So actually, the Potosino people is not prepared to receive storms and this time of the year all the state gets wet. Just look at the photo down here: it seems a nice river with an ancient bridge, doesn't it? Well, it isn't!! It's an avenue... yes, for cars and all that.

In the following pic, you can see a little turbulence. It's there because of a "tope" (or as you call it in England: "speed-bump").

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This is another view from this avenue:

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When the storm's over, the sky clears. This is a little building that lies near the flood:

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Despite the rain, Potosino summer is warm. People go out a lot and have afternoon-walks in the parks... but when the rain arrives, these wills get frustrated! If you want to go to these green zones you need comfortable clothes: jeans and t-shirt, or a light-shirt like my father's in this pic:

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And girls wear white-coloured light-clothes (what the hell was that? Haha) to avoid the heat. But my sister here has decided to cover this little baby with a jacket, 'cos the wet wind is bad for her.

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Bloody hell! This pleasure was short! The rain's here again: the clouds hide the sun and the park gets dark.

La Sobremesa

Estar en sobremesa or Tener una sobremesa means "chatting after having meals (wether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner)". You can also say "Echar la sobremesa" (this is a bit more informal though). If you've read some past entries (like "Echarse un fucho"), you'll see that we Mexicans use the verb "echar" for many things.

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When we stay in Calpulalpan, we have 'sobremesas' very often, because we generally go to that town during the weekend, "puentes" ("bridges" - long weekends; I'll explain this in the future) or holidays.

So because of those free times, Mexicans have more 'wasting-time' (ocio - pastime): we forget schools or job, and the week-stress too. A day like this is eternal and there are more chances of having sobremesas.

Sobremesa después de la cena (Sobremesa after dinner). Calpulalpan, Tlax. Foto: Daniel Orizaga

Sobremesa styles are different according to each family's habits: you may read a chapter of a book and talk about it, you discuss about politics or philosophy, you talk about funny anecdotes happened during the week, you tell your experiences in your last holiday-trip, or you just talk about whatever you want.

It's important if you have non-relative-people there (I mean, friends or sth.). Generally, when this happens, sobremesas are much longer and the conversation is about the guest. And of course, the family-members' manners change (they're kind and speak 'smartly').

No doubt, in every sobremesa the essential drink is COFFEE... or tea, but it's less common.

My recommendation: when you visit a Mexican family, don't ever speak about religion or politics, because that could bring a strong discussion that usually becomes a word-fight. Just be cool, sobremesas are for fun!

The Changing Family

In the decades of 1950 and '60, Mexican families were really huge. They were composed by both parents and an average of eight children.

A few years ago, this situation started changing. Mexico's had a lot of changes in life and customs. Some are good, some are bad, but it's definitely a different country.

Today, in the XXI century, a Mexican family is much smaller: the average is two parents and two children only. Those families that have got five members (two parents and THREE children) are considered "big families".

And we're talking about a traditional family. But what about the others?

Divorce is easier and much more common, so 'family breaks' are present everyday. Now you can see a mother and her daughter living together, or two children with their mother, etc. And there are also some cases where there was no divorce, but neither were children.

Furthermore, people gets more and more education everyday, so marriage plans are left to the end: they only want to improve themselves, i.e. individually.

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Mexicans used to be a very collective society. Family was the most important in all senses. Nevertheless, European influences have changed our perception and we're now an individualistic society.

For example, I'm part of it. The last thing I'm thinking right now is marriage. And I can say that this perspective of mine is totally different to my parents'.

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Anyway, we have a big population increase. This is because in the poorest and less-educated zones (not only in the country, but inside the cities too), couples still have more than four children!! And actually, these people are the ones who have already started populating the "northern neighbour nation" (the USA) by migration.

A la Bicicleteada!!

Bicicleteada is the idiomatic for "Having a short trip on a bike". Bikes are very common in rural regions, but unfortunately, motorcars are still more popular.
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My cousins and I have gone to the mount on bike several times. It's really hard, but exercise's worth it.

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Before leaving the house, we must be sure that the bikes are in a perfect condition: gearshifts (so that you go faster in even land or don't get tired in up-chutes), brakes (the most important!!), wheels, well-joined pieces (you don't want your vehicle to be destroyed in the middle of the trip), etc.

Maxixcatzin (my cousin, the guy on his knees) and me (the one wearing a blue cap). Checking up the last details.

Once everything's done, we're ready to go out for "bicicletear".

The team, a bit before going to the mount. Actually, we're five, but my brother's taking the picture.

Field-roads are made only by earth and stones... it'll be like that all the way!!

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We thought that we'd penetrated a lot in the Calpulalpan country, but we found a factory in the middle of our way. It's known as La Maltera, where they process barley (cebada); in this region of Tlaxcala, that cereal is the most cultivated... what for?? So that people enjoy their cold brews (chelas frías) while watching football.

Haha, in fact, it's also useful for many other products and stuff, like yeast (levadura).

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Ok, every civilization trace is gone... well, that sounds cool, but it's not real. Just look at all the structures behind us, essential for taking electricity to our homes, but they ruin the landscape. -
As we go on our trip, we can see fields and lots of magueyes (dessertic plants) at the road-sides.

Far from Calpulalpan, lies the highway to Mexico City. And we can see a foggy landscape, typical of a Mexican summer.

One recommendation: if you're not used to biking, don't get excited; just ride a short distance. If you feel tired, you should interrupt your trip. Remember you must keep some energy for going back!!

A Traditional Mexican House in Tlaxcala

Mexico city's very noisy and infuriating. That's why it is good to get out from there sometime.

I'm used to visiting Calpulalpan, a small town in the state of Tlaxcala.

Some weekends, when schoolwork slows down, we go to this place for breathing the "mount's clean air" (you know, Calpulalpan is some metres higher than Mexico city!!).

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Arriving to Calpulalpan takes aproximately 2 hours from the capital of our country. The landscapes are cool... I'll show some photos of the Calpulalpan fields later.

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Everytime we go there, grandmother's house is the common destiny... it's a traditional XIX c. Mexican house!! In ancient times, rich people's houses were so bloody big and were built on a whole block (we call it cuadra) or at least on a half of it. When the Revolution arrived, these dimentions became smaller and poor people could get them... doesn't mean that all the new houses are small!! In fact, this kind of houses are still big.

In civil-war-time (1910), there was a huge 'patio' and the rooms were built around it: kitchens, bedrooms, dinner-rooms, living-rooms, etc. (a format taken from the Spanish catholic convents). At the very centre of that 'patio', you could see a fountain. Even though some houses have changed a bit their original structure, they keep it in many ways.

Balcón que da a la calle (Street balcony)

In the balcony's pic, you can see how ancient may seem a street with houses like these: wood bars, the shape... even the colours have got a XIX c. style!

If you've seen Mexican films from the Golden-cinema-age (1940-1955), these images must be familiar to you. Now, let's look inside.

Calpulalpan child on a slide. (photo taken from the roof)

We can see here a half of this house's patio. It's not painted yet, so it looks a bit... strange. Behind the doors and the entries, you see the rooms (where there were beds before, but now we use them as warehouses... that's weird). The interiors are much better:

Living room with a chimney

Actually, chimneys are not common in this country. But Calpulalpan is a cold place and sometimes it's useful in winter... anyway, it's an ancient custom and it pollutes a lot. It's better if you get electrical heaters or something. For Godness sake!! In Europe itself chimneys are obsolete!!

Only as a curiousity: in San Luis Potosí, before 2000 (when I was a child) you could see houses and chimneys everywhere; but since that year, the romantic chimneys disappeared from the roofs (techos).

Photo: Daniel Orizaga

This is another perspective of the patio. As you can see, now there are two patios in the house, because the big one was divided by the middle. Now the house is painted. Much better like this.

Let's play Basket!!

Here in Mexico, football is almost the "official sport". Yet, in schools they like teaching basketball and volleyball, so many people fancy practicing one of these sports at the end.

"El basket" (as we call it) is, after fut, the most known informal sport played by Mexicans (in "cascaritas").

And yeah, in a cascarita de fucho some rules dissapear, so now just imagine in basket! Obviously, most of us has played this 'gringo' sport, but generally we don't play it well, as we should.

In a cascarita de basket there are lots and lots of violations (violas) but we don't stop the game 'cos of that. You see lots of fouls and even people who kicks the ball. But these playing manners are really funny.

In parks, schools, houses, hotels, etc. you rather see basketball-grounds than football-grounds (that's got a sense, because of the space).

In College, for example, when some guys have a meeting, they play football or basket. I know that 'cos I've had some skivings (me he saltado algunas clases) just to play with the mates (cuates).

As you can see, basketball's become very popular in our country... perhaps not as popular as it is in the USA, but we play it a lot. So when you come to Mexico, get a basket-challenge! (hagan la reta!!) I'm sure you'll have a strange fun.

Echarse un Fucho (Picking up Football)

It is the action of playing an informal football match (also known in other countries as fútbol, balonpié, soccer, etc.). The word 'FUCHO' can be replaced by 'CASCARITA', although this word is more the equivalent for "match", so you can use it in other sports too: basketball, american football (we call it tochito when it's informal) and volley.
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"Echarse un fucho" is the easiest and cheapest sport-practice. You only need a ball, because goal-lines may be improvised with visible objects (stones, backpacks, clothes, etc.)... children don't even need a ball: for them, a soda bottle is good enough!!

Football is the most common sport in Mexico because of the TV influence -- we have to accept it. That's why almost all men like playing an informal match in some moments of their life.

When I say "informal" I mean "completely improvised". We don't take the small rules like the Offside (fuera de lugar/juego), the number of players or the player-standings, and sometimes we even forget the fouls... in a 'cascarita' there are no referees!!

This is a pic of some guys echándose un fucho.

In family parties, with the mates, in school, in the park... and of course, in the street! Any place is good for playing fut (a short way to say "fucho" or "football").
There isn't a time-table. It's, as we Mexicans say, "hasta qu'el cuerpo aguante" [til you get tired]. But when a player gets tired, he's usually replaced by another, so an informal match may last the whole day, with final scores of 40 goals or more. If you know about football, you'll see that this is really tiring.

This match was a disaster for our team. We lost with a score of 32-7!! At the end, we were all tired, sweaty and dirty...