If you survived Black Friday and managed not to be trampled by some lunatic mob at your local Walmart, chances are you’re already planning your Christmas vacation. But if you are like the average American whimp person, it is very likely Mexico is not among your top ten winter destinations.
According to the most recent survey coming out from the land obsessed with surveys, 72% of Americans think Mexico is unsafe, and not because they fear they will go into a cardiac arrest for gulping down tons of cheap tequila in Cancún. They are mostly concerned about being shot by some druglord as soon as they set foot at the airport.
But weary Americans should not despair, and instead thank the nation’s undocumented and documented Hispanic immigrants for the latest trend in U.S. tourism: Latin American cultural immersion trips in the comfort of your own city.
¡Sí, señor! Latinos are using the neighborhoods we’ve taken away from gringos to lurethem back, and invite them to get a taste of our fun, dance, food and drink-filled culture. And no, you don’t need to get a passport, nor take a malaria pill. And -more importantly- chances of surviving are actually at a healthy 95%
So, what are you waiting for? Come enjoy U.S. Latin America without the dangers and annoyances of the real Latin America.
There are only a few things that need absolutely no explanation to make it to this blog. This is one of them.
Whoever was responsible for finding the proper Spanish-language translation of “Cool Iron” and came up with THIS, deserves nothing but my most humble admiration -and an open invitation to a Happy Hour in New York City, at a bar of his/her choice.
(Oh, and don’t get me started on “Mano se lava” and “No caiga”)
If Nescafé Latino was going to be so rigorous as to put an accent over capital letters (i.e. “vacía”) it would have been well advised to do the same over “ESTE,” just not to confuse “East” with “To be.”
And you? Do you imagine a Thanksgiving Day with a lot of tamales?
In the latest installment of the “How to Turn your Gringo Holiday into a Relevant Latino Holiday,” series, I give you Tamalegiving, a simple -yet delicious- way to turn Thanksgiving Day into Tamalegiving Day instead.
Watch a very cute, acculturated Guatemalan-American kid saying “guácala” to his mom’s gallina as he makes his case for a Thanksgiving full of tamales. Oh, sí.
Alas, I’m more of a ‘Tacogiving’ type of person. But hey, that’s me!
What other delicious recipes might Campbell’s be cooking for my people?
If you thought Fiesta Nacho Cheese, Kick-It-Up a Nacho or Mexican-style chicken tortilla soups were enough to satisfy the demanding palate of my people (i.e. Hispanics,) think again. The venerable Campbell Soup Company, hoping to reverse a “soup slump,” is ready to accelerate its Hispanic-themed and Hispanic-targeted canned soups and other so-called food products.
But don’t think that throwing in some queso and tortillas will be enough to attract more U.S. Hispanics. According to this article in Food Business News, the company “has added dual-language packaging for some of its products,” presumably in a similar way they’ve done with the “French” language.
Somehow Campbell’s thinks “Fiesta de légumes” is French for “Fiesta Vegetable.” [Oh, but is Fiesta Vegetable English or Spanish?]Alas, there was no mention in such article about how “Fiesta Vegetable” became Fiesta de légumes in “French” but I guess that’s material for a future post.
Justin Bieber is in Mexico and he took to Twitter Monday night to tell his 50 million plus followers about having just met Enrique Peña Nieto and family.
just met some amazing mexican beliebers and the presidente of mexico and his familia. now it is showtime. 60,000 tonight. night 1. te amo
Nothing wrong with that… I guess, except that minutes later the press office of the Mexican Presidency came on to the social network to deny such a meeting even happened.