Nuestros Ranchos Site

I buy tamales (de chile and de dulce) every year around this time and
share them with my daughters and grandkids. If I was home visiting my
sisters and my tias in El Paso, I would have a REAL Mexican Christmas,
too. Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año, primos y primas! Marge:)

I wanted to wish the members and families of this group a Merry 
Christmas. Your sharing of memories reminds me that this is a 
special time of year when we get to remember and smile with the 
stories of holidays gone by and stories of some lost traditions.  A 
bitter sweet time to remember those no longer with us and a chance 
to pass on traditions, foods and our personal family history to our 
children and grandchildren..

I called my widowed 85 year old father in California and he told me 
he had a 'A Real Mexican Christmas' My brother had bought Tamales 
and my daughter made beans, rice and Banuelos... Of course he and I 
talked about the days he's parents bought 60 pnds of beef and 60 
pnds of pork and the whole family would spend days making Tamales 
for Christmas Eve and enough for everyone to take some home too. We 
talked of the men sitting drinking, telling stories of their 
childhood holidays, the women cooking, laughing, chasing the 
children out of the kitchen and teaching

The conversation about historical novelas got my attention. I 
remember that several years ago, when I still lived in Mexico, I 
watched some episodes of a historical soap opera.

It was called "La antorcha encendida". I did not watch it often 
because it came out late at night and I had to go to bed early. 
Still, the few episodes that I saw were very interesting. The story 
was about a ficticious gachupin family from Mexico in the early 
1800's. They described what the fictitious characters went through 
during the independence movement and was based on real events. Many 
historical figures came out on the story, and I was particularly 
amazed when I saw the scene showing how father Miguel Hidalgo was 
captured and killed. Other independence leaders, like Morelos, were 
also part of the story.

Anyways, I did a google search and found out that the series is 
available on dvd at amazon:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009XRZQ0/102-1725244-9552917?
v=glance&n=130

I'm planning on

Browse this:
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/levy/toc.html

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia" 
wrote:
>
> Victor, the only one who still speaks with that accent and uses
those words that sound strange or are unknown to Mexicans is my Aunt
Emilia who is 92 years old and is the last of her generation.  I have
heard that many descendants of 16th and 17th century Spanish settlers
have discovered their Sephardic roots which explains to them many of
their ancestors particular habits, but my mother and her other
siblings would not hear of it if they were alive.  They considered
themselves "Spanish" and denied being Indian, but lately my aunt has
spoken of their Indian blood (Piro/Manso/Tewa---Pueblo tribes).  I
haven't heard that speech since my mother died in 1985 and I live far
from my aunt who has remained in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico all
her life, so I can't think of any particular word or phrase.  I will
ask my husband, since he used to

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "John Gonzalez" 1gnzlz@v...> wrote:
>
> Hi Ed:
> 
> I purchased a book from "Libros Latinos"  Here is their address:  Libros Latinos,  301  
9th St.  Ste. B.  Redlands, CA.  92374
> 
> Their phone number is:  909-798-1342
 
John,

Thanks. I actually live in Redlands, so I went down to their warehouse, which contains an 
enormous amount of Spanish language books: history, fiction, art, you-name-it. The 
people that work there are very intense and appear serious about what they are doing. 
They have been around for 20-25 years. Some of the reference books, property of the 
owner and not available for purchase, are to die for.

These people periodically go down to Mexico and purchase the books that are requested 
by people, assuming the requested book is not already in stock. Obviously, these Spanish 
language books are not cheap since it takes much effort and cost to find these books and 
transport them back to USA. I was impressed with their organization

Emilie,

What you refer to as the peculiar speech of the manitos sounds very
similar to Ladino, the dialect spoken by the Sephardim.  Have you
compared some of the words/expressions that you remember in both?

Victor
ho.ho.ho


--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia" 
wrote:
>
> The 'manitos had been in New Mexico since Onate's time there, 1598,
but it could be that Cuba and Puerto Rico were settled by the same
group of Spaniards that settled New Mexico in the 16th Century.  I
agree that some of the speech is similar between the two groups.
> 
> Emilie Garcia
> Port Orchard, WA ---

http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com/XmasEveMessage12_24_2005.mp3

ho ho ho,

joseph

So who exactly is in charge of putting a meeting together in southern
California?

Has a specific date and time been set and a location chosen?

(My vote is for anywhere along the 210 between Claremont and Pasadena, and
the best day for me is either the first or second Saturday in February.)

What's the agenda?

Will there be food?

~Deena Ortiz~