BY MARIA GALLUCCI
The News
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Many would-be restaurant-goers in Mexico City will opt to celebrate Mother's Day at home this year, as health concerns surrounding the influenza outbreak have left some residents wary of public spaces.
Yet others will celebrate Sunday as always by dining out or gathering in a family member's home.
Verónica Martínez Vázquez said her family would normally go out to eat for the holiday, but now she is worried about restaurant sanitation.
"I have a small child, so we're just going to celebrate at home with a family dinner," she said while taking her dog for a stroll around Parque España in Colonia Condesa on Friday morning.
Martha Laura Segobiano said health anxieties would also drive several of her close friends to commemorate the holiday at home. She herself will spend Sunday as in past years, selling knickknacks at her booth in the Colonia Doctores tianguis.
"The situation now has scared a lot of us," she explained, pausing to take a breath after a brisk walk around Parque México with her young daughter.
It's not just health concerns that may keep families out of restaurants on Mother's Day - it's also confusion over government regulations regarding eating establishments.
Martínez said she thought the "five-person only" rule - meaning that only five patrons could be in a restaurant at any given time - still applied to all eateries.
Segobiano was unsure if restaurants would offer reservations equivalent to their full capacities.
Mexico's government lifted most restrictions Wednesday after forcing restaurants, bars and cafAcs to either shut down or limit the number of in-house patrons.
The Health Secretariat said Thursday that social establishments should reduce capacity by 50 percent, although some restaurants around Parque México assured they would be operating fully for Mother's Day.
CELEBRATING AT HOME
Not that everyone's plans are being foiled by worries about influenza and confusion about restaurants.
Marisa Lorenzo said she would travel this weekend to her daughter's house in Querétaro and share a family dinner with her three grandchildren.
"We never leave the house that day," she said with certainty.
"Our plans won't change at all because our festivities always take place at home."
Fernando Fonseca agreed that his family celebration would carry on despite the city's recent anti-epidemic frenzy.
While perusing the clustered stalls in the city's Mercado Medellín, Fonseca said his relatives would still travel across the city to join together for Mother's Day; his mother and around 50 aunts, uncles, cousins and grandchildren are set to gather at his house for dinner.
Isabel Cestellos Bulnes agreed that health anxieties wouldn't alter her plans at all.
Meandering through the market's row of florists, she said she would host a meal in her house and probably hire mariachis or ask a relative to play the guitar throughout the festivities, which typically run late into the night.
She said she plans to give her mother perfume, various trinkets and a brilliant bouquet of flowers.
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