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Three Kings Day in Mexico

January 6, 2009 in Culture, features, Mexico with 1 Comment

Today is a continuation of Christmas here in Mexico. On the church calendar, it’s epiphany. But in Mexico, it’s more commonly known as “El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos.”

It’s the day that the Magi arrived to visit baby Jesus. The “three wise men” even have names here: Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar. One of them rides a horse; the other rides a camel; and the other rides an elephant. Of course, they come bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

But for Mexican families, they come bearing presents for the children, too. On the 5th of January, the children write notes to the three kings (Los Tres Reyes) and tie them to helium balloons. Then, when they go to bed, they put their shoes under the Christmas tree (yes, it’s still up), and in the morning, they see what the Three Kings have left for them.

Many families go to the park downtown to get their picture taken with Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar like you would get your picture taken with Santa Claus.

Oh, and of course, there is the Rosca de Reyes, an oval sweetbread, decorated with candied fruit. Each person takes a turn to cut their piece of the bread. Inside the bread, little baby Jesus figurines are hidden. The person who gets the baby Jesus figurine has to host a party for their family and friends on February 2.

So while the rest of the world has moved on and packed away their Christmas things, we are still celebrating the birth of Jesus, thinking about the Magi, and having fun as a family. Happy Dia de los Reyes Magos.

(More information is available here)
(Photos by Christian Frausto Bernal on flickr)

Timing is Everything

December 27, 2008 in Ad of the week, Culture, Latin America, Mexico with 0 Comments

Krispy Kreme Mexico

I got this email on Friday from Krispy Kreme in Mexico. It really goes to prove the differences in how Americans think about time and how Mexicans think about time.

The purpose of the email was to promote their “new” Christmas doughnuts. However, they sent the email the day after Christmas, and these doughnut styles have been in the stores for weeks now.

Latin American cultures do not think about time like we think about time in the United States. They are not time oriented, nor do they plan very far in advance. I’m generalizing here, but I have observed that, in Mexico, people are much more important than events.

The person who sent this email was probably busy with Christmas parties with friends and didn’t get around to sending the Merry Christmas email until after Christmas.

Either that, or they are really early for next year.

La Virgin de Guadalupe

December 12, 2008 in Culture, Mexico with 0 Comments

Today is the day that Mexicans commemorate the day in which the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego. Many people make pilgrimages to the Basilica and there are various celebrations. They say to be Mexican is to be Guadalupano (or a follower of Guadalupe).

I wrote a paper called, “The Early Foundations of Mariology” for one of my seminary classes. You can download it here (PDF). It talks about Mary in early church history.

I’ve also visited the Basilica many times. Each time I’m there, I take a some pictures. Here are some pictures I’ve taken, uploaded to Flickr and tagged with Guadalupe.

I’ve read and written many things about the Virgin of Guadalupe. Here are some previous posts I’ve written about this day:

Resources about the Virgin of Guadalupe

More Than One Million Children Work In Mexico

November 18, 2008 in Culture, Mexico with 0 Comments

A recent study by the Secretary of Work and Social Provision revealed that one in eight (more than 1 million) children between the ages of 5 and 13 work and 2,500,000 teenagers must work to help support their families.

Of teenagers aged 14-17, sixty percent work, and of those who do work, almost half (47%) work at least 35 hours a week, causing the number of teens who don’t go to school because they work to be more than 1.4 million.

Article in La Jornada (Spanish)
(Via: Vivir Mexico)

(Photo by: Javier Valdez)

Obama and Mexico

November 6, 2008 in Mexico, Mexico City with 1 Comment

Obama won the presidency of the United States Tuesday night, which has huge implications for the entire world, as well as Mexico.

But, something else happened that day in Mexico City that impacts the future of this country’s politics.

A small plane crash landed in Mexico City Tuesday night. It was carrying Juan Camilo Mourino, the interior minister (like the Secretary of State) in Felipe Calderon’s government and one of the prospective candidates for the presidency in the next elections. He was also the person who used to be in charge of fighting drugs.

He was a good friend of the president, and his death has impacted all of Mexico and their government. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on Mexican politics. I know for sure he will be missed by the current president of this country.

A Cultural Observation

October 20, 2008 in Culture, Mexico with 0 Comments

This Saturday, Jon and I went to ExpoCristiana, a gigantic Exposition of Christian books, music, and everything else imaginable. We went with Huberto and some of the young people from his church.

While we were there, Jon and I made an incredible cultural observation: Mexican young people love bracelets.

I snapped these pictures on my camera phone for proof. We spent at least 10 minutes standing at this booth looking at the bracelets.

Bracelets Brazaletas

So, I guarantee that this is something I will use in ministry. I need to get some bracelets made up to promote the Seminary program and our website, or, the next time someone invites me to preach at a camp or something, I need to get some bracelets that have to do with the topic.

After all, you have to identify the culture to use the culture to reach the culture.

I’m Gonna Change My Name

October 19, 2008 in Culture, Mexico with 2 Comments

Popeyes

For some reason, yesterday at Popeyes, they asked me for my name. Actually, I know why they asked. It was because they took 20 minutes to fill my order even though we were some of the only ones in the restaurant.

Anyway, they asked me my name, and I told them Dennis, with the best pronunciation I could. Dennis isn’t a very popular name in Mexico. Denise is a girl’s name, so they always look at me funny when I tell them my name.

As you can see from the picture, the girl didn’t understand me and put “Tenes.” I guess that’s close. I think I’m going to change my name to to Juan Gonzalez.

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