afs cactus vol. 2 no. 3 dec. 15, 1921

7/27/2019 AFS Cactus Vol. 2 No. 3 Dec. 15, 1921

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A.HS. ~ ~ ~ - - - - I - I . __N__._s_.________ ~ - - - - A - - ~ - - e - r - i c _ a ~ n - - S - c ~ h - o __J,__o_e_c_e_nn__e_r__5--,_1_9_2_1____ ~ - - ~ P - r _ i _ c _ e _ l _ O __e_n_t_s_.__ . ~

:rhe American high' School.. \On e difference between t h i ~ highschool and most others is that it is in .ternational in it s scope. I t is locatedin th e City of Mexico. An d yet, notwithstanding its location, it claimsto be, and it is, an American highSchool. -

I t is maintained in th e first placefor the chiidren whose parents aremembers of th e American Colony inth e City of Mexico. And yet it is no texclusively for these. I t is attendedby children of British parentage, bythose of Mexican birth, and by children of still other races. I t is international in it s scope.

I t is therefore greatly to be desiredthat ou r high school should offer th every best that America has to giveth e wa y of high school training.

An American high school is oneE'!IWIM;',,,,.,.,. is taught by , American teach-

~ s according to American methodsa"itd which stands for those thingswhich are best in American ideals andhistory atid literature.rfasa a Ia Pag. 4

COMPOS.ITION CONTESTwon byFoutrh Grade Pupil

Prize winning composition written by Jack Rickards Honorable mention to Rosa M. WoodhouseEighth Grad0, and Binks Kuhn. 'Seventh Grade .

THE J PRIZE WINNING COMPOSITIONDecember l!"'eal'ts

inMexico

hy Jacli Rickardsl" It s December neW. There i_s a le tof fun in this month- There are th e"Posadas" which bekin on th e sixteenth of December and last tmtil th etwenty feurth. 'I 'here is alse th e "Navidad." which means Christmas.These are some of th e nicest feasts ofth e year. They dance, and mothersan d fathers play with children an dgive little teys in th e Posadas. SantaClaus, whem they call ' 'San Nicohis," also bring1 toys to the children.

There are curious customs in Mexi- .co where we live. They don't say that

The Patio of the School

'. Santa Claus comes down the chimney,no r that he comes in a sleigh on th esnow, for you know there . is no n o where. I should like to tell yon all thatI know about th e Cristmas feasts mMexico.

Par t 1-The Posadas.1'he Posadas is a ~ f e a s t which all

Mexicans celebrate and they like it .The first P o s ~ d a is celebrated on . th esixteenth of December an d .they endon th e twenty-fourth. On the fifteenth. the families decora-te their


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CACTUSEstabl ished 1921 .Formerly PEP"

Issued once a inonththrou,ghout the school year.STAFF:

Editor in ChiefMARY SOBRAL.News EditorDOROTHY BUTLIN .:Art EditorMARY PHILLIPS .

Managing EditorROLAND AGUILAR.ALAN DUNNING, Assistant.Business ManagerRoBERT BRADBURY.

Distribution 'ManagerMARK B. KATZE, Jr.NoRMAN HuNTER, Assistant.HoRACE WHITTLESEY, Assistant.

Faculty Advisor'DoROTHY DENNISON,

houses with flags and chains of paper.Some days before, they go to th e"Puestos" where they buy ''Peregrinos'" (Pilgrims) and ' 'velitas," whichmeans little candies. Mt:;xt they bu y"colaci6n'' (candies) which they giveto the boys and girls who are invited,

On th e day before they invite te nor fifteen ' boys an d girls,. who are veryhappy to come. They all bring bighandkerchiefs and come dressed inold clothes. First. at eight or halfpost eight, they dance in the parlorand drink the "copitas. '' The ladiesand th e old me n an d women act as ifthey were children. After dancing forone or half an hour, when all th e oneswh o were invited have come, theyname two chitdren to carry th e ' 'Peregrinos" an d give a "velita' ' to eachon e and tell them to sing .. The ladies-have a little book from which theysing an d the children follow them.Then they go to the garden and walkin all the paths they find. m of theverses they sing beg iil with "Ora Pr oNobis," which all th e children k nowcomes first . So me of th e back children, _i nstead of sing ing , come play ingwitb the candies and laughing. Theyare anxious for th e pifiata.

Next they go into the house an d gointo all th e rooms .' After walking along time, until the "velitas' ' are

CACTUS

nearly finished, they go to th e diningroom and put out th 'e dandles; theladies &nd children r,it on th e flooruntil the Pinata is ready. They areall talking together. saying to eache'ther that they will get the mof>t frnitand candy.

The '.'Pinata" is something like apo t where th e beans and soup aremade an d which they call an'olla; itis of clay an d is very hard to break.This olla is decorated so well that youcould not know JNhat it was. It hasth e form of an animal or of a ball withpaste-board peaks and some paperribbons banging from it . After lookingat it , th e smallest of all the childrenis blind-folded with a handkerchiefand they give him a strong stick; theymake him go round and round andtake him a little way off. He ha s togostraight and hit the pinata on the cen-ter. All th e boys are ready with handkerchiefs to take all that is coming outfrom the'olla! The boy who was leftalone with th e stick an d shown thedirection where he was to go, wentcrooked; all the boys were screamingto him "a la derec.ha"-to the right;' ' otro paso"-another step; ' ' sfguete''-g o on , an d some other things that Ide no t remember. Now the boy isgoing to start, he raises th e stick an d"PUM", he hits the wall with all hi smight. He then goes towards the otherwall, thinking th e pifiata is there, an dwht:n he hits, he does not touch anything. "Otro nadamas' ' -onlyone more- s ay th e c h i l d r ~ n , laughing at i1i1 forhe dfd not even touch .it. Th e boyraises his arm, when someone, takinghim by th e hand, says, "No, no, lepegas a este nifio," for he was goingto hi t a little boy wh o di d no t pay attention. Many others tried until atlast came a very bright, happy boy.All say "ahora sf." At th e secondtime he raised his stick, he gave theol1a so strong a blow that it fell inpie,ces, and there was heard a ' PU M' ',followed_by a noise of children on thefl oor taking up the fruit and candy .Then the y all went into the house,whe re on a table , stood a lo t of littletin toys filled with candies . Each onerecei ved a toy ,there was more dancing, chocolate and bread were served,and then all went home and went tosleep, prsparing for th e other Posadas.There are nine Posadas, one afteranother.

Part 11-Christrnas Eve.On December the twenty-third, th

children go to the "puestos' ' witltheir mothers and bu y moss, little prafine animals, and a little image of Jesus and the Virgen. At home they puth e green moss and a looking glasswhich is like a lake, on a tablethey pu t the parafin ducks on the lakeThey also pu t. on th e table branchewhich they buy, and little s t e p ~paste-board houses that look like rehouses. On th e top, tlrey . ljlapu t all th e animals, trees, houses, anall, they pu t t4.e iinage of Jesus, hacovered with moss, and in a ;;table anthe Virgin and St . Joseph. This is calied th e "'Nacimiento," which represents the birth of Christ. The neXievening, th e boys and girls come i1their best clothes, washed and cleanfor there is going to be a great supperiThey are happy, but no t so happyat the Posadas. This feast easts nut'three Q'clock th e next' morning, wh:e1everyne goes home very tired .

BOOK SALE: We hear aU sorts


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THEY KNO"W"

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CACTUS

The American highShoolSigue: de Ia Pag. la.The English language is, an d should

be r given th e place of honor in thecurriculum . Other-languages, such asSpnish and French an d. Latin, aretaught in as effecti ve a way as po>;sible,bu t the emphasis is placed upon English . A school which can send ou tit s graduates capable of using the English language with clearness, precision and force, has a -right to considerthat to th at extent at lea st it is a goodschoJl. t ' . '"rhen there are' \,:er1:ain things in literature and in history which m u ~ t bestressed if a school is really an Arne. rican institution. These things arenecessary to the making of good Ame-ricans. .Still again, there ar 'e certain idealswhich a,re fundamentally Americanan d unless these ideals are emphasizedin a high schoo l , it cannot properlycall itself an American high school.On e of thes i cl.eals is respect for lawand order . An .:\.merican high schooltWHEN YOU CO{)GH

YOUR BLUEWHEN YOUR BLUE

YOUR CROSSTRY

BLUE: CROSS. COU(;H DROPS

will teach this. I t will teach that a re .presentative form of government wherein all classes -of citizens have the rightto express their sentiments and to takepart in th e government is the best formof government which the world thusfar has hnown. I t will teach its students to respect authority and toobey it , The American High School in theCity of Mexico is charged with grtatresponsibility. I t is to be a a objectlesson to Lati n-America as to what anAmerican ~ c h o o l really should be. In.proportion as i't succeeds or fails inthat proportion will th e school peopleof Mexico think well or think poorlyof American school::;.There are schools of many nationsin the City of Mexico. There are Bri.tish schools. French schools Germanshools. All of these held to shape theopinion which Mexico has of the nations of the world. Let the AmericanHigh School be so carried on that thepupils wh o attend it will receive fromit the greatest possible good, and that the name of Ameri-ca ma y be still morehighly esteemed in th e Republic ofMexico,

DR. P. w. HORN

. J:. .

H ~ H m i n n - ~ i n t n ~ r & ~ s w ~ r t n ,Laboratory Aparatus nd Rea[ents .. .

la. NUEVO 'MEXICO 18 Y 20.MEXICO, D. F.

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"CASA LOUBENS'ARCINIEGA YSOTRES.

Ave. 16 de Septiembre No. 12.American GroceriesFruits Fresh dailyBread Cookies Cakes

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afs cactus vol. 2 no. 3 dec. 15, 1921

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