Home(?) Again?

We meant to put up a blog about Thanksgiving in Queretaro.  How we woke up sad because we were so far away from home.  How it was just another day of school and work for us.  How we decided to eat our feast on Friday because of the promise of the weekend.  How we visited two grocery stores, one frutería, one pastelería, one mercado, and one little corner spice shop and still could not find all of the necessary ingredients for our meal.  How we planned a Mexican-American menu (turkey tortas, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, and sweet potato buttermilk pie).  How two friends joined us at the last minute for the feast so we it was our own little version of bringing our harvest meal together between two groups and getting along with one another.  But instead, the news we received on Thanksgiving sidetracked us: Your apartment is ready for you to move in.

Not2B4gotten: Sally's pay feroz with homemade crust and seasoning 'peños 

After living in a hostel for over a month, this gave us much to be grateful for.  Little did we know the cleaning project that awaited us in our new home, however.  A brief picture of the filth: smashed dead bugs on the walls, some sort of gravy-like splatterings on nearly every surface of the house, dirt covered floors, a bathroom with a shower full of mildew and soap scum and ceilings covered with unknown substances, and more daddy-long legs needing to be killed than I thought I could handle (Anders did not approve of the large wads of Kleenex I used to kill them, but it was the only way I felt capable of the task).  After two full days of cleaning we had not yet left the kitchen, and I had contracted some sort of infection from the copious amount of dirt I had inhaled that left me sick for over two weeks and made it compulsory for me to wear a mask for the remaining three weeks of cleaning.  Yes, it took us three weeks to clean the place to our liking thanks to the place being abandoned for six months.  I will admit that we both happen to like a spick and span place to the point of slightly obsessive compulsive behavior, but the place really was vile.  When guests came over their jaws would often drop and the only nice thing that they could find to say was this place is really big for 4,000 pesos.

PHOTO BOMB!

You can probably notice the small variation in cleanliness here.
It isn't perfect-- and never will be-- but it's part of our family now,
and we do our best to treat family well. 

 

And here is she who provided that small variation in cleanliness (not! the opposite!) 

  Sally was just saying how the "clean" one didn't look clean 

(below), but then she saw the other one (above). 

Never mind the facial cleaner for old-people skin.

They said swine flu could be lurking behind each tile 
or even in the grout. We didn't want to take any chances.
 

Needless to say, we are not living in the lap of luxury, but this is one of those times in life when we are choosing to give up some of the comforts of home in return for a once in a lifetime experience.  And the place is ideal for its location, price, and large living areas (there are two spare bedrooms for any visitors who happen to come for a time, and we promise the place is now clean).  The first week as I scrubbed (literally) from the floor to the ceiling while coughing up my dirt-encrusted lungs I thought this place would never feel like home, but three weeks later and one party down we are starting to feel good about the place.  The night we finished cleaning we bought ourselves our first bottle of tequila to celebrate our victory over the filth and have happily been drinking Palomas (see recipe below) ever since.

Ha! These are titled "only cool shot" (above) & "nasty II" (below).
I'd say they do a pretty succinct job at summing up our place, 
so bienvenidos, dudes!

Paloma cocktail
makes 1 drink

Palomas are similar to a margarita, but the grapefruit soda makes it a bit easier to toss back and the carbonation adds a little something extra as well.  We prefer to use Squirt, but any grapefruit soda will work.  We tried substituting grapefruit juice combined with a simple syrup and soda water once, but ended up preferring Squirt, perhaps with a bit of experimentation it would be better than what we produced.

1 lime
salt
2 to 3 ounces of tequila
 (or stronger if you are Anders)
ice
Squirt or grapefruit soda

Fill a glass with ice. Squeeze in juice of half of a small lime. Sprinkle salt over top or salt the rim of the glass, then pour in the tequila and top with Squirt or grapefruit soda.

La Peña de Bernal

After one month of camping out in our hostel, we decided it was time to do some exploring outside of Queretaro.  So last weekend we strapped on our sneakers and boarded a bus to the city of Bernal where we climbed the world’s second-largest (and third-tallest) monolith, la Peña de Bernal.  Before arriving, we had no idea what a monolith was exactly, but a bit of research (after we returned home) informed us that it is simply a giant, solitary rock, which is exactly what we experienced.  We thought we were ready to defeat this rock with our new Mexican walking legs, but half way up we found ourselves huffing and puffing and wondering how much farther we had to go.  I was just about ready to give up and consider the mid-viewpoint adequate until I spied an elderly woman using a cane getting ready to pass me.  I couldn’t let the old lady win so off we went to the top.

That’s right, we’ve buffed up our legs and our capacities for spite!  Seriously though, that caned lady was on a mission from somebody… 

On our way up, we discovered that people climb a mountain a bit different around these parts.  Vendors carry up coolers of drinks and boxes of food to serve you at various points throughout your trek and people do not always dress the part to climb a steep rock.  We saw people wearing their Sunday best including men’s dress shoes and a pair of patent leather wedges, and others who simply went barefoot.  When we did reach the top expecting a gorgeous view and silence, we instead heard Beyonce’s Single Ladies roaring out from down below.  I thought Anders may have set this up and was going to get down on one knee to put a ring on it, but it didn’t happen.

HA!  I love you Sally, but Beyoncé isn’t part of my love-inducing repetoire; maybe Jay-Z though…

            
To celebrate our victorious summit, we took the advice of our friendly hostel worker/friend/new landlord, and ate at the Italian restaurant in town.  The place was the real deal with the Italian owners sitting behind us stuffing their mouths and talking loudly over the food.  A large pizza (ironically the spiciest food we have eaten thus far in Mexico to the tune of eyes watering and mouths on fire) and a carafe of wine later, we were full and ready to head home where we gracefully passed out on the couch for the rest of the evening to recover.

No joke, that pizza was so hot it was hilarious!  We were crying from laughing, pain and each other.  Perhaps one time where a nice, chilled white would’ve been a better choice than the house tinto, but a delightful— and rather fun/ny— time still.  Between the peña and the ‘za, one might say we felt the Bern-al. ;)  

             

Forgive a completely non-Mexico post and humor a (usually sad but altogether too involved and optimistic) baseball fan, would you?

Damas y Caballeros, your 2009 AL Cy Young Award Winner:

ZACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! 

(only 217 to go to match his total this year, to 51 walks)

I presaged this shit in my dream last night, though the vote was unanimous and the first time that had ever happened to boot.

Happy (Greinke) day, Royals fans (McDawg, Adam, my dad), and I take the bit back about the non-Mexico thing, 'cos homeboy loves Chipotle (which isn't hardly "Mexican" food, right?  OK, I take the taking back, back).

Anyone for drunken Skype celebrations this eve?!?  LET'S GET THE SEASON STARTED!

Chile & Lime

I keep a running list of foods I want to try while in Mexico, but as with many lists, by the time I cross one item off, I have added three more. This country is chock-full of street vendors selling tempting hunks of grilled meat, mounds of fresh fruits, and heaps of new items I have never seen before, but street vendors in Mexico can be a bit of a risk. One of the first rules you learn about these eateries is that it’s probably best to avoid them if you do not want to get sick, because the kind of sick you get here makes you want to cut out your intestines to ease the pain and then never eat again, but the unbeatable prices, savory aromas, and little old ladies who have been cooking this stuff for years make them hard to resist. Fortunately, you do not have to say no to everything. If there are any rules we observe in our already cautious approach of mostly eating at home, they would be to avoid vendors where the woman who stuffs the meat into your torta with her bare hands also uses those same hands to collect your money; or those where there is not a crowd of people gathered feasting on their food (if the Mexicans don't eat there, neither do we). Mostly, it is just a guessing game or following your instincts, and sometimes relying on word of mouth to send you to the right place, but even then the evening can end a bit rough.

Anders and I decided to take our chances last weekend and try some garbanzo beans served out of bucket, one of those big five gallon dry wall buckets that you buy at Home Depot. I have eaten plenty of garbanzo beans atop a green salad or pureed into hummus, but this was my first time consuming them directly from their casing. The beans themselves were pretty ordinary, but served with the dynamic duo of condiments—chile and lime—they were livened up to a pretty tasty treat. We are new converts to the Mexican idea that lime and chile make everything better — sopa azteca, tacos, fruit, and even (although we have yet to try and confirm it) movie theater popcorn.


Last weekend we tried this combo dumped over the top of potato chips. I had been eyeing this treat for quite some time and decided it was time to cross it off of my list. They lived up to all of my expectations of the perfect afternoon snack for strolling around town-salt and spice mixed with a bit of tang. They aren’t a clean snack— your hands are covered in hot sauce by the end of the bag— but the taste is so addictive you want to lick every last bit off of your fingers. They do get a tad soggy by the end of the bag, so if you have a problem with textures you may want to avoid the last few chips, but mostly I was just sad to see an empty bag.

Here is my best guess to how you can make these at home.

Potato chips a la Mexicana

I would suggest using Lightly Salted Kettle brand Chips, but Lays Classic Potato Chips would also work.

Serves 1

2-3 handfuls of potato chips
1 big glug of hot sauce (We used Valentina, but any non-salsa hot sauce will do)
the juice of ½ of a lime

Fill bowl with potato chips. Generously cover with hot sauce and lime juice to taste. If you want, season with salt and then eat immediately.

=5=

Dudes.

So we decided we might be more effective posters if we took on smaller aspects of our days, and look— it’s already working!

Thursday was a special day for me.  I say this because I spent over two hours riding public transportation (read: the shitty-ass bus).  There were some highlights, including a kid who probably should’ve been in school (is that ethnocentric of me?) juggling flaming clubs at a busy stoplight ‘round lunchtime.  Just before the light turned green, he characteristically stopped juggling to go around and collect for the impressive (albeit unsolicited) entertainment, only to find himself utterly stone-walled by the seemingly unimpressed motorists.  Next thing I know,  I'm watching myself sliding back the bus window hollering “JOVEN!” just as a nice fat ten peso piece flips off my thumbnail, arching over the cars of the ingrates before it’s deposited in his hand like the jukebox in “Smooth Criminal.”  He’s down below me, beaming at me, I— the winking white guy in the bus that missed all but the end of the show— who in actuality just sat there wondering if the people ignoring him from their cars were actually taking a stand against his presumably unexcused absence from school; sad to see him walk back to the median with nothing to show for his sacrifice/effort.

In any case, the real reason I doubled my typical daily number of bus rides was to enjoy the two-hour descanso lunch with my sweet, Spanish lessons-taking girlfriend (not to watch an old guy clip his fingernails on the bus, which I got to endure anyhow— clippings flying [I imagined one hitting me in the face or landing on my lip and the foul things I would say to him when it did :\]).  As an aspiring food blogger (you just wait; she’s bound to get started any day now), one of Sally’s faves is a certain New Yorker with a newborn babe who goes by the name of Deb.  Since Deb’s come into our lives, things have certainly gotten better.  Today for lunch this came in the form of eggs in tomato sauce with toasted french bread and sautéed spinach :).  Perhaps a wee bit dull-sounding to read, but to see and to eat: deliciosísmo!

As time on our lunch-hour(s) respite expired and I gathered my things to head back for the final couple of work hours, I kissed my sweet ‘n talented Sally goodbye and prepped my iPod (the screen is starting to go on the old dear) for another 30-40 minute journey (during these bus rides I get to listen to a fair bit of [new] music, which I love, but I think I may save that bit for another post); almost done with another day.

=4=

OOF! …been awhile, no?

Sorry for the absence, but getting thangs set up ‘round Querétaro, México, has been something of a full-time job (not to mention that pesky full-time job I’m also responsible for...)! 

There are a great number of things to report (including not one but two sightings of Mexican Jeff Goldbum in one day in a city of 1+ million peeps!), perhaps not least of which being we’ve taken at least one great stride in the last week of life here: getting a place!  Here 'tis:

Our new digs/dog (Frida), bay-bee!

Alright, so not quite...  Ours is actually a bit more of a fixer-upper, but the price and location are right (oh are they! And the view!), the rental sitch is groobs (we know the owners and are getting a friendly deal, you might say) and we’ve got more furniture than we know what to do with— this in a town/place/country where you’re halfway lucky to have there be a stove in a rental (and more so an oven!) and can pretty well count on there being no way to refrigerate your food upon move-in day ‘less a) it’s really cold out (aka not here), b) you own a cooler (not us— yet!), or less likely, c) your butt or feet get so cold (I’m thinking at night, whilst one sleeps here) that they can keep dairy products from spoiling :\.

Our actual view (but a bit further away & on the other side of the street)— really.

Fortunately, Sally and I are both excited and predisposed toward the setting up of living spaces, so it figures to be a fun experience— after all of the full weekend’s-worth of cleaning is done, that is.  We’ll be sure to do some before/after photos for all y’all in the coming week(s), and rest assured that we can keep you and your three closest friends imbedded here (plus the couch!) when you come to visit.

Sadly, to this point we’ve skipped over our time in San Miguel de Allende: a place where we first went for a Spanish-speaking respite with parents’ of friends, and ended up with some fine new friends and an ultra-fab place to visit on weekends.

Also not our new place: the Parroquía de SMA.

Some time ago, Don Cohen and Diane Berman, parents of one of our favorite new Denveronians, Julia Cohen (loves to Mathias too, whom we have to thank for knowing Jules in the first place— and lots of long-distance web laughs), put us up in their lovely modernista home for a weekend that turned into a friendship for which we’re most grateful.  Aside from their myriad day-to-day kindnesses, these two introduced us to a beautiful home/art gallery outside of town, the best roadside gorditas known to man (I’m sure of this) and a network of people that nearly had us settling there, along with 10,000+ other North Americans.  Obvio, we opted for nearby (and much larger/job-rich) QRO, but look forward to returning their kindness by hosting them some weekend post-Thanksgiving, which is almost sure to include delicious food a la Sally (me on dishes, yo!) and a Costco run for good measure.  My favorite moments with the Mexican contingent of the Cohen/Berman crew included, but are not (thus far) limited to:

• Wine, cheese, chats and Don’s sangrita(!) on their pillowy 3rd floor/rooftop terrace;
• Planet Earth on a 60-some-inch flatscreen until we all almost fell asleep (The Bourne Ultimatum was good one night too, especially as Sally's inspiring smells from the kitchen lured us away from the action);
• The aforementioned gorditas and trips to Galeria Atotonilco (their [not our] grounds pictured above)— neat-o!
• And a candle-lit dinner/lovely conversation that may or may not have been have had something to do with a late (read: UNPAID) electric bill.

Truly wonderful people and the best bit of San Miguel sans doubt (honorable mention goes to friends Chris and Veronica who stayed a couple days before heading back to San Diego, but not to the SOBs who wouldn’t quit blowing off not visually pleasing fireworks, but obnoxious aerial rockets [think “boom” constantly] of which the town seemed to have an endless supply both weekends [we were there two weekends] we were there!  BALLS!).

I’m sure I’ve left a ton out, but in the interests of getting things back up to date to where we can relate even the more banal aspects of daily life in QRO, that’s where I’ma gunna leave it; ‘sides my TWO-HOUR lunch break is nearing its end (don’t worry, you just work later into the eves) and I need to get back to selling/teaching/training/translating my day away (‘guess I’ll talk about me job next time)!  Love to all; thanks for sticking around ;).

-A

Querétaro

Sorry for our absence in blog posting. The truth is we have been busy trying to make some big decisions, and are too exhausted at the end of each day to formulate complete sentences. We do, however, want to give you a quick update with a promise of another more detailed post to come soon.

First things first, we have chosen a city to live in- Querétaro. It is a big, industrial city (1.2 million people) that seemed to best fit our needs of work and language exposure. Our other exciting news is that Anders is now a workingman. He accepted a position at a company called Servicios Profesionales-RECA where he is a salesman, translator, and teacher. It is a relatively new language school with lots of promise, and his boss has been a great help to us as we make our home here (he took us to look at houses for rent in nice neighborhoods, invited us over for a bbq at his house, and answers any questions we have about life in Mexico). I am still trying to figure out my work situation. I accepted a job, but it looks like it may not work out. I have another job lined up just in case, but it does not start until January so I am still trying to figure out what to do. I would like to take language classes, but they are expensive so we are trying to figure out how to work them into our budget.

Sadly, we still do not yet have a mailing address because the apartment hunt has been a slower process than expected. We were hoping to get a furnished place, but are finding out they may be too expensive if we don’t want the dirty once, twice, three times recycled furniture. Whatever we end up doing, we will have to at least buy a refrigerator because they are not included with an apartment (the things you learn when living in Mexico). I have two appointments scheduled to look at places tomorrow so hopefully one of them will work out.

In the meantime, we are happy to be settling down and finding pleasure in not going out, making our meals at “home,” and watching a movie before going to bed. So although we miss the adventure of travel, we appreciate new victories like being able to get on a bus and not wonder which stop to get off on or finally finding a store that sells lemons (they only sell limes here).

Hopefully now that things are falling into place we can do a better job of letting you know what we are up too on a more regular basis. We really do want to keep in touch, and miss you all terribly!