Have I mentioned that Mexico is kinda noisy? We repeat that bit of intelligence to each other every time the neighborhood is noisier than we were accustomed to NoB. ['NoB', not 'back home' because that raises another series of questions: Which 'back home'? Los Angeles, a particular part of greater Los Angeles, southern Indiana - or for Michael, Upper Michigan, Minneapolis/St Paul?]
Christmas Eve brought it all rushing back. It is a custom in Mexico to celebrate with fireworks. Not the fancy aerial displays (which are lovely but usually centered around the Jardin), but the aerial bombs. The big bombs are used for saints' days and that sort of event but frequently, in the neighborhoods, with smaller, hand thrown bombs. This includes saints' days, a family birthday, an historical celebration (we were glad to be out of the country during the actual dates of the Bicentennial), or even a party. Christmas Eve was not an exception, except our neighborhood took it to the next level.
Fireworks exploded pretty regularly from about midnight til after 2 AM. And it's not the fireworks, particularly, so much as the result of the fireworks on our dogs. They are all sensitive to loud noises in varying degrees, but one in particular nearly barks herself silly if the noise is insistent and nearby. The question is: How to stop them?
Nothing works. Speaking calmly to them; speaking sternly to them; yelling at them; holding them; petting them; telling them it will be alright; explaining the neighbors are Neanderthals; shutting them in their crates in a back bedroom; covering the crates; bribing them with food; nothing. Sleep is impossible - unless you've really been celebrating yourself, but then one of us eventually wakes up, anyway, and must deal with the barking. [We don't want to disturb the neighbors on the other side of the house, who are remarkably at quiet most times.]
Christmas Eve's celebration was particularly exuberant and the kids on our block eventually tossed a few of the fireworks up onto our second floor terrace, right outside our bedroom. Those were particularly lovely! Of course, the adults in the families were nowhere to be seen! We can only surmise that they were inside, partying in their own way.
I had already tried the tack of taking the dogs downstairs to watch television together in the more secluded living room and had eventually returned to the warm bedroom (dogs in tow). Watching television had had its normal effect and I, at least, was falling asleep. So it was Michael who was the one awake at that time and went out onto the terrace to have a few choice words for the little darlings who were preparing to toss even more fireworks onto the terrace. They didn't.
Christmas Day has been remarkably quiet in the ole neighborhood. No one has been out and about on the street. The music they play next door has been absent or subdued. We're once again looking at real estate ads for homes out in the campo.
Michael tells me that last night was pretty quiet (that magnum of 1999 vintage champagne at the gathering of ex-pats for Christmas dinner was very tasty) though the dogs were a bit sensitive to even more distant noises.
We're booking them into the doggie B-and-B out in the country for New Years Eve!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Holiday Greetings!
This year - due to a near-Christmas vacation in Cabo, the time lag for ordered cards to reach us, be signed, and be mailed back to the States, and some very last-minute planning, we're sending out our holiday cards via e-mail:
Otherwise, Christmas will arrive Saturday, apace. We're visiting one of our favorite restaurants for an early dinner Christmas Eve and to make reservations for their New Year's Eve Dinner. Christmas Day we're invited to our friends' home just a few blocks away for a potluck dinner with several other mutual friends; other friends will be dropping in later in the evening.
We've found lovely, small, locally-grown Brussels sprouts so we will be taking our Even-Our-Brother-in-Law-Likes-These recipe of shredded sprouts sauteed with prosciutto and garlic in butter, then baked with heavy cream and Parmesan -- what's not to like about that? And a couple of Magnums of 'J' Champagne (I know - correctly, sparkling wine) - 1999 & 2000, I think.
Hope all your holidays are what you want, too!
We've found lovely, small, locally-grown Brussels sprouts so we will be taking our Even-Our-Brother-in-Law-Likes-These recipe of shredded sprouts sauteed with prosciutto and garlic in butter, then baked with heavy cream and Parmesan -- what's not to like about that? And a couple of Magnums of 'J' Champagne (I know - correctly, sparkling wine) - 1999 & 2000, I think.
Hope all your holidays are what you want, too!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Cabo-itis
So we awoke this morning to a view of the mountains instead of palm trees, the bay, and today's visiting cruise ship. Only the dome on the San Antonio church pierced the layer of mist that blanketed San Miguel. Eventually we crawled from beneath the covers to discover that the bedroom was about the same temperature as outside: 37F! It's a wonder all the air wasn't frozen, not just a layer of mist.
The temperature was a dead giveaway - we had returned from a week in Cabo very late last night after traveling most of the day. We left the resort at 11:30 am by shuttle to the airport in nearby San Jose del Cabo for a flight to Mexico City, then taxi to the Estacion de Autobus Norte, then a 'luxury bus' ride (really comfy seats, but it was still a 4-hour trip) through Queretero and on to San Miguel. We got out of the taxi in front of our house at 11:30 pm.
It was the end of a week in a quiet resort (no telephones/TVs/etc unless you visited the Lounge for a news/sports fix; even WiFi was limited to the coffee bar). Designed to mimic a tropical Mexican village there were no big blocks of hotel rooms (like El Pinko next door). Only villas arranged in mostly circular three-storey buildings with thatched roofs facing the beach or arranged around the pools. On the edge of Cabo San Lucas, it was close enough to town to provide excellent walkable access to our favorite restaurants. Taxis are ridiculously expensive in Cabo: $6 for a short ride within town. We're spoiled, I guess, by the $2 taxi rides here in SMA. They got no tips from us!
It was a week of sloth - rising late; lounging under a palapa on the beach, waving a little flag for food & drink service; afternoon drinks at one of the swim-up pool bars; deciding upon which restaurant to favor with our presence for dinner each night. A tough life, but someone has to do it, right?
The worst part was the inconvienience of trekking to the coffeehouse to get a WiFi signal. Internet access is a new thing for the resort, but they should really think of expanding it throughout the buildings. It was a pain to keep up on my moderator duties for a SMA forum. I'm sure I could have done a better job if it was easier to access. And doing research for future travel required multiple trips back to the coffeehouse.
Of course, there was no drifting off to sleep to a television, either, but we could get used to that. Cabo (and Puerto Vallarte) were our only exposure to Mexico before we decided to retire to SMA and there's such a difference! We love SMA, but we'll be back in Cabo at the end of February with my brother and again in mid-May by ourselves. (And perhaps again in December if our villa hasn't sold.)
The other thing we missed was the company of our four dogs. There was actually space on the king-size bed to stretch out - imagine that! They returned home from their own little vacation at Wendy's B&B this morning and were napping on the bed with me this afternoon. It works so much better with the larger bed than the one we had in California (but the bedroom there wouldn't have held a king-size bed without wall-to-wall mattress).
So we're back home, trying to keep warm in our sweatsuits and slippers, and dreaming about our time in Cabo. When's our next trip?
At least it will feel more like Christmas here in SMA!
The temperature was a dead giveaway - we had returned from a week in Cabo very late last night after traveling most of the day. We left the resort at 11:30 am by shuttle to the airport in nearby San Jose del Cabo for a flight to Mexico City, then taxi to the Estacion de Autobus Norte, then a 'luxury bus' ride (really comfy seats, but it was still a 4-hour trip) through Queretero and on to San Miguel. We got out of the taxi in front of our house at 11:30 pm.
It was the end of a week in a quiet resort (no telephones/TVs/etc unless you visited the Lounge for a news/sports fix; even WiFi was limited to the coffee bar). Designed to mimic a tropical Mexican village there were no big blocks of hotel rooms (like El Pinko next door). Only villas arranged in mostly circular three-storey buildings with thatched roofs facing the beach or arranged around the pools. On the edge of Cabo San Lucas, it was close enough to town to provide excellent walkable access to our favorite restaurants. Taxis are ridiculously expensive in Cabo: $6 for a short ride within town. We're spoiled, I guess, by the $2 taxi rides here in SMA. They got no tips from us!
It was a week of sloth - rising late; lounging under a palapa on the beach, waving a little flag for food & drink service; afternoon drinks at one of the swim-up pool bars; deciding upon which restaurant to favor with our presence for dinner each night. A tough life, but someone has to do it, right?
The worst part was the inconvienience of trekking to the coffeehouse to get a WiFi signal. Internet access is a new thing for the resort, but they should really think of expanding it throughout the buildings. It was a pain to keep up on my moderator duties for a SMA forum. I'm sure I could have done a better job if it was easier to access. And doing research for future travel required multiple trips back to the coffeehouse.
Of course, there was no drifting off to sleep to a television, either, but we could get used to that. Cabo (and Puerto Vallarte) were our only exposure to Mexico before we decided to retire to SMA and there's such a difference! We love SMA, but we'll be back in Cabo at the end of February with my brother and again in mid-May by ourselves. (And perhaps again in December if our villa hasn't sold.)
The other thing we missed was the company of our four dogs. There was actually space on the king-size bed to stretch out - imagine that! They returned home from their own little vacation at Wendy's B&B this morning and were napping on the bed with me this afternoon. It works so much better with the larger bed than the one we had in California (but the bedroom there wouldn't have held a king-size bed without wall-to-wall mattress).
So we're back home, trying to keep warm in our sweatsuits and slippers, and dreaming about our time in Cabo. When's our next trip?
At least it will feel more like Christmas here in SMA!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Another Day in Paradise
So once again the weather is back to normal for this time of year: highs in the low 80s; lows in the middle 40s. Facebook brings news of family and friends with pictures of snow and reports of gusting winds. Brrrrr....
And yesterday was nothing special - stores were open, people went about their business as usual - unless you're an ex-pat and then it's Thanksgiving! Folks who post on the Civil List forum have been in a tizzy over which turkey to purchase (44p/kg frozen at Sorriano; 150p/kg 'fresh' and 'organic' at a specialty store and everything in-between); how frozen a 'fresh' turkey should be (even the USDA - which doesn't apply here in Mexico - allows 'fresh' to be maintained at 32F which can easily slide into the freezing zone, so 'where's the beef?' to mix metaphors); where to find cranberries - especially fresh ones for their favorite sauce for the turkey. One person's turkey arrived with only some of the giblets inside; this generated a whole series of postings about exchanging 'parts' if your turkey had any extra. The final poster reported that she was an old lady and looking for an extra bladder!
We opted to accept friends' invitation to join them at a small restaurant that was serving a traditional T-Day feast late in the afternoon. The restaurant owner had recently given up her location in Centro and had converted the lower level of her house and patio into a restaurant in Colonia Allende. ['Lower level' was still a storey-and-a-half above street level, which provided a lovely view over SMA, particularly as the sun set and lights came on.]
We had offered to drive our friends who live near us to the restaurant rather than take taxis, so we made a trial run to find the location in the morning. Good thing we did as it's the penultimate house at the top of a dead end street with no room for our van to make a turnaround. We had to back down the hill for 2 blocks until there was a road into which we could maneuver for a 3-point turn. As a result, we each took taxis to dinner. I wouldn't want to think about backing down the street while full of food and wine!
Our friends told us that they approached three different taxis before they found one that would take them to the restaurant. We were lucky and our first taxi agreed to deliver us there. He did charge a bit extra, but it was worth it to avoid the parking/turnaround problem.
The dinner itself was great: four appetizers [panela (a cheese) baked with herbs, marinated mushrooms, crudites with a dill dip, and a lovely green salad], several side dishes [wild rice & mushroom dressing, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes & gravy (good on the dressing and turkey, too), mashed sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts & carrots, and a tart cranberry sauce], and, of course, tender, moist turkey baked in a pizza oven [with everything else, we never reached the deep-fried turkey]. Dessert was pumpkin pie and a fruit (perhaps prune?) crisp, both served with mounds of lightly-sweetened whipped crema (we don't do whipping cream down here). A nice blend of traditional and Mexican-interpreted dishes.
And the best part was dinner with good friends and no preparation or clean-up! We think of our friend in California who probably did herself in cooking a terrific feast for her family who don't really care much about food.
The attendees yesterday were, as you might expect, all ex-pats who didn't want to miss their Thanksgiving Day feast. One ex-pat did bring a Mexican friend and politely introduced her to each table. Otherwise it included the usual assortment of folks. The ex-pat community here may be large, but one sees many of the same folks regularly. Don't know where the others hide. We recognized a few of them from the Farm and Dairy tour we took when our friend Diane was in town last week. And our friends knew more, of course. Our table was just chatter, chatter, chatter for the whole three hours.
Afterwards we walked down the hill to the main street and caught a cab to the Jardin for drinks at La Azotea where the weather was so pleasant the awning was retracted and the plexiglass barriers behind the bougainvillea plants along the edge of the terrace had been removed. Ah, San Miguel!
We then toddled off home to feed the dogs and sink into bed. They did not get turkey - and I hope they weren't anticipating last year's leftovers. Maybe that's why Miyake decided to bark most of the night until I enticed her downstairs to watch television together?
Ah, well - another day in paradise!
And yesterday was nothing special - stores were open, people went about their business as usual - unless you're an ex-pat and then it's Thanksgiving! Folks who post on the Civil List forum have been in a tizzy over which turkey to purchase (44p/kg frozen at Sorriano; 150p/kg 'fresh' and 'organic' at a specialty store and everything in-between); how frozen a 'fresh' turkey should be (even the USDA - which doesn't apply here in Mexico - allows 'fresh' to be maintained at 32F which can easily slide into the freezing zone, so 'where's the beef?' to mix metaphors); where to find cranberries - especially fresh ones for their favorite sauce for the turkey. One person's turkey arrived with only some of the giblets inside; this generated a whole series of postings about exchanging 'parts' if your turkey had any extra. The final poster reported that she was an old lady and looking for an extra bladder!
We opted to accept friends' invitation to join them at a small restaurant that was serving a traditional T-Day feast late in the afternoon. The restaurant owner had recently given up her location in Centro and had converted the lower level of her house and patio into a restaurant in Colonia Allende. ['Lower level' was still a storey-and-a-half above street level, which provided a lovely view over SMA, particularly as the sun set and lights came on.]
We had offered to drive our friends who live near us to the restaurant rather than take taxis, so we made a trial run to find the location in the morning. Good thing we did as it's the penultimate house at the top of a dead end street with no room for our van to make a turnaround. We had to back down the hill for 2 blocks until there was a road into which we could maneuver for a 3-point turn. As a result, we each took taxis to dinner. I wouldn't want to think about backing down the street while full of food and wine!
Our friends told us that they approached three different taxis before they found one that would take them to the restaurant. We were lucky and our first taxi agreed to deliver us there. He did charge a bit extra, but it was worth it to avoid the parking/turnaround problem.
The dinner itself was great: four appetizers [panela (a cheese) baked with herbs, marinated mushrooms, crudites with a dill dip, and a lovely green salad], several side dishes [wild rice & mushroom dressing, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes & gravy (good on the dressing and turkey, too), mashed sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts & carrots, and a tart cranberry sauce], and, of course, tender, moist turkey baked in a pizza oven [with everything else, we never reached the deep-fried turkey]. Dessert was pumpkin pie and a fruit (perhaps prune?) crisp, both served with mounds of lightly-sweetened whipped crema (we don't do whipping cream down here). A nice blend of traditional and Mexican-interpreted dishes.
And the best part was dinner with good friends and no preparation or clean-up! We think of our friend in California who probably did herself in cooking a terrific feast for her family who don't really care much about food.
The attendees yesterday were, as you might expect, all ex-pats who didn't want to miss their Thanksgiving Day feast. One ex-pat did bring a Mexican friend and politely introduced her to each table. Otherwise it included the usual assortment of folks. The ex-pat community here may be large, but one sees many of the same folks regularly. Don't know where the others hide. We recognized a few of them from the Farm and Dairy tour we took when our friend Diane was in town last week. And our friends knew more, of course. Our table was just chatter, chatter, chatter for the whole three hours.
Afterwards we walked down the hill to the main street and caught a cab to the Jardin for drinks at La Azotea where the weather was so pleasant the awning was retracted and the plexiglass barriers behind the bougainvillea plants along the edge of the terrace had been removed. Ah, San Miguel!
We then toddled off home to feed the dogs and sink into bed. They did not get turkey - and I hope they weren't anticipating last year's leftovers. Maybe that's why Miyake decided to bark most of the night until I enticed her downstairs to watch television together?
Ah, well - another day in paradise!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Restaurant Lotto
San Miguel has a lot of restaurants: some good, some bad, some so-so. You can find Asian fusion cuisine, Italian, Chicago-style pizza, French, Tex-Mex, New Orleans style, organic, burgers, chain pizza, authentic Mexican - you name it, there's probably a restaurant that has it. The restaurants themselves fall into several categories: elegant, comida-style, deli, hole-in-the-wall, family-run, hamburger stands, cafes, take-out, taco stands, tapas bars - I'm sure we have at least one of every kind you can think of here in SMA.
Of course with most of these restaurants catering to the gringo population, survival can be a struggle. The Civil List - a Yahoo group forum with nearly 5,000 'listeroos' - features announcements of new restaurants, menu changes, chef changes, and glowing reviews from patrons. One sometimes wonders about the well-meaning patrons of restaurants and other businesses who post their reviews, just as one wonders about such announcements which omit addresses and thus require someone to ask for the address and the first poster then writes back with the address (copying the original announcement/review, of course).
As a co-moderator, I read all the digests of the daily posts assiduously, looking for my specialty: the second 'for sale' ad placed by a particular poster within a current month. This imposed review makes one a bit cynical over time - but I digress.
So today we walked into a newly opened restaurant looking for lunch when we were immediately pounced upon by a woman who demanded whether we were there for 'the best bagels, ever.' As it turns out, she was not a principal in the restaurant, but an avid fan and customer hyped up on caffeine after two weeks of bed rest. We nearly ran.
We're glad we didn't, even though - as the only other customers at that point in time - we had to carry on a conversation about SMA, San Diego theater, chocolate, dogs, you-name-it until she finally went off to her gallery, commenting that SMA was like an out patient waiting room. [Oh, how true!] Once our luncheon arrived it was wonderfully delicious - and we had a nice conversation with another diner who was studying silversmithing.
I'm even considering posting on the Civil list about the place - it was both good and under patronized. Another listeroo posted before going; we can tie in an 'after' report for the fourth unsolicited review!
Of course with most of these restaurants catering to the gringo population, survival can be a struggle. The Civil List - a Yahoo group forum with nearly 5,000 'listeroos' - features announcements of new restaurants, menu changes, chef changes, and glowing reviews from patrons. One sometimes wonders about the well-meaning patrons of restaurants and other businesses who post their reviews, just as one wonders about such announcements which omit addresses and thus require someone to ask for the address and the first poster then writes back with the address (copying the original announcement/review, of course).
As a co-moderator, I read all the digests of the daily posts assiduously, looking for my specialty: the second 'for sale' ad placed by a particular poster within a current month. This imposed review makes one a bit cynical over time - but I digress.
So today we walked into a newly opened restaurant looking for lunch when we were immediately pounced upon by a woman who demanded whether we were there for 'the best bagels, ever.' As it turns out, she was not a principal in the restaurant, but an avid fan and customer hyped up on caffeine after two weeks of bed rest. We nearly ran.
We're glad we didn't, even though - as the only other customers at that point in time - we had to carry on a conversation about SMA, San Diego theater, chocolate, dogs, you-name-it until she finally went off to her gallery, commenting that SMA was like an out patient waiting room. [Oh, how true!] Once our luncheon arrived it was wonderfully delicious - and we had a nice conversation with another diner who was studying silversmithing.
I'm even considering posting on the Civil list about the place - it was both good and under patronized. Another listeroo posted before going; we can tie in an 'after' report for the fourth unsolicited review!
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Perfect Climate
As all good things eventually do, our perfect climate has changed: it's cold in San Miguel! When I was stationed in Bavaria it snowed in time for Hallowe'en, and that hasn't happened yet. Dia de Los Muertos was cool but comfy.
For the past few days it has been chilly. Our cement houses retain heat from the daytime and coolness from evening hours to even out the temperatures for us. Unfortunately, we've only had coolness as of late. Barely warming to the low 70s during the day, it has fallen into the low 30s at night. It's 2 am right now and the temperature is about 36 degrees with cooler temperatures promised before sunrise. It may be darkest before the dawn; it sure is cooler, too. [These temperatures are in Fahrenheit; it's even more exciting to see them in Centigrade!]
Highs in only the low seventies doesn't do it when it's so cold at night. When your homes have cement/tile walls, floors, and ceilings, they don't have a chance to warm up enough during the day to temper the evening hours. Our home office, which has both its ceiling and western wall exposed to the sun, usually requires the use of a ceiling fan. Today it required the use of a heater.
We wore our robes and jammies and whatever we thought would keep us warm around the house. [Why didn't I order those comfy slippers last week?] Once dressed (Pedro was coming to refit some electrical things around the house) it was time for layers. Going out for dinner required both layers and jackets to keep warm on our 1250-step walk to the restaurant. We had been told to expect cool weather in January/February; this caught us by surprise.
We did haul out the electric radiator (we don't have the gas version) and it followed us around from inhabited room to room. We are planning on picking up a second heater from a local store so that we can make at least two floors comfortable. The heaters are a bit too heavy to haul up and down the stairs with grace, and aren't particularly pricey. We don't need one for the first floor as we seldom use the first floor's living room.
Can't wait to see our bimonthly electricity bill. At least the electric, oil-filled radiators require only throwing a switch to have them functioning. We had enough fun relighting the pilot on the gas water heater after our recent vacation.
Our second line of defense is the low-voltage warming mattress pads on all the beds. They provide a subtle heat that gently warms you through. We finally turned them on this week. [The pads have been on the beds all the time; they are plush-topped and rather comfy year around.] Topped with a fluffy duvet, it's heaven. But one can't stay in bed all the time....
Fortunately the weather should take a turn for the warmer later this week (highs in the 80s and lows in only the 40s) when we have guests arriving from the US. Checking their local weather forecast, it seems it's to be rain and chill there today. At least it's still dry here and an 80/40 split should warm us up again.
Perhaps we'll be able to maintain our 'perfect climate' reputation after all.
For the past few days it has been chilly. Our cement houses retain heat from the daytime and coolness from evening hours to even out the temperatures for us. Unfortunately, we've only had coolness as of late. Barely warming to the low 70s during the day, it has fallen into the low 30s at night. It's 2 am right now and the temperature is about 36 degrees with cooler temperatures promised before sunrise. It may be darkest before the dawn; it sure is cooler, too. [These temperatures are in Fahrenheit; it's even more exciting to see them in Centigrade!]
Highs in only the low seventies doesn't do it when it's so cold at night. When your homes have cement/tile walls, floors, and ceilings, they don't have a chance to warm up enough during the day to temper the evening hours. Our home office, which has both its ceiling and western wall exposed to the sun, usually requires the use of a ceiling fan. Today it required the use of a heater.
We wore our robes and jammies and whatever we thought would keep us warm around the house. [Why didn't I order those comfy slippers last week?] Once dressed (Pedro was coming to refit some electrical things around the house) it was time for layers. Going out for dinner required both layers and jackets to keep warm on our 1250-step walk to the restaurant. We had been told to expect cool weather in January/February; this caught us by surprise.
We did haul out the electric radiator (we don't have the gas version) and it followed us around from inhabited room to room. We are planning on picking up a second heater from a local store so that we can make at least two floors comfortable. The heaters are a bit too heavy to haul up and down the stairs with grace, and aren't particularly pricey. We don't need one for the first floor as we seldom use the first floor's living room.
Can't wait to see our bimonthly electricity bill. At least the electric, oil-filled radiators require only throwing a switch to have them functioning. We had enough fun relighting the pilot on the gas water heater after our recent vacation.
Our second line of defense is the low-voltage warming mattress pads on all the beds. They provide a subtle heat that gently warms you through. We finally turned them on this week. [The pads have been on the beds all the time; they are plush-topped and rather comfy year around.] Topped with a fluffy duvet, it's heaven. But one can't stay in bed all the time....
Fortunately the weather should take a turn for the warmer later this week (highs in the 80s and lows in only the 40s) when we have guests arriving from the US. Checking their local weather forecast, it seems it's to be rain and chill there today. At least it's still dry here and an 80/40 split should warm us up again.
Perhaps we'll be able to maintain our 'perfect climate' reputation after all.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Dias de los Muertos
So here we are on Hallowe’en and the whole town’s focused on All Hallows Eve. Who’d a thunk?
Mexico has traditionally celebrated the two days of Dias de los Muertos rather than the American Hallowe’en with visits to their families’ gravesites, decorating them with flowers and pictures, and sharing a meal with them. It is one of the largest religious and cultural events celebrated nationwide in Mexico.
In the far past, the dates were not November 1st and 2nd, but with the coming of the Spanish and the Catholic church, the celebrations were moved to more ‘appropriate’ days in the church calendar. It takes two days of celebration: the first day is for infants; the second day is for adults.
Both yesterday and today even expats are visiting our local cemetery and spiffing up the graves of past expats of whom we have only heard tell. Since many expats have no family in Mexico, the responsibilities fall upon the current expats, and some gladly accept them.
Hallowe’en, however, is overtaking the traditional celebration as youngsters find running around with their friends getting candy is more fun than sitting in a cemetery with your family. We’ve been warned that if we go to the Jardin Monday night, to have plenty of hard candies (dulces) on hand to distribute to kids in costumes trick-or-treating.
We were supposed to join a group cleaning the headstones on Saturday morning at the currently used cemetery, but grocery shopping got in the way. We’ve recently gone to a nutritionist who is setting up a plan for living that will result in effective athletic activities and eating right. We began the plan today, so yesterday was shopping for the good stuff we’re to eat, as opposed to going out all the time, eating (and drinking) the wrong types of foods (witness our slow weight loss since moving SoB).
And, of course, last night was a pizza party at two friends’ house with wonderful homemade pizzas: traditional (the Works), roasted veggie, arrachera and chimichurri sauce, and Moroccan chicken with a ginger-honey glaze. All followed by homemade ice cream, including a Mexican chocolate with espresso and cinnamon.
What a way to start a new way of eating, right? There were several new folks we met and we ran into one of them this afternoon on our way back from the Jardin where we’d been checking out the big Dias de los Muertos altars being set up. We had shared a shuttle to the airport with another. It’s a small world here in SMA.
For those planning on visiting us over the holidays, don’t worry: we’re eating out every meal and having more than the one-drink-a-day that we’re allowed. Wouldn’t want to feel deprived, would we? High times all around!
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