Weekend in the City and salads

On Sunday I took a sick leave. The Thursday rain brought the rest of the defenses down and I only held on for the next two days to succumb to the cold. Funny, when you are self-employed you can't afford to be ill on a weekday, and most of the times you can make a deal with your organism to wait until a better time :)

Yet, despite temperatures as low as +5C at night, we are trying to take a daily walk, thank God the neighbourhood allows, and enjoy the city without its infinite rush and buzzle,.. I even discovered any tea-lover's paradise - "Teavana"! Extremely, outrageously, overpriced,- 350 pesos for 3 ounces (that's about 20 dollars per 100 gr) but not too many people here drink tea habitually, and after years of horrible bagged tea, I saw shelves and shelves filled with jars of any tea imaginable.. I felt on cloud nine :) Plus that frozen yoghurt place next door to it!... mmmm - heaven.

Also, I finally tried the Waldorf salad: lettuce, grapes, sour apple, celery, blue cheese, chicken and caramelized walnuts with the blue cheese dressing. A real explosion of taste. A bit shocking at first, but little by little you distinguish every small variation and start savouring it. Whoever created it, was a genius :)

Do what you love

If you, like me, sometimes wonder if you've chosen the right career path or still haven't decided for sure, here you can try out this free Jung Typology Test.
I turned out to be INFP and it seems I have to make peace with the fact that I had chosen right... or become a psychologist! :)

P.S. It's just that sometimes I get tired of people!

A Loophole

Despite my having lived here for almost five years and counting, decent Spanish and pretty acceptable taco-handling skills, I am still mostly viewed as an outsider...

Suppose, many of us immigrants find ourselves in this situation: we live in our new country for quite a while, and start feeling attached to it, as a new home, we care more and more about what is going on there, have our opinions... still, when it comes to voicing them... it's becoming more complicated because the reaction of the people you talk to may vary from "yeah, you are right... (you superiour, high-horse riding brat!..) I feel that way too..." to outright "well, if you hate it so much here, so why don't you go back home?!".. What they don't understand is that there's not much to go back to.

I am not an expat, I am not here just to work for a few years for my company and then return with more money in my pocket. The decision to move was made consiously (well, sort of..) and for good reasons (kinda..), and most bridges are long burnt. No one knows how life will change in a few years, but for now it is my home and my heart is bleeding for everything that is wrong with it.

Maybe I am imagining things? I was taught to never impose my point of view on anybody or hurt anyone's feelings, so I might be too sensitive about it.
How do you deal with it? And our hosts, what is your reaction when someone points out the problems in your country that you are very aware of yourselves?

Día de Candelaria

Today is another important day in Mexican tradition and, as always, it has a lot to do with food :) On Jan 6, El Día de Reyes, everyone (but me - glup glup) shared a Rosca de Reyes, a delicious sweet bread that came to Mexico from Spain. But it is not all that simple with Rosca here... When they are baked, a tiny toy Jesus is hidden in the dough, and the one "lucky" to get it, has the commitment of offering tamales and atole to everyone present at the table, on Feb, 2.. Tamal is a prehispanic calorie-packed dish of crushed corn with an infinite variety of fillings wrapped and cooked in corn leaves. Another famous variety that comes from the state of Oaxaca is basically the same thing but wrapped in banana tree leaves.

Elaboration process is rather complicated and time-consuming, but you can find them sold almost on every corner - it is one of the most common and easily-available snacks, and very cheap too!

Atole is a drink that usually goes with tamales. Its base is corn as well - corn flour, and it can have any taste you want - from plain vanilla to mango.

Those a great to keep you warm on a chilly damp day like today :) ... but still, it's better not to abuse them if you don't want to look like tamal yourself ;)

times of change

When all you do when you go out is buy some food and medicines,.. the sign of what is it??

And this is our burn unit... it's relatively new (C)

Now I know why one shouldn't open a pressure-cooker while it is still boiling...

yeah, yeah, I did it!.. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking.. and then, not only I had to nurse the burns on my legs, feet and left hand, but also clean the kitchen from top to bottom before my hubby came back. At least, I didn't get any on my face! Well, a lesson learned :) hmmm...

anyway, my heart is not really in homemaking these days, - today I forgot the rice on the stove, - there are other issues on my mind. Let's hope second time is the charm :)

Bon appetite!

New Year, New Horizons

Well, many things are the same, but now I feel like writing in English for a change.

2010 is well into its first month but still.. Happy New Year!!



Besides the traditional propositions everyone makes every year, I'll also learn to drive properly(!) and overcome my (pretty rational, in my own opinion) fear of driving in the city, take good care of myself and generally have more fun. That last one I began to fulfill this Saturday, playing (pretend) poker for the first time at a friend's birthday. Now I know I should never go to Las Vegas :), but fun it was!

And finally, it's warm again in México City! Sleeping in warm pj's under three blankets is over!!!