A personal Cinco de Mayo
Looking back when the future’s uncertain
By Bliss 04/30/2009
Where I grew up, in an East Coast region of beachfront tourist traps and small towns studded with Little League fields and roadside farm stands, the secular springtime holiday for celebrating heritage with patriotism and beer was St. Patrick’s Day. Grandma cooked corned beef, Dad drank green beer and croaked “Erin go braless.” I never heard of Cinco de Mayo. But when I left all that behind and crossed the California state line like a gleeful refugee, years ago, on May 2 — a day permanently circled in my memory’s calendar — I was like Dorothy in Oz. Everywhere, it seemed, my eyes were greeted by flowering cacti, jewel-toned hibiscus, dancing skeletons, and waving banners promising “Buenos Tiempos” and “Cerveza!”
I landed in greater LA on the cusp of what I quickly learned was Cinco de Mayo. I was welcomed warmly by new friends who didn’t know their Zaragoza from their Virgin de Guadelupe, but who could passionately argue the finer distinctions between Tecate and Dos Equis. They taught me native pronunciations of “San Pedro” and “Sepulveda,” and proper technique for combining salt, lime and tequila. The skies were blue, margaritas were enormous, everyone was tanned and friendly, and mariachi and Tejano music were pumping everywhere. I was home.That was my introduction to life in LA. Cinco de Mayo became a celebration of personal independence, colored by the music and culture that keep my love affair with California alive.
This year it seems vitally important to honor that celebration. Maybe because the future's so uncertain. Maybe because too many friends have lost jobs, and so many bands have left town. Despite light on the horizon, many are giving up their dreams, moving away or rooming with family; they’re ground down from choosing between bad and worse. But my roots here are knotted and tangled. I’m too stubborn to leave.
So this weekend, I’ll make a pilgrimage to Olvera Street and check out the folklorico dancers, wandering mariachis and kids bashing piñatas by El Pueblo. Come Tuesday, I’ll grab my guy and some amigos for a personal Cinco de Mayo caravan around Pasadena. We’ll likely stop at La Zona Rosa for a caffeine fix while soaking up the hip background soundtrack, then probably cruise through Poo-Bah’s or Canterbury’s world music section and stop at a mom-and-pop market we love for some scorching hot sauce. Then on to Paseo Cantina for the essential three M’s — munchies, margaritas and, starting at 5 p.m., mariachi.
If you’re out too, join us. We’ll be toasting music, independence and friends.
Paseo Cantina, 260 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 683-3100; La Zona Rosa, 15 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 793-2334; Olvera Street, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, 845 N. Alameda St., downtown Los Angeles, (213) 485-8372.
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