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On December 2, 2017, I went with my mom to Q'ero, a Peruvian restaurant located in Encinitas, California. Both my mom and I have never tried authentic Peruvian cuisines before, so we were excited to try something new.  Below are pictures the empanada that I tried, the restaurant itself, as well as a mural in the back alley behind the restaurant that I felt captured the artistic culture of the Mexican celebration, Dia de los Muertos.

The restaurant is located on the Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas, California. What I learned was that the word "Q'ero" represented a community said to be the guardians of ancient knowledge, which inspired the different foods that restaurant made. According to their website, the intimate feel of the restaurant resembles what one would experience while walking the streets of Cusco, Peru. Being there in a way made me feel that way with Spanish music playing in the background and traditional Peruvian tablecloths set on each table.

They had a variety of different dishes that were authentic to Peruvian culture. However, I wanted to try something simple and ordered an empanada. The empanada that I chose was the "Saltena de Carne" which was handmade and filled with ground beef sautéed with a selection of spices. The empanada was served with a side of onions and tomatoes and their house-made "aderezo" which was their dressing made from Aji Colorado peppers. I personally have never even eaten an empanada before and was eager to try them. I loved them and wished I ordered more. I thoroughly enjoyed trying a restaurant of a different culture that I've never been to prior to this activity. I am excited to go out and try other Hispanic foods in the future.

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On December 4th 2017, I decided to go watch the Disney/Pixar movie "Coco" for my second cultural activity. I went to the Regal Cinemas in Carlsbad, California by myself and enjoyed every minute of it. This animated film told a story about a boy who struggled with balancing his strict family traditions and his passion for music. Due to a rough history of his family's past involving music, he felt that he was not able to pursue what he truly wants to do in life. The movie encompassed many important customs and traditions Mexican culture has surrounding one of the biggest celebrations known as Dia de los Muertos.

Every year, Mexican culture celebrates a holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This is a celebration of both prayer and remembrance of family members who have died. Families have a section in their homes where they set an altar, which they term "ofrendas", that is decorated with past family members' photographs, candles, and different foods and items that they loved to have when they were living. In the movie, they placed each family member in a timeline setting to represent the different relations towards one another. At the top of the pyramid was their great grandmother and her children from generation to generation. The foods and items are placed on the ofrendas to their passed loved ones as a way of remembrance and offerings for their spirits to take back with them to the world of the dead. The movie stressed that the only way past loved ones are able to cross over to the living world to be with their families are through the practice of the ofrendas. The Day of the Dead is one of the most important holidays celebrated in the Mexican culture because it represents the strong ties each family holds to one another.  If the living family members do not practice the traditional celebrations of Dia de los Muertos, the spirits of past generations in the family are forgotten and vanish forever.  I thought it was very interesting how the movie put that concept together.

The movie also brought in a multitude of Hispanic cultural aspects. The vivid colors and traditional Mexican music helped tie in the overall take home message from the film. This message emphasized how traditions in Mexican culture are what keeps families strong even after you pass away. It was interesting to see how dedicated the family members in the film were portrayed in keeping these rituals alive through different generations. However, even though there were conflicts with the main character in wanting to change that and start his own traditions, the love that all members of the family had, both living and dead, helped them accept and support any choice he had. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and learned a lot about Mexican culture and their customs surrounding the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.