ABSTRACT
A particular Mexican custom that is subtly and profoundly entrenched in human interrelationships, keeps friendships alive and vital, and provides sustenance for emotional needs, is the abrazo, the "embrace," a warm hug between men and women, men and other men, women and women, and adults and adolescents. The abrazo is only one of many formalities found in Mexican culture, where everyday courtesies abound. In Mexican interrelationships there can never be one thing without its complement. As complementarities, all aspects of the Mexican mind and manners are in a liquid embrace as they flow along with the changing currents of culture. The Mexican people are not exclusively either cold or warm, caring or uncaring, tolerant or demanding. Mexicans love diminutives, going back to the pre-Hispanic fascination with statuettes and other minuscule items that abound among the artifacts found at archeological sites. North Americans might tend to view Mexicans disposition for diminutizing things in a negative light.
