Mexicans, a Friendly People

I am enjoying Mexico the longer I am here.  The people really stand out in how friendly they are.  I have never had so many people bend over backwards twice over to try and help me.  They are all so eager to share their history, their story, and their customs.  These are not tourist guides. These are Mexicans who may be traveling, are studying, or whatever, but are very proud (rightfully so) of where they come from and what they are a part of (one part of the many Mexicos that exist within the country by that name).  Sometimes, I don´t think we understand this as Americans.  You start a conversation and you have a new friend ready to excitedly share their story and hear yours.  They are a really friendly welcoming people who I have not seen matched. 

Today, I arrived in Puebla, my first really big Mexican city and one I had wanted to visit since I saw an advertisement in National Geographic Magazine a couple years ago by the Mexican Government promoting tourism.  The population is around two million and it is located a little over 120 kilometers from Mexico City.  After getting off the bus I was asking directions to the center and a nice (and very pretty) young lady, Nayely, offered to show my around town.  I took her up on her offer and she gave me the full dollar tour with a complete history of the city and how it fits into Mexican history.  She is a very proud Poblana. 5 de Mayo celebrations are rooted in Puebla where on May 5, 1862 defeated the invading imperialist French forces were defeated at Puebla by General Zaragoza.  The day is hardly celebrated in Mexico (the Mexicans lost eventually and had a French dictator for 6 years or so.) except for in Puebla, but is much more popular as a Mexican cultural festival in the United States.  She showed me around for more than three hours.  I am deeply indebted to her.

For the last three days I was Oaxaca.  The city is really a beautiful, relaxing place.  Yesterday I made a small excursion to a town of the Zapotec people famous for its indigenous weaving, Teotitlan del Valle.  As I was hopelessly wandering the streets I met a lady who took me to her home to view a weaving operation.  There I met her sons, one of whom had just returned from the US after an internship in Berkeley, California.  They showed me their weaving techniques and what the different patterns mean.  This family, according to them, was one of the few weavers who still use the original indigenous dyes.  For example, red comes from a parasite that grows on cactuses.  The parasites (insects) are scraped off the cactus and ground into a powder.  Latter lemon juice is mixed in and the die is a beautiful red.  This isn´t the true indigenous method though.  Lemons are not endemic to the Americas, but they found it preferable to use lemon juice instead of the original recipe´s animal urine.  I would have to agree.  I then chatted with them for a couple hours about everything, including NAFTA, until they had to leave for a party.  To finish off, they gave me a ride back to Oaxaca. 

Yesterday, I ate corn on the cob that reinvented this food for me.  I bought from a street seller a cob on which she put mayonnaise, grated cheese, chili powder, and lemon.  It was spectacular.  My mouth is still watering 24 hours later.

I will most likely be spending a few days here in Puebla until moving on.  I will write soon to let you know what I think of Puebla.

Jacob

Bugs and Liquor

I am still in Oaxaca.  It is beautiful, historic, and diverse.

Today I went and visited the ruins on Mount Alban.  They are from two ancient civilizations which flattened off the top of a mountain and built their city there.  It is supposedly the first instance of city planning in the Americas.  The city was of importance from 500 BC to 1000 AD.  It was a competitor with the Olmecs that I spoke of a couple of blogs ago.

Oaxaca was the principal city of the Spanish empire in Southern Mexico.  It has many beautiful churches and old colonial buildings.  It is also the most diverse area of Mexico in regards to indigenous tribes.  The state of Oaxaca recognizes something like 54 different indigenous languages.  As a result, the city is a mix of a lot of interesting traditions.  Many of these traditions are manifested in food.  Chocolate is one of the towns specialties and you can find it however you might like.  There are also many types of insects eaten.  I tried some yesterday.  They had been dried and covered in chilli powder.  They weren´t all that good.  Oaxaca is also the home to the alcohol called Mezcal.  It is made from the Maguey or Agave plant and, at least the bottle I drank from, has a worm in it like Tequila.  If any of you have read James Michener´s "Mexico" it is a central item in the evolution of the story.  It also wasn´t very good, it tasted like a funny whiskey (I don´t like whiskey either).

Jacob   

I Jinxed Myself

 I jinxed myself yesterday with my blog and I am really happy about it.  I have eaten twice since I wrote the email, and the food as fulfilled the three Bs; bueno, bonito, y barato (good, nice, and cheap).  The food was fantastically tasteful, proportioned, and affordable.  Hopefully, this is the case through the rest of Mexico.

The picture is not a pizza.  It is a Tlayuda.  A big corn tortilla (normal plate sized) with beans, cheese, sausage, ham, beef, avocado, tomato, hot sauce, and jalapeños.

Sweating Towards the North

 I am currently in Villahermosa, Tabasco.  You may remember that last year this town severely flooded.  It was in the world news for quite awhile.  What have I been up to in the meantime.

A spent a couple days in San Cristobal and enjoyed the cold nights at 2200 meters (just more than 7200 feet) above sea level.  The colonial town has its charm, but not enough to hold me for more than two days.  Monday afternoon I caught a bus to the Mayan ruins at Palenque.

I think my most enjoyable moment in San Cristobal de las Casas was sitting in a restaurant watching the Eurocup championship between Spain and Germany with an English traveler (Spain won).  I did also meet some nice German gals and two Irish and a Dutch who feel that the predominant US ethnic group is idiots.  It is incredible and saddening how common this sentiment is.

Palenque is a steamy hot rain forest town located a few kilometers from the famous Mayan ruins by the same name.  I didn´t stay in the town, but in some cabins in what was advertised as jungle, but is really just semi-jungle (it needs a few more years of growth to be considered full jungle in my opinion).  The place was neat and nicely priced until it was time to eat.  When you are in an isolated place, they really can take you for all you´ve got on food.  Hey, food´s important and I knew it was coming. 

Tuesday morning I got up early and started walking the 4 kilometers to the ruins.  I am glad that I did, though everyone passing in their cars or buses must have thought I was crazy.  Along the way I got some close-ups of Howler Monkeys that people passing in their cars wouldn´t have seen.  The ruins were quite nice, they are as nice as Tikal or Copan.  At least they weren´t as expensive as Copan, only $7 for everything including tunnels and museum.  This would have cost me $40 to $50 at Copan.  Much of the ruins are still in the jungle giving me the chance to see some wild Toucans.  Once I finished, I walked back to my cabin.  My legs are still a little sore today.

This morning I took a bus to Villahermosa.  There isn´t much to see here but the beautiful park/museum La Venta.  A bunch of artifacts from an archaeological site near the town of La Venta were moved to Villahermosa and placed in a jungle like park.  The park has a small zoo included with it.  The park is fascinating and beautiful with the most interesting artifacts being the 30 ton stone heads.  This ancient tribe, the Olmecs, must have been really full of themselves to have heads this big!  The Olmecs were the first important civilization of Mexico.

Villahermosa is unbearably hot and humid, so I am quite happy to be moving on to the famous Southern Mexican city of Oaxaca (pronounced gua-hac-a) tonight.  It will be a short ride of 12 hours and 30 minutes.

I have been impressed with Mexico for the most part.  The people are extremely friendly and helpful, especially since I speak Spanish.  The roads are well maintained.  Buses are frequent and very nice (our buses in the States are junkers in comparison).  Towns have monuments and large well maintained public parks.  There isn´t as much trash on the ground as I have grown accustomed to in Central America.  People seem to be proud to be Mexican and as far as I can tell, they have a lot of reasons to be so.

The only real disappointments I have are the prices and the food, but generally the prices of the food.  Everything is substantially more expensive here than I had grown accustomed to in Central America.  However, much of the cost is worth it.  The buses are much nicer.  The roads are better maintained.  Bathroom facilities are clean (generally, they usually cost US$0.30).  My real disappointment has been the food.  Everyone always talks about the diversity of Mexican food, but it seems to be only tacos, tortas, and hamburgers.  Most of the meals come with a little food and a lot of tortillas.  I guess I had my hopes too high and had grown too accustomed in Honduras to food that is about half the price and has twice as much.  I am hoping that this will change as I go north.  

I will keep you updated if any of my first perceptions change.

Jacob 

!Viva México!