The Huasteca Festival

 

Puebla is a delight, a paragon of culture, tradition, history and progress all wrapped up in one very neat and beautiful package. Every city and town in Puebla share these characteristics but some are more colorful and loud than others. Here we have Xicotepec de Juarez, proud Magic Town of Puebla and Mexico and soon to be the stage for a very worthy display of tradition.

From August 29^th to September 1^st Xicotepec will celebrate the Festival of the Huasteca in its 18th edition (more than 17 years of this tradition) which will bring together activities from the six states that are part of the Huasteca Region plus 60 events that include the involvement of more than 300 musicians, artisans as well as traditional doctors, among others.

At a press conference to publicize the event Armando Chacha Antele, Regional Development Director of the State Council for Culture and the Arts, said that an estimated investment of 2.5 million dollars will be applied to the event and they expect attendance of about 30, 000 people coming from Puebla and the participating states.

On the frame of the same conference, the program of activities for the festival was officially presented, so important to this event that shows the true identity of the creators of the Huasteca culture.

Besides enjoying the beautiful region, visitors can learn about important sites in Xicotepec, such as world’s tallest virgin, which is 23 meters high; a pre-Hispanic ceremonial center and the Casa Carranza Museum, amongst other places to enrich the natural beauty of this magical town.

Activities will take place in nine forums, located in enclosures and main squares of the town and highlighting the life in the pre-Hispanic ceremonial center Xochipila, and the city center, where most of people will enjoy this event. The opening for the festival will be on Thursday, August 29^th at the Plaza of the Constitution of Xicotepec, promptly at 19:30 hours.

 

China Poblana

 

Puebla is a very traditional state and as such, it is full of history and culture. As most places with these characteristics, Puebla, especially the Colonial capital city is brimming with many legends part of its natural folklore, beliefs and the inherited Mexican wit.

The China Poblana is one of them, referring in its broadest sense and common today, to the name of what is considered the traditional dress of women in the State of Puebla in Mexico, and is said to have received its name due to a slave belonging to a lineage of an Indian nobleman whose name was Mirra, and was said to wear these clothes during the time of the presidency of Porfirio Diaz.

After being converted to Catholicism in the Indian city of Cochin, where she was kidnapped by Portuguese pirates, Mirra was given the name of Catarina de San Juan, the name with which was known in the region of Puebla where she served as a slave, and then married and took the habit. At her death, Catarina de San Juan was buried in the sacristy of the Church of the Company of Jesus in Puebla, and is now popularly known as the Tomb of the China Poblana.

In Puebla de los Angeles this tomb and her were venerated as a saint until in 1691, when the Inquisition banned any popular devotions and considered pagan rituals.

During the nineteenth-century when the China (Chinese woman) became a popular type Mexican and foreign writers raised the question about the origin of the Chinese dress. Vazquez Mantecon attributes the spread of this hypothesis to Carl Nebel, German traveler whose book Scenic and archaeological Travel on the most interesting part of the Mexican Republic (1835) portrait women dressed as chinas while others say the dress came from the Mexico City or even Oaxaca regions.

It is noted that the Mongol princess was oriental and this was a reason for her to be called by the poblanos a Chinese. Asians in Mexico continued calling every Asian a Chinese, the East was considered par excellence as a native of China. Another hypothesis associates the nickname with the fact that Catarina de San Juan married a slave named Domingo Juarez, which belonged to the caste of the Chinese. After marriage, the China Puebla must have been called by the inhabitants of Puebla as correspondent to the caste of her husband, historically.

According to descriptions of the nineteenth century, the Chinese attire consisted of the following items:

A white shirt, with frayed and embroidery work in silk and beaded with geometric and floral motives in bright colors.

A skirt called beaver, which took its name from the fabric with which it was made. The beaver was worked with sequins and 9 geometric patterns.

A band that was used to hold the beaver at the waist of the woman who wore it. The band may or may not have been worked with embroidery, or woven with brocade technique.

A shawl or reboso made of silk in most cases. The shawl is a garment common in Mexico, even today by women to cover the cold, but it was used for carrying babies or anything else whose size and weight make it difficult to take in the hands. The ball shawl, which was the most commonly used by the Chinese, was woven with threads of blue and white, and had the cradle of the Otomi village Santa Maria del Rio.

As footwear, despite their financial shortcomings, a Chinese kept using satin shoes embroidered with silk.

Finally, the China complemented the outfit with beads and jewels that adorned their ears, bare chest, and hands.

Most agree in the descriptions of them in the nineteenth century as the china being very beautiful women, whose dresses were too daring for the time, especially due to the lack of a corset.

The chinas were also considered excellent dancers portrayed of The Atole, The Agualulco, El Palomo and others who are part of the twentieth century folk dances, also as a paragon of cleanliness and order; loyalty by their mate although quite liberal on issues of their sexuality.

Near the House of the China Puebla where Catarina de San Juan died next to the Temple of the Company, a figure of the China decorates the courtyard of the building dedicated to offering typical food of Puebla nowadays, very visited by tourist and popular amongst visitors and locals alike.

Much more can be say about the China Poblana, and we will delve into it, but if you visit Puebla do not forget to ask about her and see her statue and many other commemorative and derivative objects.

The Chiles en nogada Fair will garner 2 million pesos

We have talked about the Colonial charm of the state of Puebla, the allure its cultural ambience have for visitors and locals alike; food, crafts, churches, buildings, that are proof of the still living heritage and tradition the current inhabitants have keep from their ancestors over time.

And so, Puebla is amidst of one of its most prized and enjoyable traditions, awaited by those in the city, the rest of the country and even the world. The chiles en nogada season is in full swing, dedicated to this historically famous dish everyone wants and has to taste, and what better time and place to do so that in the Fair dedicated to it.

It has been reported that at least 30, 000 chiles en nogada will be elaborated over the next three Sundays in the municipality of San Nicolas de los Ranchos as part of the activities of the Fair of the same name, with which they seek to obtain an economic impact of at least 2 million pesos, as said the director of tourism of the town, Erika Ortega Arias.

It is important to note that the price of each of the peppers (chiles) will be of 80 pesos and, as asked to the 18 people who will be in charge of cooking and serve them, all will have the same size: “The price of 80 pesos includes soup or rice and water, but we also have one additional attraction, the World’s Largest Molcajete, which has a 1.20 meters diameter”.

In this molcajete (a kind of rock bowl used for centuries to grind foods), will serve as a container for at least 60 liters of green and red sauce, which you can taste with the tortillas the local women also are preparing.

“They are blue corn tortillas to which visitors may spread the molcajete sauce over and will be distributed to each and every one of the visitors who come to San Nicolas de los Ranchos on occasion of the Chile en nogada Fair,” added the representative.

It should be mentioned that the purpose of this fair is that people got to have the opportunity to consume the products of the region while keeping this delicious tradition alive.

Santa Maria Coapan

 

Coapan (snake in Nahuatl) is located 4 kilometers away from Tehuacan, which means 25 minutes away from this city and about one and a half hours away from Puebla City. Full of hills and low hills, and some small streams that cause water to conduct in the short rainy season, so arid soils, really have limestone and high moisture permeability leading to increasing groundwater depth that provide water to the numerous wells in the valley. There is little flora typical of dry climates and few green spots with pine, cypress and some Indian laurels, and ornamental plants.

There are rabbits as the only way of wildlife and abundant domestic animals like sheep and goats besides some feedstock for the Barbecue sales business that has brought fame to this place which receives many visitors looking for its culinary wealth. Also raising pigs is common in the many homes, also making them in delicious casseroles.

The men work in agriculture and construction industry, while women from very small learn to make and sell tortillas, in years past they walk all the way to the nearby towns to sell them on foot, although some of them still do as an ingrained tradition, this practice has almost stopped.

They also sell in markets and at various points of the city of Tehuacan, specially the Centro, where a small diligent is placed with large pots of food to the delight of passersby who seek to taste their products. In recent years they have shown great initiative to unite and start packing and distributing the tortillas to various domestic and foreign markets.

Complementing this sale, they go out at night going in all directions to provide exquisite granillo gruel, a traditional drink in great demand, because like all the products they distribute, is nutritious and affordable.

Coapan has all municipal services, schools, business of all branches and varied transportation, still conserving its traditions are grown and with the population being mostly Catholic, they celebrated every year on August 15th the St. Mary Assumption Day, a festivity dedicated to the church of the same name built by early Spanish settlers of 1652-1658. The festivity goes for several days, and it includes a fair in honor of the Saint patron of the city.

Although it is believed that the city was founded by Popolocas, Nahuatl is still spoken by many families. Before the Spanish conquest, this territory was already inhabited and it was usual to pay tribute to the King of Zapotitlan, but there came a time when they refused to do so and to avoid reprisals they established Calcahualco, later known as the Old Tehuacan.

It was there that the work of Spanish missionaries began, who later decided to come to live in the center of the valley and groups were extended and turned back to address the territory of Coapan in the late sixteenth century by the ancestors of the current population.

 

City of Puebla receives certification Safe Community

 

Good news for the City of Puebla and all of those who have come to visit this summer since it has been deemed the fifth largest city in the country to be certified as safe city, which enables the creation of new jobs, promoting of the economic sector, support and promotion of tourism and domestic and foreign investment.

17 different government agencies and civil associations summited 27 social programs to obtain this certification and so, Puebla was certified Safe Community, which supports the work of the municipal government to create a comprehensive social infrastructure, crime prevention and safety promotion.

This is the result of the work that has been done in the City, especially of coordination between authorities and society to ensure the development of the population. “Protect families in Puebla is one of the main tasks that this administration has taken since the beginning of its office” said the mayor of the City, Eduardo Rivera. He also assured that work will continue intensively in favor of Puebla, in collaboration with other actors in society.

The certification, endorsed by the International Movement called “Safe Communities”, placed as the State of Puebla as the first locality and the fifth in the country in obtaining it, so, the flag raising and unveiling of the plaque certify the municipality of Puebla as a Safe Community in the world.

Among the programs involved are: Crime Prevention, General Attorney of Justice, Trail, Trail City, Observatory, Citizen Observatory, Hosts Tour, Drive for Life, Municipal Youth Centers and Youth Organizations and Municipal Networks and the Municipal Institute of Youth.

The best part? These programs will participate in a national competition, whose winner will be presented officially in October, during the National Convention in Mexico of Safe Communities based in the City of Merida, Yucatan.

Fairs run rampant in Puebla

 

As we commented before, in Puebla, summer is a time for celebration but also tradition, a perfect time for the those visitors interested in learning of other cultures in the sun; they´ll have the opportunity to experience in the flesh all these fairs and festivals, so traditional in the state.

The closest ones are the Teziutlan Fair,  which is expected to bring an economic impact of $ 10 million pesos left by the nearly 300, 000 visitors expected to reach the municipality for the event that will be held from August 2^nd to the 18^th in honor of the Virgin of the Assumption, a venerated image in this city.

In the last day of activities of this fair it will be held the First Contest of Chilposon Teziuteco, typical regional dish made ​​with pork, chicken, beef, and in some cases, with seafood. There will be a prize for first three places in metallic, as to make it more interesting.

So, who comes visit this time will know of the traditions and cuisine of the region where one of the most important traditional dishes is Chilposon and the tlayoyos that are made ​​with avocado leaf alberjon and Creole, accompanying themselves with chipotle sauce, cheese and onion.

Second, but no less important, there´s the Santa Maria Coapan Fair, with an expected economic impact of at least 700,000 pesos left by the nearly 21, 000 visitors who will come to this fair, to be held from July 233d to the 28^th, in the town of Santa Clara Hitzilotepec.

The roots and traditions are still preserved in the population of this region despite everything, a community where they already have organized a series of activities ranging from the sacred to the mundane such as Masses, first communions and processions, as well as dances, feasts and a rodeo sponsored by the steward of the feast.

This feast will be filled of typical food, mole poblano, barbecue or carnitas though to feed more than 5,000 people at a time, so they can enjoy of the warmth of the people, the traditions and the place, alive for the summer.

We are not tired of saying this but the moment to take a vacation in Puebla is this holiday, if you are into traditions, you cannot miss the chance.