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BarkellWH -> RE: Paco de Lucia has passed away (Feb. 27 2014 3:55:18)
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quote:
Playa del Carmen is a smaller, more authentically Mexican town on the coast a little to the south of the concrete internationalism of Cancun.
Actually, Playa del Carmen is neither more nor less "authentically Mexican" than Cancun. Cancun has a larger share of the resort crowd, but Playa del Carmen has plenty of gringos prowling its restaurants such as "Senor Frogs" and other night spots catering to the foreign tourist enjoying the "Riviera Maya," of which Playa del Carmen is a part. Just the Chamber of Commerce term "Riviera Maya" says something about how "authentic" it is.
the idea of being "authentically Mexican" reminds me of my mother, who spent the first sixteen years of her life in Mexico before moving to the United States with my grandmother. My mother thought that everything in Mexico that had changed since she had lived there was less than "authentic." I tried to convince her that Mexicans, no less than other people, were not preserved in amber. They moved on with the times. Cancun, for example, is just as "authentic" a Mexican destination for the international tourist crowd as a poor, dusty, village in central Mexico loaded with pregnant women and lame dogs is an "authentic" poor, dusty Mexican village loaded with pregnant women and lame dogs. Both are "authentic" aspects of the overall culture of Mexico today.
In any case, it is Paco de Lucia upon whom we are focused, and it is his passing that is mourned by all who care about vituoso flamenco guitar and Paco's mastery of it.
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