Great month for birthdays and name days so this will be just some ramblings about names in Mexico. Today, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception so it is the name day for all with the name “Concepción” or shortened to Conchita!

It is still somewhat common to name children for the Saint whose feast day it is when they are born. I have a friend who was born on Dec. 5. One of his names is Sabas and I also know a Conchita. Tomorrow, Dec. 9, is the feast day of St. Juan Diego, the peasant who supposedly saw the apparition of the Virgen of Guadalupe.

And, of course lots of people in Mexico with their name day coming up on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe–Patron Saint and Queen of Mexico, the Mexican Revolution and Empress of the Americas. So many boys and girls either born on that day or not, have that name: Guadalupe shortened to “Lupe” or the more endearing term of “Lupita” or “Lupito” depending on the gender. Our Lady of Guadalupe is also known as The Virgin of Guadalupe and commonly referred to as “La Morenita” or the “The Dark Lady.”

The suffix “-ito” and “ita” are tacked onto names as 1)a sign of endearment or closeness or 2)a reference to size or age. The father might be Juan and his son of the same name Juanito or you just may use the “Juanito” as a sign that you are close to the person or that he is smaller or younger than someone else. In Spanish, A father and son with the same name are–for example–Juan padre(father) and Juan hijo(son) although the word “Junior” is also quite common now but usually with the connotation of “spoiled.” Women also name daughters after themselves. I have a friend whose name is Férida and her daughter has the same name but they don’t called them juniors!

Of course “María” is probably the most common name in Mexico for a woman–often with another name tacked on by which the person is know and sometimes even combining the name of Joseph with it. Examples: Maria Carmen (known as Maricarmen or just Carmen), Maria José (Marijose). Men can be called José María.

Which brings us to Joseph the reputed or “putative” father of Jesus. In Spanish he is the “padre putativo” of Jesus and if you take the two first letters of that (PP) and pronounce it like you would in Spanish, you get the nickname Pepe so José is often called Pepe or Pepito and NOT Josito!

Now we are at nicknames. As in other languages, they sometimes are logical and sometimes seemingly not. María/Mari– Roberto or Alberto or Norberto, etc often turn into “Beto”–Nicolas/Nico, etc.. And then there is the name of Jesus (which the Catholic Church limits to people of Hispanic origin as a reward for the Spanish Armada winning a famous battle for the Pope!) and which has some of the rarest of nicknames: Chucho (Choo-cho) or Chuy (pronounced “chewy”).

There are many more but at the end of December–the 28th to be exact–there is The Feast of the Holy Innocents which marks a supposed massacre of children–a seemingly sombre occasion one would think. In Mexico it is the equivalent of April Fool’s Day in English-speaking countries. It is about taking advantage of someone’s “innocence” or naiveté and pulling a prank. A common one is to ask someone to loan you money on that day as money loaned on that day does not have to be repaid! A custom which many carry over to the other 364 days as well here! Most newspapers also have joke headlines and stories like “Mayor Actually Does Something!” “Pope Says Priests Can Be Good Babysitters” “Bill Gates Pays Off National Debt” and such things and at the end of the article mentions that “if you believe this you must me a real rube that just fell off the banana truck.” But in Spanish.

On a personal note, my name–James–has two translations in Spanish: Jaime and Santiago.

Something that exists in Spanish because of the importance of relationships I think, that does not really exist in English is the concept of the “tocayo.” That is a person who has the same name as you have…not someone you were named for like a favorite uncle or grandparent..they just have the same name as you have and they are your tocayo(a).

So that is all for today. Let’s see what I think of next! Hasta Pronto!

Well, December is here and my promise to post more than once a month has not been kept but at least today I will post. I am just not that good at long term commitments I guess and do better one day at a time!

Here in Cancun, the long-awaited beach restoration project has begun with–as is to be expected–problems and arguments and slow downs but it is going. They have rebuilt from Punta Cancun (Hyatt Regency at the point) down to about the Flamingo so far with a minor “gap” due to legal and ego problems. The two hotels that were “skipped” are the Gran Caribe Real and The Royal Cancun–two hotels owned by Fernando Garcia Zalvidea.

For almost two years he has been pressuring everyone who will listen about the beach erosion problem and often during evening hours–illegally–built his own little artificial beach there with a breakwater that stuck out 100 yards or so into the ocean to protect the beach.  He didn’t get permits to do that and he has had problems with the environmental folks all this time. Now they are pumping sand onto the beaches–well, every beach but his. He had to remove what he had built and drop some legal suits and cancel some court orders he had gotten before they would put sand on his beach. He removed the breakwater and piled up the rubble in front of the foundation of his hotel to protect it but he won’t withdraw the legal suits and court orders soooo–no beach for him–at least today.

Yesterday he led a demonstration of about 150-300 of his hotel employees on the beach (unless you read another paper that says he saw them and asked them to disband!) against the government agency in charge of NOT giving him sand. (Of course one of the court orders he has states that no one can put sand on the beach or make changes to it until the legal issues are settled. Catch 22.)

And then there is the other issue of where to get some of the sand from. A small part comes from a sand bank out by Isla Mujeres and they are (finally after many protests and discussions) taking sand from there for the Cancun beaches. The other sand bank where they are getting the majority of the sand is out by Cozumel and the environmentalists are fighting the use of that tooth and nail to “save the pink conch” that lives there. The government says that after months of litigation on both sides, there is now no impediment to them taking sand from there but the other side says there is.

Can you say Mexican Standoff? Mexican Standoff (I have actually been to the street where #2 happened. It is by the original Sanborn’s in Mexico City. )

Other than that, the process is fascinating to watch and the results remarkable. Here are some pictures and videos.

Other than that, business is still slow in Cancun and the Riviera Maya but picking up some. There are lots of good deals to be had in lots of hotels of all categories so search around and take advantage.

I had the opportunity about a month ago to stay for 4 nights at Hacienda Tres Rios Resort in the Riviera Maya with some business associates. It is just one year old and is impressive both for the facilities as well as the food and service. Some of my pictures are here and include some pics of the food provided at “Chef Oscar’s Corner”–an innovative concept where some guests are invited into a corner of the kitchen set up as a restaurant and Chef Oscar serves a special 8-course meal to you himself! I am working on getting another invite down there!

So that is all for now. Hasta Pronto!