Sobre la comida... Y la gripa

Hello, people of the internet!  Sorry again for the delay -- I meant to write a food-post this weekend, but ended up stuck in bed with a box of tissues and lots of water!  I don't know if I had/have a nasty version of a cold, some kind of virus, or the flu, but it is not fun.  However, thanks to lots of rest, water, and some "antigripal" meds (anti-cold), I'm definitely feeling better.

What marked the turning point in my down-time this weekend was actually my delicious comida (lunch) on Sunday.  After skipping church because I barely had the energy to stand up, I did not think that any kind of food would be appealing.  When I learned that lunch was rice with a fried egg and fried bananas, I was even more skeptical.  Fortunately, I decided to go with the flow and try the meal... And oh. my. gosh.  It was so good!!  Here's the moment when I wish I was a bit more of a typical exchange student and took pictures of my food... But alas, I find that ideology a bit strange, so no pics for you.  GoogleImágenes to the rescue!  (image from here)

I don't know what it is, but combining these three flavors was the best idea anyone has had in a while.  (To my friends back home: yeah, I'll probably be attempting to recreate this for you.)  And you, too, can enjoy this tasty dish!  Just cook some rice, add in some finely chopped potatoes, fry an egg, and then lightly fry sliced bananas in vegetable oil.  Ugh, SO GOOD.

Lest you think this is the only food I have enjoyed so far, let me list my top five actual Mexican dishes (trust me, I could go on for hours -- the food here is spectacular!).  In no particular order, I present:

1. Café.  I know, I know, everywhere supposedly has the world's best coffee.  But Veracruzana coffee is pretty amazing!  Best part: it comes with EVERY meal :D
2. Panbajo.  This might seem weird to you Americans: it's basically a bun sliced in half and filled with beans (and a bit of mayo).  It's a typical dinner item, and is really quite delicious and satisfying!
3. Gorditos.  Another dinner favorite: little fat tortillas spread with spicy salsa and topped with a bit of cheese and beans.  It's kind of like an open-face sandwich, only smaller and probably way more tasty.
4. Crema de zanahorias.  ¡Con tocino!  Okay, second favorite soup so far!  This is "carrot soup," and it reminds me of our American potato soup, except that it's orange and more savory.  The best part?  Huge pieces of bacon!  Because why not take something awesome to the next level by adding bacon?!
5. Champignones en chipotle.  I'm not entirely sure how to make this, but I need to learn! These mushrooms are served in a slightly spicy sauce, and are perfect alongside chicken and rice, or really any dish.  Heck, they can make a meal of themselves!
6. Sopa de lentijas.  This is my favorite soup this far!  Full of lentils egg, bacon, and fried bananas, every bite is a moutful of new flavor combinations.  And none of them are bad ideas!  I don't know what it is about plátanos, but they really do fit into everything.
7. Hot chocolate.  When it got really cold last week, my host-mom made us a big pot of warm, creamy, frothy hot chocolate.  I know what you're imagining.  Trust me, this was ten times more magical!  It was the perfect end-note on a freezing day, and the next morning it set the tone off to a cheery start.
8. Tamales - especially de piña.  To clarify: you can have almost any kind of tamale. I have yet to try many, but am looking forward to sampling more soon!  But the pineapple tamales I enjoyed about a week ago were my favorite so far!  They were sweet, but too sweet -- a marvelous complement to your lunch, and equally gratifying as dessert.  Here's to more tamales!!
9. Calabaza con arroz y queso.  Another simple meal, but putting sauteed squash with Mexican rice, and then crumbling a bit of cheese over it... Mmmmm.  Absolutely delicious.
10. Spicy pork.  Yeah, probably not what the locals call it.  Sadly, I either forgot to ask or forgot to write down the answer -- either way, I enjoyed these thinly sliced pork fillets about two weeks ago, but their spicy amazingness has stuck with me.  Hopefully I will have them again soon, and can ask for the name of the dish!

Okay, maybe that's my top ten... Whoops!  Like I said, there is no shortage of awesome food here.

What authentic Mexican food do you like?  Did you think of something that didn't show up in my list?  Please comment and let me know what I should be eating while I'm here! :)

*Disclaimer: most of the time I eat with my host family.  But I'm building a list of foods to try when I do eat out, so feel free to suggest entire meals, snacks, drinks... whatever comes to mind!

Baby Shower - Mateo

Sorry for the delay between blog posts!  However, I think this one was worth the wait :)

Earlier this week, a friend of mine from church invited me to come to her sister-in-law's baby shower, which was yesterday.  Intrigued by the idea of a baby shower in another culture, I happily accepted her invitation and honestly forgot about it for a few days (I was frantically reading about 132 pages of a Spanish novel, Pedro Páramo, in all of my free time).  After classes on Thursday, it sunk in that I was going to a shower in two days... And hadn't bought a gift!  You would think that I went immediately to the store, but that would show how little you know me -- a professional procrastinator.  It was cloudy and cold Thursday, so I didn't go.  On Friday, I felt really down and tired, and I didn't want to go to the mall alone.  Two of my friends from school were out of town, and another friend from church was busy, so again, I decided to cozy up at home (it was still a bit chilly) and wait.  On Saturday, I realized I had no choice.  I had to go alone.

This intense aversion to doing things alone isn't necessarily normal for me, but I've discovered that I really, really, really, HATE being alone.  Also, I've learned that I can deal with being alone if the sun is out and my destination is within walking distance (or if my destination involves people!), but that I don't deal with it so well if it's cold or I need to take a taxi.  There's not really a logic, this is just part of what I'm learning about myself!

Coward that I am, I bailed on the mall idea.  In my defense, I went there once, and I'm pretty confident the mall here is bigger than my college campus... Anyhow.  I tossed out the mall, and decided to explore Chedraui, a big WalMart type store that has a location about fifteen minute's walk from my house.  Fortunately, they had a large baby section, so I was able to find some cute socks, a little monkey toy, and ever-useful wipes.  I also bought a bag, but there was no tissue paper.  I wondered what to do about that, but on my walk home I passed a gift-store, where I easily found some super cheap, buy-by-the-sheet tissue paper!

After a quick Skype with my wonderful family (plus grandparents!!), I grabbed my purse and my gift and headed to the shower.  Hailing a taxi was, as always here, easy.  The driver knew exactly where I wanted to go, and after a decently uneventful trip, we arrived.  I wasn't quite sure which house it was, but the kind driver told me he would wait until he saw me go inside to make sure I was at the right spot.  (Side note: he was my favorite driver yet, especially since he didn't text and drive like almost everyone else!! Also, he was very polite and helpful, which is always worth bonus points)

The shower started at 5, and I thought I arrived at a decent time (around 5:10 by the time I found the house), but almost no one was there!  Welcome to Mexican time, I reminded myself with a laugh.  I met several more women from the church, and enjoyed playing "don't let the balloon touch the ground" (a universal game!) with six year-old big-brother-to-be Elias.  Here's a photo of him "helping" me with one of the games!

Once the majority of the guests had arrived, the party began (this was around 6pm).  We played several games, which I found really fun, but very different from what we do at American showers!  First, we played lotería (bingo) with items a baby would use.  I won the second round!  Next, we divided into teams and had our hands tied together so we made one long, inseparable line.  Each team received an empty puzzle board, and we were given our instructions.  The pieces to the puzzles were scrambled, and some from each puzzle were in three different baskets: one inside the house, the other two in the front yard.  It was a race to see which team could find their pieces and complete the puzzle first!  After lots of crashing around and mountains of laughter, my team was the first to finish the puzzle.  Back in the house (and untied), we raced individually to unscramble baby-shower related words (yeah, I definitely lost that one ;) ) and then divided into new teams.  This time, each team received crepe paper, and we had to dress one team member as a baby!  Our team was the blue team, and here's a picture of our finished work.  Fortunately, each team ended up with a small-ish kid, so no adults had to be babies (this time!).  For the next game, four teams of two raced to feed each other a jar of baby food.  This sounds easy, but the "feeder" was blindfolded!  I enjoyed watching this game, but passed on participating.  Finally, we passed around a roll of toilet paper.  Each person estimated how wide around Marisol, the mother-to-be, was, and tore off the paper to make a "belt."  Then we each tried on our belts, and the closest guessers won.  Mine was a bit too big... Whoops!  Now that the games were over, Marisol opened her gifts, and then we all enjoyed snack food and a wonderfully delicious dinner of pudding, pan bajo (floury bread with a bit of mayo and a chili-like mix spread inside), and a fabulous slice of chocolate cake.

One funny difference between Mexican and American showers was the traditions.  In Mexico, the big "superstition" is that no one can cross their legs - not even at the ankle!  I struggled to comply for a while, then gave up.  Since this was a church shower, I'm pretty sure no one believed in the superstition, especially since I never heard why we couldn't cross our legs, and the only penalty was that you lost your nametag until the end of the shower.

By the time all of this ended, it was 9:15!  I was absolutely exhausted, but I had really enjoyed it.  I asked if anyone knew a number for a taxi, and was pleasantly surprised (again!) by the wonderful community of my church here.  One of the women, Gini, insisted on driving me home.  On the ride, (and earlier in the evening) we talked about her daughter-in-law, who is actually an American!  She met Gini's son while she was studying in Xalapa, and after a year of dating in Mexico and a year of long-distance dating, they got married.  It was a really sweet story, and I got to see a few pictures from their wedding, which looked beautiful.

Back at home a bit before 10:00, I popped my head in to say hi to my host-mom and then wearily went to my room and slept like a log until my alarm went off this morning for church.  Yesterday was a very long and tiring day, but I don't regret it for a minute.  I am so happy to be forming new friendships here, even though it's exhausting and difficult, and I am so thankful that God helped me find El Divino Salvador, my church here in Xalapa.  Though my weeks are sometimes chaotic and exhausting, church is a wonderful refuge from it all, and even though everything is still Spanish, I truly appreciate the love and care I feel within that family.

Candelaria, danzón, iglesia y lluvia

Wow, it's hard to believe the week is almost over!  It's been gloomy, cloudy, rainy, and cold here in Xalapa, so I haven't taken many pictures this week.  I want to take a moment, though, to tell you about the beginning of my week (which was much more exciting than the rest!).  Fair warning: this is a longer post than usual!

On Saturday, I began seriously scouting out churches for Sunday.  Since I'm lazy at heart and it was dreary outside, this meant that I used Google quite a bit, and calculated how far I would need to walk using Google Maps.  I found a Presbyterian church, called El Divino Salvador.  Though I couldn't find a service time online, I assumed that - like most churches around here - the service would be at ten-thirty (note to future self: don't make assumptions!).

Sunday morning came, and I comfortably got ready to leave around 9:45.  The walk was further than I thought, but by five after ten I had found the church.  I walked in... and realized that the service had already started!  I slipped into a back row in time to take communion and sing a final hymn.  Disappointed, I perused the bulletin as I walked out of the service.  A kind older lady approached me and introduced herself.  After I told her I was a student here, she smiled and took me to meet Mimi, a girl about my age.  Mimi and I started a conversation, and she invited me to come with her to Sunday School, which would start in a few minutes.  I happily agreed, and she introduced me to several other young people before we made our way to the classroom.  In the class, we are going through a Josh McDowell book, Answers to Tough Questions (though of course, in Spanish).  On Sunday, they were examining the idea of extraterrestrial life.  I enjoyed the lesson, and I really appreciated how much focus was placed on Scripture.  At the end of the session, we filled out a sheet with some questions, and received a list of verses to work on memorizing this week.  Most people pick one and try to memorize it, but it's not a requirement.

Now that Sunday School was over, I thought about going to the second service, which would start in ten minutes.  Before I entered the sanctuary, though, Mimi introduced me to Lindita, an Albanian woman who is also in Mexico studying Spanish.  I enjoyed talking with her, and she introduced me to her fiancé, who is from Xalapa.  We all began talking, and they invited me to join them for lunch.  Reminded of GPC college lunch, I readily agreed, and met Lindita's soon-to-be-in-laws.  During the car ride, I learned more about their family, and enjoyed the curious mix of languages: Spanish, Italian, English, and Albanian.  Lunch was really fun!  I hope we continue to stay in touch -- I think we will.

On Monday, I didn't have classes as we were "celebrating" Constitution Day here (5 February, so actually today).  I planned to spend the day at home, since it was still pretty gloomy out.  But at breakfast Guille (my host mom) invited me to join her in attending a party celebrating the Virgin Guadalupe in a nearby pueblo.  Intrigued, I agreed, though I had absolutely no idea what I was in for!  Around 12:30, we met up with some of our neighbors and drove to the pueblo, about twenty minutes from town.  In El Chico (the village), we encountered a TON of traffic.  In the middle of the town, surrounding the church, was a fair, complete with booths selling sweets and touristy gifts and those dinky rides for kids.  We hopped out of the car and walked through a small convenience store, climbing stairs to a fun house built onto the mountainside.  In the house, I was introduced to twenty some-odd people, all family to my neighbor!  They had us sit at the kitchen table and served us chicken with mole, rice, and tamales.  I enjoyed trying it all, though the mole wasn't my favorite.

As the afternoon wore on, the constant stream of people in and out of the kitchen did not!  I met at least fifty people, and I honestly don't remember any of their names.  Around five, the dancing started, and one of the girls - about my age - pulled me with her to see the dance (okay, she didn't really have to pull me!).  A live band was playing beautiful music, and through the fence (we didn't want to pay to enter) I could see about thirty couples dancing.  The dance is something of a mix of salsa, tango, cha-cha-cha, and traditional dances from the area.  I loved watching, and enjoying trying to figure out the steps myself!  Sorry the picture isn't great -- we were behind them, and I'm not very tall :P  By seven, we started to leave (which means we got into the car at eight).  I was absolutely exhausted from a long day of meeting people, speaking Spanish, learning local customs, and eating a mountain of food; but it was the happy exhaustion of a day well-spent.

The rest of my week was pretty dull: classes in the morning, reading and working inside during the dreary afternoons.  Two of Guille's nephews came to visit for a few days, which was cool.  Since they were here, we ate even more food than usual -- and that is definitely not a complaint!  I need to learn how to make most of these dishes at home, because they are absolutely magnificent.  But more on that later!  For now, I'm off to read for class.  If you have any questions, ask away!  I enjoy hearing from ya'll :)