This past week events in Guadalajara Centro have been described as surreal and while they may seem that way I would say they are more magical capturing the hearts and minds of over 3 million citizens.
Last Monday a wall “fell from heaven” embedding it’s self into the cobblestone street in front of the Teatro Degollado. The wall was painted with a mural similar to one by Diego Rivera telling the history of Mexico, but this mural included another story complete with giants.
Later on Tuesday the giants began to arrive in the city when a large block of ice containing the dog “El Xolo” appeared in the Plaza Santuario. Thursday evening riding into town on a bus from Morales was the “La Pequena Gigante” (Little Giant).
It was all produced by Royal de Luxe Company of France and was part of the ongoing celebrations of Mexican Independence and the Mexican Revolution.
The Little Giant was here to reunite with her uncle “El Campesino”. The legend on the wall tells how “El Campesino” heard Miguel Hidalgos’ cry for independence. But when he appeared before the rebel forces they feared he would kill Hidalgo and buried him in a hidden sarcophagus. Two centuries later “La Pequena Gigante” along with her dog "Xolo" are reunited with “El Campesino”
Before leaving town on Friday afternoon we were able to see where “La Pequena Gigante” had slept through the night after arriving in town and causing an accident that left vehicles overturned.
When we arrived around 1:3pm she was laying in the street snoring loudly. Many blocks down Avenida Alcade her dog “Xolo” was awake and ready to make the run to find his mistress and begin their journey together.
The two of them would stroll through town until they came upon the wall and the story it told of Mexico and "La Pequena Gigantes'" Uncle. That night they would sleep in front of the Teatro Degollda then go off in search of the sarcophagus containing “El Campesino” the next day.
The story and events pull you in as the giant marionettes come to life. And come to life they do, truly seeming alive through their actions and facial expressions complete with blinking eyes. When “Xolo” ran down the street he really ran, as any dog would looking for his mistress. And when he found “La Pequena Gigante” asleep he started to nudge her and lick her like a real dog would as if saying “ come on, get up, let’s go”.
When the claim is made that the events were surreal it had as much to do with the mass of people attending and the fact that many major streets that are always congested with traffic were going to be closed for days. And then to watch as “Xolo” woke from his block of ice and started to make his way to “La Pequena Gigante” breaking into a run as he got closer with thousands of people chasing in pursuit. All five of us included. It was the magic that pulled you in and you just felt you needed to be a part of the giants’ story.
Please check out YouTube for more videos of the Giants adventures in Guadalajara.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Original Introduction - Bienvenidos “Postcard From Mexico”
Bienvenidos to my blog “Postcard From Mexico”
It’s not that I feel my life is that interesting; It’s just that I live in a very interesting world.
Shortly after moving to Mexico I began to find that everyday brought new adventures, sometimes challenges depending on your outlook. Adventures from having the car chased down by a guard ostrich to getting a cell phone – it’s a whole different world from what I was used to in Omaha, Nebraska.
In keeping touch with folks I found that I was sharing many of these adventures and people were looking forward to hearing more about this new world of mine. My Sincere Thanks to all for the feedback and encouragement to write this blog.
At the start of this project I investigated a lot of what the web had to offer for blogs on Mexico.
The majority of the blogs seem to be News related – in the beginning this will be left to the professionals – unless of course I am the news.
There are many blogs on Food – we eat eggs right from the chicken and drink milk warm from the cow, having been in the food business there will be much to share on the food.
There is any number of Travel blogs – one did nothing but complain about the weather. I will try harder. To be honest there is so much to experience when you get out and see the country and get away from the typical tourist areas. So there will be no reviews about the odious Senor Frogs in Puerto Vallarta but there will be stories like waking up on my 48th birthday in the beautiful mountain town of Talpa situated deep down in the valley.
And finally there are the “How To” blogs with information on how to live, get a drivers license, get a visa etc…. – Honestly would you want advice from me??? I drove here, 1,800 miles in my 1991 Ford Bronco and after being here for almost two months I still don’t speak Spanish and I have no official papers. The best advice I can give you goes for life in general, be patient, relax and enjoy the moments.
So I hope you enjoy what this interesting world of Mexico has to offer. Comments are encouraged and questions will be answered if possible.
It’s not that I feel my life is that interesting; It’s just that I live in a very interesting world.
Shortly after moving to Mexico I began to find that everyday brought new adventures, sometimes challenges depending on your outlook. Adventures from having the car chased down by a guard ostrich to getting a cell phone – it’s a whole different world from what I was used to in Omaha, Nebraska.
In keeping touch with folks I found that I was sharing many of these adventures and people were looking forward to hearing more about this new world of mine. My Sincere Thanks to all for the feedback and encouragement to write this blog.
At the start of this project I investigated a lot of what the web had to offer for blogs on Mexico.
The majority of the blogs seem to be News related – in the beginning this will be left to the professionals – unless of course I am the news.
There are many blogs on Food – we eat eggs right from the chicken and drink milk warm from the cow, having been in the food business there will be much to share on the food.
There is any number of Travel blogs – one did nothing but complain about the weather. I will try harder. To be honest there is so much to experience when you get out and see the country and get away from the typical tourist areas. So there will be no reviews about the odious Senor Frogs in Puerto Vallarta but there will be stories like waking up on my 48th birthday in the beautiful mountain town of Talpa situated deep down in the valley.
And finally there are the “How To” blogs with information on how to live, get a drivers license, get a visa etc…. – Honestly would you want advice from me??? I drove here, 1,800 miles in my 1991 Ford Bronco and after being here for almost two months I still don’t speak Spanish and I have no official papers. The best advice I can give you goes for life in general, be patient, relax and enjoy the moments.
So I hope you enjoy what this interesting world of Mexico has to offer. Comments are encouraged and questions will be answered if possible.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Updates and Miscellaneous Stuff
Spanish 101
I am really excited to say that I have enrolled and started Spanish classes at Instituto Cultural Mexicano Norteamericano de Jalisico here in Guadalajara. Have now had my third day and am very surprised at how much I do know but never put to use. On the other hand there is some anxiety at how much we are being taught each day but the class is small with only one other student; a young lady from Germany. The conversation group which meets before class is a really fun mix of people with one person each from Moscow, Seattle, Tehran, The Philippines and Turkey. I guess I figured it would all be people like me. They all have a very good understanding of English and a jump on Spanish which does make me feel a bit out of sorts but it is going to be fun learning about their lives. I did spend a good amount of time investigating schools for Spanish and found most to have an inflated cost with no clear explanation of their curriculum. This school operates as a non-profit and is the original English Language School in the city
Santa – Is That You ???
So last week after registering for school I walked over to the park at Juarez to wait for my ride. I am sitting on a bench enjoying the sun and just watching people go about their business. Guadalajara is an extremely diverse city and you are able to witness folks from all walks of life at any given point. One rather dapper looking gentleman is sitting on a bench catty corner to me combing his thick white mane and beard. Picture in your mind what Santa Claus would look like if he was homeless, sitting on a park bench surrounded by garbage bags containing all his worldly belongings. After grooming his beard and parting his hair for a good half hour Santa starts to change from what I have to assume were his sleeping cloths, sweat pants and slippers to short pants and sandals. He goes about this business as any of us would in the privacy of our own homes, putting down a bath mat so his feet don’t touch the pavement when he changes his shoes and pants, neatly folding his sweat pants and placing them in a bag then using a separate bag for his slippers, everything has its place.
Now before I go any further let me tell you that this park is busy, it is the entrance for the main subway station in Guadalajara and there are people everywhere. Not twenty feet from Santa there is a large group of teenagers messing about. Every park bench is full of people and fifty feet away is where the city has a station set up to rent bikes. This is actually an ugly, inner city park but it is getting cleaned up and besides all the commuters there is a multitude of people working, laying sod, putting in plants, trimming trees and watering.
Santa now has his sleeping cloths put away and walks to a tree directly behind my bench, drops his shorts, squats with his back to the tree and takes a dump. In front of God and everyone.
All I can do is laugh out loud – who would’ve thought. There is a car with a young couple parked in front of me watching all this go on and the girl is just screaming with laughter. That’s when it hits; the smell is so horrific that I make a run for the corner.
But Santa, he just goes about his business then heads back to change his cloths once again, polo shirt, jeans and loafers. He looked like anybody else in the park.
This experience made me wonder about whom the park really belonged to. Santa was certainly homeless but he sure felt at home and oblivious to the hundreds of people around him.
La Cantina Fuente
Speaking of the diversity of Guadalajara my absolute favorite place to stop for a drink either before or after an event in Guadalajara Centro is La Cantina Fuente otherwise known as La Biciclete. It is located off the main plaza behind the Cathedral in a building that was a convent a few hundred years back. It is a cavernous place with forty foot ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and has been in operation since the 20’s. The staff is not the friendliest but the atmosphere is incredible and it was a frequent hangout for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. You see folks from all walks of life at La Fuente, on the few visits I have been there you start to recognize the regulars, the man we call the poet with his black hat, black vest and red shirt, the elderly man who walked up to me complaining about the place and the fact that he has been frequenting the establishment for 18 years, and the business man who sings absolutely every song. When the piano player starts to play up on his raised platform in the middle of the room everyone sings. You just have to experience this place where on any given night hundreds of folks, young, old, male, female, rich, poor, gay and straight join in song together. My experience has taught me that there are songs that are embedded in the Mexican psyche and when they are played you sing. La Fuente is called La Biciclete for the old bicycle that hangs above the bar covered with the dust, dirt and grime of the ages.
Tequila
In a previous posting I had stated that the city of Arandas was the Tequila Capital of the world. After a recent business trip to the town of Tequila, yes it was for business and yes there is a town named Tequila, it became quite obvious that Tequila is the true home of tequila and not Arandas. From the enormous Jose Cuervo and Sauza factories to the museums and just the culture that you feel there, this is the home of Tequila. It is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and reached by a curving, very scenic highway from Guadalajara.
Photos from Mezquitan
We spent Sunday afternoon at the Mezquitan Cemetary and a few of the over 200 shots are posted here today. The cemetery takes up an enormous amount of land and is visually overwhelming when you walk through. You find yourself continually saying “look at that” “look at that” until you get separated from your group who can be just a few feet away but not know your whereabouts. Even with all decay and caution tape strung up around collapsing tombs Mezquitan is a beautiful, fascinating and peaceful place to spend the afternoon. They also do late night tours - scary !!!
I am really excited to say that I have enrolled and started Spanish classes at Instituto Cultural Mexicano Norteamericano de Jalisico here in Guadalajara. Have now had my third day and am very surprised at how much I do know but never put to use. On the other hand there is some anxiety at how much we are being taught each day but the class is small with only one other student; a young lady from Germany. The conversation group which meets before class is a really fun mix of people with one person each from Moscow, Seattle, Tehran, The Philippines and Turkey. I guess I figured it would all be people like me. They all have a very good understanding of English and a jump on Spanish which does make me feel a bit out of sorts but it is going to be fun learning about their lives. I did spend a good amount of time investigating schools for Spanish and found most to have an inflated cost with no clear explanation of their curriculum. This school operates as a non-profit and is the original English Language School in the city
Santa – Is That You ???
So last week after registering for school I walked over to the park at Juarez to wait for my ride. I am sitting on a bench enjoying the sun and just watching people go about their business. Guadalajara is an extremely diverse city and you are able to witness folks from all walks of life at any given point. One rather dapper looking gentleman is sitting on a bench catty corner to me combing his thick white mane and beard. Picture in your mind what Santa Claus would look like if he was homeless, sitting on a park bench surrounded by garbage bags containing all his worldly belongings. After grooming his beard and parting his hair for a good half hour Santa starts to change from what I have to assume were his sleeping cloths, sweat pants and slippers to short pants and sandals. He goes about this business as any of us would in the privacy of our own homes, putting down a bath mat so his feet don’t touch the pavement when he changes his shoes and pants, neatly folding his sweat pants and placing them in a bag then using a separate bag for his slippers, everything has its place.
Now before I go any further let me tell you that this park is busy, it is the entrance for the main subway station in Guadalajara and there are people everywhere. Not twenty feet from Santa there is a large group of teenagers messing about. Every park bench is full of people and fifty feet away is where the city has a station set up to rent bikes. This is actually an ugly, inner city park but it is getting cleaned up and besides all the commuters there is a multitude of people working, laying sod, putting in plants, trimming trees and watering.
Santa now has his sleeping cloths put away and walks to a tree directly behind my bench, drops his shorts, squats with his back to the tree and takes a dump. In front of God and everyone.
All I can do is laugh out loud – who would’ve thought. There is a car with a young couple parked in front of me watching all this go on and the girl is just screaming with laughter. That’s when it hits; the smell is so horrific that I make a run for the corner.
But Santa, he just goes about his business then heads back to change his cloths once again, polo shirt, jeans and loafers. He looked like anybody else in the park.
This experience made me wonder about whom the park really belonged to. Santa was certainly homeless but he sure felt at home and oblivious to the hundreds of people around him.
La Cantina Fuente
Speaking of the diversity of Guadalajara my absolute favorite place to stop for a drink either before or after an event in Guadalajara Centro is La Cantina Fuente otherwise known as La Biciclete. It is located off the main plaza behind the Cathedral in a building that was a convent a few hundred years back. It is a cavernous place with forty foot ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and has been in operation since the 20’s. The staff is not the friendliest but the atmosphere is incredible and it was a frequent hangout for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. You see folks from all walks of life at La Fuente, on the few visits I have been there you start to recognize the regulars, the man we call the poet with his black hat, black vest and red shirt, the elderly man who walked up to me complaining about the place and the fact that he has been frequenting the establishment for 18 years, and the business man who sings absolutely every song. When the piano player starts to play up on his raised platform in the middle of the room everyone sings. You just have to experience this place where on any given night hundreds of folks, young, old, male, female, rich, poor, gay and straight join in song together. My experience has taught me that there are songs that are embedded in the Mexican psyche and when they are played you sing. La Fuente is called La Biciclete for the old bicycle that hangs above the bar covered with the dust, dirt and grime of the ages.
Tequila
In a previous posting I had stated that the city of Arandas was the Tequila Capital of the world. After a recent business trip to the town of Tequila, yes it was for business and yes there is a town named Tequila, it became quite obvious that Tequila is the true home of tequila and not Arandas. From the enormous Jose Cuervo and Sauza factories to the museums and just the culture that you feel there, this is the home of Tequila. It is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and reached by a curving, very scenic highway from Guadalajara.
Photos from Mezquitan
We spent Sunday afternoon at the Mezquitan Cemetary and a few of the over 200 shots are posted here today. The cemetery takes up an enormous amount of land and is visually overwhelming when you walk through. You find yourself continually saying “look at that” “look at that” until you get separated from your group who can be just a few feet away but not know your whereabouts. Even with all decay and caution tape strung up around collapsing tombs Mezquitan is a beautiful, fascinating and peaceful place to spend the afternoon. They also do late night tours - scary !!!
Where Have I Been ???
After returning to Omaha for an extended stay this past month I am now back home to Mexico and ready to share more stories and experiences.
Also during this time I have been settling into a new apartment in Guadalajara where I will be spending most of my time with frequent weekend trips back to San Diego de Alejandria.
Most of the experiences I’ve written about so far have centered around life in the Mexican countryside. Living in Guadalajara will bring a different perspective to the stories I share. While Guadalajara is a huge city, with a population of around five million in the combined metropolitan area for some reason it never feels that big.
Thank You for checking in on the blog during my absence and please look for more stories and experiences to be posted every Monday.
Also during this time I have been settling into a new apartment in Guadalajara where I will be spending most of my time with frequent weekend trips back to San Diego de Alejandria.
Most of the experiences I’ve written about so far have centered around life in the Mexican countryside. Living in Guadalajara will bring a different perspective to the stories I share. While Guadalajara is a huge city, with a population of around five million in the combined metropolitan area for some reason it never feels that big.
Thank You for checking in on the blog during my absence and please look for more stories and experiences to be posted every Monday.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
“Fast Food” Mexican Style
posted from Guadalajara
When I was back visiting Omaha in September I spent many enjoyable times eating out with family and friends. One evening I remarked to my Mom”let’s just go someplace easy”. Someplace you can just stop, get your food, have it be great, no hassle with waiting for service or overwhelmed by menu choices and portions – just easy. When I say “Fast Food” Mexican Style I am not talking about McDonalds, KFC or Burger Rey of which there are plenty here in Guadalajara, but what I am talking about are the street vendors. Living in Mexico I have come to enjoy the food and variety offered by what I used to think of as sketchy street vendors. They are fast, the food is great and usually pretty good for you since it’s not that removed from its natural state.
Around 7pm a few nights back there was of course no food of any consequence in the apartment. So we walked outside and hit the streets. My Godparents should they ever visit will be happy to know that there is a McDonalds just three blocks from the apartment. They are huge fans of McDonalds starting everyday there and knowing where every “lovely” McDonalds is located along their travels in the States and Canada. But we didn’t go to McDonalds; in fact I haven’t had that type of fast food for almost a year now. That night we found just a couple of blocks away from the apartment a guy selling tacos – and they were great !!! After awhile you learn that it is not so much the meat that’s in the taco but the salsas that the vendor prepares that sets them apart. Unlike what we are used to with Pace Picante in the States which is tomato based most salsas here are pepper based. Now that doesn’t mean they are 5 alarm hot it just means they have flavor. As we are standing there that night eating our dinner with the traffic whizzing by, not 20 feet away the next taco stand is setting up for the night’s business. Nothing fancy but it was filling, it was easy and it was cheap.
When in Guadalajara many nights on the way home we end up at DOGOS just off the Minerva roundabout. I have never ever been a fan of hot dogs but I have to tell you these are addictive. You get two skinny dogs on a Wonder bun but they are topped with onions, mustard, pickle relish, tomatoes and cream. Yes, cream – who would have thought. They are a mess to eat but like I said they are addictive and the place is always hopping.
Another place in Guadalajara I like to frequent is the “Happy Fish” (the name is in English) which takes up a couple of storefronts and has a prep kitchen on the second floor but they still serve you out on the sidewalk. Every time I’ve been there the “Happy Fish” is busy serving up their fish and shrimp tacos. It was here after trying to order a bottle of water that I ended up having freshly made rice milk for the first time – love it. But it’s the condiment station that really rocks with it’s variety of salsas, peppered onions, cole slaws, cucumber slices, shredded cabbage and more. You order two tacos, 1 fish, 1 shrimp and it’s like getting a free salad bar. You know again it’s fast, it’s easy, it’s great food and it’s so inexpensive.
Beware though; all tacos are not the same. It is a good idea to ask how large they are when ordering. Recently while passing through Tepatitlan the tortillas were maybe 3 inches in diameter with a teaspoon of filling while two days later in Aguascalientes the tortilla for the quesadilla was a good 6 to 7 inches and just packed full. Both places were selling for basically the same price.
The first time I truly embraced food from a street vendor was in Santa Rita. The family I am with has a 96 year old friend and one Sunday we took her back to visit her hometown of Santa Rita, a place she hadn’t been to for over sixty years.
While she was visiting with the daughters of a friend who had passed on we walked to the town square. It was there I ate roasted potatoes with chopped up hot dog and chili sauce out of a baggie and couldn’t get enough. Then there was the shredded vegetable and fruit parfait. Shredded beets, mango, zucchini and cucumber with chili powder sprinkled on top. The fruit and veggies were fresh and flavorful but the juice they made with the chili powder was just as tasty. That trip to Santa Rita changed my whole way of thinking about “street food” and led me to be more adventurous and appreciative.
Vendors come in all varieties and it seems you can find almost anything to eat. The part I really like is that the food is all fresh. Outside the apartment in Guadalajara there is a vendor that sets up shop every afternoon selling fruit parfaits with chunked fruit. Everywhere you go there is an ice cream vendor and the ice cream is always homemade. On a recent visit to Talaquepaque we had to search out the ice cream store after seeing a family walk by with their cones. Now it was a Saturday afternoon and it was time for a michelada (red beer with lime and salsa) but we opted for ice cream instead, that’s how inviting it looked. Anyway while they were dishing up our cones we were watching the guy behind the counter mixing up the ice cream by hand with a large paddle. There are the fried banana vendors and the potato chip vendors. Many times while visiting the paint store we would see the chip vendor leaving for the day pushing his cart loaded with fresh homemade chips out onto the street to start selling.
Shaved ice is another option with a wide variety of fresh toppings like pecan, mango, raspberry, kiwi, coffee an eggnog like concoction and at least a dozen total.
On the plazas of Guadalajara Centro there are the vendors that sell steamed veggies where you can get cups or plates of steamed corn, broccoli, beets and cactus. You can either get a variety or tell them what you want like more corn and less beets. Then its topped with crumbled cheese and of course salsa. On a chilly evening it’s a treat to eat the warm veggies and then slurp down the juices.
Then of course there is chicharon – which I will surely never, ever be a fan of. Chicharon comes in two basic forms from what I can tell. Fried with the texture of styrofoam or pickled with the texture of slimy rubber. It seems that everyone I meet loves their chicharon and eats it smothered with tomatoes, onions and of course slasa. I did sample the chicharon ice cream in Dolores Hidalgo thinking that it would have the flavor but not the texture – the face I made and the gagging that followed had everyone laughing for days. The flavor is not so bad it’s the texture that gets to me and the ice cream had actual chicharon ground up in it. And in case you didn’t know chicharon is pig skin. Mmmmmm.
Ears of corn roasted or steamed and then brushed with cream and sprinkled with chili powder – WOW. At the height of the corn season there was a truck that would cruise around San Diego de Alejandria with loud speakers mounted to the roof announcing he had elote for sale. Selling fresh steamed corn out of the back of his truck this guy was driving around town for weeks.
Now the neatest vendor set up I just encountered last weekend while writing this story – the sweet potato man. He pushes a cart with a wood fire oven burning, roasting the sweet potatoes in their own natural sugars till they are soft and golden brown, slightly crisped from the oven. What makes the whole thing so cool is that when the steam builds up enough in the oven the exhaust chimney on the cart will go off like a train whistle. This is how the sweet potato man announces that he is on your street corner.
Now I spent my working life dealing with food, owning restaurants, a wholesale bakery, catering service and completing my career in a hospital food service. Hospital foodservice is a place where sanitation standards are greatly enforced because like a wise man once told me – these people are already sick, you don’t want to be responsible for making them worse. There are a lot of rules for safe food handling in the States but what I see with all these vendors is that they, with their buckets of clean water just use common sense and do what’s right. I once had this crazy business partner and one night he found a container of moldy mushrooms on the cooks’ line. At which point he started to pull everything from the coolers throwing the contents on the floor. At the end of his tirade he was sitting on the floor crying that we were going to poison our guests. Now no one in their right mind would have served those mushrooms and I relate this story to the street vendors and how they do what’s best to keep their business alive. In all my travels to Mexico I have only had food poisoning once and that was after eating in a restaurant, and we decided that it was from the manufactured, bottled salsa. There were three of us eating that day, we all had the same thing to eat, and each of us was sick and was sick to the amount of salsa we had used.
“Fast Food” isn’t limited to the streets though, for more of a restaurant, sit down service type atmosphere in Guadalajara there is Karne Girbaldi. Karne Girbaldi is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the fastest service in the world. And seriously within five minutes of sitting down we had our entrees before us. As we approached our table the waiters were already converging with tortilla chips and a refried bean dip that you can’t stop eating. Its refried beans, hominy, chili’s and it’s all cooked up with bacon grease – what could be better. You know it might have taken us longer, just by a second, to get our drinks than it did our food.
So be adventurous, there is a lot of good food out there to be enjoyed.
When I was back visiting Omaha in September I spent many enjoyable times eating out with family and friends. One evening I remarked to my Mom”let’s just go someplace easy”. Someplace you can just stop, get your food, have it be great, no hassle with waiting for service or overwhelmed by menu choices and portions – just easy. When I say “Fast Food” Mexican Style I am not talking about McDonalds, KFC or Burger Rey of which there are plenty here in Guadalajara, but what I am talking about are the street vendors. Living in Mexico I have come to enjoy the food and variety offered by what I used to think of as sketchy street vendors. They are fast, the food is great and usually pretty good for you since it’s not that removed from its natural state.
Around 7pm a few nights back there was of course no food of any consequence in the apartment. So we walked outside and hit the streets. My Godparents should they ever visit will be happy to know that there is a McDonalds just three blocks from the apartment. They are huge fans of McDonalds starting everyday there and knowing where every “lovely” McDonalds is located along their travels in the States and Canada. But we didn’t go to McDonalds; in fact I haven’t had that type of fast food for almost a year now. That night we found just a couple of blocks away from the apartment a guy selling tacos – and they were great !!! After awhile you learn that it is not so much the meat that’s in the taco but the salsas that the vendor prepares that sets them apart. Unlike what we are used to with Pace Picante in the States which is tomato based most salsas here are pepper based. Now that doesn’t mean they are 5 alarm hot it just means they have flavor. As we are standing there that night eating our dinner with the traffic whizzing by, not 20 feet away the next taco stand is setting up for the night’s business. Nothing fancy but it was filling, it was easy and it was cheap.
When in Guadalajara many nights on the way home we end up at DOGOS just off the Minerva roundabout. I have never ever been a fan of hot dogs but I have to tell you these are addictive. You get two skinny dogs on a Wonder bun but they are topped with onions, mustard, pickle relish, tomatoes and cream. Yes, cream – who would have thought. They are a mess to eat but like I said they are addictive and the place is always hopping.
Another place in Guadalajara I like to frequent is the “Happy Fish” (the name is in English) which takes up a couple of storefronts and has a prep kitchen on the second floor but they still serve you out on the sidewalk. Every time I’ve been there the “Happy Fish” is busy serving up their fish and shrimp tacos. It was here after trying to order a bottle of water that I ended up having freshly made rice milk for the first time – love it. But it’s the condiment station that really rocks with it’s variety of salsas, peppered onions, cole slaws, cucumber slices, shredded cabbage and more. You order two tacos, 1 fish, 1 shrimp and it’s like getting a free salad bar. You know again it’s fast, it’s easy, it’s great food and it’s so inexpensive.
Beware though; all tacos are not the same. It is a good idea to ask how large they are when ordering. Recently while passing through Tepatitlan the tortillas were maybe 3 inches in diameter with a teaspoon of filling while two days later in Aguascalientes the tortilla for the quesadilla was a good 6 to 7 inches and just packed full. Both places were selling for basically the same price.
The first time I truly embraced food from a street vendor was in Santa Rita. The family I am with has a 96 year old friend and one Sunday we took her back to visit her hometown of Santa Rita, a place she hadn’t been to for over sixty years.
While she was visiting with the daughters of a friend who had passed on we walked to the town square. It was there I ate roasted potatoes with chopped up hot dog and chili sauce out of a baggie and couldn’t get enough. Then there was the shredded vegetable and fruit parfait. Shredded beets, mango, zucchini and cucumber with chili powder sprinkled on top. The fruit and veggies were fresh and flavorful but the juice they made with the chili powder was just as tasty. That trip to Santa Rita changed my whole way of thinking about “street food” and led me to be more adventurous and appreciative.
Vendors come in all varieties and it seems you can find almost anything to eat. The part I really like is that the food is all fresh. Outside the apartment in Guadalajara there is a vendor that sets up shop every afternoon selling fruit parfaits with chunked fruit. Everywhere you go there is an ice cream vendor and the ice cream is always homemade. On a recent visit to Talaquepaque we had to search out the ice cream store after seeing a family walk by with their cones. Now it was a Saturday afternoon and it was time for a michelada (red beer with lime and salsa) but we opted for ice cream instead, that’s how inviting it looked. Anyway while they were dishing up our cones we were watching the guy behind the counter mixing up the ice cream by hand with a large paddle. There are the fried banana vendors and the potato chip vendors. Many times while visiting the paint store we would see the chip vendor leaving for the day pushing his cart loaded with fresh homemade chips out onto the street to start selling.
Shaved ice is another option with a wide variety of fresh toppings like pecan, mango, raspberry, kiwi, coffee an eggnog like concoction and at least a dozen total.
On the plazas of Guadalajara Centro there are the vendors that sell steamed veggies where you can get cups or plates of steamed corn, broccoli, beets and cactus. You can either get a variety or tell them what you want like more corn and less beets. Then its topped with crumbled cheese and of course salsa. On a chilly evening it’s a treat to eat the warm veggies and then slurp down the juices.
Then of course there is chicharon – which I will surely never, ever be a fan of. Chicharon comes in two basic forms from what I can tell. Fried with the texture of styrofoam or pickled with the texture of slimy rubber. It seems that everyone I meet loves their chicharon and eats it smothered with tomatoes, onions and of course slasa. I did sample the chicharon ice cream in Dolores Hidalgo thinking that it would have the flavor but not the texture – the face I made and the gagging that followed had everyone laughing for days. The flavor is not so bad it’s the texture that gets to me and the ice cream had actual chicharon ground up in it. And in case you didn’t know chicharon is pig skin. Mmmmmm.
Ears of corn roasted or steamed and then brushed with cream and sprinkled with chili powder – WOW. At the height of the corn season there was a truck that would cruise around San Diego de Alejandria with loud speakers mounted to the roof announcing he had elote for sale. Selling fresh steamed corn out of the back of his truck this guy was driving around town for weeks.
Now the neatest vendor set up I just encountered last weekend while writing this story – the sweet potato man. He pushes a cart with a wood fire oven burning, roasting the sweet potatoes in their own natural sugars till they are soft and golden brown, slightly crisped from the oven. What makes the whole thing so cool is that when the steam builds up enough in the oven the exhaust chimney on the cart will go off like a train whistle. This is how the sweet potato man announces that he is on your street corner.
Now I spent my working life dealing with food, owning restaurants, a wholesale bakery, catering service and completing my career in a hospital food service. Hospital foodservice is a place where sanitation standards are greatly enforced because like a wise man once told me – these people are already sick, you don’t want to be responsible for making them worse. There are a lot of rules for safe food handling in the States but what I see with all these vendors is that they, with their buckets of clean water just use common sense and do what’s right. I once had this crazy business partner and one night he found a container of moldy mushrooms on the cooks’ line. At which point he started to pull everything from the coolers throwing the contents on the floor. At the end of his tirade he was sitting on the floor crying that we were going to poison our guests. Now no one in their right mind would have served those mushrooms and I relate this story to the street vendors and how they do what’s best to keep their business alive. In all my travels to Mexico I have only had food poisoning once and that was after eating in a restaurant, and we decided that it was from the manufactured, bottled salsa. There were three of us eating that day, we all had the same thing to eat, and each of us was sick and was sick to the amount of salsa we had used.
“Fast Food” isn’t limited to the streets though, for more of a restaurant, sit down service type atmosphere in Guadalajara there is Karne Girbaldi. Karne Girbaldi is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the fastest service in the world. And seriously within five minutes of sitting down we had our entrees before us. As we approached our table the waiters were already converging with tortilla chips and a refried bean dip that you can’t stop eating. Its refried beans, hominy, chili’s and it’s all cooked up with bacon grease – what could be better. You know it might have taken us longer, just by a second, to get our drinks than it did our food.
So be adventurous, there is a lot of good food out there to be enjoyed.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Guanajuato - Festival Internacional Cervantino
Festival Internacional Cervantino 2010
Guanajuato
One of my favorite cities in Mexico is most certainly Guanajuato (GTO), a UNESCO World Heritage City. GTO has been a major player in the history of Mexico, located in the mountains; the city gained its wealth and power from the many silver mines in the area.
On my first visit a couple of years ago we had traveled across the sierra and approached the city from the countryside. We passed many of the now abandoned mines on the way, but true to the Mexican way of doing business we were able to tour one that was closed to the public. By tipping the caretaker 50 pesos at the main gate, then going around to a side entrance we were able to take a private tour. Not sure how long it had been closed down but the equipment still seemed to be in place and the grounds mostly maintained. The layout was that of a crown. The open shaft, we threw rocks down, and waited an eternity to hear hit bottom was located in the center. The walls surrounding the shaft and work areas were peaked at intervals to represent the points of the royal crown.
On that trip we made our way down into the city which I can only describe as medieval. GTO is built into the mountains with buildings stacked one upon the other. The streets are narrow meandering and steep. Then there are the tunnels. The tunnels just plain fascinate me. The city was originally built over a river, which flowed through tunnels underneath. However, after years of raising buildings to accommodate repeated flooding engineers built a dam and redirected the river into underground caverns. The tunnels were then lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic and parking. The underground roads carry the majority of cars driving through the city today and are just fun to explore.
GTO is a city where the history of Mexico is alive in every stone. The Alhóndiga de Granaditas, what was originally the public granary and now a museum figures largely in Mexican history. When Miguel Hidalgo's insurgent troops threatened to take over the city in October 1810 at the start of the Mexican War of Independence some 500 rich crillos took refuge inside the fortress like walls of the Alhóndiga. In the caste system of what was New Spain the crillos were those of pure Spanish descent born in the New World and viewed as the oppressors of the native people and those of mixed race. When the Alhóndiga was finally stormed all 500 were massacred and the city was pillaged.
Eventually the first insurgents of the revolution fell and the four main leaders — Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, and José Mariano Jiménez were beheaded. Their heads were hung from the four corners of the Alhóndiga in metal cages to discourage other independence movements. Their heads would remain hanging there for ten years, until Mexico achieved its independence.
Guanajuato is the site each year of Festival Internacional Cervantino, started in 1972, a festival of performing arts and culture celebrating the works of Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quijote). The festival takes place in October over the course of three weeks and features world-class performances by international and Mexican artists, in music, dance, theater, visual arts, and street-performance. Every year the festival invites a country of honor, as well as a specific Mexican state. This year the honors going to Argentina, Chile and Columbia with Mexico being represented by the states of Queretaro, Michoacan and Chihuahua
Upon entering the city that Saturday night I was immediately astounded by the throngs of people. The few streets that were open to cars were packed with people and parking was nonexistent. Eventually finding a place to park we started to walk back to the main part of the festival, with the great big giant October harvest moon sitting on the mountain above the city. Again I was struck with the incredible mass of people as we walked down the narrow streets which with the tall buildings on each side only seemed to magnify the crowd. Being it was a Saturday night the place had the feel more of Mardi Gras than a cultural arts experience. But the very visible police presence and the ban on drinking in the streets kept the crowd in order while still being extremely festive.
There were street performances of all types, the first we came upon were the leather clad, silver studded mythical fighters of the Zena, Warrior Princess genre. They had spent a lot of time and money on their uniforms and weapons but had failed to polish their lethargic routine. When broadswords are clashing in sparks of metal upon metal and it makes you giggle something has gone wrong.
The belly dancers up the street weren't bad though.
Then there was the Asian fellow with his computerized, digitzed, electronic combination flute and keyboard thingy that was putting out a very loud, hypnotic, techno sound with pyshedelic images projecting on the trees surrounding the gazebo where he was performing. To show what a diverse crowd is at Cervantino here is a guy playing this new age trance electronica and you have the old school mariachis sitting on the benches in their traditional uniforms watching him perform. And on the corner is a group playing Banda music for the crowd and across the street the traditional Cervantino musicians are performing their act.
A couple in another plaza were signing beautiful love songs with each other in an operatic style while down the street from them the homeless were performing. The homeless were outstanding. They were well put together, well played, full of energy, extremely fun and had the crowd going.
Next to the main theatre of Guanajuato, the Teatro Juarez, there is the Church of San Diego. This is where the various competing goups that were the traditional entertainers of Cervantino start their shows and lead their audience up through the winding “streets” of the city. I say “streets” because in many cases the street is nothing more than a sidewalk, or a flight of stairs and sometimes so narrow that you can pass through only by single file. I have always thought it would be terrific to live in GTO but wonder just how do you get your furniture to your house and where do you park your car.
Before we began our journey with these strolling troubadours we could see the giant stone statue of El Pípila illuminated on the hill above the church. Pípila was so named because of a birth defect that caused him to walk like a pipila or hen turkey. At the beginning of the War for Independance when the Spanish had barricaded themselves inside the Alhóndiga against the insurgents it was Pípila, an unlikely hero who made it possible to breach the entrance. With a long, flat stone tied on his back to protect him from the rock and gun fire of the Spanish troops above, Pípila carried tar and a torch to the door of the Alhóndiga and set it on fire, burning it down and allowing the insurgents entry.
That night the Cervatino group we were following would stop and play songs, tell jokes and point out the sites as we made our way up the city. Tradition was that they would stop below the balcony of their true love and sing until the young lady would appear. Guanajuato is a most enchanting city at night with the lights of the University, the Cathedral and numerous churches, homes and streets. That night the full harvest moon sitting above the city in the clear sky made it even more beautiful and you could almost imagine you had traveled back some four or five hundred years.
We had arrived around 19:30 and left GTO at 2 in the morning, as we left the party had settled down but was still going strong with most of the businesses remaining open. Considering the mass of people most shops were doing a brisk business but we had taken advantage of the free entertainment and had done very little to support the economy aside from paying for parking. That is something I have learned about Mexico there seems to be free entertainment where ever you go and usually you have a variety of choices. Lasting three weeks and with over 2,000 artists participating I know this was just a glimpse of what Festival Cervantino has to offer. Not sure if we’ll make it back this year but it is certainly on the calendar for next October.
Guanajuato
One of my favorite cities in Mexico is most certainly Guanajuato (GTO), a UNESCO World Heritage City. GTO has been a major player in the history of Mexico, located in the mountains; the city gained its wealth and power from the many silver mines in the area.
On my first visit a couple of years ago we had traveled across the sierra and approached the city from the countryside. We passed many of the now abandoned mines on the way, but true to the Mexican way of doing business we were able to tour one that was closed to the public. By tipping the caretaker 50 pesos at the main gate, then going around to a side entrance we were able to take a private tour. Not sure how long it had been closed down but the equipment still seemed to be in place and the grounds mostly maintained. The layout was that of a crown. The open shaft, we threw rocks down, and waited an eternity to hear hit bottom was located in the center. The walls surrounding the shaft and work areas were peaked at intervals to represent the points of the royal crown.
On that trip we made our way down into the city which I can only describe as medieval. GTO is built into the mountains with buildings stacked one upon the other. The streets are narrow meandering and steep. Then there are the tunnels. The tunnels just plain fascinate me. The city was originally built over a river, which flowed through tunnels underneath. However, after years of raising buildings to accommodate repeated flooding engineers built a dam and redirected the river into underground caverns. The tunnels were then lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic and parking. The underground roads carry the majority of cars driving through the city today and are just fun to explore.
GTO is a city where the history of Mexico is alive in every stone. The Alhóndiga de Granaditas, what was originally the public granary and now a museum figures largely in Mexican history. When Miguel Hidalgo's insurgent troops threatened to take over the city in October 1810 at the start of the Mexican War of Independence some 500 rich crillos took refuge inside the fortress like walls of the Alhóndiga. In the caste system of what was New Spain the crillos were those of pure Spanish descent born in the New World and viewed as the oppressors of the native people and those of mixed race. When the Alhóndiga was finally stormed all 500 were massacred and the city was pillaged.
Eventually the first insurgents of the revolution fell and the four main leaders — Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, and José Mariano Jiménez were beheaded. Their heads were hung from the four corners of the Alhóndiga in metal cages to discourage other independence movements. Their heads would remain hanging there for ten years, until Mexico achieved its independence.
Guanajuato is the site each year of Festival Internacional Cervantino, started in 1972, a festival of performing arts and culture celebrating the works of Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quijote). The festival takes place in October over the course of three weeks and features world-class performances by international and Mexican artists, in music, dance, theater, visual arts, and street-performance. Every year the festival invites a country of honor, as well as a specific Mexican state. This year the honors going to Argentina, Chile and Columbia with Mexico being represented by the states of Queretaro, Michoacan and Chihuahua
Upon entering the city that Saturday night I was immediately astounded by the throngs of people. The few streets that were open to cars were packed with people and parking was nonexistent. Eventually finding a place to park we started to walk back to the main part of the festival, with the great big giant October harvest moon sitting on the mountain above the city. Again I was struck with the incredible mass of people as we walked down the narrow streets which with the tall buildings on each side only seemed to magnify the crowd. Being it was a Saturday night the place had the feel more of Mardi Gras than a cultural arts experience. But the very visible police presence and the ban on drinking in the streets kept the crowd in order while still being extremely festive.
There were street performances of all types, the first we came upon were the leather clad, silver studded mythical fighters of the Zena, Warrior Princess genre. They had spent a lot of time and money on their uniforms and weapons but had failed to polish their lethargic routine. When broadswords are clashing in sparks of metal upon metal and it makes you giggle something has gone wrong.
The belly dancers up the street weren't bad though.
Then there was the Asian fellow with his computerized, digitzed, electronic combination flute and keyboard thingy that was putting out a very loud, hypnotic, techno sound with pyshedelic images projecting on the trees surrounding the gazebo where he was performing. To show what a diverse crowd is at Cervantino here is a guy playing this new age trance electronica and you have the old school mariachis sitting on the benches in their traditional uniforms watching him perform. And on the corner is a group playing Banda music for the crowd and across the street the traditional Cervantino musicians are performing their act.
A couple in another plaza were signing beautiful love songs with each other in an operatic style while down the street from them the homeless were performing. The homeless were outstanding. They were well put together, well played, full of energy, extremely fun and had the crowd going.
Next to the main theatre of Guanajuato, the Teatro Juarez, there is the Church of San Diego. This is where the various competing goups that were the traditional entertainers of Cervantino start their shows and lead their audience up through the winding “streets” of the city. I say “streets” because in many cases the street is nothing more than a sidewalk, or a flight of stairs and sometimes so narrow that you can pass through only by single file. I have always thought it would be terrific to live in GTO but wonder just how do you get your furniture to your house and where do you park your car.
Before we began our journey with these strolling troubadours we could see the giant stone statue of El Pípila illuminated on the hill above the church. Pípila was so named because of a birth defect that caused him to walk like a pipila or hen turkey. At the beginning of the War for Independance when the Spanish had barricaded themselves inside the Alhóndiga against the insurgents it was Pípila, an unlikely hero who made it possible to breach the entrance. With a long, flat stone tied on his back to protect him from the rock and gun fire of the Spanish troops above, Pípila carried tar and a torch to the door of the Alhóndiga and set it on fire, burning it down and allowing the insurgents entry.
That night the Cervatino group we were following would stop and play songs, tell jokes and point out the sites as we made our way up the city. Tradition was that they would stop below the balcony of their true love and sing until the young lady would appear. Guanajuato is a most enchanting city at night with the lights of the University, the Cathedral and numerous churches, homes and streets. That night the full harvest moon sitting above the city in the clear sky made it even more beautiful and you could almost imagine you had traveled back some four or five hundred years.
We had arrived around 19:30 and left GTO at 2 in the morning, as we left the party had settled down but was still going strong with most of the businesses remaining open. Considering the mass of people most shops were doing a brisk business but we had taken advantage of the free entertainment and had done very little to support the economy aside from paying for parking. That is something I have learned about Mexico there seems to be free entertainment where ever you go and usually you have a variety of choices. Lasting three weeks and with over 2,000 artists participating I know this was just a glimpse of what Festival Cervantino has to offer. Not sure if we’ll make it back this year but it is certainly on the calendar for next October.
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