Last weekend I was able to go to my home town Ojinaga Chihuahua to write about an event called "El Reencuetro" which I was super excited about since I had heard my aunts talk about how beautiful and how much fun it is. "El Reencuentro" started last year in 2013, although it has not been long since it started, it is now one of the most waited festivities in Ojinaga Chihuhua. This event goes on for two days, usually a Friday and a Saturday from around six P.M. to whatever time every one decides to go home. It is located in what used to be Ojinaga's main street in the 1950's "Calle Allenda" during "El Reencuentro" many, if not all of Ojinagas citizens take a walk at calle Allenda, to revisit old buildings, where many of their favorite places used to be for example, tortillerias, fruterias, restaurantes, paleterias, cantinas, bancos, cines, and many other fun places. Anything you could ever need on a day to day basis could have been found in calle Allenda. You can say that calle Allenda was pretty much the life of the town! It is where everyone went wether it was to have a good time or just to catch up with what was going on back in the 50's.Calle Allenda was, you could say the life of Ojinaga back in the good old days as many recall.
Ever seen a movie where some one walks in to an old town and you notice how well they know each other? how they call everyone by their first or last name, send each other family greetings, and are extremely friendly towards one another? well if you were ever to visit Ojinaga in the 1950's and were to end up in the tortilleria from calle Allenda that is exactly how you would have been treated, exactly like family.
So that is how "El Reencuentro" came to be. The people there wanted to celebrate their town, their community, but most importantly their own, the ones that made them feel like family every time they walked in to get buy some fruit, or a ticket for the new Cantinflas movie. They wanted to celebrate the life of Ojinaga and its people, they wanted a place where everyone could come together and dance, walk, eat, sing, and hear others sing. Where new friendships would be made and old ones would be remembered. So they did exactly that. A group of people gathered pictures of what calle Allenda looked like back then, and started to repaint each building as identical as they could to how it was in the 1950's not only that, but they were also able to paint pictures of the owners outside almost every little building, and according to my mom, and grandma they look exactly the same.
"El Reencuentro" is not like every other holiday and of course it is not celebrated in every city in Mexico, but to most Ojinaguenses it is one of the most meaningful festivities in the town , and to me one of the most beautiful ones. Hope you have enjoyed reading about this little event that goes on two days out of the year in Ojinaga Chihuhua just as much as enjoyed writing a little bit about about it. Now the fun part, here are a couple of pictures for you guys, enjoy!
