septiembre: Pachanga

PACHANGA [pah-chahn-gah] (Mex.) an exaggerated celebration or party, the biggest fiesta you can find.

Some pre-pachanga and pachanga facts:
1. I live with Marcelina.
2. Marcelina’s mom turned 92 (everyone calls her "abuelita" little grandma).
3. Mexican hospitality puts “Southern hospitality” to shame. I was invited to the birthday party before having lived with Marcelina for a whole week.
4. Abuelita lives in a little pueblito named Juliantla outside of a city named Tasco. It was gorgeous, peaceful and very much the example of simple living. The house is one bedroom with two beds, a hallway with another bed, and a bathroom. There is an outdoor wood burning oven/stove in the lawn, a cistern for collecting water, and a double duty basin for washing dishes and clothes. Juliatla is a lush ravine and home to a neverending chorus of birds and the occasional cow’s moo. It is untouched nature besides the houses that line the bumpy, curvy, stone road. I can’t believe I forgot my camera!
5. We stayed on Friday night at the grandma’s house.
6. Saturday was the pachanga.
6a. We were woken up before the sunrise at 6am on Saturday to fireworks and a band playing outside - 10-person or so Mexican traditional music.
6b. Family and neighbors started showing up and we made coffee and ate some sweet bread that someone brought while listening to the band and watching the sun rise.
6c. By 7:30am I was dancing with one of the cousins.
6d. By 8am I was drinking tequila spiked tea.
6e. I spent some time with other cousins drinking a few beers and chatting right before going to a Catholic mass, put on especially for the grandma and family.
6f. We all wandered our way down to the big gym for dinner, drinks, and dancing. It was quite a turn-out. Most of the family came (all except ones who are living in the U.S. currently). To give you an idea of the size of the family: Grandma has 7 living children, 50 grandkids and 70 great-grandkids (plus a handful of great-great-grandkids). Since it is a small village, everyone knows everyone and many neighbors came too.
6g. There was another band and we dancing from about 11pm ‘til 3am.
6h. The band wrapped up at 3 and we stuck around chatting and waiting for some rain to clear until 5am.
7. We reluctantly got up at 10am on Sunday. Family all started showing up again and we at some gorditas (tortillas with thick sour cream (crema), onions, salsa and fresh cheese) made on the wood stove outside. I even learned how to make tortillas by hand!

Welcome to Mexico, no?