Valladolid

Valladolid, already in the state of Yucatan, on our way to Chichen Itza.

My Chichen Itza curse

I have always wanted to go to Chichen Itza, but every time I try, I have to cancel.
Today, we had planned to go, but it was already too late, and had to postpone the trip.
Will we make it tomorrow or there is a curse upon me and I will never see Chichen Itza?

Coba, part II

Coba was 2 days ago. Time goes by so quickly!

Julio was our guide, I was videotaping, and paying attention to my new handycam, not our guide's explanations.

Monica got snappy, and kept telling me:
"Pay attention, the guide has already explained that!"

I will upload the videos as soon as I have time, maybe when we come back to Mexico City. I will also try to put some captions in English, and edit those parts where I ask what the guide had just explained.

What a shame! The thing is you cannot tape and listen at the same time. At least it is difficult for me.

It is 1 am now. We were very tired, and went to sleep early. Now, I am fresh, sleepless, but Moni wants to sleep, so I am wrtiting in the bathroom again. I want to see what I recorded on tape.

Pretty good handycam, uh! Not a pro, but the best I've ever had. The zoom is great, my pulse is not. Wish I had my tripoid here.

The only problem is when I tape in the beach, and there is too much sun: I can't see what I am shooting.

But I was supposed to talk about Coba.

The first pyramid is called "The Church". Of course this is what archaeologists call it. They think it was the first building in the site, and was used with a religious purpose. The place had been inhabited for many years when the pyramid was built. There were inhabitants in Coba 200 years before Christ, maybe more. But they lived in wooden houses, which can't stand time.

I have seen documentaries where archaeologists try to locate things built with wood. In some cases, there is no more wood, but the dirt in the site has a different color, or a different shape, like on Ararat mountain, where some archaelogists are sure they found Noah's arch. Pottery and tools are also an indication that lives longer than wood.

At the time "The Church" was built, houses were built on top of stone platforms. Their walls were coated with stucco, which is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. Mayans in Coba had white and red stucco. It must have been beautiful to see the pyramids all covered with those colors and painted with frescos.

Visiting an archaeological site takes a lot of imagination. Some people say: "What is the point of seeing all these old stones?" I understand them, it is much funnier to be at the beach, with a bottle of beer in your hand. But visiting a site and picturing what life could have been in those ancient times is also great.

I liked Julio's botanical explanations. As I said in Coba, part I, there is a poisonous tree called chechem. You can touch most of the bark, but don't touch the black spots or you will get a bad rash that can last up to 10 weeks. I was amazed to see this tree on the main path, anyone could have touched it, no warning notices at all.

The antidote tree is called chaca. If you touched a chechem black spot, you have 5 minutes to collect some of a chaca's resin and spread it on your skin. You will be instantly cured.

The good thing is there is always a chaca close to a chechem. As I understood "chechem" means evil, and "chaca" means good in Maya.

Another word for saying good in Maya is "ma'lo". It is funny because in Spanish "malo" means evil.

The tree that is used to make yellow pigment is called ciril (that's what I understood). Just by rubbing the bark your fingers get the yellow color.

The ceiba was called "yax'che", which means "the first tree of the Mayans".

Julio showed us a tree, whose root is used to dissolve kidney stones. I did not get the name though, but I promise I will upload the video. Maybe one of our biologist friends can help us identify the tree.

Los Pepes in Tulum

Loud (very loud) Mexican cheesy banda norteña music (band music of the North), lousy art, shanty looking place, but we were told the locals come here to eat great sea food.

Monica's shrimp cocktail was good and large. My Mexican style octopus (pulpo a la mexicana) was also large and good, but not the best. Prices are low, though.

Playa Paraiso

We were supposed to go to Chichen Itza today. We hit the road too late, though, and decided to visit Playa Paraiso instead.
I was shocked at first by the loud music, the youngsters on a fling trip, the high prices, but after my first mojito I changed my mind, relaxed, sit back, and enjoyed the white sand, the sun, the loud music, and the youngsters picking up.

Palapita Zen

My theory is
This bungalow is called "palapita" because it started as a palapa, which means a pole with a straw roof. Well, not always. A palapa can have four poles used as columns to support the roof.
I can imagine the beginning of our bungalow with no blinders. Some people still live in such shanks in the peninsula.

In fact, we have three rooms:
The bungalow (where we sleep)
The bathroom (where we also wash and store dishes)
And a dining palapa

Washing dishes in the bathroom

Yes. We could do that at the kitchenette, but then we would have to carry all the dishes to our bathroom. Funny thing when silverware and bathroom utensils mix at the bathroom.

I also feel as if I could live in these two rooms... for a long time.

Rosa and Andy, the owners of Casa del Corazón, lived in these 2 rooms for 3 years.

Why not?

Blinders in our bungalow

All the windows and doors have wooden blinders and screens. There are no glass windows. You can open one, two, or as many blinders. The light changes with each blinder you open.
In the picture you can see the bathroom door. I opened the top blinder and left the bottom blinder closed to show how they work.

Microwave quesadillas

We had never cooked quesadillas in the microwave oven. It was the easiest thing to do, though, in our present condition.

Let me explain myself:
We are staying at a little bungalow (which they call "Palapita Zen") in a small hotel ("Casa del Corazón" in beautiful Soliman Bay) that has only 4 bungalows (and one of these is the house of the owners). There is no restaurant. There is an open kitchenette which can be shared by all the guests, but there are lots of mosquitoes, and bats, which is why it is not a good idea to cook or eat dinner outdoors.

So, we had 2 options:
Driving to the nearest restaurant or cooking in the microwave oven.
We had already driven more than 2 hours (to Coba and back home), so the only left option was the microwave oven.
What a surprise! Our quesadillas were delicious. And so fast!

Ingredients:
Corn tortillas
Some cheese in narrow strips (some options are: oaxaca, manchego, gouda, gruyere, or whatever cheese you've got or prefer)
1 or 2 tomatoes in small squares
Hot Mexican sauce (optional)

Directions:
Put the cheese and tomatoes in 2 tortillas. Fold the tortillas. Cook in the microwave oven for 1 minute 20 seconds. Let them cool for 2 or 3 minutes. Add hot Mexican sauce, if you please. Enjoy!

Coba, part I

The truck-trailers on the road, 2 miles away.
The wind blowing in the palm trees around us.
A dog barking occasionally.
Crickets. Bats. Heat.

I am wearing only my underwear and feel a little hot. The temperature is going slowly down in the peaceful night, though.

Moni is starting to read her second novel in this trip. She can read for hours in a row. Wish I could.

The day was cloudy and hot: perfect for a trip to an archaeological site.

We must confess our ignorance: no idea that Coba even existed. When I heard it was not far from our hotel, I thought: "Is that true? Wasn't Coba in Honduras?"
The answer is: Copal is in Honduras and Coba in the Yucatan peninsula. Ok!

We were very lucky. We found a Mayan guide, Julio. I was surprised how many mistakes he made in Spanish. I guess Julio's Spanish was like my English. He said "la mapa", "el ciudá", "el mano". He spoke Maya with the other guides. Maya is an everyday language here, and no doubt it is Julio's first language.

Julio says Coba was the second largest, and second most important city in the old Mayan world after Tikal, in Guatemala. Most important even than Chichén Itzá. (I will have to check on that information.) Then, why do we hear so little about Coba in comparison with Chichen Itza? (I will have to check that also.)

There was a lot of walking to be done. Many tourists rented bikes or what the locals call a "taxi" which is a tricycle made of a bike with a cart in the front that can carry up to three people. In Mexico City those tricycles are very used to carry staples, sodas, tamales, etc., but the ones that carry people are very different. I had never seen those tricycles used as "taxis". It was funny.

We walked like two miles in the hot forest to reach the scattered pyramids, and meanwhile Julio gave us botanical explanations. He warned us about a tree that is poisonous, and the tree that is the antidote. If you see one, the other will always be near. The antidote tree has a red bark which peels very easily. The locals call it "the tourist tree" because it looks like a sunburnt tourist who is peeling.

There is another tree whose bark is white and pink but if you touch it your fingers turn yellow. Of course, it was used as a pigment in ancient times.

The most impressive of all the trees was the ceiba. It always has four roots which are directed towards the four cardinal points: one towards the north, one towards the south, one towards the east, and one towards the west. The tree is hollow (Julio tapped on them to prove it) and very tall, which is why it was used to make drums and canoes. Ceiba had also a mythological significance for Mayans, who were very aware of cardinal points, and thought the roots of the tree reached the underworld.

Julio also showed us bees without stings. They are very small and make their bee-hives into the trees. If you want to take their honey, you need to make a hole in the tree.

We reached the last pyramid, which is one of the tallest in the Yucatan peninsula, and Julio said goodbye (after collecting US$30, of course). We climbed the 120 steps, and had a wonderful view: other pyramids, a lake, the big forest, and lots of very small tourists wandering everywhere.

The place was crowded. We were so tired that we hired a "taxi" to take us back. We were driven at a fast speed (20 miles per hour or more?) among lots of pedestrians and bikers on a narrow and sandy road. I asked Pedro if there had been any accidents and he said no. It was refreshing to have the cool wind on our faces, though. We arrived at the entrance with no fatalities. Pedro was smiling. We were smiling. We had a really good time.

Translator requested

This notice should read:
"Dear customer,
Due to official and administrative provisions, we cannot accept $50 and $100 dollar bills."
I don't think English native speakers would understand their translation.
Can't they ask someone who speaks English to help them?
This is a reminder of the lack of language education in Mexico.
I found it fun, though.

Sopa de lima

Comimos por última vez en Playa del Carmen, con nuestros amigos, en "El Sarape", un buen restaurante mexicano sobre la Avenida Benito Juárez. Descubrimos que a dos cuadras de la 5a. Avenida se pueden encontrar precios "mexicanos", o sea razonables. Definitivamente, esa 5a. Avenida tiene pretensiones y precios de primer mundo. Pero le encanta a los turistas extranjeros (está repleta de ellos, igual que la playa).

En cambio, sobre Av. Juárez, se ven menos güeros y más gente local.

Comimos sopa de lima (receta al final de este post), mero a la plancha, tacos de nopal con guacamole y aguas de horchata y jamaica. Dos personas $300 pesos con todo y propina (en la 5a. Av. hubieran sido más de $1,000 pesos).

Una cuadra después, helados ($17 pesos) y paletas heladas ($10 de agua y $17 de crema). En cambio, en la 5a. Av. mínimo $50 pesos y hasta $90 por helado).

Sopa de lima (la diferencia con la sopa que me comí es que las tiritas de tortilla no estaban fritas y no había rondajas de lima. Supongo que cada chef le agrega su toque. Voy a seguir pidiendo esta sopa en la semana que nos queda de luna de miel y reportaré los resultados).

Encontré la siguiente receta en:

http://www.yucatan.com.mx/especiales/yucateca/sopa_de_lima.asp

¿Qué lleva?

1 pollo cortado en piezas o dos pechugas enteras grandes
10 tazas de agua
2 ramitas de orégano
2 dientes de ajo
1 cebolla partida en cuatro
Sal y pimienta al gusto
1 cebolla picadita
2 cucharadas de aceite de maíz
2 tomates pelados y picados
1 pimiento morrón picado
6 limas cortadas en rodajas
6 tortillas cortadas en tiritas, fritas y escurridas en papel absorbente

¿Cómo se prepara?

    Se pone a cocer el pollo en el agua junto con el orégano, el ajo, la cebolla y sal al gusto; una vez cocido se aparta, se deja enfriar y se desmenuza, el caldo se cuela. La cebolla picada se acitrona en el aceite de maíz, se suman el tomate y el pimiento morrón y se sazona bien, se agrega el caldo y la mitad de las rebanadas de lima, dejándose hervir durante 10 minutos.

    Se añade el pollo desmenuzado y el resto de la lima rebanada; se sirve inmediatamente acompañada de las tiritas de tortilla fritas.

¿Cómo se sirve?

    Se sirve en platos hondos soperos. Las tortillas fritas se ofrecen en un platito aparte para que estén crujientes al momento de servirlas en el plato.

Shrimp cocktail with guacamole (afterwards)

The shrimp cocktail (see recipe) was good. That is what everybody said (maybe they were just being polite, you can never tell). I liked it. It was really improved by Brigid's guacamole, and our Mexican beer with lime juice and salt.

Moni told me to put all the sauces on the shrimp: the ketchup, the cilantro and lemon sauce, and the valentina hot sauce. Did I say it was delicious?

I learnt some English new words: cilantro (I thought the right word was "coriander" but apparently coriander is a different spice) and screen door (in Mexico we call that a "mosquitero", which literally means "mosquito net"). I wrote in a previous post the word "mosquitoe net". I meant screen door. I cannot edit that from my Blackberry. I will, though.

A funny story:

Our friends were by the pool, and their room door was open. Suddenly an elderly Mexican man walked by. He went into their room, he used their bathroom and then left. They could only look at each other in wonder. They could have called the police or at least the lobby receptionist, but they found the story was funny and did nothing.

"The worst thing was", Brigid said jokingly, "he didn't even wash his hands!"

Playa del Carmen at Christmas night

The sea is... as usual.
The night is getting cooler.
The moon is almost like a half and getting fuller every night. Full moon is scheduled for new year's eve.
Moni is sleeping, but I could not. My mind is just running, telling itself stories. Real stories, the things that happened today, the words I learnt, the things I saw.
Moni is a great sleeper. I went out of the room, and she will never know (only when she reads this --if she ever does). The need of being at the beach, writing, blogging was just too big. I could not sleep. I could not stop thinking. My mind would not stop.
It is not so late, though. 10:34 pm. A faint light in the horizon: the island of Cozumel. The first Mexican island visited by the Spanish conquistadores in the early sixteenth century. Maybe tomorrow we will go. Just maybe. With so many people to gather, so many minds with different thoughts, so many budgets, so little time...
The week has almost ended. Some of our friends are leaving day after tomorrow. That seems a lot of time, but in hours it means less than 18 hours.
Moni and I are staying one more week, though.

Many things happened today. The most impressive was the event with the little girl. Let us call her Momo.

Momo is 3 years old. She is a quite, little, all American, cute girl. Almost a baby that does not say much and is always by her parents. The one that nobody is worried about, because she is the nicest and the quitest.

We were at our room when we listened her mother calling her. The shouting was becoming mad when I came down. Our hotel is not big, so all the guests were already out, helping as much as they could.

We looked at the pool, Momo was not there. We looked at the beach, Momo was not there. We looked at the sea (we could still see the sea while the sun was going down, and it grew darker), but Momo was not there.

We asked everybody at the hotel, at the beach, at the nearby street. All the possible scenarios came rushing to our minds... and then, we heard her little sister shouting: "Momo is ok, here she is, she was hiding in the closet!"

Oh, my god. That was close!

Coriander or cilantro?

I did not remember how to say "cilantro" in English, so I asked Moni. She told me "coriander". I remembered looking the word up in the dictionary, and it was the same answer: cilantro (Spanish) = coriander (English).

I went to see Mark and Brigid who are making guacamole for tonight's dinner with my bunch of "coriander".

"Hey, Mark, do you need some coriander for your guacamole?" I asked.

"I don't know" Mark said, "ask Brigid".

Brigid was chopping in the balcony while Mark watched over their kids.

I showed my bunch of coriander to Brigid asking the same question, and she replied:
"Oh, that is not coriander, that's cilantro!"

I was amazed, our American friends who live in Brooklyn use the same Spanish word! And the word "coriander" is not even familiar to them.

By the way, is "cilantro" a Spanish word? I don't know anymore!

Coriander sauce on the mosquitoe net

I wanted to make a picture of my coriander sauce for the shrimp cocktail but did not see the mosquitoe net and... bumped into it. Part of the sauce was splashed on the net and the room floor.

I called the reception but it is Xmas and was told the cleaning personnel finished work earlier today. Ok, no problem, we asked for a cleaning piece of cloth and some floor soap, and... cleaned the mess ourselves.

The shrimp sauce was good, though.

Ingredients:
The juice of 2 lemons (or 4 small limes)
2 tomatoes
A piece of onion
A handfull of coriander
Valentina sauce (if you like it hot)
Ketchup (if you like it sweeter)
Or both valentina sauce AND ketchup
As many shrimp as you want (the small pre-cooked, pre-peeled ones)
Crackers (or tortilla chips or whatever you like more to accompany a shrimp cocktail)
1 or 2 avocados
Some salt (optional)

Again, we are at the beach, on vacation, we do not want the hassle of cooking difficult dishes. So, we bought this pre-cooked, pre-peeled shrimp that is ready for a cocktail.

The difficult part is the coriander sauce.

Directions:
Blend the lemon (or lime) juice, the coriander, the tomatoes and the onion with some water in the mixer.

Serve the shrimp in a large cup, add the coriander sauce.

Chop the avocado in very small cubes, and add to the shrimp. Do this at the end, because avocado oxidizes very fast.
Put 2 or 3 shrimp on a cracker and add some valentina sauce (or ketchup, or both). You can add some salt. Enjoy!

This is the picture responsible for the mosquitoe net splashing. Well, ok, I am the one to blame, not the sauce!

Coriander sauce on the mosquitoe net

I wanted to make a picture of my coriander sauce for the shrimp cocktail but did not see the mosquitoe net and... bumped into it. Part of the sauce was splashed on the net and the room floor.

I called the reception but it is Xmas and was told the cleaning personnel finished work earlier today. Ok, no problem, we asked for a cleaning piece of cloth and some floor soap, and... cleaned the mess ourselves.

The shrimp sauce was good, though.

Ingredients:
The juice of 2 lemons (or 4 small limes)
2 tomatoes
A piece of onion
A handfull of coriander
Valentina sauce (if you like it hot)
Ketchup (if you like it sweeter)
Or both valentina sauce AND ketchup
As many shrimp as you want (the small pre-cooked, pre-peeled ones)
Crackers (or tortilla chips or whatever you like more to accompany a shrimp cocktail)
1 or 2 avocados
Some salt (optional)

Again, we are at the beach, on vacation, we do not want the hassle of cooking difficult dishes. So, we bought this pre-cooked, pre-peeled shrimp that is ready for a cocktail.

The difficult part is the coriander sauce.

Directions:
Blend the lemon (or lime) juice, the coriander, the tomatoes and the onion with some water in the mixer.

Serve the shrimp in a large cup, add the coriander sauce.

Chop the avocado in very small cubes, and add to the shrimp. Do this at the end, because avocado oxidizes very fast.
Put 2 or 3 shrimp on a cracker and add some valentina sauce (or ketchup, or both). You can add some salt. Enjoy!

Xmas at the beach

Merry Xmas!

We are happy to be here. So happy to share this moment with our friends. This was supposed to be a gift for Moni. After all these are her friends and her family. But it happened to be a great thing for me too. I am really surrounded by this loving atmosphere. All of Moni's friends have been great: full of love, friendship, humor. Really nice people to be with. One of my best Xmas ever!

An easy beach recipe: black beans with parsley sauce.

Ingredients:
Precooked black beans
A handful of parsley leaves
A piece of onion

Directions:
Blend the parsley and the piece of onion with some water in the mixer. Cook this for 5 minutes or until it boils. Add the precooked beans. Boil for 5 minutes.

You can add some salt while cooking.

Easy, isn't it?

Le Bistro en Tulum

Comimos en Le Bistro del pueblo de Tulum. Es un lindo restaurante atendido por dos franceses simpáticos.
Comimos ensalada y pescado. Yo había ordenado una tártara de salmón y Moni un filete de mero al ajo y perejil. Ella terminó cominendo mi platillo y yo el suyo. Reconozco mi ignorancia: no sabía que la tártara se servía con pescado crudo. No estaba mal, pero mi apetito necesitaba algo más caliente y sazonado por lo que el mero resultó perfecto.

No solemos cocinar con ajo porque el olor nos resulta mata pasiones, pero debo reconocer que me encanta el sabor del ajo.

Estoy buscando en la red una receta de crema de ajo y perejil, pero a veces resulta difícil con la Blackberry. Sería más fácil y rápido con la laptop, pero no la trajimos de vacaciones.

Además, no siempre es fácil entender las recetas debido a palabras distintas en diferentes partes del mundo hispano. Encuentro repetida la palabra "rape" ligado a "crema de ajo y perejil", pero no sé qué será "rape".

Soy muy tímido y por eso no le pedí la receta a los franceses. Creo que me tengo que quitar la timidez, lo peor que puede pasar es que me digan que no pueden divulgar las recetas porque son un secreto de la casa. Moni está dormida y tampoco le puedo preguntar, seguro ella sabe.

Encontré la siguiente receta en casacuti.blogspot.com, pero no es una crema, sino una salsa.

Ahí va tal cual (pongo mis observaciones entre paréntesis):

Ingredientes:
2 ajos
Perejil
Medio limón (el grandote amarillo)
Sal
Aceite de oliva virgen extra

"La preparación es de lo más sencillo. Pela los ajos y machácalos en un mortero (en México le decimos molcajete) junto a algunas hojas de perejil. Procura que quede lo más machacado posible. Añade el zumo (en México diríamos "jugo") de medio limón (¿se refieren al limoncito verde que es común en México o al limón amarillo que no es común en México?) o del limón entero (supongo que se refieren al limón grandote y amarillo). Si lo prefieres puedes sustituir el limón por un chorrito de vinagre de manzana. Termina con un poco de sal y un buen chorro de aceite de oliva. Mezcla bien y estará listo. Vertido por encima de un pescado a la plancha quedará riquísimo."

No es lo que comí, pero seguiré buscando la receta de una crema de ajo y perejil.

Playa del Carmen, 3rd day

I can see tall buildings in Cozumel, far away on the other shore.
I can see the yellow ferry at the pier.
I can see lots of tourists walking on the beach.
And Moni is sleeping.

Kitchenette

A rather small kitchenette in our hotel room. We managed to cook some pasta yesterday and oatmeal this morning. They say water boils faster at 0 feet above the sea level. Not true here where the electric burners take ages to boil water.

Forecast was right

The weather forecast was right. It is a sunny, hot winter day in the Yucatan Peninsula.

El pronóstico del clima no estaba equivocado. Hoy es un día de invierno caluroso y soleado en la Península de Yucatán.

Playa del Carmen

I am writing this in our hotel room bathroom.

Monica is sleeping after that long day, and long trip.

It is pouring cats and dogs, the sky is really dark, and the sea is having this ongoing dialog...

But let's trust the weather forecast: tomorrow is going to be sunny. I could make that my life's motto: "Tomorrow, it will be sunny."

Right now, with Monica sleeping in my bed, I feel it will always be sunny.

Our whole wedding process has not been the traditional one. At least for Mexican standards.

And now, our honey moon is also different to what one would expect because we came with company. Our friends from the Unites States and Canada are going to be with us during the first week. Then we will go on a traditional honey moon to Soliman Bay, just by ourselves.

We have been lucky until now. The hotel is cozy and right by the beach. The first restaurant we ate at was delicious (although a bit expensive). Kids have been great, and our friends... very friendly.

We had margaritas, then an appetizer called "Nacho's Volcano".

On the pictures you can see the shrimp ceviche, and the yucatan style fish filet I ordered.

I promise I will find the recipes.

No matter the weather, it will be sunny tomorrow.

Wedding food

Mexican food: tostadas, tacos, guacamole, etc.
I was not paying much attention to the food, but felt it was good. We were wrapped in this fairy tale ambiance and couldn't see the real world.
Our friends apparently liked our food. I will have to make some research and report here the menu and the recipes. This is one of our new year purposes and a promise.

Bésame mucho 2

Plácido on the screens, as seen by us, common lay people.
Plácido en la pantalla, visto por nosotros, gente común.

Bésame mucho

Plácido Domingo had a live concert which could be heard at our wedding hall. As we were leaving, he was singing "Bésame Mucho".
How auspicious! We felt he was singing just for us!

Plácido Domingo dio un concierto en vivo que se podía escuchar desde el salón de la boda. Mientras salíamos de nuestra boda, lo escuchamos cantar "Bésame mucho".
¡Qué propicio! Sentimos que sólo cantaba para nosotros.

Shining my large shoes

Shining my large shoes

Surroundings

The building where the wedding is taking place and the surrounding neighborhood called "Zona Rosa" (Pink Zone).

Paroles d'amour

Tu es Mac
Je suis PC

Tu es Illustrator, Photoshop
Je suis Word

Tu es In-Design
Je suis Excel

Tu es Ipod
Je suis CD

Tu es IPhone
Je suis Blackberry

Tu es visuelle
Je suis mental

Tu es design
Je suis édition

Et pourtant, nous sommes.

Nous sommes cuisine.
Nous sommes cinéma.
Nous sommes yoga.

Nous aimons les animaux.
Nous aimons les enfants.
Nous aimons notre famille, les amis, rire, créér, voyager, vivre.

Nous sommes deux qui voulons devenir un.
Nous sommes amour.

Love Words

You are Mac
I am PC

You are Illustrator, Photoshop
I am Word

You are In-Design
I am Excel

You are Ipod
I am CD

You are IPhone
I am Blackberry

You are visual
I am mental

You are design
I am editing

And nevertheless, we are.

We are cooking
We are movies
We are yoga

We love animals
We love children
We love our family, our friends, laughing, creating, traveling, living

We are two who want to become one.
We are love.

Palabras de amor

Tú eres Mac
Yo soy PC

Tú eres Illustrator, Photoshop
Yo soy Word

Tú eres In-Design
Yo soy Excel

Tú eres Ipod
Yo soy CD

Tú eres IPhone
Yo soy Blackberry

Tú eres visual
Yo soy mental

Tú eres diseño
Yo soy edición

Y sin embargo, somos.

Somos cocina
Somos cine
Somos yoga

Amamos a los animales
Amamos a los niños, la familia, los amigos, reír, crear, viajar, vivir

Somos dos que quieren ser uno.
Somos amor.

The Big Day

The tallest Xmas tree in the world is just in front of the wedding hall.

The Setting

Today is the day...
I am already at the wedding hall.
Diego Rivera and his partner are setting the audio things. Yes, his name is Diego Rivera, like the Mexican muralist, and the truck driver was José Luis Rodríguez (a singer whose alias is "El Puma" and the prime minister of Spain, Rodríguez Zapatero, have the same name).
Reforma is blocked because Plácido Domingo is giving a concert at the column of the Angel of Independence.

Welcome to Mexico City

I should add "Welcome to noisy Mexico City".
Well, that's the reason why I am writing now: I can't sleep with all the noise that surrounds us.
The word "Welcome" is meant for our American friends who came all the way from Brooklyn to our wedding party. Yes, we are getting married... tomorrow!
I think I have just pointed out several reasons for my sleeplessness (is that a word?).
Let's go back and treat each thing as it deserves.
First of all "Welcome".
Welcome to Brigid, Mark, Ava and Margot. We are really happy to see you and share our apartment with you.
We are not used to having small kids in our lives, but it is so refreshing.
Welcome also to Nuria, Nas, Ceci and Nicolas. They come from Toronto.
Welcome to Gary, Naoki, Takumi and Takeru. They also come from Brooklyn.

And yes, Mexico City is noisy, and especially tonight: there is a lot of traffic, there are parties everywhere, there are drunk youngsters singing in the street, public works, and of course ambulances and police cars, and airplanes, and helicopters, and all the stuff you find in any modern, hectic, third world, huge city.

No, we did not cook today. We had pizza with our American friends at a restaurant.

Well, we made our usual kefir, our piloncillo melaza and some potatoes.

The kefir is worth mentioning: a special strawberry soy milk kefir. Not the best in the world but one that proves that kefir can be made with almost anything. The best I have eaten is still the one made with walnut soy milk. But that walnut soy milk was something like a special edition soy milk. What I have to try now is to mix walnut with my regular soy milk and see if I have the same result.

Noise is still going on (one a.m. in the moonless night).

Somebody is talking on the microphone in a school party, the subway works are starting, a plane is landing, an ambulance siren...

And all the excitement of our wedding party tomorrow. Will I be able to sleep?

Tortilla soup

"We don't have anything to eat!"

It was Moni on the phone.

"Don't worry, baby!" answered I.

It is good to have a vegetable store in the neighborhood. That is why I had food at home and almost had finished cooking. We can even call the store and they bring us home fruit and vegetables with no extra fees.

This was my first time cooking tortilla soup. I just knew I needed a tomato soup and baked tortilla strips.

Tomato soup:
4 or 5 small tomatoes
Some onion (chopped)
Your favorite spices
Some salt
Some pepper
Some cayenne pepper (optional)
One spoon canola oil

I read canola oil is the healthiest, so we've been cooking with canola oil. Heat the oil for 2 or 3 minutes. Throw in the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes.

Blend the tomatoes in the mixer and pour in the pot. Cook at least for 15 minutes (30 minutes is better). The more you cook the tomatoes, the better. If you have enough time you can bake the tomatoes in a hot oven for 30 minutes. I did not have so much time, so I skipped the baking part.

I chopped the tortillas in strips (mine were way too long. Next time I'll chop smaller bits). I baked them for 15 minutes until they were crispy.

Spices, salt and pepper in the soup. 5 more minutes, and ready.

Broccoli

I must confess that I am sometimes lazy to read cookbooks.
It is a lot easier to open the fridge and ask Moni. She always knows how to cook things, the dos and donts, so I trust her.
But what do you do when your Moni is not home?

This time I decided to open one of my favorite books: "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman.

This is what I did:
1. Open the fridge. I saw some broccoli.
2. Looked up "broccoli" in Bittman's book.
3. Followed Bittman's directions.

Stalks on your left and florets on your right:

I did not know anything about cooking broccoli and especially about cooking broccoli stalks. I had eaten broccoli countless times but never ever eaten the stalks. So I guess that people do not usually know they can be cooked.


According to Mark Bittman:
"Remove the bottom inch of the stalk or wherever it has dried out. Peel the tough outer skin of the stalk with a paring knife or vegetable peeler..." (P. 543)


Simmering broccoli is the easiest thing on earth. You just need to:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Salt it.
3. Boil stalks for 3 minutes.
4. Add florets and cook for 2 more minutes.

This way you get crunchy broccoli. If you like it less crunchy, boil it more minutes.

Be careful, too much boiling "melts" broccoli. You also loose its best nutritional properties.

Fin de semana social

Despedidas y showers con cuates.
Catando vinos, tequilas y cavas mexicanas.

Bachelor parties and showers with friends.
Tasting wines, tequilas and Mexican cavas (Mexican-like champagne).

Mobile blogging

We have been busy setting our wedding. We have been cooking just fast things. Just enough time to cook, do the dishes and go back to our errands... and also to work.
Thanks god we can also blog from our mobile.

Hemos estado ocupados con los preparativos de la boda. Así que sólo hemos cocinado cosas al vapor. Sólo el tiempo suficiente para cocinar, lavar los platos y de nuevo a los pendientes... y al trabajo.
Gracias a Dios existe esto del blogueo desde el móvil.