Putting a serious damper on celebrations of Mexico's Dia de la Independencia. Right now, there should be outdoor dances with live music. A little later, political speeches and then fuegos artificiales (fireworks). But the only sound coming through my window other than the occasional car horn or lone firework popping is rain pouring down.
Earlier today, though, the weather was beautiful -- warm and mostly sunny. Off in the distance --40 miles away -- we could see Popo (Popocatepetl) steaming in the distance. (no biggie -- its normal for the rainy season.)
After we dropped Humberto off at work at the furniture store and admired several of Olga's paintings offered for sale there, she drove us to the traditional market. It's a long, warehouse-like structure with an uneven floor and steps here and there, that's been divided into hundreds of tiny shops, many sellng more types of fruits and vegetables than you can imagine. Today, because people were going to be cooking for the holidays, it was jammed.
We threaded our way through, buying onions, tomatoes, string cheese and a crumbly white cheese, three or four kinds of rolls and dried guajillo peppers -- deep red chiles about 7 or 8 inches long and less than half an inch thick.
We also looked at a harness for Margaret/Florida's dog and bought a few items of Dia de la Independencia decor and a couple of lotto games to aid our vocabulary. Florida also found a wallet to buy for a friend. We passed stalls with slaughtered, plucked chickens and baskets of fresh eggs. In a stall nearby, there were boxes of emptied-out eggshells that had been filled with confetti and sealed with a bright piece of tissue paper. If I remember correctly, people will gleefully smash these on friends' heads. Glad I don't have to sweep up afterward!
The market was an amazing blend of old country and new tech -- piles of produce in baskets, with an electronic scale nearby to weigh it and a computer monitor to display the price. Cellphones and DVDs and toys and shoes and clothes were interspersed amid all this, along with ginormous bags of palomitas (popcorn), tortilla chips and other snacks.
Then it was off to the supermercado, where Olga shopped for more food, including a kilo of still-warm corn tortillas -- 8 pesos ($.75), more baked goods and other necessities, while Florida and I checked out whatever caught our eyes. She'd forgotten her hair gel, so we looked at a brand called Muco de Gorila/Gorilla Snott. (you really can't make this stuff up!) She's just snot into anything that whimsical, so she bought something with a much less amusing name.
We got some local beverages to try, including a lime-flavored diet pop. Diet soft drinks are hard to find around here. "Eat, drink and be merry" could well be Mexico's unofficial motto, especially at major holidays.
Hopefully tomorrow won't be a rainout, but even if it is, there's plenty to write about.
!VIVA MEXICO!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
It don't come easy . . .
Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues . . . Or if you want to get online sometimes.
But tonight, my host family's wi-fi is working superbly and I can let all 3 of my fans (you're still there, right?) know what's happening.
Being cheap, I decided to find a different way to get here this time. No $1,400 ticket on American Airlines for me. So I rode Megabus to Chicago ($10.50), took a taxi from Union Station to Midway Airport ($30 with tip) and Volaris ($501 round trip!) from Midway to Mexico City. At the airport, I was met by a guide from the school and we took an Estrella Roja (Red Star) executive bus to Puebla, where Olga, my hostess, awaited.(I'd have taken the bus by myself if I hadn't been arriving at night. That made it worth $85 including bus fares.)
Having taken flights on Vasp in Brasil, and felt like I was in a '50s movie, I didn't know what to expect, though I knew that Volaris is a fairly new airline and that it's affiliated with Southwest Airlines.
It was second only to Singapore Airlines' service, in my fairly limited experience of international flight. No, no hot towels and gourmet meals, but the seats were leather, beverages and snacks were free, the flight was smooth and there was enough legroom to please someone a good bit taller than me.
Getting back to Puebla has been like coming back to see old friends. I had been a bit worried that a second visit would be a disappointment. No way! This time, the experience is even better. Several people at the school have said my Spanish is much better now. I didn't really prep this time, so my only theory is that I'm more relaxed now, more at home.
There are three other students in my class -- all well matched in ability and all friendly. Gabriela, our instructor, is enthusiastic and animated, and keeps the class fun. We've spent this week reviewing various things, including reflexive verbs and direct and indirect objects. I'm pleased at how much I either remembered or understand now. Class is from 9 to 1 with a break about 11. Each day, we write three sentences on our experiences and read them aloud. (I can truthfully say that I get the fewest corrections on my accent and pronunciations. Gracias a Señor McGlothlin, my high school Spanish teacher). We also read aloud our tarea (homework) from the workbook and discuss items of interest.
Then it's off to Pepe Grillo, one of our two "included" restaurants, for lunch. There's a buffet of comidas tipicas (typical foods of the region) that changes daily. Today, we had pollo rollados en salsa de mole -- shredded chicken rolled in a tortilla and baked in the rich, flavorful sauce invented here in Puebla when some nuns had to feed the bishop unexpectedly.
Mole (MOH lay) means milled or ground. The nuns ground several spice and herbs, added chocolate and liquid and cooked meat in it. Voila! A dish fit for VIPs. I hope to visit the ex-convent here, including the kitchen where mole was invented. It was closed for restoration when I was here before.
There also was a soup with tomatoey liquid, bits of green chiles and shrimp about the circumference of a quarter. I decided to skip the soup when I found that the little buggers were still wearing their shells. I had some ziti in tomato sauce and a green salad, too, but skipped the ham and beans. There's no way one can go hungry at Pepe Grillo. Today, a server noticed that one student wasn't eating and brought her some other food instead without even being asked. Another brought coffee because we'd asked for it on Wednesday.
Next time: off to the Zocalo
But tonight, my host family's wi-fi is working superbly and I can let all 3 of my fans (you're still there, right?) know what's happening.
Being cheap, I decided to find a different way to get here this time. No $1,400 ticket on American Airlines for me. So I rode Megabus to Chicago ($10.50), took a taxi from Union Station to Midway Airport ($30 with tip) and Volaris ($501 round trip!) from Midway to Mexico City. At the airport, I was met by a guide from the school and we took an Estrella Roja (Red Star) executive bus to Puebla, where Olga, my hostess, awaited.(I'd have taken the bus by myself if I hadn't been arriving at night. That made it worth $85 including bus fares.)
Having taken flights on Vasp in Brasil, and felt like I was in a '50s movie, I didn't know what to expect, though I knew that Volaris is a fairly new airline and that it's affiliated with Southwest Airlines.
It was second only to Singapore Airlines' service, in my fairly limited experience of international flight. No, no hot towels and gourmet meals, but the seats were leather, beverages and snacks were free, the flight was smooth and there was enough legroom to please someone a good bit taller than me.
Getting back to Puebla has been like coming back to see old friends. I had been a bit worried that a second visit would be a disappointment. No way! This time, the experience is even better. Several people at the school have said my Spanish is much better now. I didn't really prep this time, so my only theory is that I'm more relaxed now, more at home.
There are three other students in my class -- all well matched in ability and all friendly. Gabriela, our instructor, is enthusiastic and animated, and keeps the class fun. We've spent this week reviewing various things, including reflexive verbs and direct and indirect objects. I'm pleased at how much I either remembered or understand now. Class is from 9 to 1 with a break about 11. Each day, we write three sentences on our experiences and read them aloud. (I can truthfully say that I get the fewest corrections on my accent and pronunciations. Gracias a Señor McGlothlin, my high school Spanish teacher). We also read aloud our tarea (homework) from the workbook and discuss items of interest.
Then it's off to Pepe Grillo, one of our two "included" restaurants, for lunch. There's a buffet of comidas tipicas (typical foods of the region) that changes daily. Today, we had pollo rollados en salsa de mole -- shredded chicken rolled in a tortilla and baked in the rich, flavorful sauce invented here in Puebla when some nuns had to feed the bishop unexpectedly.
Mole (MOH lay) means milled or ground. The nuns ground several spice and herbs, added chocolate and liquid and cooked meat in it. Voila! A dish fit for VIPs. I hope to visit the ex-convent here, including the kitchen where mole was invented. It was closed for restoration when I was here before.
There also was a soup with tomatoey liquid, bits of green chiles and shrimp about the circumference of a quarter. I decided to skip the soup when I found that the little buggers were still wearing their shells. I had some ziti in tomato sauce and a green salad, too, but skipped the ham and beans. There's no way one can go hungry at Pepe Grillo. Today, a server noticed that one student wasn't eating and brought her some other food instead without even being asked. Another brought coffee because we'd asked for it on Wednesday.
Next time: off to the Zocalo
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