anika in mexico

written on 08.14.2007

I woke up Sunday at the ranch with a terrible tummy ache. There wasn’t much I could do except be miserable and try to achieve a zen like state while sitting in the shade on the porch. I guess my stomach is still not used to all the Mexican food, but I’ve also noticed that in general people here don’t tend to be meticulous about the storage and care of food.

I discovered the open mustard and mayo, not in the fridge, but on the pantry shelf at my house here. I decided to give the mustard a shot, but I’m going to steer clear of that mayonnaise. They also keep eggs out of the fridge. Certainly, they aren’t basking in the hot sun, but still, I’m just so used to refridgerating eggs, and also bread. It just keeps the stuff from going bad as quickly. With the eggs I reasoned that maybe they have a source where they get really fresh eggs, so it doesn’t matter if they are kept in ambient temperatures, but I also can’t help but think that we are in Mexico City, and I don’t see lots of chickens running around in back yards providing fresh eggs to interested parties.

But whatever it was that I ate that brought on the tummy aches and quakes, I was no happy camper that morning at the ranch. It was another beautiful day, but I couldn’t take it all in. When breakfast got started, I had to retreat to my bedroom as even the smells were making me queasy. While everyone ate a nice breakfast outside, I opted for a frigid, low-pressure shower. Not ideal, but it really helped me feel better, and the rest of the day was one long slow progression towards feeling ok again.

I rode back in Siggy’s car with Pollo and Chucho. Chucho told me to tell the truth: that I’d probably had a really boring time with everything and everyone. I said no, that I’d had an awesome time; it was really so much fun, but that this morning I’d really been feeling crummy. This seemed to appease him, so then he was happy again, telling more stories. Eventually the stories blended into Spanish conversations with Siggy, and I was glad to have the chance to just sit and be quiet and enjoy the countryside on the way back to town.

We arrived a bit before 7pm. Siggy came in, and we were both distressed to learn that Sigrid had fallen friday afternoon and hit her head. When anyone tells the story, Leonardo was the one to come to the rescue, and he acted very effectively, putting his first aid class to good use. There was a lot of blood all over the place, including all over Sigrid. They drove her to the hospital where she was soon fixed up with 8 stitches.

Although a bit battered and bruised, she’s otherwise ok, which is a great relief to everyone. Honestly in someways her mind seems sharper than ever. Sure, she’s still in pain and frustrated by the whole thing, but at least her spirits are up. I’ve offered to help her with several things since I got back and she seems truly grateful for my offer, even if she doesn’t accept the help. Today when I suggested I read to her from “our book” her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “yes that’s a great idea!”

But I digress. 7pm, back from the ranch, got the bad news about Sigrid, but relieved she’s ok, I was totally exhausted. By the time I got to my room alone, it was 7:30 and I thought, “oh, i’ll just lie down for like half an hour.”

Today I rested for most of the morning, reading “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Siggy and Karin came over for lunch, then Sigs and I went to the little area where there are some shops and a Starbucks nearby where I could check my email. I also went to office depot and got some tape and scissors.

I played cards with Sigrid and she complained that I kept “blowing” air on her; she’s concerned that I will get her sick again. But I wasn’t really meaning to do it. I was just breathing, but I couldn’t breathe through my nose, so I guess it was a more directed flow of air that she could feel. As if it made a difference.

They are so superstitious about what causes illness over here. It’s not that you just catch a bug or a parasite, but there are certain foods that will surely make you ill, no matter what you do. If you have Tacos al Pastor, then you’ll get sick. If you have the chicharrones from the vendors in the park, you’ll get sick. If you are outside without a sweater and one cold breeze gives you goosebumps, your throat will definitely hurt the next day. It has to have a concrete, if not far-out reason why you get sick. It couldn’t possibly be because every other person in their family got sick after they all hung out together for a week.

Most recently Siggy got sick with fever and all, and instead of just a flu, it had to be the sinister pork in the tacos that did her wrong. And instead of me catching the virus Siggy had (I pretty much had all the same symptoms), of course I was ill because of the chicharrones I indulged in. When I had a sore throat the second day it was because I don’t bring sweaters with me and I let myself get cold. Sigrid swears this is the case, and even though I actually always do bring a sweater with me, I didn’t want to push the point and instead just nodded and smiled, agreeing with her old-wives tale.

Playing cards with Sigrid is kind of fun because I get to learn some new games which are pretty good ones, both solitaires and multiple player games. It’s funny though because she really has a hard time seeing, and sometimes she’s just so pleased with a moved she’s made, even though it’s actually the wrong card, I let her do it anyway. What difference does it make in the long run?

I’d planned to have an easy relaxing day, or at least in the morning. I thought I would go to Starbucks and luxuriate in internet time, taking as much of it as I wanted to peruse my favorite sites, but also take the time to look up the information for the language school, etc.

But instead, just when I was out of the shower, Siggy called me and said she’d come pick me up and we’d go to the Castillo de Chapultepec. It was a really nice walk up the hill, and I really saw some cool stuff. The castillo itself was beautiful, and they have a nice collection of artifacts from all the eras of Mexican history including ceramics and sculpture, painting and murals, tiles, jewelry and stained glass. Also they have several rooms that are preserved just the way they were used originally. Siggy mentioned that there are quite a few things that haven’t changed in a lot of houses of the upper class like the furniture and some of the decoration, but also they usually have a small figure (doll) representing a saint enclosed in a glass coffin in many houses in Mexico.

There was an area where Porfirio Diaz lived, known as an apartment. It was up one level from the “ground floor” of the castillo, and off to the right of the main offical part of the structure. There is a beautiful, highly manicured garden with black and white marble walkways and fountains. Around the periphery of one side of the garden was the “apartment”. It had separate rooms for Porfirio and his wife. Also separate bathrooms (hers was bigger which I thought made good sense). There was a large salon where many important people enjoyed an evening at one time or another, and along the length of the whole aparment was a hallway with an entire wall that was a big stained glass window that was lit up beautifully from the light outside.

It was a trick taking photos in some of the rooms. In the first rooms there were no guards, but then in some of the other rooms there were guards that would wander from one room to another, so if you timed it right, you could still get a snapshot of something you really liked, though probably not with the best composition.

One of the coolest things I saw was this large green door made of solid malachite with gold embellishments. There were also several large matching sculptures shaped like pots or bird baths. I was also amazed by the detail in some of the jewelry, as well as the size of some of the pieces. They had amazing dangling earrings of all metals and stones, lots of carved coral and ivory pieces, and any other piece of jewelry you could imagine.

Siggy and I walked into an area that had re-creations of the typical rooms from the castillo, and one of them had displayed several poofy dresses that were the style of the era. The style wasn’t as suprising as the size. The dresses were tiny. I really thought that they were maybe for children, but then Siggy asked, “haven’t you noticed how small most Mexicans are?” and I guess I hadn’t, but luckily, in front of the display stood 3 Mexican women who could have fit easily into those dresses. It’s just strange how I hadn’t really looked at the people in terms of size. Sure, they are shorter than I am as most people are, but they really are smaller too.

After the castillo we walked back towards the entrance of the park to meet Siggy’s dad. We got some water and some “chicharrones” but not the real kind. Instead of fried pig fat, it’s made of flour. They put chile and lime on it and it’s really quite tasty.

We saw her dad’s car and ran to catch up with it. He’d parked pretty much in the middle of the street and was holding up traffic.

Off we went back to their house for lunch. We had sopes which are tortillas with beans and cheese. The tortilla for sopes are shaped to have a raised edge all around so the beans don’t fall out. I also had those for breakfast today, and I really love them. We also had sopa (soup) made from some kind of green vegetable that doesn’t have a translation to english. For the main part of the meal we had chicken with a really nice green sauce, vegatables and rice. Agua de Sandia was the drink, and we had some gingerbread that Siggy’s grandmother made for dessert along with tea.

We had lunch with one of Karin’s friends who is very much into the Vedic healing scene. He read my pulse and told me what type I was: Kafa Vata or something like that. He also said that if I drink iced drinks it makes me gain weight, and that I had a headache (which was true) also that bright colors are really good for me to wear because I’m white “on the inside,” plus that I see the world through my sense of smell and my heart/emotions. He said that I probably don’t like stuff that’s too sweet, which is also true. They brought out this quince jelly stuff and I took just the smallest bit and couldn’t finish it because it was SO SWEET. Siggy assured me it’s better when served with cheese, but I’m skeptical. Not sure what it all means, but it was kind of interesting to hear, and he seems like a nice guy.

Afterwards I decided to go with Teocrito to look for autos instead of doing the Tai Chi with her mother. We didn’t find any vochos (I kind of have my heart set of getting a VW Beetle), but I had a really good time with him. He gives me a hard time about my Spanish; makes me practice with him all the time, which I actually really appreciate. He said “no te preocupes” about finding a vocho. I’m sure I’ll be able to get one.

I helped Sigrid water her african violets today. She told me to give the little ones just a bit of water, but to water the rest “just like usual” like I would with normal plants … I’m not sure how much water I was really supposed to give, so I just kind of felt it out as I went. I hope they’ll live.

It was a really full day and I’m feeling very tired this evening. My tummy is a little upset as well. I’m sure I’ll be able to go to sleep early tonight.

So yesterday I woke up at 8am as requested by my great-aunt so I could have the first shower (she said that we shouldn’t use the 2 showers at the same time–not enough water pressure) and then join her for breakfast. We had a mix of mexican and german breakfast foods. Broetchen mit frijoles y queso. Also broetchen mit aprichot marmalade, and thankfully cafe con leche.

This morning we had a more typical german breakfast–broetchen mit kaese und schinken, coffee, und kartoffel salad. The potato salad was probably the oddest thing to have for breakfast, but it was really tasty. Sigrid said she thought it was best for breakfast.

After breakfast yesterday I was pretty wiped out. Not only from lack of sleep, but they say that it really takes a while to get used to the altitude. We’re about a mile above sea level here. I finished the Harry Potter book, then took a nap until 2pm–the scheduled time for lunch which is a heavier meal, more like dinner in the US.

After lunch, I joined Sigrid in her favorite small sitting room. I read aloud to her, a bit from the little book that I snagged at the used book store in Gaithersburg. It’s a travel log written by a Japanese fellow who traveled in Mexico in the 70s. So far, I’m highly amused by his perspective. He loves to discuss the history of the country, which is kind of interesting, but when he started to describe in detail the particulars of the ritual of human sacrifice, I felt weird reading that to my aunt, so I stopped and we played cards instead until Siggy came to pick me up.

I met Siggy’s friend Ray and we went for an ice cream. I tried the Mayacuba Nieve. We then walked to meet some of her other friends at a small bar called “Diente de Oro” or “Gold Tooth” It was nice enough and the beers were $2.50-$3.00. So I met: Pollo (chicken), Pancho, Paola, “The Old One” (he’s 28), Jimena and her boyfriend, and Charlie. They are all so cute, and I had such a nice time just watching them be loud and boisterous while making fun of one another. They were all friendly, and most of them spoke really good english. Each of them took a little time to chat with me a bit, or to teach me some Spanish.

After some time I was definitely getting kind of tired and hungry, so some of us went for tacos. I had dos tacos pastor y dos de ribs (forget what it was in Spanish). I love mexican tacos. They are very small and very fresh. Perfect meal for the evening which tends to be lighter, more like lunch. You order them a la carte like sushi so you can really try a lot of varieties.

After tacos we all parted ways and Siggy dropped me off back at home. I went to sleep soon after, and woke up this morning again at 8am. I think I might have let myself sleep if I’d wanted too, but I felt pretty awake, so I got up, showered, and then helped Sigrid prepare the breakfast which was mostly done, but the maid had to leave really early, so we had to make the final preparations.

Now I’m sitting outside on the little terrace overlooking the narrow yard. There’s a wall to separate us from the neighbors, covered with ivy. There are several tall trees, and lots of lovely plants in many varieties. Roses, holly, hibiscus, fuschias (which aren’t just in hanging baskets, but actually grow like a shrub right in the ground), boganvilla, daisies, begonias, orchids, geraniums, and of course, african violets (Sigrid’s favorite), just to name a few.

I like Tante Sigrid very much. It feels odd to compare her to my grandmother, her sister, but I can’t help but notice the difference. While Sigrid is perhaps a bit dramatic and protective (a trait that I think she has passed on to her daughters and their children), she’s very friendly and loves to talk. She’s interested in me and my thoughts and experiences, but also loves to reminisce about memories from her younger days.

She has a lot of interests, plants/flowers and playing cards as I have mentioned, but also she loves music and reading. She was an avid and daring horse rider when she was young, but she was aware that it was pretty dangerous, so she never allowed her kids to try it. Her eye-sight has gotten bad from the Macular Degeneration that it seems all her siblings and cousins also suffer from. To compensate, she’s gotten playing cards with large numbers on them and often listens to books on tape.

She has a small sitting room that has lots of windows where she most often spends her time. There’s also a large dining room filled with african violets, as well as a breakfast nook where she eats most of her meals. My favorite spot seems to be out here on the terrace by the lawn, though I also have a terrace upstairs that is connected to my room. I think I would really like it up there, but right now there is quite a bit of dog poo thanks to Peluches, Karin’s fuzzy droopy white dog. I haven’t been able to bring myself to clean it up, but once I do, I’m sure it’ll be a nice place to sit.

It’s such a strange space in time and place where I find myself right now. I could almost imagine it as a movie if I had a better wardrobe and a better defined story line. Right now I feel totally at peace. I don’t really have any more or fewer responsibilities, but I think perhaps because I’m here in Mexico away from everything I know, I feel less encumbered. I can really do as I please. I can go out for a walk, meet up with Siggy for an adventure, or just sit around and write, draw, sleep or soak up the sun. I’ll be starting my language school on the 6th, so then I’ll have a bit more of a routine, but really, until then, I can just take the time to get used to the altitude and the city.

It’s been raining a lot here, but right now the sun has burned away the clouds, and it’s shining on me.

Sigrid has told me to think of this as my home–I am free to come and go as I please, free to eat whatever whenever I want, free to do laundry, free to sleep. I hope to soon feel as comfortable as I do at home, but having a maid has thrown me for a bit of a loop. Her name is Reyna, and she really does a lot. I can’t help but think of the kitchen as her domain, but she’s so nice and accomodating, that I’ll probably get over that. Still, it’s a different experience to be served breakfast and dinner at your home. I know it’s just part of the culture, and it’s not a big deal here, but I think it’s contributed to me feeling like a guest in this house. It’s the least I can do to clean off the table, and I’m always tempted to do my own dishes, but Reyna shooes me away if I try.

Reyna only speaks Spanish which so far has been fine. I know enough that I can communicate what I need, and she knows that I really need her to speak slowly so I can understand. She has 2 kids: a boy who is 13 named Leonardo and a girl, 9, called Adriana. They both are highly curious about me, I think especially the girl. She seems very sweet and also is very good about speaking slowly and helping me with Spanish.

One of the things I love about Mexico city is the ubiquitous VW Beetle. They are everywhere, and I love them. Luckily the habit of the “punch buggy” game isn’t part of the Mexican culture or likely everyone’s arms would be black and blue.