Alexandre

hoyuelos chicitos
sonrisas de sonar
descansan en el pecho—
amplio consolar.

Dedos de manos manchados de granada
Víctor me dio: regalo del escalador—
árbol a mi palma, pelada por la taza
pero sin llegaron, desaparecen a

Pozole

A little background borrowed from Wikipedia:
Pozole (from Spanish pozole, from Nahuatl potzolli) is a traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew made from hominy, with pork, chile, and other seasonings and garnish, such as oregano, avocado, radish, lime juice, onions, salsa verde, salsa rojo. The type of pozole we ate was white or clear.

Buenavista de Cuellar is located in the state of Guerrero which is well-known for their Thursday Pozole. Wikipedia also cited Guerrero as typically serving breakfast pozole, and after this weekend...I will say, yes it's true.

Moy (Nora's father), Karina, Gerado, and Carolina dropped me off at the downtown bus stop. In my search for my bus, I located the bus driver, Jose Luis, first. Our conversation was typical: You aren't from around here? No, I'm from Chiconcuac. (Okay, so I haven't actually said that.) Your spanish is really good! (Not true, this is smooth-talking mexican for-- your accent, my word!) Are those your friends? (Pointing to the other white people in the terminal. White+white=friends? ) Do you have a cell phone? (no) Do you have a telephone number? (no) Well, we can talk all the way to Buenavista. (Humm, but my ticket is for seat 27) Well, you can sit in row 1. (Row one filled before I chose to enter the bus.) I enjoyed reading Nora's husband Luis' book in seat 27. That is until with an hour left in the trip my bladder started calling out to me and I realized that this bus...didn't have a restroom. Thankfully, I did make it to Buenavista to pay my 2 pesos for a section of toilet paper.

Walking mexican-slow (the pace makes it possible to endure the heat during the day...and enjoy the air of the night) from the bus stop I passed a sign posted on a restraunt calling me in for homemade pozole. Breakfast being hours and hours before, I was tempted, but bought an agua de fresa (strawberry) in a bolsa instead and then stopped to see Luz. I met Luz for the second time the week before and had been wanting to get to know her better. Luz works half her time at the paletaria, where I bought my agua and the other half the little store across the street. She brought out a chair and we had a nice hour of conversation.

When I arrived at the Ramirez' house (Mode and Jose), Arely's Cumpleanos: birthday party had already started. I was delighted to find a huge pot (over 6 gallons) of Pozole on the stove and the women who work with Arely (collecting census information) already eating Pozole. I sat in between Jose, Arely's husband, and Jose Jaid, Arely's son with my bowl that was heaping (even after begging Arely and Mode to not serve me too much.) Jaid was equally helpful; I had added all of my toppings, yet he made a game of asking me if I wanted more of everything: cebolla? limon? rabanos? oregano? salsa? cebolla? limon?... Add to that two taquitos de potato; I took several breaks as I got to the bottom of the bowl. Jaid on the other hand, was repremanded and had his bowl removed and replaced with a new one after dumping well over a 1/2 cup of oregano in his shallow dish of blooming corn. Apparently he wanted the other well-known Guerrero pozole: verde.

That's just the beginning of my weekend of Pozole. Around 9 o'clock the neighboring families arrived, which must have been about the third group of people to come and leave the fiesta. I had yet another bowl of Pozole. Thankfully, this one was was shallow--er. The evening ended with the charming "las mananitas" and then a cute playful display by Arely and Jose over her tres leche.

I awoke to the usual Buenavista morning chorus of dogs, donkeys, neighbors, birds, church bells, and Delia sweeping the street. An hour or so later I saw Delia and her aunt Victoria headed to the market so I slipped downstairs and out the door, telling Jose and Arely where I was headed on my way out.

Sandra, here are the morning market discoveries: miniture mangos, chicken for the afternoon quesillas Delia had invited me for that afternoon, buenos dias to: the boy with the purple avacados and the amazing smile, Hermando (with his usual dirty shirt--across from the computers, remember?) and his wife (Rosalba or something like that? They have a pizza parlor now..which Arely ordered the week before. It tasted...like Mexico after covering it with hot sauce.) Last week during my market visit with Mode I talked to: Hermando, queso, need I say more? Remember Freddy the taxista? His brother Hermando works at the tortillaria. Marco at the jugos in the mercado. Marco from New Mexico. In addition: Dona Columba, Don Pedro, Laykin's admirer, Tony the neighbor boy, Lola is working at a new restraunt next to the computadores, Margarita, Gerado, his sister at the computadores, etc.

We must have arrived back at the house at 10am to Arely calling everyone in for a breakfast of...yes, Pozole. Erika and Nacho, Ruben and Delia, Sonia, and all the kids sat down with their bowls. Delicious...but ya...I was quite gratefuly for Delia confirming the invitation to eat at her house that afternoon. It was a wonderful two hours or so of the familiar kitchen activity, a meal with just the two of us and talking about family, and later Ruben joining us, the Mexico vs. Paraguay 6-0 futbol game, an the slightly naughty antics of Alexandre which are easily covered by his ever-present smile.

And when I returned back to Mode's kitchen, Gabi and Jaid were sitting at the table with bowls of: Pozole.

I took the Monday morning, 5am bus back to Cuernavaca. A small bus to the market. Another small bus back to Chiconcuac. Three house of traveling: I treated myself to a taxi back to the house, dug for several minutes for the pesos to pay my fare, and was so very very greatful to open the door to a hot hot shower before I started work.

The weekend of Pozole looks to be turning into a week. Today at Moy's house Nora asked what was on the menu for tomorrow's dinner. Nora and I both started laughing when we were told: Pozole.

Sonriendo

Smiling:

Beautiful green countryside
Gorgous misty mountains
laundrymat
grammar lessons from Moy
synonyms in Spanish for car
Streets named for European countries
agua de pina: pineapple
Bogunvilleas
Capreese salad with our albahaca:basil
Landscaping our block castle with weeds: ¡Que lindo!
Limes
Moneda: the beautiful vine that shares its name with money in Spanish
Crema de calabaza con cilantro: squash soup with cilantro
Grocery shopping
Carolina enjoying the hand dryer in the bathroom: ¡Es muy rico, Shannon!
Frida Kaulo magazine
Goofy pictures
A conversation about organics and "en modo"
Drawings of princesses in star dresses and crowns
Asia-pacifico: el mercado del futuro, Autor: Luis G. Silva y Gutierrez

Transportación

Last friday I rode with Luis and Nora to Mexico. Here todo el mundo (all the world) refers to La Ciudad de Mexico as simply Mexico. Luis put on his leather driving gloves, and we made such good time in the audi up around the curves of the autopista to the slow traffic of the city that Nora turned to her husband and said, "Mi amor, we're going to arrive early you went so fast!" To which Luis answered, "It would have been faster if you and Shannon weren't with me." Referring to his commute to the offices in Mexico, "and on Monday mornings there are no other cars." Getting close to Luis' brother-in-law's house, Nora pointed out the porshe that pulled in front of us: there's Alejandro. He and his son were clearly enjoying their afternoon drive-—both were smiling as we pulled up along side them.

When we arrived, Luis introduced me to his sister Claudia, a niece, and another brother before we headed to the kitchen to call a taxi. Feeling a little foreign carrying my backpack around a lawyer's elegant birthday party, I was greatful the taxi arrived almost immediately and Nora and Luis put me in the taxi, telling the taxista to take care of me. Winding roads, slow traffic, a huge Mexican flag and we arrived at the bus terminal TAPO. I met Heidi, who had been studying in Puebla, and Diana, who came to retrieve us, with hugs and kisses and then we were off by bus to Texcoco, and a taxi to the Aceve's house. We had a wonderful dinner with Diana, Rhode, Rebecca, and the workers Rigel Rosales and from Arkansas, Raymound Reece. Raymound has labored in Mexico for 50 years.

A huge breakfast, two meetings, sending Heidi off to the airport, a meal cooked by the Aceves girls, tres leche and las mananitas to celebrate Rafael and Tarsis' Birthdays, and then I was off in Rafael's car for the adventure home. Paty, a girl around my age who works in international marketing in autoparts sales, and a man who is originally from Guerrero, were generous in guiding me into a combi, from the combi to the metro, one change of metro lines, and to the bus terminal Tesquena. 5 minutes and I left on a bus that took me to Cuernavaca where I boarded another bus to Chiconcuac. I realized after I boarded that I was on the route that would take me through Temixco and every little pueblo along the way instead of the direct route via the autopista; but no matter, I had all afternoon. And it was all afternoon, including the departure of our driver from the bus for 10 minutes; he returned with a Sprite, but I suspect it also had something to do with the futbol game Mexico was playing.

You may count, but I believe that makes 9 changes in transportation in 24 hours, not counting the walking which brought me back up the brick sidewalk to the Zocalo, a rest on the park bench, and finally to our gate and Bruma and Trueno's barks of greeting.

De jueves

Thursday's highlights:

*I had a amazing latte this morning with my nutella covered toast and melon cubes. Four plates and a cup later I finished my breakfast.
* It was Karina's birthday (Karina works here in the office and does all the errands, in addition to delivering to and taking orders from the local restaurants in Cuernavaca with Nora's dad). Kristina brought us all cake: a tres leche that had a strip of flan in the middle for filling...deliciosa.
*I sat with Gerado as he completed the invoice and export paper work for the week's shipment of Albahaca verde (basil) and Romero (rosemary) to our cliente in Canada.
*We had dinner at Nora's dad's house which I always love: one day we played El Gato (tic-tac toe) and he royally beat me; he announced his intentions two moves before my defeat. Another day he shared his tan and red block of candy flavored by the seed of the sweet squash (pumpkin). That was the same afternoon he took me around the house to show me how he and his late wife had planted 10 seeds (trepadores:vines), that 50 years later now completely cover three sides of the house: beautifully framing each window and french doors out the bedroom onto a small awning. He pointed out the little arms of the trepador trying their best to sneak there way in the house.
*We had nopalitos (little pieces of chopped cactus with cilantro, queso and tomatoes.) Rice soup with lime and fresh onion. Chicken enchiladas verdes. Beans. Mango juice. Gelatin for dessert. Delicious dinner.
*We drove the FAST car. So the suburban went 140 k/h. Today the car went 190 k/h, Luis has gotten it up to 280 k/h and the speedometer is reads to 300 k/h.
*We went to Liverpool: the big huge newest mall.
*Nora's favorite song came on the radio. She turned it up all the way and sang and danced like a "locita", as she called herself...there were police in the truck in front of us stareing, but weren't as amused as we were. ;)
*We went grocery shopping at Superama. I got to see our products in the store for the first time. They were priced 4.75 pesos for .20 gram cucuruchos(packages). Nora pointed out our competition, love this Kari, organic: 19 pesos.
*Something else I learned: Walmart isn't just Walmart here. Walmart also owns: Sam's Club, Bodega Aurrera, Superama, and the large chain of restraunts called Vips.
*Both of Nora's daughters, her father, and grandson are coming for dinner tomorrow. The table is going to be outside somewhere. We are having mushroom soup which I can't wait for because Nora does such an amazing job seasoning everything. Kari's response to this tid-bit was, "of course, she's an herb farmer." Perhaps tuna too?