...things have definitely been getting interesting around here. i¥m starting to notice that everyone is carrying around gifts, pointsettas, even christmas trees. a few weeks ago the street & market vendors really started to ramp up and are in full swing now. my local mercado san cosme has doubled in size as folks seliing christmas trees, pointsettas and other greens for the nacimientos ring the market. nochebuena beer popped up in the oxxo.
i went to wal mart during lunch today to buy a few things for our trip & could barely get through the aisles. everything from shaving cream to air freshners, cookies, perfumes are packaged as gift sets and piled high in places that you used to be able to push your cart.
and mexicans aren¥t even big present givers! i swear this conglomerate is pushing u.s. influences HARD. the christmas merchandise was up before dia de muertos & there was tons of halloween stuff.
so i did my shopping right in my neighborhood: sanborn¥s & manos que curan
you know i love sanborn¥s (the shop not the food) but man! christmas time it is the bomb! if you need a present fast- they¥ve got it. beautifully packaged european perfumes, cute foto albums, interesting cd compilations, Pupa cosmetics, silver, books, cakes, chocolate shaped like nativity scenes, christmas trees, elf boots or little tiles decorated with nochebuenas for less than U$ 5...
manos que curan is a little soap factory across from my dry cleaners. they make lovely soaps, lotions, fragrant oils and whatnot. cucumber & cactus, amaranth (a very important pre-hispanic grain) milk & honey exfoiliating soap, chamomile for the sun damaged skin soap, cinnamon soap, rosemary for oily skin soap, & that famous coffee- supposed to be great for removing odors soap, and heavenly rose petal soap seconds for about 35 cents! their smelly oils are beautiful, the bottle holds whatever flower or herb scents it and is packaged simply with a cork and sealed with wax.
yes mexico is a great place to shop.
Thursday
only 2 days until christmas vacation
and i can not wait!
the last few weeks have been super cold here in d.f.- though i just did the converstions to Farenheit- not half as cold as new york city! and i¥ve been giving english classes from 7am to 9pm. so b-o-r-i-n-g. so i¥m heading off to steamy veracruz.
i¥ll be spending the holidays (december 24 & 25 and new years) with jorge¥s relatives in pueblo viejo, veracruz just on this side of tampico, tamaulipas. The rest of the days we¥ll be exploring that region. looking to do very little but eat mariscos, read (i have james michener¥s MEXICO tome) and soak up sun. (note to anyone planning on visiting mexico city in the next few months: ITS COLD!)
The main thing i¥m worried about is not being able to find a decent & inexpensive place to stay. The first time i went to Vercruz was the 5 de mayo long weekend. After spending 1 & 1/2 hours in a taxi, the only place we could find was a hotel de paso (complete with black lights and mirrored ceiling!) which was like $500 pesos ( they normally charge by the hour) and we had to slip more $$ in the revolving door to stay until 10am...the same in catemaco- we ended up staying in a taxi drivers home.
so we are starting our trip in the southern part of the state of veracruz. i want to see what that part of the Gulf is like. I have been researching places like Tecolutla, Nautla, & Tamiahua - La Costa Esmerelda- near Poza Rica, not far from Tampico. so i am afraid it will be too crowded. And I have been researching the beaches *there is also a good hand drawn map about halfway down the page* south of the puerto of Veracruz: the ones that i think you can only get to from Catemaco Playa Escondido, Montepio, La Barra any places near...I imagine there is some sort of local transportation.
we bought our bus tickets today- you have to buy before a big holiday because everybody hits the road. I would have gone sooner, but haven¥t been paid all of my measly salary y. as it was our first 2 destinations were sold out. the only thing available for friday was a 2nd class bus to catemaco (where we went in may)
i wanted to stop in this UNESCO historic town, Tlacotalpan but because there are only 3 or 4 not very cheap hotels - thought we could spend the morning before we push on to the coast. guess not this time... everything i¥ve read says you have to get the transportation to the coast from catemaco & we know that there is a bus station, so its fine to arrive at 5am.
we will definitlely spend a day or 2 in Papantla. buying Vanilla Bean crafts! Does anyone one have 1st or 2nd hand info on these spots or if not we will head up to Tapantla- the home of vanilla & el tajin. or we¥ll go there after christmas & before new years day (another dinner) there are beaches near tampico & also we¥ll take a day trip to las pozas where an english eccentric built a surreal kingdom around these naturals pools.
the last few weeks have been super cold here in d.f.- though i just did the converstions to Farenheit- not half as cold as new york city! and i¥ve been giving english classes from 7am to 9pm. so b-o-r-i-n-g. so i¥m heading off to steamy veracruz.
i¥ll be spending the holidays (december 24 & 25 and new years) with jorge¥s relatives in pueblo viejo, veracruz just on this side of tampico, tamaulipas. The rest of the days we¥ll be exploring that region. looking to do very little but eat mariscos, read (i have james michener¥s MEXICO tome) and soak up sun. (note to anyone planning on visiting mexico city in the next few months: ITS COLD!)
The main thing i¥m worried about is not being able to find a decent & inexpensive place to stay. The first time i went to Vercruz was the 5 de mayo long weekend. After spending 1 & 1/2 hours in a taxi, the only place we could find was a hotel de paso (complete with black lights and mirrored ceiling!) which was like $500 pesos ( they normally charge by the hour) and we had to slip more $$ in the revolving door to stay until 10am...the same in catemaco- we ended up staying in a taxi drivers home.
so we are starting our trip in the southern part of the state of veracruz. i want to see what that part of the Gulf is like. I have been researching places like Tecolutla, Nautla, & Tamiahua - La Costa Esmerelda- near Poza Rica, not far from Tampico. so i am afraid it will be too crowded. And I have been researching the beaches *there is also a good hand drawn map about halfway down the page* south of the puerto of Veracruz: the ones that i think you can only get to from Catemaco Playa Escondido, Montepio, La Barra any places near...I imagine there is some sort of local transportation.
we bought our bus tickets today- you have to buy before a big holiday because everybody hits the road. I would have gone sooner, but haven¥t been paid all of my measly salary y. as it was our first 2 destinations were sold out. the only thing available for friday was a 2nd class bus to catemaco (where we went in may)
i wanted to stop in this UNESCO historic town, Tlacotalpan but because there are only 3 or 4 not very cheap hotels - thought we could spend the morning before we push on to the coast. guess not this time... everything i¥ve read says you have to get the transportation to the coast from catemaco & we know that there is a bus station, so its fine to arrive at 5am.
we will definitlely spend a day or 2 in Papantla. buying Vanilla Bean crafts! Does anyone one have 1st or 2nd hand info on these spots or if not we will head up to Tapantla- the home of vanilla & el tajin. or we¥ll go there after christmas & before new years day (another dinner) there are beaches near tampico & also we¥ll take a day trip to las pozas where an english eccentric built a surreal kingdom around these naturals pools.
Sunday
my first posada
why i love mexican parties:
everybody shares this common background that inevitably comes out in song or playground chants "QUE CANTA ! QUE CANTA !"
there´s always a least a little bit of food. maybe just potato chips or peanuts that are chili coated. or maybe something more elaborate: alahambres cooked on the grill with peppers and onion, sopes, pozole YUM!
someone always takes charge of bartending/distribution of the chelas normally the host or his or her friends
parents are hidden away in the kitchen or in a bedroom
or if its a larger event 3 or 4 generations are present at their respective tables.
everyone takes turn dj-ing and the selection of music often becomes a collective activity.
and best of all they are in mexican homes which I love. the home may be furnished with paintings of the last supper and or la virgen of guadalupe... and other tchotkes.
the party that i went to last night in Colonia Popotla was in a home decorated to the nines by its occupants wiith ceramic animals, dolls made of papier mache, a tea pot shaped like a cat, life-sized stuffed dogs, rubber snakes...a massive nacimiento, a robotic santa server, a miniature santa's village, some super kitsch ashtrays shaped liked dogs...and all shared with a dozen fish, birds, cats, 5 dogs, a snake & a hamster
we busted up a beautiful foil and paper covered, star shaped pinata filled with peanuts, tangerines, jocotes, sugar cane and lollipops...hoisted on a rope by the host juanito standing on the garden wall. one of our english teacher friends crouched in the corner trying to get action shots as everyone else stepped way back
"Extranjero !" several nodded in unision- piñata bashing can be a very dangerous- its considered an extreme sport in these parts! everyone lunged for the candy i collected fruit and stuffed my pockets with peanuts.
Later we were invited back into the house by juanito´s mother for la cena- the dinner. We didn't even have to sing. I was impressed with the meal- tuna with tomatoes, olives and herba ans a sort of fettucine with sliced ham, served with fresh bollios. I think the festive napkins and green plastic plates probably cost more- I love that!
we drank more tequila and squirt or coke and chelas and our collective focus turned to the music while my personal focus turned to the amazing flan that la señora served.
oh my god, when did i start loving flan?
everybody shares this common background that inevitably comes out in song or playground chants "QUE CANTA ! QUE CANTA !"
there´s always a least a little bit of food. maybe just potato chips or peanuts that are chili coated. or maybe something more elaborate: alahambres cooked on the grill with peppers and onion, sopes, pozole YUM!
someone always takes charge of bartending/distribution of the chelas normally the host or his or her friends
parents are hidden away in the kitchen or in a bedroom
or if its a larger event 3 or 4 generations are present at their respective tables.
everyone takes turn dj-ing and the selection of music often becomes a collective activity.
and best of all they are in mexican homes which I love. the home may be furnished with paintings of the last supper and or la virgen of guadalupe... and other tchotkes.
the party that i went to last night in Colonia Popotla was in a home decorated to the nines by its occupants wiith ceramic animals, dolls made of papier mache, a tea pot shaped like a cat, life-sized stuffed dogs, rubber snakes...a massive nacimiento, a robotic santa server, a miniature santa's village, some super kitsch ashtrays shaped liked dogs...and all shared with a dozen fish, birds, cats, 5 dogs, a snake & a hamster
we busted up a beautiful foil and paper covered, star shaped pinata filled with peanuts, tangerines, jocotes, sugar cane and lollipops...hoisted on a rope by the host juanito standing on the garden wall. one of our english teacher friends crouched in the corner trying to get action shots as everyone else stepped way back
"Extranjero !" several nodded in unision- piñata bashing can be a very dangerous- its considered an extreme sport in these parts! everyone lunged for the candy i collected fruit and stuffed my pockets with peanuts.
Later we were invited back into the house by juanito´s mother for la cena- the dinner. We didn't even have to sing. I was impressed with the meal- tuna with tomatoes, olives and herba ans a sort of fettucine with sliced ham, served with fresh bollios. I think the festive napkins and green plastic plates probably cost more- I love that!
we drank more tequila and squirt or coke and chelas and our collective focus turned to the music while my personal focus turned to the amazing flan that la señora served.
oh my god, when did i start loving flan?
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