anika in mexico

Today was the day of parties. It’s the eve of the Mexican Independence day, so everyone gets into a festive mood.

Before party time (2pm) I spent the early afternoon finishing up a pattern, and was ready just at 2pm, but of course everyone else was late. But soon people were arriving. I met my grandmother’s brother, his wife, all his children, and their children! He’s really great too, and he looks so much like my grandmother, it’s funny. I was really blown away by how easy going and friendly everyone is. Each of the kids, Gerardo, Walter, and Ani, all invited me to meet up with them again.

Walter is trained as an industrial designer, and now has a photo studio. I showed him the stuff I’ve been working on (at Karin’s prompting), and he and his wife were both very interested in what tools I used to make the patterns. I showed them the markers I use, and they were impressed. They’ve invited me to visit to check out their studio and also see their work (his wife, Angeles, is also an artist who does a lot of photo collage).

Ani invited me to come visit her in Toluca, and Gerardo also invited me to their house at somepoint.

After the delicious lunch of Mole de Ollo (a tasty soup with lots of stuff in it), we all played some card games which was great fun. We played “Cucharas” which is a great game for a large group of people. You constantly pass one card to your right and the goal is to get 4 of a kind. If and when you do, you have to discreetly take one of the spoons (there is one less spoon than there are people). If you notice that someone has taken a spoon, you also take one, and the one left without a spoon has to sing a song. It was really hilarious. Especially because I discovered that I know the german song “O Tannenbaum!” and the Mexican song, “La Cucuracha” better than my own National Anthem. Ah well.

Overall I also enjoyed the party because I spoke only in Spanish, and was able to understand and be understood very well.

Everyone left by 8pm, but that was by no means the end of the night for me. I had to run to the Supermarket and get “botanas” which is basically appetizers/snacks for the party at Fernandos. Saskia agreed to pick me up at 9pm, so I didn’t have too much time to get ready. But I painted my eyes with bright green eyeshadow, donned my brightest red t-shirt, wore my white pants, my dingy green camo tennis shoes, and of course red lipstick. Red Green and White in honor of the Mexican Independence Day.

I arrived and Carlos was going to make me a Paloma which is basically a tequila with Squirt, but then Pancho insisted, no, I’d be better off just having a straight tequila, with a lime on the side. So that’s what I drank. And then I had another, and a little while later another. Then everyone had a shot together, and then Siggy wanted to a shot with me “al fondo” or “to the floor/bottom”–theoretically of the glass, but it almost had the more literal effect on me because after that, then I was drunk.

I had a lot of fun though. I danced a lot with Santiago, learned a little Russian from Fernando’s dad (he actually told me you could make any word Russian by adding “uski” or “iski” or “aski” to the end of it. I was speaking perfect Russian within 10 minutes), who also assembled a tostada especially for me, played with Fernando’s dog Rex, laughed a lot, took a lot of silly pictures, ate a lot of cheese and Rancherito chips, passed out on the couch for a bit, and then woke back up to chat with Pancho, Chucho and the German girls.

Chucho drove me and the Germans home and I got to bed by 4:30am.

Happy Birthday Max! You’re 5!

Today was off to a normal start. I’m really settling into a routine here. I got up almost too late for school, which happens when I really get used to a schedule. I managed to get there about 10 minutes early (I’ve been arriving 30-40 minutes before class starts to check email or review my homework). My professor was 5 minutes late, so it was a nice amount of time to relax a bit.

Class was really fun today. We were learning about “esa es la mia” “eso es el tuyo” “esa es la suya” “eso es el nuestro” etc. (this item is mine, that is yours, that is hers, etc.). It was funny because to start the practice, my professor stole my bottle of water. Claiming it as her own, she affirmed, “esa es la mia.” I was rather shocked, and with a swelling, indignant tone I splurt out, “nooo. esa es la miiia!” That was the desired response, and soon enough I caught on to what she was doing, and then we all had great fun stealing each other’s waters, pens, books, papers and erasers, proclaiming them as our own or assigning them to a new owner. We were all laughing with gusto by the end, especially when we looked over and saw Megan clutching her purse on her lap, protecting it from being appropriated by someone else, even for the moment.

I walked out with Megan, and she mentioned that next week she might be meeting with her Israeli Graphic Designer friend for coffee, and that I was free to join them. I think that would be fun if it worked out.

After school I went through my usual routine: supermarket for a few forgotten items and ticket validation (today it cost the same as it would have at the school, so I’ll just park at school next week), bank transaction, then to Starbucks for a venti capuccino and some internet time. I continued my correspondence with my new old friend, got even further addicted to facebook, IMed with a few friends, and just generally wasted some time.

Of course when I wanted to leave, it was raining. Not storming, but it was a steady downpour. I got impatient, so I dashed to my car and got soaked anyway. 30 seconds after I was in the car it stopped raining. I was just in time getting home to join Sigrid for some mole de olla. It was amazing and delicious. It’s basically like a one pot stew. A little spicy with a tasty broth and lots of vegetables and a little meat, accompanied with fresh, hot tortillas. It was perfect, and I probably could have eaten 3 more bowls full, at least in theory.

We were joined by Jenny and Walter. They suggested that I go check out this “Saturday Bazaar” that oddly enough only happens on Saturdays. They even showed me how to get there in my brand new Guia Roji road atlas of Mexico City. Walter even provided me with a few contigency plans in case I missed this or that exit, and a few options for how to return depending on where I end up parking. Should be a fun adventure for a Saturday afternoon.

Jenny mentioned that the other day a woman at her usual produce stand gave her 3 artichokes and told her that if she leaves them out to dry, eventually the center opens up and a beautiful flower blooms from the middle of the dried leaves of the artichoke. Jenny said that she was entirely skeptical, but that today one of them did indeed bloom–a bright purple pincushion that looks incredibly unlikely, but also very beautiful. I was intrigued, and I mentioned that I’d really love to see it, and maybe take a few photo graphs. I arranged to meet Walter at their place at 5 after he’d had a chance to run some errands.

In the mean time Anne (I found out she spells her name this way, pronounced Ah-neh) came back, so I invited her along, and we both headed over to see the unusual blossom together, with a brief stop at a supermarket so she doesn’t have to starve.

Igor, the Alaskan Husky greeted us, and soon we were face to face with the mystery flower. It was indeed unexpected. All the artichoke leaves were dried and shriveled and opened out to the edges, revealing this round purple pincushion of a blossom, about the size of a standard CD. Its two friends still haven’t bloomed, but one of them looks like it could be yellow or orange. The shapes and the textures were very interesting indeed, and I got some great photos of all three. (I seriously mean to add photos to this blog soon; bare with me!).

After staring at the blossom and taking a slew of photos, we went to the backyard so Anne could see the view. It’s really beautiful, even with all the new buildings that have or are popping up.

After the brief visit, we headed back toward the house, stopping at Starbucks for a refreshment and some conversation. It was the third time that day that I’d been in the area, and we even parked in the same spot that we’d occupied when we went to the supermarket.

After Starbuck’s we headed back home where we figured out some plans for night time activities. It’s going to be Mama Rumba’s for some salsa dancing!

I wasn’t feeling great. I wasn’t sick, but my lower back had flared up again. I don’t know exactly why. I hadn’t done anything specific that made it hurt. I thought of a few suspects. It could be my bed (it’s pretty hard and uncomfortable) it could be my new car (perhaps it’s not ergonimic in a good way for me), maybe it’s the chair I’d been sitting on in my room while doing my homework (I finally realized that there was not base support, so the cushion just sags through the hole, offering no real support–this is my main suspect actually. I realized that the other chair in my room does have a nice firm seat base, so I switched immediately, but I’m afraid the damage might already be done).

But I managed to get ready, and by the time Siggy stopped by to pick up Anne and me, I’d just decided to go for it. I’m glad I did, and after drinking some tequila, my back was feeling much better. After a little more tequila, I allowed myself to be dragged out from behind the table onto the dance floor, where Pancho gracefully dealt with my ineptitude. After a shot of straight tequila, I suddenly could dance with no problem, and after another, I was dancing with strangers, whirling and twirling quite convincingly. After a while they played Rigaton, so I could bust out some of my best home-grown hip hop “moves”. (Up until that point they’d had a live band playing great salsa music.) Then they played this song where they sing, “pass the bottle” and so we did just that… passed the bottle of tequila and everyone drank from it.

We stayed until the club closed, finally getthing back in Siggy’s car. We had to take her friend Elsa home. On the way we all ate Principe cookies. Anne and I were dropped off at around 4am.