I read this book a few months ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. The video explains it quite nicely, doesn’t it?
Tag Archives: mexico
Life photo archive
I came accross this archive of Life magazine photos. I became a fan in my childhood since my parents had one or two books with pictures from the magazine (I was especially a fan of this one by Robert Capa).
I immediately made two searches: Mexico & Finland, naturally. Most pictures of Mexico are of the 60’s, around the time of the 1968 Olympics, whereas most pictures of Finland are of the 40’s, especially of the Winter War.
One of the images that impacted me the most, however, was of Viipuri, which back then looked just like any other Finnish city. I’ve been there a few years ago on my way to St. Petersburg, and let’s say that there have been a few changes after it became part of Russia.
Nortec Collective in Stockholm
A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to visit Stockholm, to finally see Nortec Collective live. Nedless to say, we jumped around like crazy and enjoyed the gig immensely, especially since instead of Banda samples they actually had live musicians backing them up (who played an encore of their own). We even ended up backstage with them after the gig, and naturally welcomed them to come to the Helsinki Festival whenever they could.
It was a very welcome pause, and it was nice to see that Stockholm still looks the same. An interesting note was that everybody spoke to me in Swedish (even though I had a tejana on most of the time), while that seldom happens in Finland with or without funny hats.
When the news hit you personally
Those who follow news about Mexico might know that on the same night Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, there was a very dramatic tragedy in Mexico City, as a small airplane carrying the secretary of the interior of the country crashed in the middle of the business district. The news was quite tragic, but that was it.
Then, I started hearing some more personal accounts. My brother-in-law works in the area, and the plane crashed 12 metres away from his office. He saw everything, and was quite shocked by the time he got home. Understandably, I was quite upset when I heard about it. Then I found out that a friend of mine was injured and is in hospital, and am frankly still in shock.
My prayers go to her and her family.
Mexican Culture Week in Helsinki
Finally the Mexican Embassy here truly put a programme together for Independence Day, and there was a whole week of activities last week related to Mexico and Mexican culture. They did have the traditional reception for the Mexican community here, but there was also a piano concert, exhibitions of folk dress and art, workshops on Mexican dance, architecture and the experience of Mexicans in Finland, and they even brought a famous Mexican chef here!
There was some interesting cultural exchanges during the period, as the video below of local student choir Ylioppilaslaulajat shows:
I even ended up singing at some point, LOL… 😉 Kudos to the Mexican Embassy, and I hope they organise these kind of events again.
Taquería in New York
Mexican immigration in the US is not limited anymore to the border states. More and more often, Mexicans are to be found in areas of the country they weren’t before. NY, which has had for long a Puerto Rican and Dominican Hispanic community, has received for the past 10 years or so an influx of people specifically from the state of Puebla in central Mexico. They are as inconspicuous in the city as any other immigrant community.
Some joke about Puebla York (instead of Nueva York, as it is called in Spanish). I was glad to have found a decent taquería in a recent business trip (as long as you’re willing to go for some pastor or lengua).
No “Chipotle Mexican Grill” for me.
Would you believe this is in one of the most populated cities in the world?
And indeed it is. The place is called Xochimilco, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
The place as you can see is completely full of nature. We saw some bovines and heard that they don’t get sacrificed for their meat, but are rather used as natural lawnmowers, so we were joking that we would like the life of a Xochimilco cow.
Did Texas ever leave Mexico?
Yes, of course it did. The structure of the city is typically American, built around the car, and of course the American and Texan flags fly everywhere you look. Furthermore, you will find that Texans are very, very proud of their heritage and to be respected, of course.
However, in a recent visit to San Antonio I was surprised by the huge Mexican influence in the place, as can be seen in the photo to the right and in these other two. I was also rather impressed by the Spanish-language proficency of people not of Hispanic descent, and the amount of Hispanics in the city was quite large. I was wondering if it was always like this given its geographic location or if this is a recent change.
Sunset in Cabo San Lucas
Bouganvillea
This is a flower I’ve certainly missed during my time in Finland. Since it grows during summer and I usually visit Mexico for Christmas, I hadn’t seen it for a long time. It reminds me of my childhood, as there were bushes of this plant growing all over my neighbourhood.