Mole and Other Mexican Food!

Today, I had my third and final cooking class where we made the Mexican specialty, Mole. Mole is a type of thick sauce eaten with chicken, beef, rice, and just about anything and everything else that you want. Similarly, Mole is most interesting because of ingredients, which happen to be anything and everything. We first had Mole in Oaxaca, where the Mole is rich with Oaxacan chocolate, and have eaten it with our host family and other places throughout our stay. Today, it was time to make it for ourselves! The gist of Mole is to mix a ton of different things together, cook them, mash them together, and then liquefy them. Some common base ingredients are burned tortillas, (they actually were lit on fire and blackened) Pablano Peppers, (Obviously) and common vegetables such as onions, garlic, and tomatoes. The unique flair comes with the other 20 to literally hundreds of other ingredients. Our Mole, a simple version, contained raisins, bananas, almonds, sesame seed, and chocolate. It even contained spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and licorice. I had the job of stirring the concoction, and really did look like someone had just taken everything in the cupboard and thrown it into a giant frying pan. It began to take shape, however, when it was blended. The final Mole tasted delicious, all of the flavors miraculously contributing to a unique topping that in no way resembles any of its constituent parts. This was the culmination of our cooking classes, and it was a perfect way to end, cooking something that is so unique to Mexico!

In general, the food here has been very good! Most things are just different variations of the same though. Pretty much every meal has some sort of tortillas, beans or rice, and salsa roja (red) or verde (green). Typically the meat is chicken, but there is also a lot of beef as well as eggs. Salsa is eaten with everything (including breakfast) and I have had some interesting salsas since I’ve been here. My favorite is a Salsa Cocohuate (peanut!) which our host mother made herself. It is extremely spicy, but very good. Pretty much all of the food is spicy, and every meal is served with salsa. Our host mother has been very impressed, because usually her American children do not even like spicy food, and all of three of us in the house absolutely love it. There are also a number of good soups, primarily Sopa Azteca, which is a form of tortilla soup with avocado and various other things. What I really love about the food here, however, is how natural and healthy it all is. I haven’t gotten sick at all in my time here, and with the combination of good eats and a lot of exercise playing sports, I think im in better health than I was leaving the States. We have talked to our host mother about this a lot, and the reason is that the food eaten in Mexico is much more organic and much less processed than the foods in America. Also, because of the eating schedule (big lunches and late dinners) I have almost completely stopped eating junk food at snacks. Also, everything has vegetables and fruits right in it, be it tacos, soups, enchiladas, or quesadillas, so I have been eating very very well. Part of it is just the luxury of having home cooked meals every day, but the food itself is amazingly natural and good for you. It is going to be difficult going back to the cafeteria at UD!

Thats it for now, but i'm excited for Acopulco and will tell you all about it when i get back!

Mexico City

The next day we took a bus tour of Mexico City, and saw the residential areas, the industrial areas, the skyline areas, and the Zocalo, town centers where there are large open squares. There is one thing that makes Mexico city really unique, and that is that it was originally a lake. There was a little island in the middle where a group of Indians started a village. As there were more and more people, they began filling the lake in from the middle of the island. Finally, when it was conquered by Cortez and the Spanish, the population grew so much that the entire like was filled. Now, there is virtually none of the lake left. This fact gives Mexico City its defining characteristic, which is that it isn’t very tall at all, but is amazingly spread out. The foundations of the ground, because it is basically a lake, are not sturdy enough to really support very large buildings and so it is amazing spread out, even creeping up onto the foothills of the surrounding mountains. In fact, some of the main buildings and churches in the Zocalo are actually slanted because of their poor foundations. Fortunately, Teotihuacan is far enough from the city itself that we don’t have to worry about that sinking.

In the afternoon we went into an anthropological museum, which was cool, although we had already toured one in Vera Cruz. One thing that was pretty neat, was that all the sites that we learned about, such as Monte Alban and Teotihuacan, we had already seen in real life! This morning we went on a boat tour of a local river where people often gather for picnics and social events. Then we went to the house of Frida Kahlo, where we saw a bunch of famous paintings by her and her husband Diego Rivera. We also saw a number of Rivera’s mural throughout Mexico City. I had learned about these painters as a culture component in one of my previous Spanish classes, but I didn’t pay much attention then. Now that I see not only their quality, but also their cultural importance and place in Mexican history, it’s very interesting. I find Diego Rivera’s work especially interesting, as I do the entire muralist movement, because to me, Mexico seems like a country which is still seeking its identity. Conservative or liberal, capitalist or socialist, European or Indigenous, modern or historical; in so many aspects Mexico is filled with dichotomy. Because of this, I think that the muralist movement, especially Rivera’s work, is important because it was extremely important in defining and unifying the Mexican identity.

Teotihuacan

Hey guys, its been a while! This weekend we went to Mexico city! It’s interesting going back to the place where we landed, and started the trip after all this time. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve adapted to life and culture here. The first say we arrived in Mexico, everything seemed so foreign on the drive from DF to Puebla. The trees, the signs, the boarded buildings, the cactuses, the colors, just everything seemed amazingly foreign. But this weekend, it seemed so normal. I’ve gotten used to doing everything in Spanish, the food, the lifestyles, the people, everything. It’s going to be so strange going back. But anyways, we started off our day with what I thought has been one of the coolest things of the whole trip so far, Teotihuacan. This is the ancient ruins (bigger then Monte Alban) which has the largest pyramid in all of the Americas. We spend a lot of time learning about ancient history and ancient people, but until you go to a place like this, it’s hard to really understand and feel that they really did exist, or be able to relate to them. When you learn about these things in a book, it just doesn’t seem real, like something that happened, and you believe, but don’t really connect to. Here, it was something different. In fact, in Teotihuacan it is impossible to ignore that these were real people and not feel a strong sense of connection with these ancestors. The city was just so entire, and perfectly laid out, and so well preserved it was almost as if people could live there today. And the colors were absolutely phenomenal. There are excavated walls which still have original, never been touched vibrantly colored paints which are dated back to the first century AD. Greens, reds, and yellows, as bright as if they were just painted. And in addition to just feeling a connection, there was a tremendous amount of respect and awe for the size and magnitude of the place. It is amazing to think that such a place was built completely by hand, and it just makes you realize the accomplishment and advances of these civilizations.

Vera Cruz and the Preceding Week

It’s been a couple days, like a week I think, but it’s been a crazy week. I had my first cooking class and salsa class! The cooking was really fun! We made taquitos and one other food, I don’t remember what it was called, but it was basically the same taco concept just with different stuff on it. (Which is pretty true for most of the food here). We made homemade salsa, and made everything from scratch, and it was delicious. We also ate habanera peppers, which were insanely spicy, but really good. The next day after our classes we had our salsa dancing lesson, which was wicked fun! The music was awesome, and it was just a good time. I’ll be a pro by the time I get back! Then it was Friday and time to leave for our weekend excursion to Vera Cruz. One other very exciting thing happened this week. We were outside playing Frisbee (which we do every day between our classes) and some guy came up to us, and he’s the captain of the ultimate team at UDLA and he threw with us for a bit and then asked if I wanted to play with the team while I was around. Although I won’t be around for any tournaments because we have stuff every weekend, I’m going to practice with them and which is pretty awesome and a great way to meet people and stay in shape, which is really cool. But anyways, on Friday we woke up early, and then drove to the museum of anthropology in Vera Cruz, which had a ton of cool Mesoamerican artifacts and stuff, including the giant stone heads that the Olmec people were famous for (and were the basis for the character "Olmec" in Legends of the Hidden Temple). Then we went to our hotel, and had dinner and a local music and dance show. Now, our hotel was phenomenal. Vera Cruz is on the east coast, in southern Mexico where it’s less desert and more tropical paradise, just north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Saturday morning, we went to the beach, and then we went on a river boat tour of a local mangrove swamp area which is kind of like the Everglades. That was really cool, because although we didn’t see any, there are crocodiles and lots of other really cool animals. What we did see, though, were these really brightly colored large crabs which cling to the roots of the mangrove trees. Then that night, we just hung out on the beach, did the same this morning (Sunday). Today was beautiful, about 80 and sunny. And then during the day we went to the city of Vera Cruz, which was nice, but quiet as it was a Sunday. There we did some shopping, and just walked around the colonial city, which was very different from Oaxaca because Vera Cruz has a colonial Spanish origin while Oaxaca was much more prehispanic. I got back at about 10, and I wrote a paper on the bus, and I have my first test tomorrow! It’s amazing how fast everything is flying bye, ive already been here for two weeks! Everything here is great!

Adios!
--Nick

OAXACA! (And the previous week)

Hola! It’s been a few days, it’s Sunday evening and we just got back from Oaxaca! We had to wake up early to be at the bus station at 6:45 on Friday. The bus ride was long, about six hours. Ii slept for the first half, but then woke up as we got into Oaxaca for the last two hours of the drive. Oaxaca is a state, about 150-200 miles south of Puebla on the pacific coast, although the famous part is the city of Oaxaca, which is right in the middle of the state. It is well known for its prominence in native arts and crafts, archeological sites, and Indian culture, all of which are products of its prominence as the capital of the Zapoteca civilization. This brings us to the first place we went, Monte Alban. The Indians had really highly developed culture and civilizations and the early civilization centered itself on Monte Alban because it is located directly in between the two mountain ranges that go up each coastline of Mexico. It is the only high point in the center of the valley where Oaxaca lies, giving it an impressive prominence over the rest of the valley. Monte Alban was amazing. It was really magnificent, the architecture, the size, and the feel of the place. It took hundreds and hundreds of years to build, and it overlooks all of Oaxaca and the mountain ranges so it was really an awing experience, especially when thinking about the expanses of time it has seen. The site itself has flat ground in the center of it which was completely leveled by hand even though it is as large as two football fields, maybe even more. After Monte Alban, we went to the hotel, which was incredibly nice. The next day, we went to a giant outdoor market where people sold crafts. We got to barter with the locals, which was an interesting experience. The price difference, especially at these small native markets, is really amazing and gives an insight into the different lifestyles and means of different people throughout Mexico. Even when I did not want to barter, when I said that I was going to look at other things before I decided, they would start lowering their prices to the point where I actually felt bad paying that little. Even though the prices are all relative to the market and the cost of living, the desperation to sell and the dependence of their livelihoods on tourism and such little income really made me consider how different a person’s life can be and the opportunities they may have solely based on where you are born. I did end up buying things, but the experience itself was the most valuable thing I gained from the trip. Then we went to a Mezcal ranch. Mezcal is a super strong type of tequila. They come from these plants and they cut them open, then distill it, and it has a very smoky, almost barbeque taste. Anyway, we toured the place, and got to sample of the different kinds, and something else. The local custom is to eat the worm in the tequila bottle on a lime with Mezcal, and I tried it which was a crazy experience. The next day we went to a place where the indigenous people make special black pottery. We got back at eight last night, did homework, and then went to bed. Today we had classes, then we played Frisbee with some local kids, worked out, did homework in the library, and now I’m home writing this and tonight we're going to this thing called Lucha Libre (their equivalent of the WWF) because it’s really big here, and our teacher thought it would be a cool cultural experience. My Spanish has already gotten amazingly better, the classes, especially the culture one, are incredibly interesting, and most importantly it hasn’t been less than 75 or cloudy yet!

Adios!

--Nick

Cholula Vist and Day 3!

So it is day three! Today was really cool, and the start of the real stuff. Last night, we went out to eat and to hang out in the hot spots where the kids hang out at UDLA in cholula, the town right next to puebla, all of which is within walking distance. We met up witha lot of people from our trip and it was our first night out together. It was a lot of fun, it stays warm all night, and it was just a great time being on our own here. More importantly, today was our first day of classes. We walked there on our own this morning, and got there at 8:30. The school itsef is extremely luxurious. There are tvs and smart board type things in every room, and the rooms have glass walls which make it really nice and outdoorsey. There´s palm trees and fountains everywhere, its like an oasis. Another cool fact, theres a giant active volcano that overshadows the town. It´s like a lone mountain. It´s so tall that there´s snow at the peak and smoke rises from it all day. My classes were really good, my teacher is a spanish speaker, but she is very good at helping us undertsnand not only spanish culture, but the language. Its going to be difficult, but ive already learned so much Spanish outside the class im not even worried about it. My second class, the culture class we learned about Oaxaca (where we are leaving for our excursion tomorrow) and the Indiands of the region, and the early history. And it was atcually really interesting. This part of mexico has a really interesting combination of Native American and spanish culture. After classes, we went to Cholula, the town adjascent to UDLA and Puebla (within walking distance) and toured an old Indian pyramid which overlooks downtown cholula where we went the first night. The pyramid is in ruins now, and only parts resemble a pyramid, but it is so tall that you can see the cathedral built on top of it from everywhere in the city. It looks like a mountain to the naked eye. We went to a museum that explained the four layers of the pyramid, and then not only did we climb it, we got to go inside it in the tunnels they used to excavate it. Some of them I barely fit throught hey were so small, and we could actually see the different buildings inside it. We were deep in the heart of the mountain. Then we got to climb up and we got an amazing view of the surrounding towns. Then we went to a local cultural shopping center/market. After spending abou an hour there we came back. We walked home (it was like 75 today and will be 85 in oaxaca!) and now im waiting to eat dinner! The classes were great and amazingly interesting. They went by really fast even though they were 2 hours a-piece. I´m having a great time and will keep you updated.

Adios!
--Nick

The First Couple Days

HEY GUYS! It´s day two in Mexico! Last night was really busy and crazy. We arrived and met our families at four. Our parents are very nice, and the house is very nice. WIRELESS INTERNET! My parents are extremely nice. The food is really good, last night for dinner we had tacos and rice, andn for breakfast this morning we had fresh squeezed OJ, and thin fried pancakes used to wrap fried eggs, salsa, and ham into like a little burrito. The food is all really spicy but really good. Ive already learnin a lot of Spanish. Conversation with our parents is a little shaky, but between the three of us, we can get bye. And with all the practice, i´m sure i will progress quickly! Last night, our brother Manuel, who is a grad student at UDLAP (Universidad De Las Americas at Puebla), took us out to a local restaurant and festival. He drove us around Puebla and Cholula and showed us all of he hot spots and cool things to see. The festival is the equivilent of their Christmas (Or at least when Santa comes here) so we hung out at the festival. Its so hot out, about 70 degees, probably more, and everything is really cheap! And because of the location, most of the buildings and stuff are outdoors and its all just really cool. Today, we had our orientatioin to UDLAP, the campus is so nice! Some off the classrooms are like outdoors, theres tons of palm trees and fountains everywhere. The technology is great. Classes start tomorrow! I´m within walking distance of the school and the main downtown area which is really exciting. So I´m having a great time, and I hope things are going well back home. I´ll continue to keep you updated!

Adios!
-Nick