Going Home Plans and La China Poblana
March 26 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Today is Thursday and on Monday we will be flying home.
After a bit of research, I realized that even though the big Mexico City airport has flights to Toronto, we would have to take a 2 hour bus ride to the airport, the hours are not great for non stop flights and it is super expensive! We do not want to stop in the States either.
So, we have decided to take a short Uber ride to the Puebla airport, catch the inexpensive 8:30 a.m. Viva plane to Guadalajara (1 1/2 hour), have lunch at the airport and then catch the nonstop Flair flight to Toronto (4 1/2 hours) at 12: 30 pm. Way better flight times and the cost is a lot less. Then the Red Car shuttle home.
Now about the China Poblana …
Everywhere we have travelled to in Mexico, we have seen ladies selling dolls dressed in a traditional costume. That same costume is also worn by folkloric dancers in performances. Well, there is a story about how those costumes came to be and it all started in the 17th Century.
A young noble girl came to Acapulco, Mexico in the early seventeenth century (1620). She is believed to have been captured by South Seas pirates when she was nine. Evidence indicates that she was named Mirrha and came from India, through Spanish controlled ports in the Philippines.
Mirrha (La China Poblana), is believed to have been bought by Miguel de Sosa to be a servant in his house in Puebla. He baptized the now eleven-year-old "Chinese girl" and gave her the Christian name Catarina de San Juan. After Sosa and his wife died, Catarina married Domingo Suárez, the Chinese servant of a local priest, adding to the legend that she was Chinese. After his death, she was taken in by a convent, where it is said she began to have visions of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.
Most accounts of her life agree that she was revered by the local folks in Puebla. Following the Mexican Revolution (1910), the state sought to unify the country by promoting indigenous and local traditions. The China Poblana became a key emblem of this new national identity, often with a charro (cowboy) to represent the stereotypical Mexican couple.
She always wore her sari which evolved into the white blouse and colourful embroidered red and green skirt that is seen today. This outfit now often includes the national symbols of Mexico - an eagle clutching a snake, and a prickly pair cactus. A woman who wears the dress usually braids her hair on two sides, tied with red, white and green ribbons.
The “China Poblana look,” as it came to be called, first captured the women of Puebla (Poblana means Puebla) and then jumped 80 miles northwest to become a hit in Mexico City. From there, the look spread through the rest of the country, By the end of the 17th century it had become the traditional dress of Mexico. And it still is.
Catarina de San Juan (1609-1688) is believed buried at the Templo de la Compañia. Tours are conducted to see her tomb on Saturdays and Sundays. Puebla has a monument of her on a major street. The Museo Casa del Alfeñique exhibits China Poblana costumes and a local restaurant is named Las Chinas de Puebla. The house that she worked in is now a hotel, Hotel Boutique Casona de la China Poblana.Read more