A Thunderstorm, a Blackout and an All Night Fiesta: Now I know I am in Mexico

A lot happened since I last wrote. A couple of things about the people in Mexico, they love parties/fiestas and they love firecrackers; sometimes thrown together. December 6th was Sheila’s birthday. We celebrated by going to a movie at Cinebacco, a very small theater with comfortable seats. It is unique in that you pay your money and then they give you a drink on the way in. After a while someone comes through and gives you a bag of popcorn. The movie was interesting and I did not pay enough attention to the title so I can’t tell the name of the movie. The unusual experience was the main thing.

As I’ve noted, we rarely go out to eat, preferring to cook with products from our neighboring mercado. For Sheila’s birthday, however, we wanted a different experience. We had been told we need to go to Las Milagras for a molcajete. That is where we went and I have been kicking my self for not taking a picture. If you know what a mortar and pestle is you may be able to picture the bowl it came in. The bowl was a rough hewn earthen ware pot with three legs. We ordered the version of a molcajete with four kinds of meat; big butterflied shrimp, strips of chicken, thin strips of beef and strips of beef steak. Those are sitting in a green salsa that soaks up the fat from the meats, delicious. There are two kinds of peppers, onions and nopales which are cactus leaves. A big hunk of fried cheese tops it off. We did not have the cheese due to Sheila’s dairy allergy. In spite of no cheese the meal likely would serve four normal appetites.

This all comes in a bowl that is about 10 inches across and 4 inches deep. It is brought to the table on a plate because it is far to hot to touch without being scalded. The salsa arrives boiling out over the sides like a lava flow. Great presentation! As good as the presentation was , the food was better. The meats were all super tender and plentiful, the salsa delicious. On the side, frijoles and guacamole were served. Oh, and chips and salsa preceded the meal. We definitely ate more than usual, stuffed actually. But we got a huge to go box and have used the leftover meats with quinoa and vegetables for meals the past two nights. We also have enough steak left for tomorrow’s meal.

About halfway through the meal the lights began to flicker. some emergency lights came on and candles were lit. I thought that this was part of making the restaurant more romantic. Boy was I wrong! When we left the restaurant and walked along a darkened street in the center of downtown, known as Centro, we were surrounded by dozens of people with flashlights and candles. It was about then I noticed the streets were quite wet, the first hint of rain we had seen. When we rounded the corner to the main square we saw many more people, singing and dancing, not caring about the darkness. We passed two more smaller squares on the way home, and both were full of revelers. Tis the season for celebrations and nothing was going to dampen this street party. The energy was reminiscent of New Year’s Eve in the states, but here this is just the beginning of the holiday season with many more major celebrations to follow. We walked up the hill toward our apartment in the dark. Lo and behold when we got to our block there were lights! We got to go home to a lighted apartment.

The next morning we took a lengthy walk to the San Antonio neighborhood of San Miguel de Allende. On the way we went to El Chorro, a 135 year old church that now is a place where artist’s can work and classes are available. It sits on a hill and is a good observation point.

San Antonio is the up and coming hip part of the city. It offers coffee shops, restaurants, shops, and Saturday a great version of a farmer’s market. A street with the very unMexican name of Stirling Dickinson is the site of a very nice mural that goes on for about 200 feet.

The market was clean and beautiful. Street performers were taking turns on a sound system and were quite good. The produce was the cleanest and freshest we have seen and there were interesting food vendors. Unfortunately, we chose to try two mole and neither met our standards. We bought gorgeous big oyster mushrooms for a pittance of what they cost at home.

That night we gorged again on the previous night’s dinner, and mushrooms. We had no idea what we were in for next. I began by telling you how much they love fireworks and firecrackers here. The noise started at dusk, not a lot of firecrackers, but more than normal. They did not stop, until dawn. The last hour was a huge crescendo of constant noise. I do not know how anyone can even afford to do that. I slept on and off through the night, until the noise became too consistent at about 4am. I got up about 5am when I realized sleep had become impossible. There were quite a few lights on in homes I could see, causing me to believe many folks had a difficult time sleeping. Talking to people today, I found a night like last night is not totally unusual and is likely accompanied by all night music and dancing.

I am going to bed now, hoping for some peace and quiet. I need to get up early tomorrow so I can do some review before my 8:30 spanish class.