Rodriguez 1

Cynthia Rodriguez
Professor Spitler Lawson
Project Space Rough Draft
English 113B
March 30, 2016
Word Count:1,269
Placita Olvera
Placita Olvera is a place that is located on Olvera Street in Los Angeles. This place is very
popular and is known as the Mexican Marketplace. It acknowledges the culture of Mexican religion and
it focuses a lot on the Mexican background. Everything that goes on in this place or that is sold relates to
Mexico. There are plenty of sources that are linked to Placita Olvera and have interesting backgrounds to
it that are related to the Mexican culture. The people that are mostly seen at this place are Mexicans and
people that have Mexican background. The people that dedicate their time to this place are also Mexican
and are there to present their pride in their culture and spread it the joy in the air.
Placita Olvera was built in the 1930s. The place is surrounded by stores, stands, a church, and a
museum. These sources that surround Placita Olvera are a big impact to the market place. Visitors and
tourists visit the sources while visiting the market place itself. This place is usually surrounded by
Mexicans and Latinos. Placita Olvera is a clean and welcoming environment. That welcomes people of all
races, but the common race that is seen are Mexicans and Latinos. The stores at this place sell things such
as sombreros, the Mexican guaraches (sandals), and t-shirts that show their pride in the Mexican race. The
vibe that one feels when they visit this place is nothing but welcoming and peaceful with entertainment.
Placita Olvera dedicates a lot of their space in this place to Mexican culture. Any store and or
stand that people see is covered with something that has a Mexican background to it. There are some
stands that sell food, cooked by Mexicans. Everything there will have somebody reminisce of Mexico.

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They call this place the Mexican Marketplace because even with the taste of the tacos, burritos and
horchata will have one almost fantasice that they are visiting Mexico. Every owner that owns a stand,
store, and or restaurant in this place is also Mexican. The owners at this place have pride to have a
business at this place because of how much dedication and pride the place has to Mexican culture.
Placita Olvera is a welcoming place with security. There are securities that are seen after every
block and surround the plaza. In the center of the plaza is where the entertainment happens. The
entertainment that occurs at this place is Aztec dancing, and singing. It is not just any ordinary singing. It
is singing and dancing that relates to the Mexican Culture. The singing that happens is done by two men,
one holding a microphone singing to Antonio Aguilar and the other controlling what song comes up.
Antonio Aguilar was a big representation to Mexican Culture, and his songs that he presented spoke about
his Mexican background. The songs are also meant to remind people what the culture of Mexico was back
in his day when he sang these songs. Antonio Aguilar died in 2007 and his music still lives and is being
appreciated. The Aztec dancing is appreciated and Mexican people had made Aztec dancing a way to
preserve their culture and have made it available for anybody who is interested in exploring their cultural
history. What most people do not know is that Aztec dancing is a form of steps that is lead to goals of
praying and concentrate the meditation of the movement that signifies something that is being represented
in soul of the air. Aztec is very entertaining to see but not only that it also tells a cultural history to the
Mexican culture.
All kinds of ethnicities and nationalities are seen visiting this place. Placita Olvera has people of
all kinds of ethnicities visiting, and these visitors can easily notice if they are somebody that is an outsider
or an insider. An insider would be somebody who is comfortable with the surrounding and knows what is
going on and the culture background to it. The insiders would be Mexicans and people who dont ask
questions because they aware of their surroundings. Mexican race are spotted everywhere and know who
someone like Antonio Aguilar is because of their culture history. Outsiders such as people who dont have
Mexican backgrounds or arent aware of the Mexican culture would be considered outsiders when visiting

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this place. Outsiders would be people who question who Antonio Aguilar is because they arent aware of
the person and what types of foods are sold at this place. Also they would question what is made in the
food what it contains of; they would act like they have never seen a place like Placita Olvera before. This
place is meant to appreciate and recognize products, foods, music, antiques, and everything that is popular
in Mexico. Some things are transported from Mexico and others are made by people in the United States.
Only somebody who has visited or raised in Mexico would be able to notice the difference on whether it
is made in the U.S or not. Whether the things are made in U.S or in Mexico the owners that are selling it
know how to properly talk to people about how the products are worn or represented in the Culture.
This place presents itself with Mexicos green, white, and red flag hung on the posts and pictures
of Dia de Los Muertos, that is day of the dead in Spanish. In Mexico, Dia de Los Muertos is
celebrated and people dress up and decorate their face too look like a skeleton to represent those that are
dead. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray and remember their
friends and family members who have died, and support their spiritual journey. There are also stores
inside Placita Olvera that sells things that relate to Dia de los Muertos such as small skeleton figures,
candles of all colors and they even have altars that are presented of family members and friends who have
died of insiders that have visited the store. Some stores allow altars and others dont, but the ones that do
allow altars are the ones that are visited the most by outsiders because they are interested in reading the
stories and appreciation of those that are dead.
Placita Olvera is a place that is very well known and visited by people of all races. The museum
acknowledges the mural that is in Placita Olvera the mural was made and dedicated to David Alfaro
Siqueiros. He came to the U.S. and tried to fight for equal rights and stop racism. He was Mexican
himself and was only in Los Angeles for six months and managed to finish three murals. One of the most
popular one is presented inside the museum thats in Placita Olvera. The sources and surroundings around
Placita Olvera are very important and carry a lot of important cultural information that are involved
within the Mexican culture.

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Overall, Placita Olvera is a welcoming place that is surrounded by Mexican Culture and focuses
on the Mexican Tradition. It is surrounded by everything that will have someone think of Mexico and its
cultural history. The people that work within this place are Mexican as well. The people that work at this
place focuses on keeping everything dedicated to Mexico including the food, the clothing, the
entertainment, and the music. This place is welcoming and informative about Mexicos Culture that
people enjoy visiting it and enjoy the surroundings within it.