MehikoMﾄ）a
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The walk of an Emperor: Paseo de la Reforma
Cafﾃｩ Lechero: A clinking tradition
The honeymooners: 100 days of Peﾃｱa Nieto
No1.AprilMay 2013
Design for happiness: Mexican toys
Bienvenidos Welcome to the first number of our online magazine which is part of the continous effort to bring closer the Mexican culture and actuality to our dear friends in the Baltics as well as promote the Spanish language. Weﾂｴll try to be with you every two months with interesting articles and important news. Cezars Torres Mehiko Mﾄ）a
Mexico in Latvia Someweeks ago I watched on the Latvian TV a culinary show about Mexico, and although the charm and good efforts of the host it leave me with a sour taste as had happened to me with other depictions of my country in the foreign media. Is not the fault of the world the way they see us, is our own fault, I’m aware of that as well as I’m aware of all the problems we have as nation, but in the XXI century Mexico, and specially Mexico City is much more than just sombreros, and slums. Being one of the few Mexicans that live in Latvia and in the Baltic States in general gives me the incredible oportunity to speak not just about my country but about my homecity, Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world with all its chaos, exhuberance, craziness and beautiness. Living in Latvia is in itself an adventure, learning the language, the customs, the food, the singing and the (it seems so far) endless winter. Is good to me that Riga is such a beautiful city with great people and so many and interesting things to discover. In the same way I’m discovering this wonderful city let me show you the marvelous city of Palaces, Mexico City.
A lot of good things are happening, join us!
Content
News
Once upon a time‌ Paseo de la Reforma 1001 years of the Spanish language
Culture, fashion and design
Eat & Drink Arts & Enterteinment Billboard
News In 100 days, the president of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto brought together top leaders of the PAN and the PRD (opposition parties to the government of left and right respectively) around common objectives: security, justice, economic growth, combating corruption, democratic governance and social security. Peña Nieto also brought forward the previous government's labor reform and education reform achieved, even without a majority in Congress. His most spectacular action was investigating a detour of more than two thousand 600 million pesos from the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) that lead to criminal prosecution to the most powerful woman in Mexico, Elba Esther Gordillo, the teacher leader since 1989 and who had spoken out against education reform. It should be mentioned the low expectations and even popular discontent with which Peña Nieto began his term last December, hence is important to note that the President now has a 53% approval and its government is now generating such high expectations that the Bank of Mexico in its "Monthly Perspective", refers to the idea that the “Peso” (Mexican National Currency) will remain strong, due is most likely that fiscal and energy reforms will materialize as well as the increase in sovereign debt rating.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will have four-day visit to China since 05.04, as the world's 13th-largest economy seeks to tap into East Asia's growing markets and outbound investment. The mainland is Mexico's second-largest source of imports, accounting for 14.9 per cent of the total. It is also Mexico's third-largest export market. Mexico is also Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner in Latin America and the 27th biggest worldwide. Bilateral trade between the two sides grew 17.3 per cent in 2011 - a noticeable acceleration from the 8.6 per cent average in the previous three years. President Barack Obama will travel to Mexico. The trip, scheduled to take place May 2-4, "is an important opportunity to reinforce the deep cultural, familial and economic ties that so many Americans share with Mexico and Central America," the White House said in a statement. Economic and trade ties will be topics of discussion in Obama's scheduled meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, the White House said. Mexico's foreign ministry said a wide range of issues would be on the table.
The political cartoon:
President Peña Nieto as the Wizard of Oz by Rictus from the newspaper “Reforma”
Once upon a time:
Paseo de la Reforma
1870
1920
1950
2010
1001 years of the Spanish language*
Part 1 The rose flower that is called “rosa” in Spanish was also “rosa” in the Latin of Cicero over 2000 years ago though linguists could not prove that Cicero pronounced like us. Those same linguists can found in the Greek word rhodon the history of our rose and posit a common root wrod. The word “rosa” with all its 2000 years of existence does not have a very long history if we compared it with other words we use every day in the Spanish Language. Words like “maestro”, “mas”, “mayor” or “majestad” (master, more, majesty) even have a longer history, more than 2,000 years and its Latin and Greek roots magis and megas belong to a language spoken 6000 years ago called Indo-European. Latin was one of several languages that arose from the Indo-European language, so named because it is thought to have originated between the Black Sea and the Volga. Today we now know that there is an Indo-European ancestor, the Protoi Indo-European original from the Anatolian peninsula. The Anatolian or Hittite were already a sedentary culture, through agriculture and by the surplus production began trade and their geographic outspreading. Along with its products and its technology the Anatolian spread also their way to call things (as we now do with words like fax, phone, and computer). The birth of agriculture was thus linked to the birth of Indo-European languages. The Anatolian might have been the protoindoeuropeo, but one must understand that the use of a language transforms it then we identified four primeval branches: the Anatolian, the Greek-ArmenianIndo-Iranian, Celtic-Italian-Tocharian and Balto-Slavic-Germanic.
The Romance languages descended from Latin and are alike but the degree of similarity varies as a result of various processes, which in the case of Spanish, we will learn in each of these installments. Returning to the word “rosa�, its 2000 years old and the Latin, all this by itself is somewhat surprising but there are a number of words that not only mean exactly the same as 6000 or 7000 years ago, but survive in all Indo-European languages: the numbers from 2 to 10
Using the table each person by itself can discover new points of comparison and reach new conclusions. Linguistics born of comparison, and in this table there is plenty to compare. In short, the history of the Spanish language is not started 1001 years ago but much more long ago. Our language in some degree is the Indo European although over the centuries we have altered the words, forgotten some and taken other, the core of our vocabulary and basic grammar certain patterns are the same. It is also clear that speakers of this protoindoeuropeo language not created it out of nothing, but instead was inherited as we inherited ours. Unknown to us is such previous language but here is something curious: in countless Indo-European or non Indo-European languages the words for father and mother are called “pa” and “ma” or something similar, these voices could be at the origin of language. Millions of babies babble now what could be the original language. In the next installment will discuss the pre-Roman Iberian language.
*From Antonio Alatorre´ book Los 1001 años de la lengua española
Culture, fashion and design April 30th is Children’s Day in Mexico, let us honored them with a sample of Mexican toys. Culture, fashion and design combines in these traditional as well as modern toys.
Eat & Drink Imagine one day walking into your favorite coffee shop and hearing people clinking their spoon against their cups all day long. You would be scratching your head wondering what was going on. Café Lechero in essence, it isn't much different than cafe con leche/latte/au lait, it is more the presentation that makes Lechero special. You’ll get a few ounces of dark coffee in a glass. If you desire milk, clink your spoon against the glass. Everyone does it, so there is no reason to be shy. The sound of clinking glass rings throughout the dining room. A roaming waiter comes by with a large kettle and artfully pours a tall, and I do mean tall, stream of scalding hot milk into your glass.
Café Lechero
The story behind this custom comes from the coffeehouse el Café de La Parroquia in the Port of Veracruz, Mexico. Is supposed that a trolley driver used to ring his bell when he was a block away from the café to let the waiters know he was coming. When the driver died, his casket was borne on the trolley and when it passed the establishment, the customers and waiters clinked glasses in his honor. The clinking still can be heard from early morning to late at night. From www.BeingLatino.US
Arts and Enterteinment
This March the Mexican riches-to-rags movie, "We are the Nobles" has opened to packed theaters in a country with one of the world's widest income gaps — and a love for laughing at misfortune. More than 1 million people showed up in the first week to see the story of an impresario who fakes a government raid on his riches to teach his children the value of work.
The script was inspired by the 1949 film "The Great Madcap" by surrealist Luis Bunuel, in which a rich man wasting his money and life is fooled into thinking he lost his fortune. It leads his family members to take low-paying jobs as seamstresses, shoe shiners and carpenters.
Mexico is well known by its soap operas, but these are not the ones you are used to watch, meet the Aparicio family, a family composed of women only, where births are usually single girls and men die suddenly. The family consists of six women: Rafaela, the matriarch who has had three husbands, all dead. Alma, the eldest, is the widow of a man whose memory is like a mirage to her and her mother. Mercedes, the middle one, is a lawyer who seeks justice and equality in all its meaning. Julia, the youngest of the three daughters, has doubts about her sexual preferences. Ileana, daughter of Alma, is against everything her mother does. And Isadora, daughter of Mercedes, who just wants to know why there are only women in the family.
Billboard
Sources, photos and information Internet:
Presidencia de México
CNN en español
La Ciudad de México en el tiempo
Museo Mexicano del diseño
The Mexico City Experience
Visit Mexico
Gobierno de la Ciudad de México
Books and magazines:
Los 1001 años de la lengua española de Antonio Alatorre
Revista Algarabía
Revista Relatos e historias de México
cezars@mehikomaja.com