Tag Archives: history

Islamic and Arabic Influences on Mazatleco Spanish

 

One of the interesting things I’ve noticed about how living here in Mazatlán has changed me over the past three years is in my vocabulary and manner of expression.

“When are you leaving on your business trip?” a friend asks me in Spanish. My “normal,” pre-Mazatlán response would have been, “I’m leaving late Sunday morning.”

After living here a few years now, however, my “normal, living-in-Mazatlán” response tends to be either: “Primero Diós (God permitting), I’ll leave late Sunday morning;” “Si Diós quiere (God willing), I’ll leave late Sunday morning;” or “Dios mediante, I’ll leave late Sunday morning.”

BIG difference to me, in both my worldview (more fatalistic/less control and structure) as well as in my phrasing. I find myself talking like this in Spanish all the time now, without thinking about it, whereas I would never before have said that. It is of course because I hear the people around me talking like that every day.

And I don’t just talk like this in Spanish; I find myself saying things like this more and more often in English as well. I’ve had some interesting feedback when saying things like this in English, especially when talking to Europeans. “What does God have to do with it?” or “Religion sure has taken on a major role in your life, Dianne.” A response in which I sense a bit of distrust, dislike or caution. This response, like any behavior, reflects a worldview, one in which it is not the custom to refer to God in this way, one in which spiritual beliefs are private matters, and in which recently there has been significant backlash to immigration and Islamization. In our local context, such phrasing doesn’t necessarily seem particularly religious; it’s just how many people speak.

To avoid such misinterpretation, I sometimes find myself avoiding references to God, which at this point requires purposeful choice. Alternatively I say something like, “The plan is to leave late Saturday morning,” or “My plane reservation is for a late Saturday morning departure.” Both of these phrasings feel much more cumbersome to me, they are not natural, yet they feel better than the “old” phrasing: “I’ll leave late Saturday morning.” That’s hard for me to say now. It feels too arrogant, too mechanistic. Things happen; things change. “The plan is to leave…” feels more truthful. More respectful. Less arrogant.

Most Mexicans will say that this sort of fatalistic or God-fearing phrasing originates in Catholicism. I am confident that Catholicism is part of the reason, and a devout belief surely encourages such thinking and expression. But the people who use such expressions are not limited to Catholics, nor church-goers. I’ve been to many Catholic countries where I don’t hear people referencing fate and God with every other sentence. Honestly, I believe this sort of phrasing in Mexican Spanish originated or was at least an influence of the Moors in Spain. They brought Islam and Arabic phrases to Spain (inshallah in Arabic, which became ojala in Spanish), and this mentality and phrasing have survived, thrived, and are alive and in frequent use in modern day on the west coast of Mexico. Such an outlook may resonate with indigenous Mexican beliefs and worldviews as well; of that I am unsure.

Another frequent local expression is the response to “How are you?” In high school Spanish classes I learned that the correct response is, “Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? More often than not, people here will respond with, “Gracias a Diós, aquí ando” (Thanks to God, here I am); “Sigo de pie” (I am still alive); or “Echándole ganas” (I’m doing my best/giving it my all). These expressions, in my feeling for and understanding of them, infer a gratitude for life, a desire to express joy and gratitude and not to complain despite the huge economic hardships people have experienced in recent years. These are also expressions I find myself saying all the time, and ones I sense also originate from Islamic beliefs. It is amazing to me how what happened centuries ago on another continent affects so strongly how we express ourselves today. Or, you may say, it’s all Catholicism. 🙂

 

Types of Kisses

 

In Callejón del Beso in Guanajuato there were quite a few young men who for tips would recite the legend of the star-crossed lovers (rich girl lives in house on left with balcony, poor miner rents a room in the house with the other balcony…). The legend seemed usually to end with, “There are many types of kisses in the world. Are you familiar with all of them? Would you like to hear what some of them are?” The first time I heard this, the types of kisses were recited by a 20-something guy. But this kid, he was just soooo cute talking about kisses he so obviously knew nothing about. I just had to videotape him.
Some of the types of kisses
Shark: eat the little fishes
Microwave: in five seconds you’re hot
Popsicle: suck until you get to the stick
Altar boy: until you ring the bell
Tamal: with everything and meat inside
Safe: two to the right and two to the left
Psychiatrist: with any crazy person

 

Los 2 Tesoros de Mazatlán/Pirate Treasures of Mazatlán

 

Greg has collected a lot of vintage photos, postcards, pamphlets and magazines of our adopted home. Today our friend Jorge happened to see one of the postcards, an aerial shot of El Centro when Playa Sur was still all beach, before land was reclaimed from the sea and houses built, and before Isla de Chivos was chopped off and its rock used to build the sea wall (is that what it’s called?) to protect the ship channel.

Well, he got to telling stories about his youth, which are always fun. About how Mazatlán used to be, when the area along the malecón in which we live was nothing but open space. He told a couple of stories that I had never heard before. Many of you may be familiar with them, so perhaps you can point me to a source to learn more?

The first was about the old cinema/theater downtown, where Parisina now stands. Evidently that building was roofless for years, abandoned and downtrodden. When they decided to rebuild it, to raise the building that is now the fabric store, the backhoe workers found buried treasure! According to Jorge, there was a huge pirate’s chest full of coins and jewelry. The workers started fighting amongst each other for the spoils, the police were called, the treasure chest and its bounty confiscated, apparently never to be seen again.

Which led him to a second story, about when they built the sea wall or entry to the shipping channel/port where the cruise ships now come in (or don’t, as the case may be). They evidently chopped off Isla de Chivos in two places, on the ocean side and on the inland side, to have rock to use for the sea wall. Jorge told us that the bulldozer was found still running, key in the ignition, with a few antique coins scattered around. Legend or story has it that the bulldozer driver found buried pirate treasure, and learning from the bad fortune of the Parisina workers, grabbed it and took off with it, never to be seen again.

Jorge tells us that there is still supposedly buried pirate treasure on the lighthouse rock, a story we have heard before. He also told us about the tunnels connecting so many of the houses and buildings downtown, including the cathedral. We know about those, and have seen a few. Cueva del Diablo, a tourist attraction along the malecón, supposedly went under the ocean and connected up with those tunnels. When several people went in and never came out, Jorge says the tunnel there was closed up.

Finally, Jorge told us about a now-deceased treasure hunter and historian, a man who hunted for pirate treasure and was a well-known historian here in town. He owned a business and had an antique chest on display that he’d found. He can’t remember the man’s name. Can you? Maybe that man wrote a book or some essays? Sure would be interesting reading!