5-20-10
Salvadorans really love their mamas.
I mean, I love my mom – honestly, she’s my best friend – but even I can’t match the level of enthusiasm displayed here this Mother’s Day. “Wait,” you may be wondering, “wasn’t Mother’s day two weeks ago or something?” Yes, it was. I think. I’m not really sure…Mother’s Day doesn’t seem to have any particular beginning or end date here.
I think – I think – that the official Mother’s Day for El Salvador was Monday, May 10th. Everybody was off from school and work that day (seriously…they get a day off to celebrate motherhood, which is kind of nice). I went into Chalate with my friend Elena, and the street vendors were hawking massive amounts of gee-gaws and knick-knacks of every cheesy variety. Plastic hearts, cards that read “you’re in my heart”, fake roses, heart-splattered mugs stuffed with cheerful teddy bears and wrapped in rosy cellophane…pretty much the cheesiest stuff you can find around Valentine’s Day.
And Salvadorans eat it up. The street vendors were doing brisk business. When I got home, I found that my host mother had received one of the chintzy plastic roses from her son. She stuck it into a piece of Styrofoam and put it on the table for decoration (where it still sits). I should also mention that I got her and my host grandmother Bon-Bons, which they adored. You can’t go wrong with chocolate.
That night, a woman in my community, Francisca, invited me to come have dinner with her. (Tamales! I saw them slaughter the chicken they put in them myself.) A couple neighbors dropped by as well. While I was there, two men came and delivered a small refrigerator, which was the family’s gift to Niña Francisca. Then one of the neighbors asked me pointedly, “What did you get for your mother?”
Um…hmm. Well.
I finally confessed that I hadn’t gotten her anything, but I had called her to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. They were somewhat shocked. But honestly, is there a better gift than the gift of me? (My bad Spanish prohibited me from explaining that, two years ago, my sisters and I went in on a gift card for a day at the spa which my mother has yet to use. Mom.) One of the kids wasn’t convinced that a phone call was enough, so he suggested that I send her a piksa. This one stymied me. I thought he was trying to say the English word picture, but then he tried to explain it, saying that it was a type of bread with meat and cheese. I still didn’t get it, and told him that I didn’t think we had those in the US. Everyone there was adamant that we most definitely DO have them. I finally tried visualizing what they were talking about, and eventually got it – pizza! I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes. But really, I was envisioning a loaf of French bread with Hamburger Helper-style beef and cheese piled on top. Would you have seen it?
Anyway, the next day I figured Día de la Madre was over, when some young women of the community came to my house to tell me that they were putting together a dance concert for Mother’s Day, and would I like to dance in it? My first reaction was, “Hell no!” My second reaction was, “Huh?”
I pointed out to them that Mother’s Day was in fact over, but they said it was okay, they were just going to do the dance next weekend. Or the weekend after. Or something. They pointed out that I didn’t have to dance, I could recite a poem or sing a song. This is how I discovered that the Salvadorans are big on “dramatic presentations” honoring people. Which I find ironic, considering that they seem to be too shy to open their mouths to introduce themselves in a meeting. In any case, my answer remained a firm “no”.
I didn’t hear anything more the next few days, and I figured the celebrations were finally over. But two days ago, I went into Chalate to go to the cyber café. When I tried to pay, they explained that it was free, in honor of Mother’s Day. The bakery I went to for lunch was also decorated with balloons and hearts, and a sign that read, “Felicidades Madres!” And yesterday, I got an invitation to a “presentation to honor our mothers” on the 22nd of May. By my count, since people started celebrating Mother’s Day around the 8th, this makes the holiday two weeks long. That’s longer than Semana Santa! Or even the twelve days of Christmas! The Salvadorans love their mamas like they love Jesus…and that’s saying something.
In completely unrelated news, I got a great picture of a friendly little guy who stopped by to visit me while I was brushing my teeth at the pila.
Yeah, that’s right. I looked up, and he was right in front of me. Incidentally, it’s harder to scream with your mouth full of toothpaste.
