Things You Need to Know About Mexican Culture

When we think of Mexico, we think of colorful festivals, wide smiles, and hearty food.

The Mexico that we know of today takes influence from the Aztec and Mayan civilizations, as well as European colonization. Their history and culture is the sort you read from a fantasy novel.

What more if you get to witness it in real life?

There’s no denying that Mexico is currently one of the hottest tourist destinations here in the world. With secret island hideaways, the Caribbean coastline, as well as its burgeoning food scene, travel enthusiasts are bound to find themselves falling in love with the country.

There are many hidden gems in Mexico that most people have yet to unearth. To help you figure out what’s currently “In” in Mexico right now, we’re going to tell you all about the current Mexican way of life.

Familiarizing Yourself with Mexican Gastronomy

What better way to start than with the basics, right?

A common misconception about Mexico is that their staple food consists of Nachos, Fajitas, and Burritos. This is true at some point, but that’s not even scratching the surface.

That kind of thinking most likely stems from an American fast-food chain that claims to serve “Authentic Mexican food”, which is only a commercialized version of actual Mexican food. Even tacos are supposed to use soft corn tortillas instead of hard shells!

If you want a genuine taste of what Mexican cuisine is like, the best way to start is with their most patriotic dish — Chiles En Nogada.

Do yourself a favor and try out these dishes:

• Tacos al pastor — as the name suggests, it’s a taco that is served with spit-grilled meat and a chopped pineapple
• Tlayuda — Mexican style pizza. It has a crispy tortilla base topped with beans, cheese, mole or any meat of choice.
• Tortas ahogadas — a bread roll filled with meat or prawns, topped with a spicy tomato sauce
• Birria de Chivo — goat stew with roasted peppers
• Chilaquiles — fried corn tortillas mixed with spicy sauces, can also come with cream and cheese.
• Cochinita Pibil — roasted pork marinated with ground achiote seeds and orange juice
• Chile relleno — cheese-filled roasted chilies battered with egg
• Pozole — a spicy broth with pork or chicken topped with cacahuazintle corn

There are dishes that have stuck through the ages and have been long acknowledged by the people as a national treasure.

Every region in Mexico has its own style and specialty dishes wildly different from one to the next. But if there’s anything they have in common, it’s that they would put chili and lime on everything.

From dishes to fruits to drinks, the sky’s the limit for Mexicans when it comes to adding these two condiments.

Understanding the Mexican Slang

Mexican Spanish is well-known throughout the Spanish-speaking world for its colorful slang.

Direct English translations won’t help you much when you’re in Mexico. Their fondness over colloquial terms has carried over from generation to generation, so there are a few terms that they use that you might not be familiar with unless you’re a local.

If you don’t want to sound like a Mexican Shakespeare at a party, then here are a few words that can help you get started:

• Güey — used to call a close friend. It’s like saying “bro” or “man”
• Chido — “cool” or “awesome”
• ¿Qué onda? — the Mexican way of saying “what’s up”
• Qué Padre! — much like saying “that’s great or “wonderful”, though it does literally mean father
• Un choro — a word used to describe an excuse that sounds like a made-up story
• ¡Órale! — an expression of amazement, much like “wow”, but Mexicans often used this for anything so this doesn’t really have an absolute definition
• ¡Oye! — use to call someone’s attention, use the same way as “hey”
• Pachanga — this is what you call a small gathering of friends
• Pedo — this would literally translate to “fart”, but it means drunk in local terms
• Chafa — used to describe something ordinary or boring
• Neta — this word expresses wonder and curiosity, much like “really?”
• No manches — used to express disbelief and wonder. It’s like saying “get out of here” or “no way”.
• Crudo — this literally means “raw” in Spanish, but this can also mean hangover in local terms.
• Lana, feria, varo — Mexican terms for money
• ¡A huevo! — an ecstatic way of saying “yeah”, huevo in English means egg
• ¡Aguas! — though this literally means water, it’s a word of warning that means “watch out”

As you might have noticed, a few of these words are quite crude and far off from their English equivalent. The more you familiarize yourself with their slang, the better you’ll be able at establishing a close bond with the locals.

Celebrating the Mexican Way

Mexico is a country with a rich cultural past and present — and a full calendar of annual events and festivals to match! When they celebrate, they celebrate like there is no tomorrow.

Hay más tiempo que vida

In English, that means there is more time than life. This is a saying that most Mexicans go by as strongly believe that life should be lived to its fullest.

To start off learning how to celebrate the Mexican way, here are some tips you might find useful.

1. Birthdays

The unique thing about Mexican birthday greetings is that they actually don’t sing “Happy Birthday”. Instead, they sing Las Mañanitas.

It has become a tradition that a loved one will have mariachi come to the celebrant’s home and sing this song on their birthday. At the end of the song, Mexicans would dump the face of the celebrant in the cake.

Quite a culture shock, ain’t it? Well, this usually happens to kids and teens.

Unless it’s a Quinceañera (a coming-of-age celebration for when a Mexicana turns 15 years old), then this rule is an exception.

2. Festivals

Cinco de Mayo, contrary to popular assumption, is not a very significant holiday in Mexico. Only the state of Puebla celebrates it.

But there is one festival that all Mexicans observe.

The Day of the Dead, or Dia De Los Muertos, is a two-day holiday that is widely celebrated by the entire nation on the first days of November. According to Mexican belief, this is the time of the year when the spirits of their dearly departed visit them.

They construct altars for the departed and make ofrendas or offerings as a sign of remembrance.

This might seem like a glum holiday at first, but it is actually a joyous occasion.

On this day of the dead, they celebrate a well-lived life. They engage in festivities and revelry and remember the good times they shared with their late loved ones.