Cactus is an All-the-Time Food, and other stories from Guanajuato, MX

Known here as Nopal, Cactus is a food for all seasons (and times of day). This prickly delight--once despined by your local green grocer, bless them!--was served to me at every meal this weekend, and in all manner of form! There´s pickled nopales, chopped and chilied nopales, boiled nopales, nopales as a sidedish, nopales in tortillas as a main course, bitesized nopales appetizers, nopale quesadillas.... it just goes on and on and on!

After a while, this bland and somewhat slimy addition to my diet has started growing on me. Indeed, after only one day away from Guanajuato I found myself with an antojo for the little buggers, a craving. But no worries, as a parting gift from our host, every person on this weekend´s research trip was graced with their own personal jar of pickled vegetables (with a particularly heavy does of whole nopal leaves). Cheers!


Indeed Cookie Monsters of the world, cookies may be a sometime food, but cactus is an all the time food! Caaaaactuuusssss!

Right, so as to my other adventures in Guanajuato...

This weekend was my first-ever visit to the Campo of Mexico. Eight of us headed out just before 6am on Thursday morning, and were interviewing our first Guanajuato residents by about 1pm. The five students, two adults, and one professor were there to investigate the impact of Migration to El Norte on the health of elderly returnees, that is, those who came back to their homes and families in their old age (over 50).

I was more an observer in the whole process, listening while my partner, Lilia Fernandez, did most of the talking. Of the four residents I was privy to help interview, all had crossed to stateside by less than kosher means, they had to. It takes time and connections to get a Visa to the US, and when youre a farmer during a drought with 13 mouths to feed, not including your own (as was the case with one fellow we spoke with), time and money are in short supply. It´s head north or watch your family starve. So they head north to work in fields, in construction, as house cleaners, nannies, and McDonald´s hamburger flippers--would you like diabetes with that?

I was more than lucky to hear the stories of these men and women who left everything and everyone to try their luck in my country of privilege and opportunity. It was...unsettling. More on these sentiments as I work them out...

Women cleaning corn husks, hojas. They get paid about 300pesos a week doing this full time. Divide by 13.5 to get the equivalent in dolars. I make more in one shift at work in Cambridge...

Local church about a block from my host in Santa Cruz de Gamboa, Guanajuato Mexico.

Ladies of the Grail (Left-right, ???, Rosaurora Espinosa--my benificent host, Ushu, and Lilia--my upstairs housemate and interview partner extraordinaire), playing back-up to the lead guitarist in our makeshift concert on Saturday night. (Note the inverted kitchen pot and nearly translucent water-bottle being "played" by the woman in white and Ushu, in beige.)

Pictures of Mexico!!!! :o)

Place: Cuenavaca, Mexico, home of Tere McDermot

Introducing (counterclockwise): Me, Tere McDermit (oldest Grail member in Mexico, originally of Pennsylvania), Lilia Fernandez, Rosaurora Espinosa (my host mom), and another Grail member.

This was the day we all met to interview Tere about her experience of the Grail in Mexico. It was day three in mexico for me.

My home in La Noria, D.F. Mexico. Yeah, those really are whales you see painted on the house! The idea is to discourage vandalism. They where having a problem with renagade spraypainters... This´ll show you!!!

Scorpion!!!!!!!!!!! Yep! It was on the kitchen window. And last night (Tuesday 7/21) another showed up in the carport. Woot!

Do note, in reality these guys are all of about 2 inches long...not so scare as the zoom would have you believe. But still...it´s a scorpion!

This is the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) in the main square of the neighborhood of Coyoacan. I LOVE this neighborhood! It´s like Hyde Park meets some mix of Florida and Italy. During the weekends this square fills with canvas-tent vending stalls (hundreds!) with sell all sorts of crafts and art, clothes and food. People mill about by the hundreds and it feels like an old-school Cincinnati Church festival (minus the cheesy rides).

For the history buffs among us, this neighborhood was also the childhood home of Frida Kahlo. After strolling the cobbled streets a bit I can see how she was so inspired to be an artist early on.

There were SOO many peacocks strolling about the grounds of the Olmedo Museum, where I saw my first bout of Frida and Diego. This particularly striking example was strutting his stuff when I came along with the camera...

This is a picture of only one small part of the Cathedral Basillica of Mexico. It´s kinda crazy to think about it now, but this church was basically build over, on and with the ruins of a former Aztec temple, El Templo Mayor. In the same city block excavations have begun that show the remnants of what was once a HUGE temple and plaza. Story has it that Cortes (absolutely loathed figure of mexican history that conquered the Aztec empire, for all intents and purposes) ordered the temple destroyed and the stone used to pave the new Plaza afront of the Cathedral and later, presidential palace and other colonial powerhouses. That´s SUCH a slap in the face of Natives´culture and history...and today you can see indigenous people throughout the square selling goods, giving purformances, and best of all (insofar as irony is concerned) you can be blessed by a Native Priestess (yes, woman priest!). This all happens only feet from the front gates of the Catholic Basillica. Such a culture clash!!!!

This is the sole supporting pillar of the roof over the patio of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It´s a REALLY lovely museum with all sorts of history of the groups of people who have lived here in Mexico since the ice age. It´s a BEAUTIFUL work of architecture...indeed, the whole building is layed out with such flare!

Last but certainly not least is this picture of the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thousands of pilgrims were gathered here when I arrived.

This image hangs over the altar of the main sanctury. (There are about 5 or 6 or more churches on the premises.)

For those who want this close-up view, there is a conveyor belt of sorts (airport style) which runs below the altar. Devotees can stand on the conveyorbelt as they glide quietly by. The idea is to give everyone a chance to pay their respects. And should someone try to act otherwise, there are a number of guards placed at either end to enforce the restricted viewing.

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Peace and love to you all! I head to Guanajuato tomorrow, the "campo" for those familiar with the term. I´ll be taking pictures for your viewing pleasure and hope to offer updates next week!

Some Pictures of Guatemala...finally!

This was my street! My house in Guatemala was the blue one at the far, left side of the street. The clouds you see in the distance, while picturesque, where a regular fixture of Xela life. Rain, rain, rain....every day. Eventually it became endearing.

Behold! The smoking "cone" of Santiaguito, the wee little volcano which Santa Maria (now dormant) towers over. This photo was taken with my camera zoomed as much as it would go. Please note: I´m looking DOWN at this peak. That means I´m actually MUCH higher. Yay altitude sickness!!!! :o)

This is a view just above the clouds as I was hiking up the Volcano Santa Maria, in Guatemala. It´s about 7:30am and I´d been climbing about an hour and a half or more at this point. Three more hours to go!!!!

Making Chocolate in Xela, Guate! This is the machine which ground our chocolate seeds into paste then blended in the sugar and other stuff...

Boda Mexicana y Scorpions!

Random tidbits I wanted to add while it was on my mind:

1) Went to a Mexican wedding on Saturday. It was basically like an American wedding with one exception, SALSA!!!! Good Lord do I wish I could dance like that! Or rather, I wish I had a dance partner that could lead like that. One day...

2) Yesterday, a scorpion appeared on the kitchen window. It was about 2 inches long at most, black, and (allegedly) stingless. While normally I´m not bothered the least by insects or their arachnid kin, I was NOT pleased to learn that 1) these little buggers live in my house 2) they frequent the kitchen 3) they can climb glass surfaces and 4) in addition to glass I´m told they can climb just about any surface, including ceilings. Eep! I took pictures. I´ll be adding them soon...

Much love!
K

¡Mexico Olé!

Hello Amigos!

I´ve arrived safe and sound in Mexico City, Mexico (AKA La Ciudad). No joke, I feel like I´ve died and gone to Florida, only with less humidity, cheaper prices, and full of women who like to talk about cooking as much as I do.

I´m living with the illustrious Grail memeber Rosa Aurora Espinosa. She resides in the southern part of the city, all of a few minutes walk from the Frida Kahlo museum. (Given she´s one of my favorite artists, this is GREAT news!) It´s the first of three weeks free of classes, so this professor/activist of a woman has taken it upon herself to fill EVERY of my waking moments with as much activity as possible, and for good reason--as it stands now, I´ll have more to do than can possibly be done in the next six weeks.

I´ve assumed responsibility to record as much of the past 40+ years of history of the Grail Movement in Mexico, with its accompanying theology, philosophy, and socio-political history as I can muster in the time I´m here. And to beat all, ALL my research is in Spanish! Yep, This Spanish novice has volunteered to read unknown numbers of letters, documents, and conduct and transcribe (and translate!) interviews to piece together a history that has hardly been recorded to date. This is both exciting and daunting, as I will be the first to do so this deeply and deliberately in the course of the Grail´s time in Mexico.

For those who aren´t already aware, the Grail is an international organization of lay Catholic women who have their US headquarters in my hometown of Loveland, OH. They came to the US in the 1940s and expanded to Mexico in the late 1960s-early 1970s. They were formed, here, in the midst of post-Vatican Catholicism, Catholic Action, Student and Women´s Movements, Liberation Theology, and a world in shift. As such, this history is something to be beat! And I get to explore it all...God help me! Seriously.

I had my first interview today: American Expat Teri McDermot. She´s a marvelous woman who´s been in Mexico through the past 40+ years and before that spent about a decade serving as a Medical Missionary (shout out to Pat and Steph in Kenya!!!) in Uganda and South Africa (Hiya Kara!) before returning to the US to chillax in the Bronx (hey BC theo department a borrough or so over!!) before heading south in the 1960s to Mexico.

This woman is incredible, and the whole of the community that she helped found here! I´m so amazed and blessed at this chance to turn these six weeks into a project for the whole of the Grail community.

¡Viva el Grial! ¡ Viva Mexico!

¡Hasta Mañana!

Tortilla vs. Chapatis

Hola for perhaps the last time in Guatemala!

I just finished my last "class". My prof and I played scrabble for an hour and a half (in spanish!) and then after lunch with my family, I returned to school to learn how to make corn tortillas in exchange for teaching her to make apple crisp.

The principle behind the tortilla is exactly the same as my old friend from India, the Chapati--Flat round bread consisting of naught more than water and flour. (In India it was whole wheat flour. Here, it´s Mazeca...fine corn flour.)

All you need to to in either preparation is make a soft dough of your two ingredients and then pat it gently by (lightly moistened) hand into discs appropriate for eating. Toss the discs onto a hot dry griddle (nonstick or otherwise) and toast on either side until done through. It takes all of a few minutes and is best served fresh and warm. We ate ours with butter and salt, but they are served at most every meal...breakfast included.

Having tried my hand at making both chapatis and corn tortillas, I´ve come to the conclusion I´m better able to make tortillas...it takes less skill and speed because the flour isn´t so glutenous. I have time to make mistakes and then fix them. Both breads, though, are delicious!

¡Buen provecho!

choh-koh-LAH-tay = YAY!!!!

Hello Friends!

Today marks the first of July and my last Wednesday in Xela. The sun has just come out here, a rare commodity between the hours of 1-9pm, and I´m pondering a walk another walk about town. Earlier today I spent most of two hours walking hither and about trying to find out where I might get tickets to a national salsa dance competition that takes place here this Saturday, my last night in Xela. Best as I can figure, I need to return to a dance studio around the corner from school during their business hours (which are, of course, not posted).

After many hours of shuffling between businesses, hotels, and friendly strangers I headed over to La Vienesa--a chocolate and bread shop frequented by locals, and highly recommend by my spanish teacher, God bless her!-- for a refreshing treat, chocolate (aka choh-koh-LAH-tay; aka hot chocolate). There´s nothing so refreshing after a too-long, too-damp jaunt in the rain as a couple of warm draughts from a steamy mug of fresh chocolate. The stuff is made locally here in Guatemala, and the taste can´t even be compared to what you´ll get in the states. It´s thicker, richer, all-around better! In Xela, it´s rather common to have a neighbor, friend, or relative that makes the stuff from scratch. Such was the case last week when Celas Maya, my spanish school, sponsored a Chcolate-making lesson.

About 15 students started at 10AM by toasting the raw seeds, or semillas, over the stove in thick, clay sautee dishes. Once the seeds had darkened, and the skin loosened, we took them off the heat and proceded to peel the seeds (about the size and shape of an almond) by hand. The skin can be a bit tough, and even with so many hands at work, it took most of a hour and ahalf to get about half a gallon of mill-ready seeds.

So 2:30 rolled around, and we´d all returned to school from lunch with our host families. Led by one of the teachers--a mayan woman with brightly colored skirt and blouse standing at a mighty 4´10´´, that might be generous--we all marched (through the rain) to the a house about half a mile from school. Knocking on the most unassuming of stucco-framed, wooden doors--there were no signs, or even address so far as I could tell--an elderly man answered and invited us into the room beyond his spindly frame. This was his family´s home, he the patriarch of perhaps 70+ years. In the front room, just through the double doors at the street, was a chocolate grinder that spanned most of the room!

Customers came ready with seeds, peeled and toasted, and he provided the rest--sugar (easily 3 parts to one part seeds), eggs (yolk only), and flavoring of your choice (we used packets of vanilla powder, but one might choose from vanilla, coffee, cinnamon, ginger and even almond). The beans were put through the grinder once, coming out in a thick dark paste the consistency of peanut butter. As it oozed from the grinding wheel it was received by the mounds of sugar and flavoring waiting below. All was mixed by hand until it was an even grey-brown tone. Then all the ingredients were put through a second grinder (part of the same machine) to be mixed and ground twice more. The final product was poured, or rather scooped, onto a clean table nearby, and the pounding beginned.

For half an hour or more, all 15 of us stood pounded the brownish mounds. The more we pounded the more the color of the beans came out, darkening the sugar into an even coffee-tone. We had beads of sweat on our forheads from the force of our blows (we were literally beating the whole mess with our fists as hard and fast as we could!) when the teacher told us we needed to pack it all up and head back to school. And so we did, but only to find that our darkened chocolate powder needed to be headed and formed, also by hand, into round discs of hand-pressed chocolate. And so we proceeded to beat the mess--back and fourth between our palms--until each portion of chocolate was a heated to release the oils enough to blend the grains of sugar and chocolate into one whole mass of meltable chocolate.

It was past 6pm before we retired, dripping in sweat in a room with steamy windows (steamy from our body heat alone!). It was great! By the time we scuttled into the next room, tired and achy from a hard day´s work, we were relieved and refreshed by a hot pot of none other than our own hard-earned chocolate!

I will never again underestimate the wonder of this most lovely confection --

¡Viva el Chocolate!