Comida: Part I; or Happy Thanksgiving!

Amidst all the awesome things Mexico does so awesomely well, one of the awesomestest is El Menu del Dia at restaurants. Every restaurant at which we've eaten has one. Basically, the menu of the day is 4-5 courses for a set price. It's available during lunch and dinner times. The courses include salad/vegetable, bread, soup, entree, and dessert (and sometimes a drink, usually fresh juice). Fresh juice will get its own entry at a later date, because it's amazing.

Multiple course meals are nothing new and nothing unheard of in the States, I know. But, but, but I love the way this concept is practiced in Mexico; during our time here, Matt and I have had NOT ONE expensive meal at all. And we don't need to! We get yummy menus of the day at very affordable restaurants. I'm talking $4-8 USD for a five course foodfest!!! It's great.

Today, I'm highlighting the soup course. I have a soft spot in my heart and tums for soup; I enjoy thoroughly making soup from scratch. Luckily, Mexico loves its sopa. Of course, the ones we imbibe are vegetarian, but no matter! Perhaps it seems odd to describe the soups as delicious, yet watery AND simple (perhaps the correct nomenclature ought to be "brothy" and "minimalist"), but there is something special and worthy of appreciation when a dish works without a lot of bells and whistles.

The perfect condiment to all soups: a squeeze of lime (who knew?)

Scrumptiously simple zucchini soup (perfect for all of those in the heartland, who possess an abundance of The Big Z come harvest time)

The quintessential peasant's/proletariat's soup: Lentil

(Commie!)

p.s. this one's loaded with the other extra-special condiment--cilantro

Tlalpan

Tlalpan (pronounced Tlahl-pahn) is very hard to say. Try it.

So, we went to this little tongue-twister of a neighborhood last weekend. Our guidebook described it as a very cute, quiet, modest place on the southern edge of D.F. It was a long bus ride to get there, down Avenida Insurgentes, the longest avenue in the Americas. Although we covered a relatively short distance of the avenue on our journey to Tlalpan, I did feel like I was, quite possibly, on the longest street in the Americas.

Our visit to the neighborhood left us charmed. Tlalpan possessed an adorable little town square bubbling over with the archetype of a happy, lazy Sunday in friendly Mexico; children playing, clowns and magicians performing, artisanal goods being sold. We enjoyed wonderful coffee at a lovely roasterie and wandered the narrow streets. Oh, the best part: the air quality's better down there, and it felt better. Tlalpan will serve as our "away from the city, but not really" refuge when we need it, I think.

In pictures:

This Week...

*Slight disclaimer: This week, I've been lazy, perezosa, floja--what-have-you--as far as blogging goes. I have lovely pictures in waiting, but I haven't gotten around to posting. It seems I've caught a slight case of blogger's malaise--better that than H1N1, I suppose. I'll come around, I'm sure, so DON'T WORRY (because I know you so are).

Seeing: Old Film-Noir movies (Gilda, Laura, The Big Sleep, and The Maltese Falcon). Dunno know why they've been appealing to us, but que sera. Since we don't have a t.v., I've been watching this shoddy online newscast centered around Latin American happenings. I'm working hard on comprehending spoken Spanish. Having no t.v.= sort-of no bueno. I feel I'm missing language practice without it.

Hearing: her. still.

Wearing: Chipped, dark nail-polish (have yet to buy remover) and sandals (it's been warm the past couple days). Oh, and the requisite clothes of course.

Eating: This eating section is sort-of turning into the pastry section. I can't say I have a problem with that, though.

Since we can't (or choose not to, I should say) eat the carniverous authentic, traditional dishes of Mexico, I think the bakery/panaderia has turned into our way of experiencing the culture through cuisine. Luckily for us, mexicanos have a whole mouth of sweet teeth (probably bursting with fillings, too). We stopped in a nearby pastry shop for the first time last night (usually, we get our baked goods at the grocery), because the darling below was beckoning us. We left with this one and a flaky danish-y thing filled with pineapple for only 10-pesos (approximately 75-cents)!

There are a lot of sweets in there we want to try, so we'll be returning. In the end, this one tasted like a cream-puff with a mild-tasting chocolate topping (which is definitely a-ok), but mostly it looked too fun to pass up.

Random Photo: Coolest, Fluffiest Dog on a Roof That Ever Existed

I love this dog! We toured a cute little neighborhood called Tlalpan, and I'll post more about it in the next day or two. Yesterday, while crossing a footbridge in Tlalpan, I looked over, saw this behemoth atop the roof (dogs are often kept on roofs here), and pointed excitedly so that Matt could witness this perro in all his scruffy glory. Matt whistled, and the dogger glanced in our direction. Although he bears scant to zero resemblance to our fluffinator pup back home, I felt my heart sink, thinking of her. To her, I say, "We'll see you soon, my love."

Oh, Dogs; y'all are the best!!!

















p.s. there's a bonus pup in the lower left-hand corner.

This Week...

Seeing: We went to the jardín botanical at the sprawling Bosque de Chapultepec this past week. The conservatory was beautiful (see below) and the cactus collection was just "succulent." My, oh my, I'm such a card.






























Hearing: At this moment, Nite Jewel. Also, lots of helicopters for unknown reasons; it's quite unnerving, actually. A helicopter circling and circling and circling is more claustrophobia-inducing for me than a packed metro train. Go fig.

Eating: Below, these little pancake-itos are delicious, and they're one of the only street foods we've eaten. "What?! You haven't eaten much street food?! For shame! Isn't that what Mexico's known for???"

"Yes, that's true, but for one, most expats I've met won't often eat street vendored foods. Our feeble tums can't handle it, and you can never guarantee the level sanitary-ness of street vendors. Also, most foods made by street vendors are full of meat...from your simple steak tacos, to chicken feet, to cows' brains tacos, to pigs' uterus tacos. So, um, there's not much for non-daring Americans, much less for pescetarians/vegetarians/vegans. Does that answer your hypothetically asked question, Christine and Hypothetical Askers?"

"Oh, um, yes it does," answered sheepishly.

Anyway, back to our yummy little antojitos (little whims) made with care by lovable old ladies. They look like little pancakes, but they're actually corn flour/corn meal (masa), and maybe: sugar, almond extract, vanilla, and/or cinnamon. I'm trying to research them. Nonetheless, as the picture alludes, they're delicious with a little french-press coffee.














Wearing: It's not that cold outside. It's in the mid-60s for highs, mid-40s for lows, but our apartment is mucho frio. So, so cold. Its old walls absorb chilliness, and it's bereft of a heating system. In fact, I've learned recently that most homes do not have heaters. So, actually, we're coldest when we're just at home, sitting about. I bought these little fingerless gloves at an outdoor market. I've never owned this style of glove before (it seemed to defeat the purpose--the tips of my phalanges were always the coldest part!). However, I've found that this style of glove is very conducive to wearing inside the house, and especially for typing blog entries!! I know my mom's wondering, "'Goodnight Irene', Hija, where are you living?!"

My answer, "Just in this completely unique place called Mexico City, Mamá. Everything's just fine and dandy."

Roma--"mi casa es mi casa"

Tomorrow, there will be a big march protesting the mass lay-offs of the city's electricity workers. Therefore, power may or may not be shut off for a smidge solely for principle's sake (not terribly uncommon, anyhow), and my class is canceled (I get one more day to prepare for my oral midterm exam-yippee!). Sooooo, instead of totally using wisely all this donated study time, I think I'll finally elucidate on our neighborhood.

Colonia Roma. It's a good, centralized location. As stated before, it's very safe (and it seems to let out a big ol' "shhhhhhhhhh!!!" at night, so quiet). It's got a hearty handful of good little museums and galleries. Also, there are lots of restaurants, cool bars, coffee shops, even vintage clothing stores. It's very middle-class. A mix of families, artists, and those in the "other" category (the box we'd check). It's beautiful in that crumbly sort of Mexico City way. It's crumbelievable, actually. It's a motley, myriad, melange of architecture, including stately colonialism, cute art-deco, and boring utilitarian. There are a lot of charming little neighborhood parks and lots of once/twice per week outdoor markets. We love it.

In pictures

The stately:

Perhaps once upon a time this was stately, now it's just charred, abandoned and a refuge for feral felines.

Color EVERYWHERE:

A slide in our closest neighborhood park. The picture was taken during rainy season, BEFORE beautifying efforts:

Taken during smoggy season, AFTER:

The stenciled, tagged, postered plywood covering the vacant building adjacent to our apartment:

And lastly, our beloved tortilleria called "Nelly" where, at least two times per week, we buy corn tortillas, piping-hot and freshly-made on the cute little tortilla conveyor belt before our very eyes. They're amazingly cheap, too.

This Week...

Seeing: Day of the Dead is over, and I'm kinda glad. My eyes hurt. No, really. I think mis ojos were intoxicated with all the beauty, and now they're a bit hungover and ready to lay on the couch all day. Behold, some amazing, very professional-looking papier-mache we experienced Day of the Dead Eve on Avenida Reforma.

Hearing: Let's keep with the intoxication theme, shall we?! I fell off the wagon this week...I promised myself that I'd only listen to music without lyrics or music with Spanish lyrics. While Jeff was here, we listened to Plain Ole Bill's (my plain ole brother) mix cd "AspenxAspen." It contains smashing ditties by New Order, Hall & Oates, and Junior Boys, and I loved it. Awww, it felt good to sing along. But now, I'm back again listening to some classic Latin-American music from an MP3-CD we bought for 10-pesos on the Metro.

Wearing: NOT the pants below, unfortunately. They're so cute. I'm very addicted to little details in clothes. A few buttons here, a zipper in an unexpected locale, a little lace complementing a contrasting fabric/texture. I loved the details on this muchacha's jeans. Now, I know there are a lot of skinny jeans haters out there (especially in the midwest). To each their own, but after wearing bootcut pants from 1996-2004, I was ready to change it up a bit. Thus, five years ago, I was a convert and welcomed the skinny jeans into my 'drobe and haven't looked back (and subsequently haven't tripped over my flared pant leg, as I looked back) since. Es todo.

Eating: Sometimes, you'll find me frantically tearing through my fridge and cabinets, trying desperately to assuage my sweet fix, chocolate fix, or sweet+chocolate fix. Often, the search comes up empty-handed, and I'm left dismayed. If I'm lucky, though, I remember the platanitos (or, in English, cute little bananas) that we bought a couple days before. Then, I'm happy! These "fun-size" bananas are sooooooo much sweeter (and thus, so much more satisfying) than the big ones. I will miss my little friends when the time comes to move.

Random Photo: Coolest Dentist Office That Ever Existed

Amidst the palatial, beautiful art-deco apartamentos in the charming neighborhood of Condesa (adjacent to our neighborhood), there sits the coolest dentist office that ever was. It doesn't fit in the with its neighborhood, no, but it would fit with the Jetsons' neighborhood, especially if it was on stilts. Alas, it's not, but it's still cute. Dentista!

Teotihuacan

Our friend Jeff is flying the friendly skies right now, on his way to Houston for a layover. We enjoyed a handful of jam-packed, fun days with him, and now I'm feeling exhausted again. We walked A LOT while he was here, which is funny-weird because we always walk A LOT. I guess I should say that we walked A LOT-LOT while he was here.

This past weekend, we three took a day trip to Teotihuacan, the site of Aztec pyramids and ruins of the Aztec city. The pyramids and ruins were HUGE and BEAUTIFUL. The bus ride there was NOT BEAUTIFUL, LONG(er) than necessary, and PACKED (I've never seen people forced to stand for an entire bus ride on a coach bus before this ride). The bus ride was worth it, though.

Here are some hightlights:

Here's the gigantic Piramide del Sol:

Matt and I, before the treacherous walk up:

Jeff and Matt, at the top:

The view of the city:

The Piramide de la Luna:

View from atop: