r00kers

Last night was a bit chilly, with some fresh snow about so I decided to make some hot cocoa. We like Mexican style hot cocoa, and it's a bit of a ritual to make, so I got to it and got the box of Mexican chocolate from the cupboard. All the various brands we find in the local markets are in yellow/red boxes and this has always puzzled me. The one we have at the moment is called 'Abuelita'. I got the stuff together, adding a cinnamon stick and a touch of vanilla and stood stirring while my mind drifted a bit. I thought about the brand and it took me to thinking about language and colloquial language in particular. There is a funny, though somewhat disused term in Mexico (central, mostly DF), 'Abuelita de Batman' which when literally translated means 'Batman's Granny', but really means 'for sure'. It made me think of how hard it is to really grasp a culture, that all the analysis in the world is no substitute for immersion. Formal language lessons are a start, but really fall short. There is another term from a song, 'todo lo naco es chido'. This would take a paragraph to translate, and the reader would likely still be left with an incomplete picture. I have been to Mexico thirteen times (I think), my best friend since 7th grade is a native and his mother does not speak english to me and I still have a poor picture of the culture. I cant imagine really trying to get a grasp on another people without immersion or deep help.

The hot cocoa was good, though.