Birmingham High School - Piper Yearbook (Birmingham, MI)

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to field-glasses or an eight-cylinder car. One of the most peculiar sights we came upon was the outside barber. He would stroll along the street carrying his equipment, chair and all, until he met a customer and then set up shop wherever he might be. ' In appearance the native Indian is a very picturesque figure.He often wears two large sombreros, the best one on top. The Indian is never seen without his sombrero, and yet we saw no bald Indiansg this would explode the theory that hat wearing diminishes the hair. He wears a white, pink, or blue shirt and white py- jama trousers often rolled up to the knees. On his feet he wears Uguarachesn, a type of sandal. Many thousands of old automobile tires are imported from the United States each.year to use as soles for these Wguarachesn. The Indian woman always wears her hair down, either in long black braids or loose around her shoulders. Her skirt is ankle-length, full and gored, and her collarless blouse is tucked into her skirtg she wears a bright-colored sash,earrings, and a shawl- like scarf called a Ureboson in which there is tucked away the inevitable baby. f0ne wonders how the poor little thing breathes7.Besides the baby she is usually toting a heavy bundle. Many of the table manners are quite different from ours. The men sit at the they finish eating before the women sit down. Dinner at about nine o'clock and usually consists of from course is an egg dish very tastily a separate course. Hard rolls are table and are served firstg is served in the evening eight to ten courses. One brown 'frijoles fbeans lform butter. The meats are generally tough, but chicken is good and fresh tropical fruits like the banana, mango,and pineapple are cooked, and rich served but seldom quite common. The very deliciousThe coffee is abominableg it has been roasted until burnt and is served with hot milk. Then there are the typical Mexican dishes like the tortillas, the national dish of Mexico.They are made from a paste of corn meal and lime water and rolled very thin like a pancake.At first they taste as flat as they look,but one learns to like them. They are served with avocado paste. Another popular dish is the enchillade, a tortilla rolled around meat and sauce. The tomale is made of meat surrounded with cornmeal and slipped into a cornhusk. It is as famous in Mexico as the 'hot dogn is in the United.States. We are inclined to form our impressions of the Mexican from the railroad laborers in this country or the bandits pictured in the movies, and we think of them as a greasy,undesirable lot. when one has had the opportunity to live among them,one changes that first impression and concludes that his brother across the border has some very admirable qualities. Even the poorest has a quiet dignity that is most admirable. One of the outstanding characteristics is their extreme courtesy. There is always a greeting on meeting anyone, stranger or friend, on the road. When a guest enters a home the mistress always informs him, nEs su Casan, which means, nThis is your homeN.If in the course of his visit the guest should admire anything which he saw in the house, the hostess will present him with the object of his admiration and will not permit him to refuse it. On a street car or bus, a man always rises to give his seat to a womang it makes no difference whether the woman is a smart looking Spaniard or a poorly dressed peasant. It is small wonder that this country with its charming people and fascinat- ing scenery captivates everyone who has visited its shores.It is a country which once seen one hopes some day to visit again. March is a changeable old woman who can't decide whether to scold you for your muddy feet or to soothe your cares with gentle, spring-like breezes. 8

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l 'sn i9oc:o be mobo f A Little of Everything D Muriel Sturt: It is always the unusual that attracts one's interest. And there is much about Mexico that is unusualg the c1imate,the scenery,the people,their customs-d in fact, so much that it seems completely'!oreignN. Our first sight of Mexico City was from the window of the train, and I felt as if I were seeing it from an airplane. The city rests in the bottom of what looks like a huge volcanic crater.The valley is over 7,500 feet above sea level, an altitude to which it is difficult to are two snow-capped volcanoes. nPopon great land mark of the Valley of Mexico. It rises to a height of 17,888 feet and ed deposits of sulphur are stored in its great crater. Cortez let a man down into the crater The other snow-clad mountain,Ixtaccihuatl, usually known because of its odd configuration, is linked to Popo by which Cortez led his little band to attack the Valley of When they heard of our plans to spend the summer in accustom oneself. Overlooking the valley as the Mexicans call Popocatepetl is the In Aztec the name meansnSmoky Mountainn. has suffered several eruptions.Unfathom- A story is told of how sulphur for gunpowder. as the nSleeping Wbmann a curving Nsaddlen over Mexico. on a rope to get Mexico,friends exclaim- ed, Nwhat makes you choose such a hot place? Isn't it hot enough for you here?N Even after we returned from Mexico, it was difficult to convince them that the linen suits and the other summer clothes which we had taken with us had hung in the closet all summer and that we had suffered from the cold almost every day. The cool climate is due to the high altitude. The daily rains help to cool off the air, too. Without fail the rain descends in torrents each afternoon. Until a few years ago the rain came with such regularity at four o'clock that the na- tives were in the habit of setting their watches by it. The strange thing about the rains in Mexico is that one learns not to mind them in the leastg they are accepted as just part of the daily schedule. There is the assurance that the sun will be shining brightly the next morning, and there is no place in the world where mornings are brighter or more beautiful than in Mexico. we spent most of the first days we were in the city wandering about the streets. we tried to avoid Madero Street, Mexico's Fifth Avenue, because of the many Americans. American tourists are obnoxiousg they talk in loud voices and ask senseless questions. So we wandered onto the out-of-the-way streets, and it was there we happened onto many strange sights. we saw the public-letter writers plying their pens, helping many love-sick Indians to Wwoo by mailn. bk visited many beautiful flower markets where a gardenia could be bought for a cent and a half. There is the Thieves' Market. Whenever anything is stolen from you in Mex- ico City,they say, nYou go to the Thieves' Market and look for ltn. We heard of one man who bought back his own fountain pen and umbrella there. IEven more strange than the Thieves' Market is the Monte de Piedad,a most unusual pawnshop. This busy establishment was founded as a form of public charity by a Mexican muleteer who grew rich from a silver mine. On pledged articles it will lend any amount from a few cents to several thousand dollars. It works like a bank, ex- cept that collateral on loans may be anything from a blanket or sewing machine ' 7

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'isa Anabel Dahlquist '35 A faint, blue stem of incense arose from the carved jade burner on the little lacquered table at my right. It was fragrant sandalwood, butuit annoyed me, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat on the floor. was I to sit here all day gazing at old Loo Chung? I knew not why he had called me hereg I suspected it was because he wished to give me counsel. Though I had lived in China for two years in my capacity of foreign correspondent for the New York Gazette, he still took a particular delight in summoning me into his presence at regular intervals for this purpose. Old Loo Chung prided himself that I usually took his advice, too. As a matter of fact, he was a wise old fellow, and he served excellent tea of a particularly rare brand. The old Chinese was a stickler for custom, how- ever. He must always sip his tea first, remarking at length on the relative mer- its and virtues of Chinese tea above that of all other countriesgand then I must taste mine and also deliver a discourse on its rare excellency. But today,after his customary connoisseur's sip, his eyes still stared past me, perhaps at the silken curtained window behind me which overlooked one of the numerous courtyards of the house of Loo. I wished fervently that he would speak soon, but I knew that he sometimes sat thus in silence for minutes at a time. I was more uncomfortable today than usual,and I am afraid my impatience was rather obvious. I had a very special date for dinner and the fights at five with the niece of the American consul, and I was eager to be off. I wanted to speak, but to thus disturb his silence would be unpardonable. I really valued his friendship, and I knew beneath that veneer of unbending formality he cherished no small amount of affection for me. Old Loo Chung had never had a song but only a beautiful young girl of twenty whom he loved above all else in this world. I never saw her much, and I knew little about her except that sne had been well-educated in American schools. Her name was Loc Yin. I thought briefly how queer it must be for a young girl to live with a stiff old gentleman like Loo Chung. He insisted on scrupulous observance of the customs of his ancestorsg a rather formal, dull existence for her. Perhaps that was why she appeared to me to be tragic and pre-occupied. My gaze wandered about the room, again taking in the familiar objects. They had always held a strange fascination for me.Somehow I felt out of place in this room. There were small relics of ancient workmanshipg floor coverings of hand- some, hand-woven carpets worth a fortuneg on the table near me a handful of old Chinese piasters, black with age: Most of it appeared never to have been touch- ed. I recovered from my reflections because of that irritating smell again, and I turned my eyes to Loo Chung. His face,the color of parchment, on which a thou- sand wrinkles had been etched in perfect symmetry,was as calm as ever and in ex- actly the same position. The robe of fuchsia damask with embroidery of gold dra- gons which hung in rich folds about his thin form and the little black cap which concealed only the top of his head made him resemble a statue of Buddha.There 9