Category Archives: Parenting Challenges and Cultural Norms

July 28, 2017 · 12:00 pm

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Today my son graduated from secondary school marking the end of his traditional education here in Mexico. It comes not a moment too soon. He’s been butting heads with the school administration about his haircut, his final project choice (transparency in school expenditures) and having an awfully hard time getting up at 5 am to make the trip to town. Be that as it may, he graduated with a 9.1 (91) which is pretty dang good considering he never did master those dratted Mexican moral value classes. (See Why we sent our child to Mexican preschool and Why we sent our child to Mexican elementary school)

So in honor of the end of his formal education process, I thought I’d indulge in a little trip down memory lane. Forgive me if I tear up and can’t write any more for this post!

Graduation day 2017

Hanging out at the secondary school

First day of secondary school

Graduation day elementary

First day of sixth grade

First day of elementary school

Graduation day kindergarten

Kindergarten graduation ceremony

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Piano shopping

My son has been after me for awhile about getting a piano. As a piano is a major investment, I’d been putting him off. Then, all of a sudden, my mom is getting rid of MY piano. It’s an Opera piano made in 1893. It’s a gorgeous upright with a rich, melodious sound. Of course, it is in Pennsylvania and I haven’t played it in more than 20 years, but still. According to The Antique Piano Shop, pianos made during the last decade of the 19th century (as my piano was) are “some of the finest craftsmanship and quality ever to be put into piano manufacturing.” So it’s a pretty good piano.

Then, the very next day, there was an ad in the local paper about a piano for sale. As we determined it would cost more to go and get MY piano than to purchase another one, we decided to go and check this one out.

The man who was selling the piano was obviously a music teacher. The piano in question was a Kimball studio piano and he wanted 17,000 pesos for it. I sat and played around on it for a bit. It was ok. It had been refinished. The owner went on and on about the quality of the piano, that it came from a New York company and that it should be kept out of the light to protect the finish and sound. Hmm–Kimball was never more than a mediocre piano, manufactured in Chicago, and I had NEVER heard anything about sound being affected by sunlight. I said I would think about it and we left.

A few days later, I sent my husband to ask if he would consider lowering the price. I felt that maybe 14,000 pesos was a fair price. My husband arrived and spoke with the owner who said he’d lower the price $500 pesos but then he wouldn’t tune the piano once it had been moved. As my husband was leaving, he ran into another person who had come to see the piano. This person said that he had purchased the piano but had returned it since it would not stay in tune. This indicated to me that there was something wrong with the piano and I crossed it off the potential list.

So then I tried a google search. Morelia is about an hour away and is a city with a bit of culture. Certainly, there must be pianos for sale there. I found a lovely website with pianos in my price range, however, messages and phone calls went unanswered. So I went to the second in the list, Su Majestad El Piano (Your Majesty the Piano) a bit of a pretentious name, but I received an immediate response to my message. They even have a page on Facebook. I set up an appointment for that Friday and printed out driving directions.

It was a straight shot to the local. We arrived a little early and had time to enjoy some tacos de canasta (basket tacos) while we waited for the place to open. We talked with Lulu the owner who suggested we go to the warehouse to see the options. As we weren’t familiar with Morelia and it was raining cats and dogs, we all went in her mini-van.

It was an amazing experience. First, we looked at the upright pianos much like MY piano in PA. There was a whole room of them in various conditions. Some were pristine, others looked like they needed some work. We decided that an upright would just be too big for the little house in Sunflower Valley, so we headed out into the main warehouse.

It was a veritable feast for the senses. We must have spent about an hour walking up and down and looking over these pieces of history. Lulu saw we were appreciative and had the workers uncover her masterpieces.

There was a Bradbury square piano from the 1850s, a leather wrapped Wurlitzer piano, The Sting Player Piano, a piano Lulu called a Scorpion Tail Grand Piano, but actually was a concert grand piano, French pianos, German pianos, pianos so old that I could imagine Mozart playing on them, player pianos, more uprights, more grand pianos, more spinets and studio pianos, even a pink piano. What an experience!

I was drawn to an unpretentious Winter spinet that according to the Piano Blue book was built around 1910. The inside had slight damage, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The finish was scratched a bit, but nothing major. My son approved. My husband thought it would look good with my brown chairs (See Furnishings). So a deal was struck. I paid half down and the other half to be paid upon delivery. Delivery charges would be $500 pesos. The piano would be completely refinished and repaired. I could order a bench for an additional $1000 pesos, however as I had already overspent my budget, that wasn’t gonna happen. The piano would be tuned once it arrived, by one of Lulu’s sons, and I would receive a written copy of the 5-year guarantee.

We could hardly wait until Friday. I told my son that he could stay home from school to receive the piano. He was ecstatic. Only the piano didn’t arrive. After a few messages, I confirmed a delivery date for Saturday morning. Then, before I knew it, we had a piano. My son plopped his butt in a chair and off he went into the musical world. Yes, it was out of my budget. Yes, it’s a luxury item. Yes, it cost more than my moto. But, oh the sound of a piano!

Note: All pianos pictured (except for MY piano and the Winter piano) are available from Su Majestad El Piano.

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Filed under Education, Mail Service and Shipping in Mexico, Parenting Challenges and Cultural Norms

Tagged as buying a piano in Mexico, buying a piano in Morelia, Morelia, shopping in Mexico, su majestad el piano

January 16, 2017 · 7:00 am

Chambelan at the party

No Quinceañera event would be complete without the party. Despite what you may imagine, it is a highly organized affair, well, at least until that last hour anyway. Remember, this tradition comes from formal presentation of a newly transitioned woman to society, dating back to 500 BC in Mesoamerica.

I was able to make short videos of the various activities at this Quinceañera, but the quality is not the best. I apologize for that. You’ll be able to see my gorgeous son though throughout!

We arrived a bit earlier that the Quinceañera party. We wandered around a bit until we found tables that weren’t reserved. We were in the chambelan family section. Instead of sitting all at one table, however, each set of parents opted to have their own table for 8. Whatever! I did notice however that the resemblance each chambelan had to his father was marked and we could therefore easily identify the family of each.

Before too long, the Quinceañera and her escorts arrived and made their formal entrance. My son’s pants seemed to be the only one out of the four that were so tight.

After the formal entry, there was the Ceremony of the Change of Shoes. The Quinceañera’s shoes are replaced with high heels, symbolic of her change in position from child to woman.

After she had received her new shoes, the Quinceañera was crowned. She will always be a princess.

The chambelanes next danced the waltz with Quinceañera. Traditionally, the chambelanes would be eligible young men who would have been considered appropriate mates and thus would have been allowed to pay court to the young woman.

Following the chambelanes’ waltz, was the father-daughter dance. In this case, I thought the choice of Total Eclipse of the Heart an inappropriate song, but hey, I didn’t pick the music. The godfather also took a spin around the dance floor with his goddaughter, but I didn’t record that.

The dancing paused for more ceremony at his point. Next, there was the presentation of flowers. The Quinceañera received two bouquets of blue roses. Then she presented a rose to each and every person who was considered essential to the event, parents, godparents, damas, chambelanes. It took awhile, and several of those so honored were not present, but finally, it was over.
presentation of flowers

Following the flower bestowal was the Ceremony of the Last Doll. The Quinceañera was presented with a large doll dressed just like her as her final doll of childhood, based on a Maya tradition.

Also as a symbol of her new status, the Quinceañera was toasted with wine. At this party, only the godparents, parents and chambelanes received wine. The rest of us had to toast with soda.

Then followed the final waltz and exit of the Quinceañera and her escorts.

After a costume change, the Quinceañera, the chambelanes and the damas performed a modern dance sequence. The man of honor, the Quinceañera’s boyfriend, defended his lady love from the zombie like attentions of the unacceptable chambelanes. I didn’t think it was a fair fight. He whipped out a pistol and shot them at the end.

Finally, there was a solo dance by the Quinceañera. It was a bit hoochie-coo for a 15-year-old to perform in my opinion. But I’m not her mother.

Surprisingly enough, we were not served carnitas (pork) but fried chicken. It was ho-hum and certainly not worth the money I’d spent in costuming. After eating, there was a bit more dancing by the young adults.

As I sat there watching my son revel in the power of his youth and beauty, the music like a second heartbeat, I got a bit teary-eyed. How fast he had grown!