I was walking along a Xalapa street the other day when I heard perfect Spanish being spoken in a wee little voice by a wee little girl walking hand in hand with her mother. I was amazed at her command of Spanish while I, on the other end of the age spectrum, struggle so hard to attain it. It’s disconcerting to know that I will probably never reach her current fluency and correctness.

Still, I enjoy learning this language—it’s one of my great pleasures here in México—and poco a poco, I find myself able to understand more and more of what I hear and read, and my spoken Spanish is definitely improving.

--
I’ve been meaning to write about an experience I had at the end of January when Luz del Carmen Rivas invited me to join her and her husband Manuel and two sons—Manuel the younger and Eduardo—at their cabin in the country outside of Xalapa on a Saturday afternoon.

Luz is the director of the Universidad Veracruzana’s five Centros de Idiomas (Language Centers) and the related Centros de Auto-Accesso (Self-Access Centers) located in five different locations around the state of Veracruz.

Cabin” is too rustic a word for the charming two-story house where Luz and her family spend their weekends. The upstairs is one large bedroom with several beds, a hammock strung up in the middle of the room, and a massage table in an alcove in one corner. The downstairs, too, consists of one large open room divided into areas for the kitchen, dining area and living room, with lots of windows all around to let in the sun.

On the front porch, a chair-hammock hangs invitingly, while the porch on one side of the cabin leads to an outdoor kitchen with a large grill. The day I was there, beans were cooking in a tall clay pot placed on the grill, and there Manuel set himself to the task of grilling chicken, beef, and sausage for the afternoon meal.

Meanwhile, Luz started making tortillas on the comal inside the house. A comal is a flat pan for cooking tortillas, and Luz’s reminded me of a large oblong pancake griddle, which was heated by two gas burners below it. Sons Manuel and Eduardo also helped prepare the meal. I stood by watching, visiting and drinking a chelada, my new favorite drink consisting of lime juice and cold beer served in a glass rimmed with lime and salt. I was impressed by how round and tasty Luz’s tortillas were—and by the fact that she makes them herself.

When everything was ready, we sat down to a meal made especially delicious by the lively conversation and laughter around the table. I was touched by the show of affection between parents and sons and their obvious pleasure in spending time together at the end of the week. Luz tells me they go to their cabin nearly every weekend to get away, relax, and be together.

Spending time with Luz and Manuel and their family gave me another clear example of how Mexicans cherish and make time for their families—and how they generously include others in their warm circle.