The Journey to Guelaguetza in Los Angeles

No Mexican has ever been the same after the Mexican peso crisis of 1993. That was the year that the Mexican government cut three zeros from the value of the Mexican peso in an attempt to build it back up after years of hyperinflation: one thousand pesos suddenly became worth only one peso. This huge economic reset crippled the country’s economy. Millions of people lost their homes, jobs, and businesses. My father was left with almost nothing in his home country, so in order to provide for his family, he traveled north to Los Angeles on a tourist visa. He sold his black truck to pay off his debts and to buy a one-way plane ticket to LA. All he brought was a suitcase full of clothes, twenty liters of mezcal, and a hundred American dollars. He didn’t have the slightest idea what he was going to do for work, but he knew he had to figure something out. He moved into my aunt’s spare bedroom in her apartment in Culver City. It was just starting to be a hub of Oaxacalifornia culture in Los Angeles back then.