Mexico Culture Smart - by Russell Maddicks

ISBN: 1787023427
Date read: 2024-05-17
How strongly I recommend it: 5/10
(See my list of 360+ books, for more.)

Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.

Basic information in preparation for travel.

my notes

Diego Rivera’s magnificent History of Mexico mural graces the staircase of the National Palace in Mexico City.

77 percent of Mexicans still identify as Catholic today.
Religious festivities and Saints’ Days continue to dominate the calendar, and life for the majority follows a cycle of baptisms, first communions, weddings, and funerals.
One reason for the success of Catholicism is due to the pragmatism of the Jesuit and Franciscan monks who led conversions and allowed Indigenous Mexicans to incorporate their traditional beliefs into their new form of worship, such as Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
The rise of Protestant Evangelical and Pentecostal groups has caused a decline in the number of Catholics, often in marginalized areas of the country and among Indigenous.
Young people generally stay at home until they marry.

Mexican attitudes toward the rule of law is perhaps best summed in the saying “El que no tranza, no avanza,” which translates roughly as “If you don’t cheat, you don’t get ahead.”

Melancholic fatalism: a resignation that the worst is likely to happen, that some inevitable doom is just around the corner, and that, overall, life is hard and pleasure fleeting.
This fatalistic outlook is rooted in Mexico’s past and the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs,

The day to dread is martes 13 (Tuesday 13), not Friday 13.

Mexicans enjoy getting playful with people’s names.
First there are the short forms: Francisco becomes Pancho or Paco, Guillermo is shortened to Memo, Eduardo to Lalo, Jesús to Chucho or Chuy, José to Chepe, Guadalupe to Lupe or Lupita, Concepción to Conchita, and María del Refugio for some reason is shortened to Cuca.

Turn up at least half an hour late.

The country’s four main urban centers - Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, and Monterrey.
In Mexico City, nearly 58 percent of the population were middle class in 2022, while in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Chiapas it was only 6 percent.
Chiapas is the poorest state in Mexico.
For a more laid-back immersion head to colonial Guanajuato, foodie-favorite Oaxaca.

Mexico City Metropolitan Area now has a population of over 22 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere, the tenth-largest city on the planet, and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world.
The city also encompasses the Neza-Chalco-Itza shanty town, which with four million inhabitants is considered the largest slum in the world.

The strong national devotion to Mexico’s patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Holy Mother, is a reflection of the reverence in which mothers are held.

Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 Oscar-winning Netflix drama Roma is an intensely moving ode to the Mixtec maid.

Fiesta de Quince Años (Fifteenth Birthday Party), which is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood.

Pre-Hispanic inhabitants of present-day Mexico were eating a diet based on the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash, sometimes referred to as the “three sisters” because they grow so well together and complement each other nutritionally.
Most of the protein came from beans, or insects such as chapulines (grasshoppers), chinicuiles (maguey worms), escamoles (ant eggs), and ahuatle (water-fly eggs).
Many of the ingredients we take for granted today first came to Europe from Mexico, such as tomatoes, avocados, chilies, pineapples, vanilla, and cacao.
Antojitos (“little cravings”) are essentially snacks, the sort of finger food served up at tianguis (street markets).
Popular in Mexico City are tacos al pastor, a variation on the Middle Eastern shawarma brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. Marinated pork is skewered on a vertical metal spike to form a trompo and cooked as it rotates. The meat is shaved off and served with a slice of pineapple from the top of the trompo.
The fresh dressings and zingy salsas (sauces) you pile on top.
Typical accompaniments are a squeeze of lime or lemon, cebolla (chopped onions), cilantro (coriander), pico de gallo (chopped tomato and onion, literally “chicken beak”), guacamole (mashed avocado), salsa verde (green sauce made from tomatillo and chilies), salsa roja (red sauce made from fresh tomatoes and chilies), salsa de chipotle (a smoky sauce made with chipotle peppers).

Cerveza is the Spanish word for beer, but you’re more likely to hear Mexicans ordering una chela or una fría. “Vamos a echarnos unas chelitas” is a slang way of saying, “Let’s have some beers.”
Pulque, a creamy, viscous “beer” made from the fermented juice of the agave.
In Mexico City historic pulquerías have become hangouts for students and hipsters.

Mexico has a tipping culture, and many people rely on a propina (tip).
Everybody who helps you out in some way will appreciate a few pesos in return.
At food stalls on the street or in markets there is no obligation to tip.

Pulquerías (bars serving pulque) are worth seeking out to experience firsthand a truly pre-Hispanic Mexican beverage.

A renaissance known as El Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema) came in the 1990s with critically acclaimed movies such as Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) a magical-realist romance directed by Alfono Arau, and the Gothic horror film Cronos by Guillermo del Toro. In the twenty-first century, the violent but poetic Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch).
Alfonso Cuarón returned to Mexico City for his 2018 movie Roma, nominated for Oscars for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Foreign Language Film.
Nosotros Los Nobles (The Noble Family), Director Gaz Alazraki shines a scornful light on the nation’s pampered rich kids, the mirreyes. Released in 2013, it’s Mexico’s biggest grossing movie.

Combining culture, tradition, costume, revolutionary history, horse riding, mariachi music, and mezcal, is it any wonder that charreria (rodeo) is the official national sport of Mexico? The charro (cowboy) with his broad-brimmed sombrero, short jacket, and spurs is seen as quintessentially Mexican.
Bullfighting is alive and well in Mexico. The Plaza México in Mexico City is the largest bullring in the world.

When entering a shop or office people will say to those present, “Buenos días” or “Buenas tardes.”
To show respect, address people as Señor/Señora/Señorita, and the elderly as Don/Doña with their first name.
If you don’t know the marital status of a young woman, use Señorita and let her correct you.
When being introduced it is customary to say “Mucho gusto” (“Pleased [to meet you”]), or “Es un placer conocerle,” or simply “Un placer” (“It’s a pleasure”), followed by your first name.

“Chilangos,” as the residents of Mexico City are called.
Chela Beer
Chido Cool
Güey From the word buey (ox); it means “dude” in the expression: “Que onda, güey?” (What’s up, dude?)
The Spanish spoken in Mexico is known as castellano.
Híjole! Wow! Whoa!
Mande? Perhaps the Mexican expression you will hear most; it means the equivalent of “Can I help?”

Mario Moreno Reyes, better known as Cantinflas, was a great slapstick artist with instinctive comic timing, who typically played the underdog.

Mexicans are not as animated as Argentinians.

To indicate that someone is being stingy or tight-fisted, it’s typical to bend the arm and tap the elbow.
From this you get the expression “No seas codo” (“Don’t be elbow”), which means don’t be cheap, get your wallet out.

Mexicans don’t have the same strict rules on personal space that you find in some countries. They are happy to get up close, and are more hands-on when meeting. In a formal setting, men will shake hands as in the US or Europe, and you can expect a back slap or a bear hug from friends.

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app locally.