Juegos, Fuegos y Claxones de Carros

Some people here seem to really love fireworks. It seems like at least once a week, somebody is launching rockets into the air somewhere in the city. Is it a celebration of something specific? Leftovers from Independence Day? I have a different theory. In Spanish, fireworks are called "juegos pirotecnicos," literally: pyrotechnic games. Fire is a common theme in both languages, but maybe there's a difference in mindset when approaching something labeled as "work" versus something labeled as a "game." Nobody wants to work everyday, but most people are usually up for some fun.

This isn't a totally original idea, clearly, but I have been trying to notice differences like this between the languages as we get better at expressing ourselves in Espanol. Probably it was brought on, at heart, by an article I read a while back on the effect gendered nouns have on artistic expression and even on normal thought processes. For example, if you were writing a poem about a table in Spanish (which I guess might be the first poem about a table ever written in any language), some have theorized that you would be influenced by the feminine gender of table (la mesa) as you constructed your imagery. Whereas, if you were writing in English, you wouldn't: a table is a table, it doesn't carry with it a subtle undercurrent of feminine qualities. The article pointed out better examples from Spanish, French and other poets and authors; I wish I still had the link.

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And the Claxones? The horns? Oh, man, let me tell you about the horns. There is not a no-honking law here in Oaxaca City - or, for all I know, anywhere in Mexico - and the drivers take ample advantage of this fact. Wait more than half a second to accelerate when your light turns green? There go the horns. Walk across the street in front of a car wanting to turn right without a turn signal? There goes the horn. Any sort of delay in traffic when a green light is visible ahead? Oh, man, horns a plenty. And these aren't roadrunner horns either. (Although, we did see what looked like a road runner in the park the other day.) They're not polite little beep-beeps to shake the lead driver out of his red-light reverie. These are lean on the steering wheel with your forearm, wake up the neighborhood, spur the dead to life, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeps. And everybody joins in. It's like a party. If you're lucky, the transit police will even help out, blowing high-pitched whistles during green lights, with no apparent purpose other than to punctuate the claxon harmony.

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Also, Cruz Azul won yesterday, beating America 1-0. It was a lucky win, with America hitting the post a couple times and being denied a pretty clear penalty, but it was a win nonetheless, and the first time Cruz Azul has beaten America in their last 17 meetings. Luis was very excited - although it might have been as much because he won 50 pesos betting with one of his teachers on the outcome. The celebration was loud but peaceful, not like when America plays the Pumas, and fans are known to pelt the opposing team's bus with rocks as it leaves the stadium.