Our Multicultural Southwest

On reading the title of this blog post, you may think I am going to talk about Hispanic culture in the Southwest.  And you are partially right.  

When my husband Wayne and I went out for breakfast earlier this week, we had an array of Mexican food restaurants to choose from in El Paso, Texas, my home town. Would it be the luscious red sauce on the huevos rancheros  at the L & J Restaurant, the homemade tortillas at Carnitas Querétaro, or the cinnamon coffee at Tacos Chinampa?  All of these favorite haunts offer a lively atmosphere, pleasant background music in Spanish, and attentive waiters.  But we chose a restaurant that we hadn't been to recently - Ándale Restaurant.  And it had it all.

The colorful dining area was decorated with piñatas.

There were lots of tiles and lots of colors on the walls.

 And a touch of whimsy made me smile.

But later on this week, we are going to experience another culture that you may not immediately associate with the Southwest - the Scottish culture.  We are driving five hours to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend a Robert Burns' Celebration sponsored by the St. Andrew's Society of that state. St. Andrews Scottish Society of New Mexico

Robert Burns, the celebrated Scots poet, is remembered every year on his birthday, January 25, by Scots and Scots descendants around the world. 

Robert Burns

In the United States alone, 2009 census gives the number of Scottish or "Scotch-Irish" descendants as nine million.  Wayne will be particularly pleased to learn that one of his heroes from the Western movie screen has "Scotch-Irish" ancestors.

John Wayne

Wayne and I may not be bona fide Scots descendants, but our hearts have been in Scotland since we started visiting that country several years ago.  This celebration will be our first formal experience of a Burns' night.  

Wayne is getting his kilt ready (Yes, he bought a kilt in Scotland).  I'm looking forward to the entertainment, which I hope includes bagpipes (Yes, I am a fan of bagpipe music). I'm hoping that someone will be speaking English with that beautiful Scots lilt. And we are wondering how the traditional dishes of Scotland, salmon, haggis, neeps, tatties, and clapshot will be interpreted by the Sheraton Hotel!

I'll be taking lots of notes and pictures of Burns'  night for next week's blog. 

Until then,  Haste Ye Back (Farewell).