Preparing for Cinco de Mayo
Congratulations on enduring the last week of classes, Trojans. I can honestly say that this semester has been one for the books, but it is not over yet because we have two weeks of finals and then comes summer vacation. Since this is my last column of the semester, I want to leave you with three words: Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo to college students typically equals Cinco de Drinko, but I would like to caution you to think otherwise this year and make this year Cinco de Eat-o — just eat every bit of Mexican food in sight — because we are so close to the end, but we do not want to end things early for ourselves, am I right?
There are quite a few fun things happening in Los Angeles this weekend — not to mention, the weather forecast for Los Angeles is super sunny — so I would head to the beach for some beach fun. Honestly, nothing sounds better than some iced tea while laying out on the beach.
My number one place to go to for Cinco de Mayo is Olvera Street. If you’re not an L.A. native, then I recommend that you go at least once while you are a student at USC. Olvera Street is a historical strip of Los Angeles full of street vendors and restaurants. If you know anything about Los Angeles or Mexican-American history, you will know that this is more of a fun tourist attraction, but it is an entertaining place to visit for people of all ages. Olvera Street is known for its Mexican street performers and fun little night life, and on Cinco de Mayo, it’s jam packed with people, so get there early for some fun festivities and possibly free drinks and food.
According to CBS Los Angeles, there has been a series of Cinco de Mayo events that have been happening all week, starting this past weekend with cultural parades in Downtown Los Angeles and across the East Los Angeles region.
I highly recommend getting cultured this weekend. After all, though we might live in a heavily diverse and Latino area, why not celebrate a fun holiday with the best of them?
If you’re planning on staying in for this holiday, I would recommend finding some fun and easy recipes to make to celebrate. Homemade paletas, or popsicles, are a great way to cool off and making some easy and fresh horchata is always the way to go. In the food department, ceviche is always a good call, but cooling off the afternoon with a Dos Equis is even better.
Cheers and keep fighting on, Trojans. The end is closer than it seems and summer tastes so sweet once you know that you do not have any papers or projects to turn in. For all of my seniors out there, I bid thee farewell and I know that you will represent our wonderful university proudly in that big, bad adult world that many of us have yet to face.
Alegra Hueso is a sophomore majoring in creative writing. Her column, “In Love With the Edible,” ran on Wednesdays.