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opinion roybal
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
C'mon and Pass Me a Cold One – Ice Cream, that Is
By David Roybal
For the Journal
RINCON DE GUAYABITOS, Mexico — This is something that probably is best kept between us: I've, uh, hit that stage of life where I have greater appreciation for a good ice cream bar than a good beer.
It was just a few days ago on DĂa Cinco de Mayo — here, just off a beautiful beach in Mexico — when the realization settled in.
No need for sympathy. I've made peace with it and it didn't even take long. My surroundings, actually, gave me the support I needed.
The realization came as I sat with my family on a simple chair of unfinished wood and woven straw, biting into a natural fruit bar of strawberry and vanilla.
It was around 8 p.m. and Guayabitos' main street of gray brick and cobblestone just a few feet away was nearly as quiet as any ghost town. Yes, on Cinco de Mayo.
For several nights through the previous evening, the same street had been a congested corridor of unhurried people and slow-moving vehicles, some of them blaring loud Mexican music into the cool night air. This is no resort town, not yet, at least. It was Mejicanos, mostly from tiny Guayabitos and neighboring La Peñita de Jaltemba but also others from as far away as Guadalajara and Mexico City, who pumped life onto the street.
My family and I had watched it all for a while from a tiny but popular taco café‚ whose owners had positioned several long rows of red plastic chairs onto the shoulder of the street to deal with an overflow of eager customers.
Earlier that same day, the arching beach nearby had been packed with people, mostly children and their parents only too happy to be chased by white waves of water that rolled just below carts of carved mangos, pineapples, oysters and freshly grilled shrimp.
It was all part of a long holiday weekend, granted to commemorate May Day in recognition of the nation's workers. That's what had people pouring into hotels and onto the streets and beach in Guayabitos.
It was Monday by the time Cinco de Mayo came around, and when it did, it was as if someone had turned off a power switch.
“Cinco de Mayo makes for a good celebration in Puebla, not so much around here,” said Adio Murga Nava, a school site administrator with the nation's Conalep education system in La Peñita de Jaltemba.
Puebla is where Mexicans defeated French invaders southeast of Mexico City in 1862. The French, along with troops of Spain and Great Britain, invaded Mexico ostensibly to collect debts. Spain and Britain didn't stay long, though, after seeing that the French had political dominance in mind.
“The poor French. They underestimated us and to celebrate our victory that might have surprised more than just the French, we have Cinco de Mayo,” said Murga.
Yes, but it's not a big deal among all Mexicans. In fact, it might get more attention — as an excuse for partying, at least — on the U.S. side of the Mexican border. In towns like San Diego, Tucson, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, El Paso and San Antonio, Mexican beer flows mightier than segments of the lower Rio Grande.
Now, I've long been an enthusiastic fan of Mexican beer and still enjoy one or two occasionally. “Stay thirsty, my friends,” advises a Dos Equis television ad. And I used to; for too long, I suspect. Increasingly, my body says, “Enough!”
That's where I got help from the surprisingly restrained approach to Cinco de Mayo in Guayabitos last week. I wasn't surrounded by partying, by endless toasts to Benito Juárez, Puebla, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental.
I sat quietly with my family, instead, crunching frozen cream and flavored ice in a little Mexican village that for a while, at least, was partied out thanks to May Day.
There would be no hangovers on dĂa seis de mayo, not among those within my view from the ice cream shop, at least.
All that behind us, Mother's Day ushered in this new week, and now there is no escaping the wisdom in mom's oft-heard admonitions over the years against overindulgence.
Ah, mom's admonitions: embraced better late than never, for sure.
David Roybal can be reached at (505) 351-4053.
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