tanto tiempo sin cuentos...

I know it´s been awhile since I´ve last written an exciting mexican tale, however I have a good excuse. I went to the beach again. I just got back from probably the best weekend beach vacation ever (and that´s saying a lot). The theme of this trip was ´puro lujo´or pure luxary. First, the idea came to us wednesday night over wine and beer at a cool bar called zona central (which ironically is not located in zona central). Heather was already planning on going to Puerto Escondido, so Roberto and I decided to join her (although she would be taking a different bus). Roberto and I went to veracruz on thursday, ate with his family and got on a bus at 8pm. There are many levels of buses here, Deluxe, first class, second class, intermediate, and economy. Yes, we took economy. It would have been fine if I hadn´t run into my professor that morning to tell her of my plans and she told me specifically not to take economy because they are known for mountain side wrecks and being stopped by robbers in the middle of the night. Anyway, obviously I survived without incident, but I did pass a nervous night on a rickety bus. We did end up on a first class bus for part of the ride. So, 15 hours later (and 5 buses later...the economy buses make more stops), we were in puerto escondido. We met up with heather, and had planned on camping, however, the tent is for 2 and we were 3, thus, we found a very lovely hotel for the price of about 10 dollars a night total. Granted, the walls were cinder block and the toilet and shower were next to the one bed, but we all fit quite nicely and at the price of 3.33 a night, who can complain. Basically we watched a lot of surfing, drank beer and tropical drinks in hammocks, played jenga at a beach side bar and roamed the streets in search of the perfect tlayuda (a big tortilla folded in half with beans, quesillo (cheese from oaxaca, like string cheese but a stronger flavor), tomato, avacado, lettuce or cabbage and salsa then toasted). The next day we took a bus to Mazunte, another beach where we took a camioneta (you know the trucks filled with people in the back standing in mexican movies) to the beach zipolite. There, we found another hotel for 12 dollars anight. This one had 2 beds and the bathroom was quasi enclosed. Plus, it included a beach view (no pillows, soap or tp though). We made tacos as the sun was setting and drank mezcal, which is like tequilla but unique to the state of Oaxaca. The next day, more tlayudas (also unique to Oaxaca) and another camioneta to Mazunte. Next we took a bus to Huatulco where we found a beach to camp (it was a tight squeeze) this beach had a river and the ocean and cool rocks. We ate what was left of the taco fixings, I tried to cook them unsuccessfully over the fire, and drank the rest of the mezcal. The next day, we took a community taxi (it´s a type of taxi that looks normal, but is cheaper because you fit as many people in as possible) we went to another beach in Huatulco called Chahue. I reccommend Huatulco to anyone that is used to a nicer beach vacation with pools, tennis and golf and nice hotels. It reminded me of Hilton Head but with crazier drivers. We stayed there until we were really hungry (as we had finished the food the night before) and searched for a restaurant. However, as I was sunburnt we got the bright idea to leave earlier than planned, so we could travel through the day and I wouldn´t be so nervous. Heather took a bus to puerto again to meet up with her boyfriend and Roberto and I left at about 3 pm. We got to the midway point at 11 and ran into our friend Rogers in the bus terminal, he was heading to Xalapa, but we were going to Veracruz first. We got to veracruz at ¨330 am and Robertos parents were there to pick us up. We went to his house, ate quesadillas and licuados (smoothies) slept 2 hours or so, then his parents took us to the bus terminal to catch our 630 am bus to Xalapa. I got home at 830 and since have been packing and doing some last minute shopping as I leave tonight at 2am on a bus for the airport in el DF. So, I have spent and will spend a lot of time traveling in order to return. It was worth it because I´m now pretty morena. A funny story from the bus- we were sitting in the incorrect seats because someone had sat in ours when the bus wasn´t full. At one of the stops a family got on and the mom asked the daughter ( a girl about 15) who was in their seats, the daughter responded in spanish of course, ¨a couple of gringos are in our seats¨I thought it was really funny, because roberto is clearly mexican, but it´s my fault (since he was with me) that he now falls under the gringo category. Also an irony of the trip, thus far in mexico, I have been one of the only people not to get sick from water or food...until today, my last day. Just a note for anyone planning on traveling to mexico, it´s probably not a good idea to eat boiled corn from street venders in the bus station no matter how good it looks and no matter how much chili and lime you add.

that´s all for now, it was a lot, but i´m headed for the airport at 2 am.

fun times at the playa...

I went to the beach on friday, and today I´m still a bit sandy. All in all, it was a fun trip with my friends, the sun was strong, the water was turquoise and the beer cold. Friday afternoon half the group went to Playa Muñecos. It´s the more secluded of the two and really quite beautiful. We ate a picnic of hardboiled eggs, rice with chili, potatoes, some vegetable that is green and like a potato with a name i don´t know, and more things with chilis and limes. We tried to make a bonfire, but we had no wood. (that made it a bit difficult). We drove around in my friend roberto´s jeep, that´s one of those open ones painted with rastafarian colors. The highlights of Playa Muñecos are, 1) some how in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom (a big rock next to a cliff) I managed to step in dog (or horse or burro or wild goat) excrement- At first everyone thought it was on the bottom of my shoe, but no, somehow this aforementioned excrement made it between my foot and the shoe. So, the rest of the night, I walked around barefoot with smelly feet. 2) Narcotraficantes came to make a deal in the middle of the night (not with us, but on the other side of the beach). So, in the middle of the night when I woke up and people were still up chatting, I saw lights on the otherside of the beach. At first I thought other campers, but these ´campers´has big flashlights and appeared as though they were searching for something. Anyway, clearly, as timid as I usually am, I was freaked out, because many a good horror story starts this way (especially when Fernando said, let´s sneak over there and try to scare them). My friends told me everything would be fine, so I tried not to worry. The next day, when we met up with the other half of the group, I was sharing my story and they calmly replied, ah, well of course, those were narcotraficantes, that beach is known for deals and trades and such....ok, so really, who knows who was there, but, it certainly makes a good story now. At Villa Rica, the beach was not as pretty, much dirtier, but there were restaurants and cantinas. Plus, we rented a cabana to sleep more safely in the night. We hiked up a mountain and hiked down into the quebradas, which i don´t know the word for in english. Basically, it was beautiful and amazing. I ate the local food (which is probably more dangerous than drug dealers as neighbors) and spent the day frolicing in the sun and surf. Basically, my weekend was like a collection of scenes from a good beach movie- all the key elements were there. On sunday, we hitched a ride to the main road and caught a bus back to Xalapa where it was cloudly, slightly rainy, and cool. Today it rained again.

tanta carne, y yo chimuela...

We went to puebla last weekend. It was a nice town, saw some volcanes and pyramids. Nothing too exciting. The best part was the hotel, it was nice and cheap. So, if you are ever in Puebla, check out Hotel Imperial. Other than thank, nothing of much interest has been going on. We are having another party tonight in the casa de chucho for the Mex vs Argentina game. I believe it is the semi finals. Sadly, I am off to class. Hopefully I will have better stories later.

the cookout that kept going...

I think I can safely say that our cookout a la mexicana was a success. I arrived at 3:30 to set up and make the food. Roberto and I were in charge of the soy burgers, but unfortunetly, he and 4 others had to leave to take an exam. That left cammy and I in an unfamilar kitchen for 2 hours before the big game between Chile and Mexico, and before our 4th of July festivities. Cammy handled the meat burgers, and we recruited two non test takers to make the guacamole. For the record, you have to disinfect each piece of fruit and vegetable and herb...I knew all of this, but I did not realize how much I take potable water for granted. The problem with the food began when I made the mojitos and Cammy decided that we needed to compare the deliciousness of the mojitos to some brasilian drink that I am not even going to try to remember or spell. It starts with a C and is pure vodka (but we used rum) crushed ice, sugar and lime juice. I prefer the mojitos because they are less dangerous, and quite tasty, however, once the taste testing began, we left the food prep for the others. We also could not get the fire started. There were 6 mexican guys, all arguing about proper flame techniques, while cammy, lacking faith, thought we should give up and cook the burgers on the stove...however, the stove had no gas, and luckily, the grill prevailed. I dressed in my best american wear, red and blue top, black skirt, red soccer socks (a must for any event) and then realized to my dismay that the colors of Chile are ALSO red, white and blue and it appeared as though I was routing for a team other than our beloved mexico. It was a happening place to be. The game was a tie, so luckily no one was mad at my choice of colors, and of course there was dancing (salsa) long into the night. We lacked fireworks. The next day (ie, today) we returned to help Chucho clean up, only to find out he has a cleaning lady. So, we breakfasted (is that a word?) on soy burgers and beer. Ok, so the beer may not have been the best idea, but it was 12 (yes, breakfast time) and it was about 28 degrees outside, and we needed something with the burgers. We also cooked the refried beans (having forgotten about them the night before) on the grill. Please imagine a can of beans sitting on a grill with a spoon. I did not have my camera, or else I would have taken a picture, for some reason it is quite a hilarious site. Covered in ashes, I walked back to my house (the coals were very flaky, and I could have been called cinderella by my appearance) I walked back to my house (imagine the heat) but then I decided to go to the train station to buy my ticket back from Puebla (more heat) and then decided to run at Gym Gold (sweat). Ok, so trying to hurry because I had class I jump in the shower covered in sweat and soot and dirt, I lather up and get quite soapy when....we run out of water.

thus is the life in Mexico.


oh yeah, then my class was cancelled. Now I am off to eat dinner at the italian restaurant and pack for puebla tomorrow.

tengo una vaca lechera...

It has been a fun couple of days (despite mysterious bug bites, which now seem to have subsided). I went to visit a Hacienda where Santa Ana once lived, went to the mall, and drank some mojitos. I´ve also watched a lot of soccer. Today we are getting together with our friends to celebrate the 4th of July. Heather and I thought it would be a great idea and organized it without asking our friends if they could host the event. We´re trying to make it as american as possible, which is kind of ironic, because I don´t consider nationalistic and patriotic as qualities that I have. So, tonight, at the house of Chucho we are having a cookout with hamburgers and hotdogs. When we asked about a grill, the guys told us that we didn´t need one. All we´d need would be bricks and some coals. I love mexico, very creative country. I´m very excited because we went shopping yesterday to get all the supplies we would need. On the top of the list was: yerbabuena, ron, limon (for mojitos...because every 4th of july should be celebrated with drinks from cuba) and soya (we have a lot of vegetarians, so we are going to make veggie burgers...and real burgers). There were 7 of us who went shopping last night. It was a crazy disorganized fun mess. First during the day we went to the market of San Jose to buy the fruit, veggies, and herbs. All of this we need to disinfect before we eat with cloro water (sounds good...). Later we took the bus to costco, and realized that everything was huge and in big portions, so we just bought the meat and some other necessities. Next we went to Chedraui which is like the mexican walmart. Chedraui was easier to shop in because half the group stayed outside to watch our bags and the costco stuff, while the responsible lot (ie me, roberto y chucho) shopped with more ease inside. Who knows why I was included in the responsible group, perhaps age, or perhaps because I had the list, but I´m a horrible grocery shopper, they should have known better. I got distracted by all the different brands and neat stuff they had. In the international food section, they had shelves with stuff from the US. This included Slim fast, croutons, planters nuts and some random salad dressing brand that is super expensive in the US but that I always want to buy because it looks good. Quite a combination. Anyway, for about 50 pesos per person (roughly 5 dollars) we will have our cookout. We tried quite hard to make it american, but much of our food has become mexicanized. Here are a few examples.

me: Let´s have some carrots at the cookout
heather: mmmm, with ranch, that would be great
roberto: Ok, i´ll make the carrot salad with jicama, limon and chiles.

or,
me: we definetly need baked beans
rogers: what are baked beans
me: kind of like beans in brown sugar or maple with bacon
rogers: disgusting, they don´t sell that here, we´d better buy refried beans and jalapeños instead.

these conversations were roughly translated to from spanish to english, so they may sound a bit awkward, but you understand my point. It´s a good thing I really like spicy food. On that note, I need to go start washing and cutting vegetables, and preparing for the game/ cookout. Happy fourth. To end, a new toast that heather and I created:

¨me encanta la comida, la bebida y disfrutarme en la vida. ¡salud!¨