A Movie from the Past

There is a store near the Insurgentes Metrobus station that sells used DVD movies. Every time that I pass by, I stop in the store and see if there are any discs that I want to buy.  (Yes, I am a proud dinosaur, and I still have a DVD/Blue Ray player!)  One of the movies that I found and bought was a film that I used to show to my Spanish III classes each year when we would do a unit on Argentina.  The movie is called "La Historia Oficial" (The Official Story).

This Argentinian movie come out in 1985, shortly after the fall of the nation's military dictatorship.  It won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best foreign language movie as well as numerous other awards.

The protagonist is Alicia, the wife of a well-to-do businessman connected to the military government.  They have an adopted daughter, but Alicia knows little about the details of the adoption.  As the power of the dictatorship begins to wane, more and more news about the government's atrocities come to light.  Political opponents were apprehended and vanished.  Among the disappeared were pregnant women whose babies were given to the families of government officials or supporters.  Alicia begins to wonder if her daughter might be the child of a "desaparecida", and she begins to investigate the circumstances behind the adoption.

The lead was played by Norma Aleandro, one of Argentina's most famous actresses.  She went into exile during the dictatorship, and this movie marked her triumphant return to the Argentinian cinema.

Alejandro had never seen the movie, so last weekend we watched it together. The disc that I used to play for my students had English subtitles.  (The sometimes fast-paced dialogue in Argentinian Spanish was hard enough for me to follow.  It would have been very frustrating for my students.)  This disc is a remastered version funded by the Argentinian National Film Institute in 2015.  Of course, it did not have any English subtitles.  Even though I still couldn't catch every single word, I had seen the movie so many times that watching it without subtitles was not a problem.  And in spite of seeing the film so many times, it was still very moving.

A few of my former students follow this blog.  I wonder if they remember "La Historia Oficial"?   

 

January Blossoms

You may recall that I wrote several posts about trying to get my orchid plant to rebloom.  Finally, toward the end of last September, after having it repotted by an expert at a nursery, it flowered again.  That was more than three months ago, and the flowers still show no signs of fading.

 

My poinsettia, which I bought for Christmas of 2023, is beginning to get some red leaves.  (They are not flower petals but modified leaves called bracts.)

Just as last year, it is late for the Christmas season.  I suspect that it will be the end of January or even February before it has fully blossomed.

A Bunch of Mail

This year I asked friends to send Christmas cards to my apartment address rather than through the private mailing service that I have.  The cost of the mail service has gone up exorbitantly for each piece of mail, and it isn't that fast anyway (usually about three weeks to arrive here from the United States).  I had only received three cards prior to Christmas.  Yesterday, I returned to the apartment after spending a couple of days at the family house.  The doorman had a stack of cards... ten in all... that had arrived during my absence.

Looking at the postmarks, they took about four weeks to arrive here.  Since the Christmas season here does not end until January 6th, we can say that these actually arrived on time. I have had mail arrive here in as quickly as two weeks, so I suspect that the delay was with the U.S. postal service during the holiday rush.  I'm sure that there will be more coming in the upcoming days.  I don't mind if they arrive late.  I enjoy receiving them.

The King's Ring

As I mentioned previously, the Christmas season here ends on January 6th, the Day of the Kings or Epiphany.  On this day children receive gifts from the Three Wise Men.  Another tradition of the day is the "Rosca de Reyes", a ring-shaped sweet bread decorated with candied fruit.  In the days leading up to January 6th, the bakeries are well stocked with boxes of "roscas".  On the street you often see people heading home with the boxed "ring of the Kings" which they have just purchased.  Just as nearly every other family in Mexico, we went out to buy our "rosca".  Actually we bought two... one for supper on January 5th and another one for the 6th.

Baked inside the "rosca" is a figure of the Baby Jesus.  Whoever gets the figure in their slice is supposed to prepare tamales on February 2nd, the Feast of Candelaria.  Nowadays it seems that most bakeries put several Babies inside.  To me, that seems to defeat the purpose.  The "ring" that we bought on January 5th, however, was traditional in that it only contained one figure.  Alejandro's father got it in his slice.  However, I don't think that he will be making tamales! 😆

I did not know that the custom originated in Spain, and was brought to Mexico in colonial times.  Alejandro told me that in Spain the pastry is called a "roscón".  Inside the "ring" there is a dry bean.  Whoever gets the bean is supposed to buy the "roscón" the following year.  There is also a figure of a king inside the bread.  Whoever gets that is the King (or Queen) of the evening, and gets to wear a paper crown which is usually included in the box.   

Bethlehem's a Zoo

It's time to take down the Christmas decorations in the apartment.  But during the last week of the holiday season I added a few more figures to my Bethlehem scene below the tree.  

At the handicraft market on the Zócalo I bought a tiny clay figure of a jaguar.  I placed it in front of the village church.

At the World Trade Center's toy expo there was a showcase full of very realistic miniature animals.  I bought a fawn and an armadillo to add to the scene.

The little boy looks startled to see an armadillo in the middle of Bethlehem!

Toyland

Today marks the end of that holiday season which Mexicans refer to as "Guadalupe Reyes".  It begins on December 12th with the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and extends to January 6th with the Day of the Kings (Epiphany).  Today is the day when children in Mexico traditionally receive gifts from the Magi Kings - "Los Reyes Magos" (although Santa Claus bringing gifts on Christmas has been added to the mix).

During this gift-giving season, the World Trade Center for the last 20 years has been the venue for the "Expo Tus Jugetes", the largest toy exposition in Mexico.  The show opened on December 18th and lasts until today for those last minute shoppers who procrastinated in buying toys for the Day of the Kings (or whose children procrastinated in writing their letter to the Kings).

Alejandro and I had no plans to go shopping there since our nephew, now a high school student, is beyond the age of receiving toys.  Nevertheless, before Christmas, we walked over the the World Trade Center to look around.

At the entrance there are always some displays that are good for a funny photo op.

Inside the largest of the exposition halls, there is row after row of every kind of toy imaginable.

Santa's reindeer and helpers dancing to an old Christmas carol from Spain called "Los Peces en el Río" (The Fish in the River).

Last Friday when we were at the family house, Alejandro mentioned the toy expo.  His sister and nephew said that they wanted to go.  So, that very afternoon, we got in the car and drove to the World Trade Center.  Even though our nephew is in high school, I thought that it was really cool that he enjoyed looking at the toys.  I had not intended to buy anything for the family for Day of the Kings.  However, I was carefully observing the things that he and his mom were looking at with interest.  So on Sunday, Alejandro and I returned (for the third time) and bought a Snoopy thermos for Ezra and a Snoopy mug for Sandra.  And just so grandpa wouldn't feel left out, we bought him a Homer Simpson mug.

Zócalo Lights

 Dusk was fallining as I left the Cathedral last week when I was downtown.

Since it was a weeknight, the Zócalo was not insanely crowded.  So I decided to stick around and see the Christmas lights on the plaza.  I only had to wait a few minutes before they turned them on.

Just a block from the Zócalo, the downtown flagships of two of Mexico's major department store chains, Liverpool and Palacio del Hierro are always decorated with lights for the holidays.

As always, Palacio de Hierro does a light and sound show.

This year the music was from "The Nutcracker".