Lizbeth Castellanos

Mexico

The first time my brother and I went to Mexico I was 7 at the time. A child that isn’t aware of much just of the simple fact that we are going to Mexico to visit relatives. I didn’t know what to expect besides not having the same buildings, cars, and people that I was used to. We stayed with my grandmother on my mother's side, in a small town where my parents grew up. San Andres Calpan which was south of the two volcanos El Popocatépetl and El Iztaccíhuatl.

Although we were only there for a week we tried to help with as much manual work as possible. Although it may have been seen we just wanted to play, we loved the chores that we had to do. Especially since they were so new to us we wanted to learn more. We did things like feeding the chickens, goats, pigs and rabbits to peeling the corn and walnuts that were brought in. My grandmother was known for harvesting corn and walnuts. Especially during the summertime when the walnut supply was much needed for the Chiles en Nogada festival.

When we weren’t helping my grandmother with the chores, my uncle that was only 4 years older than me would take us around el pueblo. It was normal for the kids to be independent at such a young age, which was why he was mainly the one that took care of us. Although to my brother and I going to Mexico just seemed like a field trip, we got to experience a lot of their daily life. It was then when we realized it was completely different from our lives. My life back in Philly was completely without any worries. Never having to worry about feeding the animals and or taking care of the crops, because it is the only source of income. We simply went to and from school worrying about homework and basic house chores. When we went to Mexico we got an insight of the cousins that were around our age and their day to day life.

During my second trip we were able to dig deeper into our Mexican roots as well as really understand a lot of their traditions. The second time I went to Mexico, with my older and younger brother was in 2016. This time going for a month gave more opportunities to do more chores as well as bond with our family in Mexico.

Since we went from July through August we were lucky to celebrate the Chile en Nogada Festival, which was the tasting of the chiles that were made by those all over el pueblo. They also give a chance to explore new foods, music and dances. Within the festival was when I discovered my current favorite food, tlacoyos. We also experienced the traditional celebrations of the Saints, which would typically consist of the “Quemando del Toro” and dancing. The “Quemando del Toro” is when they attempt to create a replica of a bull and shoot firecrackers off of it while dancing. When the firecrackers are done burning people take turns carrying it on top of them while dancing. Being able to learn so much about my culture made me fall in love with it even more and understand the value of passing it on to further generations.