Interesting Cultural Practices in Mexico
I met a girl not too long ago and she was born and raised in Mexico. She just had her 17th birthday party last week and she told me that her family wet her due to some longstanding Mexican Tradition.
So I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this tradition or offer information on any other Mexican cultural practices that they found to be particularly interesting.
9 Answers
Very nice thread. I can tell you dozens. But first, we'll start with this simple one....
When entering a room, you MUST greet each and every person in the room. You must shake all men's hands and you must kiss every woman and child.
If you don't, you are RUDE. No matter how tired you are, or how many people are in the room or how many of them you know or don't know.
Oh yes Petersen - and what about when you leave? You have to walk all the way around again and 'despedirse de todo el mundo' (to take leave of) and if you inadvertantly miss or skip someone they W I L L be either hurt or angry. At my Spanish Group it takes quite a while to go around 25/30 people but do you know I have gotten to quite like it, all that kissing and hugging - kind of odd for a 'chilly' Canadian. 
Arriving late for most funtions is quite cultural in Mexico. So much so that a wedding invitation will tell you that the ceremony / mass starts at 12pm when it actually starts at 1pm.
It's refreshing to know that Mexican women still expect their men to open the door for them and to walk on the street-side of the sidewalk when they walk together. They are very sure of themselves and feel nothing of weakness by insisting that a man be a gentleman. Their femininity is their power, thus eliminating any need for a battle of the sexes.
When leaving someone's company you say "con permiso." This even applies when you've in an elevator with a total stranger and you get off first. Leaving a restaurant, it's polite to say "provecho" to the people at the next table, even if you don't know them and haven't spoken with them.
OK, here's another...
Whenever anybody is eating anything - a cookie at your desk in the office, for example. Anybody who sees you will say "provecho".
Piñatas? Pretty much the same as in the U.S.
Except you have to sing the song, as long as it takes to sing the song is as long as the turn lasts.
Dalé, dalé, dalé, No pierdes el tino, Porqué si lo pierdes, Pierdes el camino. Ya le diste uno, Ya le diste dos. Ya le diste tres, y su tiempo se acabó!
If it's a little kid swinging, sing slow. If it's a big kid who's about to break it, sing real fast!
En la segunda frase que pusiste, cual es el significado de "wet?"
Can anyone tell me what the Mexican custom is regarding pinatas? We have always had one at children's birthday parties but I must confess that I don't actually know the true Mexican way of doing it.
"She just had her 17th birthday party last week and she told me that her family wet her due to some longstanding Mexican Tradition." mmm never heard of that tradition,,,odd isnt it ? im mexican , born and living here all 37 seven years of my life and never heard of it...u always learn something new, isnt it?
