Fish Tales

In my hometown of Pittsburgh, advertisements for fish sandwiches signify that the season of Lent is taking place. Probably because of the city`s large Catholic population, almost every food place in the city sells huge slabs of fried fish and mayonnaise between rolls of white bread, despite the fact that Pittsburgh is nowhere near the ocean. This harkens back to a time when Catholics could not eat meat on Fridays. Now that the ban only takes place during Lent, the fish sandwiches are promoted and on sale at dive bars, restaurants and fast-food joints during the days leading up to Easter.

In Mexico City, Lent has been much more in-your-face, beginning with Ash Wednesday when my house was turned into a drive-up for people who wanted ashes stamped on their foreheads. In the United States, Catholics typically go to Mass on Ash Wednesday and ashes are crossed onto their foreheads in order to signify repentance. In Mexico, there are various points at places such as chapels and churches where the devout can go to have ashes put on their foreheasd. The night before Lent at the parish, we sat around carving crosses onto the ends of wine-corks. The corks were used to make markings on people`s foreheads, as the women here like to have neat crosses on their faces instead of smudges. The next day, various people came to quickly get ashes from the chapel in front of our house, including those who would run off buses and cars at lights and the elderly and in-firmed who didn`t get out of their cars and instead had ashes delivered to them.

The church was mobbed with people who wanted to get ashes and vendors took advantage of this by selling toys, snacks and sweet treats outside of the parish gates. Apparently, Mexicans only fast for half the day on Ash Wednesday but since I did the traditional Roman Catholic fast, I was a little irritated by the temptation of food right outside the church.

Since the beginning of the year, one of the church`s youth groups has been practicing for the Passion Play, so I have grown accustomed to men carrying around heavy crosses and being whipped with plastic brushes on the parish lawn. I was surprised the other day when the director came riding into church on a burro--the donkey is going to be used for the play and a Palm Sunday sermon.

On Friday, Jessica and I stopped in the Cathedral in the Zocalo and on our way out we ran smack into six men dressed in shiny, blue fish costumes. They made their way into some sort of fish show taking place in a tent nearby, which I assume was happening in order to remind people not to eat meat fish on Fridays.

As for my own Lenten goals of abstinence, I am feeling pretty healthy without alcohol despite occasional cravings for a beer. My biggest test came last night when Jessica and I attended a small party at Javier`s house which lasted until four in the morning, so I did a lot of sitting around and watching everyone else consume tequila. However, I was able to observe the culture of the country--Javier brought out his guitar and he and his male family members challenged each other to sing song lines and responses on the spot. The lines were rhyming insults regarding each other and their ex-girlfriends and drew a lot of laughs--I couldn't`t understand what exactly was begin said, but got the gyst of it. Of course there was salsa dancing--unfortunately, a lack of alcohol did not improve my ability to dance or help me forget that I lack rhythm, and I`m afraid that when it comes to salsa I`ll forever be limited to twirling and tossing my hair.

Regarding my other goal to be careful about what I consume and buy, my circumstances are helping me with that. Leaving Santa Fe is somewhat arduous as riding the bus is time-consuming and uncomfortable and I don`t really have an income to buy things. So despite the fact that there are things I`d like to buy, it`s easier not to, and anything I do end up purchasing helps the small merchants of Santa Fe.

One thing I have realized since coming here is that the United States lacks a shared culture and history. In Mexico, I have had the chance to spend time with people of various economic statuses with wildly differing levels of education. However, everyone seems to know the same dances, cheers and songs. While I love that various ethnic groups in the States have their own customs, there is not as much that unites everyone.

It`s interesting being a Catholic here as it makes me like I share something with most everyone as we grew up attending the same services and celebrating holidays in similar. In the United States, I had few Catholic friends and religious activities were not big part of my life so I wonder what the adjustment will be like when I get back. For now I`m just trying to avoid being in the cross path of whips and animals, and I`ll worry about finding a good fish sandwich when I return.