A Full Week

Yes, I’ve been MIA for a while, but I’m still here. It has been kind of busy around these parts, but I’m not complaining. That is certainly a good thing.

On Tuesday night, Cammie invited Andy and me over to celebrate her roommate, Elena’s birthday. There were about 15 or so people, and we were treated to a wonderful meal put together by all. We feasted on stuffed chicken in tomato broth, egg salad, fresh bread, garden salad, and tostadas. Later, we sang happy birthday in Spanish (Las Mañanitas) and English. We topped the night off by enjoying a beautiful chocolate cake decorated with fresh fruit.

On Friday, I strolled around Coyoacán and the zócalo. I bought some earrings (surprise, surprise) and several Spanish teaching books from the book fair. I also ventured into some fabric stores in the zócalo and purchased some beautiful Día de Muertos fabric to decorate my future Spanish classroom.

On Saturday morning, Clau, Javi, Ekaitz, Andy, and Cammie came over my place for a Mexican-American breakfast. We chowed down on French toast, scrambled eggs, fresh corn tortillas, frijolitos (refried beans), papaya, kiwi, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Mmmm. After breakfast, Clau, Javi, Ekaitz and I headed to the zócalo to watch the alebrije parade put on by the Museo de Arte Popular (MAP).

Alebrijes are brightly-colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The term can be used to describe papier mache creatures, but it is more commonly used in reference to Oaxacan woodcarvings, like my blue lizard pictured at the top of my blog.

The parade was fantastic and the alebrijes were impressive in both size and color. In addition to the alebrijes, there was music in the form of marching bands and mariachi, dancers, performers on stilts, and a wide variety of other entertainers.

I enjoyed seeing the little kids at the parade, both the ones who observed and the ones who participated.

Afterwards, we decided to trek to the top of the Torre Latinoamericana. At 45 stories tall, it was Mexico City’s tallest building from 1956-1984. Today, Mexico’s World Trade Center holds the record for the tallest building in the city. The view from the top was incredible. I wish I could say that you could see for miles and miles, but unfortunately the smoggy atmosphere prevents this. Nonetheless you can see a fair distance across the monstruous city.

There were four photo displays on each side of the Torre (north, east, south, west) that identified the important landmarks that can be seen from the top of the Torre. It was fun to pick out the various places that I had visited such as the Palacio Nacional and the Parque Alameda.

After our high altitude journey, we came down and meandered through the zócalo. We saw this guy drawing a picture of the Mona Lisa on the sidewalk with chalk. For a temporary work of art, it was certainly a beautiful rendition.

We also stopped by the Palacio Nacional to scope out the Día de Muertos tianguis (market). Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd. Family and friends gather to pray and remember loved ones who have passed away. Ofrendas (offerings) are set up in churches, homes, and public buildings to remember the deceased souls. There was a gorgeous ofrenda in the Palacio Nacional based on Diego Rivera’s Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park.) Some of the people in the original mural were represented as muertos/calaveras (deceased/skeletons) in the ofrenda. Check out Frida and Diego for example!

The tianguis was small but nice, and we snacked on some pan de muerto (bread of the dead). I bought a pair of rockin’ calavera earrings and a very rad Día de Muertos T-shirt. It was such a beautiful day, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself in the wonderful company of my friends. By the way, our clocks changed for Daylight Savings on Saturday night…a week earlier than in the U.S…a cool little fact.

On Sunday morning, I got up early to meet two other fellow English professors at the university for breakfast. Daniel and Luis took me to the nearby San Cosme market for a breakfast of barbacoa. Barbacoa generally refers to sheep meat that has been slow-cooked in a hole dug in the ground and covered with maguey leaves. We feasted on consomé de barbacoa, tacos de barbacoa and pancita (stomach), and agua de mandarina. It was quite delicious. Afterwards we metroed (yes, I think this should be a verb) over to Pino Suárez to look for some T-shirts with Spanish phrases on them. This is something I have yet to find here in Mexico—clothing with Spanish writing on it. To our mala suerte (bad luck), many of the stores were closed due to the Sunday protests going on in the zócalo. In addition, any T-shirts that we did find were written in English. While our mission was unsuccessful, it was still fun to spend the morning-afternoon with Daniel and Luis.

A little preview for next time…I'm heading to Michoacán this weekend with Clau and her family to celebrate Día de los Muertos. I’m certainly looking forward to this, and I hope to have some jammin’ pictures for you guys when I get back :-).

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Abrazos, Nicole
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Bosque de Chapultepec

This past Friday, I was invited by my friend Eder to attend a presentation on the history of Mexico. Eder is an Economics major at UNAM here in Mexico City, but he has a close friendship with a few of his teachers from his high school.

The presentation was held at Eder's former high school, the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria Plantel 2, so I actually got to see what high school life is like here in Mexico. Unlike our schools in the U.S., there are two sessions of classes—there is a morning group of students and an afternoon group. The high school “campus” was very large, and Eder informed me that about 8,000-10,000 students attend this school. What really made my mouth drop was that this is one of the smaller high schools in DF! I got to meet some really great teachers and also had the opportunity to meet the guest speaker, Dr. Federico Navarrete Linares, who is the author of the book Huesos de Lagartija. Federico discussed how present day Mexico might be changed if certain situations had happened differently. It was very interesting, and it was really great to see an auditorium packed full of students who were genuinely interested in the history of their country. I also got to meet a some of Eder’s friends, Lilia and Luis, who sat with me during the presentation.

On Friday night, Claudia invited me over to celebrate our friend Javi’s birthday. The party was held at Diego’s (Claudia’s brother) apartment. Roberto came along with me, and we enjoyed meeting Diego’s roommates. I brought along some puppy chow, which went over well with the crowd, and Javi and the gang cooked up some tortilla Española a la Mexicana. (Tortilla Española is a Spanish omelet made with potatoes, onions, and eggs, but they added corn tortillas into the mix for a little Mexican flair.) It was delicious!! We played various card games including Mentiroso (I doubt it) and Asesino (Assassin). I also taught them how to play Spoons. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday morning, Roberto and I decided to go to Chapultepec Park. Chapultepec which means “Hill of the Grasshoppers” in Nahuatl consists of 1,600 acres of land and is home to attractions such as the Museo de Antropología, the Zoológico, and the Castillo de Chapultepec. We enjoyed walking around the park along the shady paths and around the many lakes. We fed peanuts to some scrawny-looking squirrels and watched the crowds paddle boats on the lake.

On Sunday morning, I made some chocolate chip pancakes for Roberto and Señora Nena. They turned out to be pretty yummy despite the fact that I couldn't find buttermilk. Plain yogurt and regular milk turned out to be good substitutes. In the afternoon, Roberto and I decided to return to Chapultepec Park since admission to museums is free on Sunday. Isn’t that the coolest thing? FREE admission to all museums on Sundays. I love it! We visited the Castillo de Chapultepec which was begun in 1785 and was completed after Mexico achieved its independence in 1810. In 1864, Emperor Maximiliano and Empress Carlota moved to the castle and had it refurbished as their residence. Today it is a museum that recounts much of Mexico’s history through artifacts and paintings.

I had the opportunity see some very famous murals by David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco. The second floor of the castillo was beautiful as well

The black and white checkered balcony served as a great backdrop for some artsy photos taken by Roberto and me.

In addition the view of the city from the castle balcony was incredible. Because the castle sits atop a large hill, you can observe the urban sprawl of the city and the rolling mountains beyond. It is quite a landscape!

The top floor of the castle is still furnished with original pieces from when Maximiliano and Carlota resided there. In addition, there are some beautiful French-style gardens; panes of stained glass windows line the hallways. As I walked through the marbled arcades I almost felt as if I was transported to that era of Mexican aristocracy.

After our trip to the museum, we enjoyed a delicious lunch-dinner near metro Balderas and then we made a short stop at the lucha libre (Mexican studio wrestling) arena to watch the last of the Sunday matches. But, I will save lucha libre for another time since it deserves a whole post to itself :-)

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Abrazos, Nicole

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Xochimilco (So-chee-MILL-co)

Can I officially say that I have the coolest friends here in Mexico?!

On Friday, I met up with Cammie in the zócalo to check out the giant book fair that is going on right now. This book fair is a Spanish teacher’s paradise…gosh I wish I had access to these kinds of Spanish books in the United States. Anyway, at the fair we met up with friends of Cammie who are currently teaching English in Guanajuato. Jonathan and Brittany came to DF for the weekend to scope out the scene. Cammie and I certainly enjoyed spending the afternoon with this awesome couple and hopefully we can meet up with them in Oaxaca when they move there next month. The four of us searched out a little place to eat lunch, and then we hit up the most amazing panadería—probably the largest one I’ve been to yet. Of course, we all bought a pastry…how could we resist? Afterwards, we went over to the Biblioteca Benjamín Franklin and browsed the shelves. Then Cammie and I headed back to my place to bake something delicious. We whipped up some banana bread using the pile of overripe bananas that is sitting on my kitchen table. Did you know that banana bread isn’t common here? It’s like a foreign treat that no one has ever tried. Anyway it was a hit with both Señora Nena and Roberto.

On Saturday, I met up with my dear and wonderful friend, Claudia (a former student from the CCG). Clau brought along several of her friends: Mateo and Javier are from Spain and are working on their theses at UNAM. Eder is a friend of Claudia’s brother, and Güicho is a friend and former student from the CCG. The six of us had breakfast together at Tasqueña…guajolotas and atole. A guajolota is a tamale that is sandwiched between two pieces of bread. I know…lots of starch, but oh so delicious. Atole is a drink that is thickened with cornmeal; it comes in many flavors including rice, oatmeal, chocolate, and strawberry. Unfortunately, I had already eaten a pretty substantial breakfast so I had to pass on the guajolota, but I did order a cup of chocolate atole which was amazing. It tasted exactly like hot chocolate, but it was thick and creamy due to the cornmeal. Yum…absolutely yum.

After breakfast we boarded a train and headed further south toward Xochimilco. Once we arrived, we made our way over to the Dolores Olmedo Patiño museum that is hosting a Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo exhibit right now. The museum is situated in a former hacienda so the grounds are absolutely beautiful.

There were peacocks everywhere, and we saw these Aztec dogs called xoloitzcuintle. I think they are the ugliest animals, but apparently they fetch a pretty penny. In addition, it was amazing to see the original artwork of two incredible people: Diego and Frida. It always excites me to see a well-known work of art in person.

Before leaving the museum we enjoyed a musical performance put on by a group from Veracruz.

After our time at the museum, we got on a bus and hopped over to the Xochimilco market. I thought we were going to eat lunch at the market, but Clau had other plans. We bought tortillas, cheese, salsa, cooked pork, nopales (cactus), chicharrón (pork rind), limes, avocados, and aguas frescas (juices). We packed everything in bags and headed to the canals of Xochimilco or what remains of Lake Xochimilco—the body of water that the Mexicas settled on long ago. (Remember: Mexico City is essentially built on a lake.)

Xochimilco is like the Venice of Mexico, but instead of riding a gondola you ride a trajinera. Each trajinera is beautifully painted and is usually given a female name. We rented the “Santa Patricia” for an hour and a half and sat down at the large table to enjoy a most amazing picnic lunch of tacos. What a rookie gringa I was. I didn't realize that the thing to do on the trajineras is bring along a picnic lunch. But, luckily I had Clau to show me the ropes. She brought along cups, plates, silverware, napkins, and of course food from the market.

The weather was absolutely beautiful with blue skies and warm breezes. It was fun to glide along the canals and every once in a while there was a trajinera pile-up akin to a round of bumper cars. Some trajineras held birthday parties, others held family gatherings, and others were subject to nightclub-like activity complete with stereo systems pumping reggaeton and dancing. We chose to have a mariachi band serenade us with a classic Mexican song. I can certainly say that my experience in Xochimilco has been one of the most memorable things I have done here in Mexico.

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Abrazos, Nicole
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Chiles en Nogada

When I found out that Señora Nena likes to cook, I asked her if she could teach me how to make chiles en nogada. Chiles en nogada are a Mexican dish that consists of green poblano chiles stuffed with picadillo (a mixture of ground meat, fruits, and vegetables), topped with a walnut-based cream sauce and pomegranate seeds. Because the dish contains the three colors of the Mexican flag—chiles-green, nogada sauce-white, pomegranate seeds-red—it is often eaten around Mexican Independence day. In addition, ingredients such as walnuts and pomegranates are readily available during this time.

Last Friday, Señora Nena and I went to this giant market called the Mercado de Jamaica to buy all of the ingredients to make the chiles en nogada. When we got back home, we chopped and sliced all of the fruits and vegetables to make the picadillo. On Saturday, we peeled the pomegranates and on Sunday, we stuffed the roasted poblano peppers with the picadillo, made the nogada, and feasted. My friend Cammie joined us for the big meal. In addition, Señora Nena’s son, Alfredo came over and of course, my housemate Roberto was there, too.

The chiles en nogada were an interesting mix of flavors (rather on the sweet side). I can’t say that they have been my favorite Mexican dish, but I’m glad I got to try them. SIDE NOTE: Even though there were five of us at the Sunday lunch, I know Roberto and I will be eating chiles en nogada for weeks to come since Señora Nena prepared enough to feed an army.

After lunch, Cammie, Roberto, and I met up with our friend Andy and headed to Parque México. It was nice to be able to walk around and catch up on experiences and stories. Later on we enjoyed a mini guitar “concert” put on by Andy. It was a great way to end the weekend!

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Abrazos, Nicole
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Chilangolandia

Thank you for all the positive thoughts and comments. Luckily, I did not lose my scholarship, but Fulbright decided to move me to Mexico City or Chilangolandia as the Mexicans like to call it.

I packed up all my things last Friday, moved to a temporary location in DF on Saturday, and then moved to another neighborhood in DF on Sunday. I am currently living in Roma Sur, a very nice neighborhood of Mexico City. I am staying in an apartment with a 70-something year-old señora and a housemate, Roberto, who is a lawyer. Señora Nena, as she likes to be called, tries to feed Roberto and me every two seconds…it can be a little much at times. In addition, she likes to “assist” me in almost everything I do, from making quesadillas to holding my arm as she walks me to the park. And, I always get a blessing of ¡Qué Dios te bendiga! (May God bless you!) as I walk out the door. It is quite an interesting situation to say the least.

My work at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional or the Poli as it is often called is much better. There is an English department, English teachers, and even a language lab! Everyone has been so welcoming, and I already had two conversation classes this past week. The students are very friendly and range in age from 18 to 80. The university is located in a nice area not far from where I am living. With walking and riding the metro, it takes me about 45 minutes to get to work, which is not bad considering the sheer size of Mexico City.

Life in the big city has been good so far, and I’m adjusting quite well to being a chilanga (person from Mexico City). It is nice to be able to walk out my door and go to the park or stroll through the open air market. I enjoy going by the little tortillerías in the neighborhood on my way home from work; they always have tempting wafts of freshly baked corn tortillas drifting from their doors. There is a fruit stand on almost every corner, and it is nice to say ¡Buenos Días! every morning to the woman who is squeezing fresh juice on the corner.

Overall, everything is going just fine here in the third largest city in the world. I promise to post more pictures soon!

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Abrazos, Nicole

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