Feliz Año Nuevo en San Quintin

It began with the mashing of a cow’s head, and ended about 36 hours later with a feast of clams around the bonfire.

Just like at Navidad, New Year’s celebrations in Mexico resemble those in Canada. Family and friends gather. People eat and drink. At midnight, they hug and kiss. But here, I guess celebrations last a little bit longer.

On the morning of the 31st, we got to work. Olivia started prepping in the kitchen, while Trino, Karol and I headed at back to take care of the cabeza de vaca (cow’s head), a massive hunk of frozen beef that had been thawing overnight. It was supposed to be a delicacy.

We spent about an hour chopping apart the animal’s noggin to make use of every part: brains, tongue, gums, you name it. When the butchery and spicing was done, we plopped the head into a big pot to cook for about four hours.

Olivia headed to work, while Trino took Karol and I over to his brother’s house to enjoy the afternoon warm-up act. They were slow-cooking a pig while drinking wine and beer, basking in the last hours of 2013.

One of the guys had spent 12 years in Chicago, so he was excited to use his English. Trino’s older brother, a geography teacher, gave me a detailed explanation of the recent earthquake that had destroyed a stretch of important highway between Tijuana and Ensenada.

As the pig came out of the pot, family and friends appeared from just about every corner. Eventually, we grudgingly headed home for the main course.

After consuming the delicious cow’s head in taco form (tongue being my favourite), New Year’s was spent around the fire with Trino, Olivia and Karol, as well as Ruth, Erika, and Enedina (who had made the return trip from Ensenada). And, just like in Toronto, midnight was met with fireworks.

The following morning, I was surprised to when Trino popped open a Tecate: turns out celebrations continue through New Year’s Day.

By early afternoon (after midday mass), we were over at Gilberto’s house for another family gathering. With everyone aching to see the gringo perform some karaoke, I delivered a stellar rendition of “Waka Waka”.

At Trino’s mother’s house around the corner, the gathering was even bigger. As the 10th of 12 children, Trino’s extended family is massive. Two of his brothers were jamming on the guitar and accordion. I grabbed a beer and watched happily as he and his brothers stood in a circle and belted out Mexican songs into the night.

With the sun gone, the fire got started. Soon I was eating some of the tastiest clams of my life, basking in the music, and thinking that 2014 would be alright.