A Weekend of Cumpleaños Fun

On Friday, I went to visit my friend Cammie who is an ETA in DF (Mexico City). The trip from Cuernavaca to DF was very short, and it only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. I met her at the metro stop closest to her neighborhood. We dropped my stuff off at her house and headed out again to meet Jessica, our Fulbright advisor, in the Zona Rosa.

Jessica took Cammie and me out to lunch with several other Fulbrighters who are part of the teacher exchange program (different than the ETA.) After lunch, Cammie headed over to the Biblioteca Benjamín Franklin, and I went to Jessica’s office to discuss my placement at the CCG. Jessica was happy that I informed her of the problem and said she would notify SEP as soon as possible. Now, I just have to wait and see what they are going to do.

During the evening, Cammie and I went to a taquería (taco restaurant) in her neighborhood called Taquería Los Güeros (Blondies). I ordered tacos al pastor which were absolutely delicious. (I would highly recommend trying these if you ever travel to Mexico.) A taco al pastor is taco that is made out of marinated pork that is slowly cooked on a vertical rotisserie (like a gyro). The meat is extremely tender and is sliced very thin to serve. My favorite part of eating at the taquerías is sampling the various salsas.

After dinner, we headed back to Cammie’s house for a little birthday celebration with her Mexican roommates. Cammie was kind (and daring) enough to make some vanilla birthday cupcakes in an oven without a temperature gauge. Despite their looks, the cupcakes were delicious. After cake, we watched the movie Up, which we bought for 10 pesos (pirated) at the market.

On Saturday morning, Cammie’s roommate, Elena, showed us where the food market was. Cammie and I planned to make lunch for her roommates. We enjoyed browsing through the various produce stalls that were brimming with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. We bought the ingredients we needed, and went back home to begin cooking.

We carefully washed all of the vegetables and began preparing the tomato-lentil-mushroom pasta sauce for lunch. (Click here for printable recipe.) In no time, delicious smells filled the kitchen as we chopped, stirred, and cooked away. Lunch consisted of spiral pasta with tomato sauce, zucchini boats, and fresh cantaloupe. It was nice talking with Cammie’s three roommates over a scrumptious home-cooked meal.

After lunch, we hopped over to Coyocán to meet our friends Andy, Nicolas (Nico), and Renee. Renee gave me three wonderful posters for my birthday that I will be able to use in my Spanish classroom next year. Several other Fulbrighters met up with us in Coyoacán, and we all headed to the Bazaar, a market with beautiful artesanías (crafts). I bought a pair of blue glass earrings from one of the vendors. Andy and Nico bought me a colorful beaded belt from the Bazaar for my birthday. On Renee’s recommendation we tried the famous churros from one of Coyocán’s many churro stands. You could choose to have your churro filled with just about anything from chocolate sauce, to strawberry jam, to cream cheese. I choose cajeta (a caramel-like sauce) as my filling. Man, was it delicious.

For dinner, we got on the metro and went to a taquería in the Colonia Condesa called El Califa. I again enjoyed a different version of tacos al pastor and also a gringa (a taco in a flour tortilla). Afterwards, we went to La Flor del Son, our favorite dancing spot that we discovered a few weeks ago. I enjoyed watching the older couples spin their partners around as the band played lively Mexican music. Nico was so nice and bought me an orange rose with red tips. At about 1:30 in the morning, Renee, Cammie, and I went back to Cammie’s house. We quietly tiptoed through the door toward the kitchen so as not to wake her sleeping roommates. Cammie had used the other half of the vanilla cake batter to make a delicious cake frosted with chocolate icing. We had intended to share the cake with everyone who went with us to La Flor del Son , but it was too difficult to transport it, so we left at home. As a result…it was up to us to eat it:-). I served each of us a modest portion of cake to start. It was so good that we then helped ourselves to seconds and then thirds. And, yes…we three girls proudly demolished an entire birthday cake at 3 in the morning.

On Sunday, we woke a little bit later and walked to a nearby panadería/pastelería for breakfast. We munched on some delicious pastries outside of Walmart and did some quick grocery shopping before heading home. Cammie gave me a beautiful green scarf for my birthday which will be perfect for Cuernavaca’s cool, rainy weather. Renee and I said goodbye to Cammie and headed back to our respective cities.

It was certainly an enjoyable birthday weekend, and I want to say thank you to all of my friends who made it SO special. You guys are wonderful!!! Thank you to everyone back home who sent me birthday wishes as well. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!!

Click for more pictures!

Abrazos, Nicole