How Culture Affects Communication

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New Year's Day in Patzcuaro

Happy New Year 2008!

The kitchen at La Jacaranda augurs a year that will bring a bounty of good things.

Pátzcuaro Bound

We rise for a morning walk on La Ropa Beach, then have a pleasant beach-front breakfast at Doña Prudencia's. At 10:00 AM we start our trek home--with a full tank of gas. We note that it is 125 miles from Zihua to the first and only gas station until one reaches the Uruapan area.

We arrive home at La Jacaranda and it is a sunny afternoon, very mild for December in Pátzcuaro, so we eat our 3:00 PM comida on our back veranda, which is where I always prefer to eat. If we need gloves, Glen says it is too cold.

Hanging in Zihua

It has been a tough day. We brunched scandalously late on huevos a la mexicana at the Zihua Pancake House, lazed and read under a shady palapa with a breeze in the afternoon, and I ate a good shrimp pasta for dinner.

On the Road to Zihua

We leave at 9:00 a.m. from La Jacaranda in Patzcuaro and pick up the libre, the old road to Uruapan. The winter sun is low and we drive through chill, misty air and the varying shades of green of the deciduous and pine forest that is typical of the Michoacán highlands. We intersect with the cuota, the toll road that will take us to Zihuatanejo. Our first stop is at a toll booth, where we begin to buy our way in increments to the coast: Pesos $26 for the first installment, then $29, then $28, then $52 and finally $52 again. As we expect, the weather is warm 45 minutes west and some 2,000 feet lower than Pátzcuaro.



We have a few rules for travel by car in Mexico. First, take cash for gas, because it is the only way one can purchase it. Second, allow plenty of daylight hours to reach one's destination--we don't travel at night for a number of safety reasons. Also, be aware that most of the good highways are toll roads and they are not inexpensive. Finally, always start out with a full tank of gas and fill up whenever possible.


The stretch of highway from Uruapan to the coast winds through some desolate areas of the tierra caliente. We drive up to El Tamarindo in 4 hours (minus 5 minutes), with stops only to pay tolls and one for the baño.



We savor our much-awaited, tasty huachinango at La Perla Restaurant on Playa La Ropa . My book signing for "Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide" is in the evening at Coconut's restaurant in the center of Zihuatanejo and I meet some very interesting people. Then we dine well at Coconut's with Catherine Krantz of Another Day in Paradise and delightful Debbie, manager of Coconuts, and her husband Jeff. A special appetizer not on the menu is delicious: tempura fresh oysters.



We make it to bed after midnight, late for us--we are morning people. It has been a good day.

P.S. - "Tony" Ixtapa is not as tony as it was. The destination now caters more to budget all-inclusive package travelers.

Down the Mountain to Zihuatanejo

Tomorrow we will head down the mountain to Zihuatanejo on the west coast of Mexico, about a 3-4 hour drive on the good autopista completed only a few years ago. Temperatures will start warming by the time we reach Uruapan, some 45 minutes west of Pátzcuaro. We will stay at El Tamarindo, a small B&B in the Playa la Ropa area.

On Friday evening, December 28th, I will briefly introduce my book Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide at a book-signing event at Coconuts Restaurant. The event was organized by Catherine Krantz, Editor and Publisher of the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo magazine Another Day in Paradise. The book explains the hurdles caused in cross cultural communication that are caused by cultural difference, and it focuses on United States-Mexico communication to illustrate points.

Glen and I look forward to savoring some good huachinango (red snapper) grilled over a wood fire, probably under an umbrella outdoors. Zihuatanejo is sought out by visitors seeking nature friendly and fitness tourism. It is a real town, in contrast to the tony, constructed resort area of adjacent Ixtapa, which is nice, luxurious--but a different kind of venue.

Photo tour of Zihuatenejo - http://www.zihuatanejo-ixtapa.com/phototour1.html

Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide - http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/novint.html

Another Day in Paradise Magazine - http://www.adip.info/

Coconuts Restaurant, Zihuatanejo - http://www.restaurantcoconuts.com/

Poinsettias in Pátzcuaro

We just arrived in Pátzcuaro. In our garden at La Jacaranda, we are enjoying the noche buena blooms (poinsettias) that befit this holiday season. Poinsettias grow to a height of two to three meters in this region. It is not as cold as usual at this altitude of 7200 ft. This morning it was 51F outside and 55F inside the house, not bad for December 26th, especially considering the frigid weather gripping the mid-west of the United States. Poinsettias, papaya and huevos a la mexicana (scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and chiles) started our day out just right.

The Carissa Plant at La Jacaranda

The exotic "Carissa" plant that Glen purchased at the vivero was planted and is flourishing at La Jacaranda.

The Leaf Wraith

He comes every morning at his self-appointed hour and begins grooming the green and moist garden. If I awaken, I can vaguely sense some quiet and shadowy movement. Then, gradually, the predawn sky faintly illumines this faithful figure and forecasts the light which will come.

Night of the Dead in the Patzcuaro Region

In the colonial pueblo of Patzcuaro itself, the vigil at graveside to remember the dead takes place during the day on the 2nd of November, as is customary in most of urban Mexico. However, in the Purhepecha communities around Lake Patzcuaro, families and friends gather around the graves at night, la Noche de Muertos, often staying until dawn. Plaintive a capella pirecuas float on the chill night air as singers move from grave to grave. Food and drink are shared. Each Purhepecha community around Lake Patzcuaro maintains its own traditions and decorates the graves in a distinctive style which often includes handcrafted items representative of the community. People come from all over Mexico, as well as from many other countries, to witness the distinctive celebrations of the area surrounding Lake Patzcuaro.

Marigold petals beckon returning souls to the altars and graves filled with bounty along a path of bright color points. Here these souls will commune with the loved ones they left behind. Deceased children, called angelitos, are remembered on November 1st, and homage is paid to demised adults through the night ending November 2nd.

"Catrinas" and Skeletons: Mocking Death in Mexican Culture

By Tracy Novinger

[Double click on an image for larger view.]

There does not seem to be any culture in the world that burlesques death as does Mexico. In Mexican folk art, death is seen as the other half of life and is a common motif. In fact, representations of skulls and skeletons are so common to the artist’s and artisan’s world that they have practically become synonymous with Mexican culture.

Europeans and Americans hate to be reminded of the brevity of life. However, the perception of death is a different and complex blend of indigenous and Spanish influences in Mexico. For most Mexicans, the psychic burden of life is in its anguish—the exposure, with insufficient defense, to danger and to evil. Mexico’s Indians perceived (and must still perceive) life as suffering, where the submissive and weak are permanent victims of the strong. Torture was felt as something very personal, and the martyrdom that man inflicts on man is a profound experience in the Indian’s sentimental world. Consequently and in this context, over centuries, indigenous and mestizo artists have passionately depicted the crucified Christ’s suffering and bleeding in a thousand terrifying ways, creating a Mexican colonial Christ of specifically Mexican sensibility.* Moreover, images of skulls and skeletons are found abundantly in Mexico’s pre-Columbian indigenous artifacts.

More recently, however, since the late 19th century, motifs representing death have frequently been used in arts and crafts in a more light-hearted, mocking manner, perhaps as a way of coping with an otherwise unbearable concept. One uniquely Mexican creation to emerge has been the Catrinas. At first glance, these figures of skeletons dressed in outrageous clothing put off and shock many. The skeleton Catrinas originated with Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), who published scathingly humorous portraits of society in Mexico City; anyone was fair game. His Catrinas were dressed in elegant European finery, adorned with wide-brimmed, feathered hats. This image parodied wealthy Mexican women of the time, who overdressed amid the poverty of the majority of Mexicans. Posada’s Catrinas, in fact, depict death as the great equalizer: all persons in the end are reduced to bones, rich and poor, powerful and powerless alike. Mexico’s lighthearted depiction of death serves to remind us of the inevitable for all. The Catrinas are one of the most whimsical art forms Mexico has to offer.

*Westheim, Paul. La Calavera, fondo de Cultura Económica (Breviarios), México, 1996. En: Artes de México, Revista Libro Número 67, Primera Edición, 2003. Fundada en 1953 por Miguel Salas Anzures y Vicente Rojo. Pp 80-81 Westheim, Paul. La Calavera, fondo de Cultura Económica (Breviarios), México, 1996. En: Artes de México, Revista Libro Número 67, Primera Edición, 2003. Fundada en 1953 por Miguel Salas Anzures y Vicente Rojo, pp 80-81.

All photos were taken in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico at time of Noche de Muertos/Night of the Dead celebrations.

Artisans and Crafts on the Plaza Grande, Patzcuaro

Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) celebrations, Patzcuaro: In just a few days, the tianguis on the Plaza Grande of Patzcuaro has come to life. Crafts of all materials and people from everywhere will find love at first sight.