The Best Tacos in Saltillo

Whenever we have a big day downtown (like the other day), we stop for tacos at Saltillo´s best taquería.  Actually, the other day I gave Clara a choice between pizza and tacos, thinking that pizza would win her vote.  To my surprise, she enthusiastically requested tacos. 



The taco wheel!



Apparently, tacos can vary with regions, so our first year or two here, we were pretty disappointed in Saltillo´s taco selection.  Mario, being from Mexico City, prefers tacos de pastor, and whenever we´d actually find tacos de pastor here, we´d invariably be disappointed.  Not being a conniseur, I don´t know exactly what makes tacos de pastor tacos de pastor, but there was just something not quite right about those we tried. 






I don´t know why it took us so long, but on some jaunt downtown, we stumbled upon El Pastor, which, as the name would suggest, serves the best tacos de pastor in the city.  Why it took us so long to find this is a mystery to me, as it´s just not possible to be more centrally located (on Aldama, almost on the corner of Allende, on the same square as the market).  This original location is invariably crowded, and as I´m usually toting a double stroller, there simply is no space for a double stroller in there, even folded up--ever.  Fortunately for me, there are a number of franchises within the same block, which boast much larger dining areas (double strollers welcome), and have broader menus (some days I feel like skipping tacos and just drinking a liter or two of strawberry water--refreshing and sweet and not available at the original location).  This franchise is about two storefronts down from Aldama, walking towards the market.  There is a lot of orange in that restaurant.  

The day we were exploring downtown, much of the city decided that they also had a taco craving.   There was no room to sit, even at the massive orange franchise.  So we ordered our tacos to go from the original, and pulled up a bench on Calle Pedro Flores, the pedestrian street on the south side of Aldama.   

For being an afterthought, it turned out to be the best picnic ever!

This kid can now put away almost a full order of tacos!  A full order is 5, her current record is 4. 



All dressed up with onions, salsa, and lime juice.  Como Dios mandó.



One Festive Plaza de Armas





Catedral de Santiago

The last weekend of November, we were wandering around downtown, probably with a big to-do list, but we found ourselves at the Plaza de Armas while they were decorating for Christmas.  The Plaza de Armas is always a good place to stop and rest, particularly when it´s decorated for Christmas.  It dawned on me that I´ve never blogged about the Plaza de Armas.  For a blog that´s largely about Saltillo, that needed to be corrected.  Fortunately, I had my camera.  Plaza de Armas--documented!  



Elsewhere in the country (farther south) the main square of any city is referred to as the zocalo--an Aztec word.  Since Saltillo is in the far-removed north, where the Aztecs didn´t bother to venture, the main squares in towns in the north are referred to as Plazas de Armas.  I believe this linguistic phenomenon begins around San Luis Potosí, which seems to be the dividing point between central Mexico and northern Mexico. 





One of the nymphs that surround the fountain.







 Every Plaza de Armas (or zocalo) is bordered on one side by the municipal or state government building, and the town´s main church on another side.  Particularly charming Plazas de Armas (like Saltillo´s) have a row of stores on another side, and the sidewalk in front of these stores is roofed and walled with a series of arches.   So that side of the Plaza is commonly referred to as ¨los arcos¨ (the arches). 

The final side of Saltillo´s Plaza de Armas is occupied by the state university´s art school.  They host a great art sale every December (this year, from the 5th to the 15th).  Unique gifts for anyone on your list who might be interested in original art.

There´s a fountain in the center of the Plaza de Armas, but during December, it´s covered up by the enormous Christmas three.  So, this month, all the pigeons have to take their water breaks by the fountain on the backside of the government building.



Clara, in front of los arcos.



Despite that, there were still pigeons all over the place.  A girl very near us wanted to get her picture taken as she startled  a massive pile of pigeons.  It took a good 15 tries or more for her to get a passable picture (or give up).  The people who sell candy on the Plaza de Armas must also sell little bags of rice to feed the pigeons, because she kept coming back with more and more rice for the birds.  We enjoyed her antics, and it was the first time that my kids were willing to consider chasing the pigeons, too.     



As I mentioned earlier, they were setting up the Christmas tree, which is taller than the government building.  I don´t think it´s quite as tall as the cathedral, but it certainly competes with it for height awards.  We stood gawking for a good 15 minutes or more as the men who were attaching the star were lowered down by crane.  Fascinating, yet terrifing!  (At least, for me.  I´m afraid of heights.)  As I watched the second man manouver himself into the crane´s harness, it looked like he was properly attached to the tree with locked carabiners on his belt--and did not unlock them until he was securely in the crane´s harness.  I´m glad there are people willing to do that job, because I sure couldn´t! 


The tree trimmers, returning to earth.





The Christmas decorations are different every year.  They´ve always got a nativity scene and little cottages (presumably for Santa´s elves) and the trees are liberally decked with white garlands, pretending to be snow.  Last year, the Christmas decorations coincided with an exposition of Leona Carrington´s sculptures.  She was a surrealist artist, and I love her paintings, but her sculptures are big and black and bizarre--a distinct clash with happy Christmas decorations.  Fortunately this year, no big creepy black birds or ringwraiths of Leona Carrington´s imagination are putting a macabre edge to Saltillo´s Christmas! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  It´s such a simple, pure, honest holiday--getting together with family and friends to give thanks for whatever we have to be grateful for.  And then eating a lot of really excellent food.  Can this holiday be any more edifying or beautiful? 

But, outside of the US (and Canada, mid-October), who else celebrates this holiday? 

Here in Mexico, those in favor of traditional Mexican holidays are justly concerned that Halloween is upstaging the Day of the Dead and Santa Claus is crowding out the Three Kings from their spotlight at Christmas.  While I´m American, and do celebrate my holidays American-style, I am sad that all the gore and gifts are overshadowing the real meaning of very significant holidays in this country. 

While I realize that there are a plethora of reasons why American holidays are crowding out Mexican holidays in this country (namely by the entertainment and consumer industries), why is it that Thanksgiving hasn´t crossed the border yet? 

True, thanks to Lincoln proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday, it is more of a civic holiday than a religious one (which unsuprisingly is most likely Reason #1 why Thanksgiving the Holiday will never be widespread here).  But it´s such a beautiful holiday that people of any or no religion can get behind and support.  We all have something to be thankful for. 

If, as a culture, we are exporting our holidays all over the world, shouldn´t this be the one that we most actively export? 

And don´t tell me that it´s not marketable.  I´ll eat my hat if grocery stores all over the US aren´t doing at least a little more business this week that they did in any given week in August.

Not that I want to impose my culure on another.  Not at all.  I´m just mystified why Halloween is such a big draw and yet Thanksgiving--this most beautiful of holidays-- is nearly unheard of. 

Fortunately, in Saltillo, we´re changing that up a little bit.  In the past, at the International Church, the American pastors invited other American families over to their house to celebrate Thanksgiving together.  This year (perhaps because the pastors are in the US for a month) , we´re all meeting at the church on Friday night for a big, church-family, Thanksgiving potluck.  I´ve heard a hot rumor that turkeys will indeed be served.  This year, I´m pretty excited to be sharing this holiday, not only with my American friends, but with Mexcian, Canadian, British, Korean, El Salvadorian, German, and Brazilian friends.  They way it was meant to be. 

Sure, it won´t be as cozy and intimate as hanging out at the Tripps´ house in our little gringo club.  But to share such a nice holiday with so many more people . . . it will be a bit more authentic. 

Halloween and Day of the Dead Recap

Yes, I know Halloween and Day of the Dead were a good two weeks ago.  But I had such nice pictures, that I just had to share.  Even if I´m sharing late! 

Halloween turned out to be a crazy, crazy day.  Not only did we wait to carve our pumpkins until the 31st, but Clara´s teacher gave us a homework assignment of bringing in an Day of the Dead mini-altar for the 1st (as the 2ed fell on Saturday this year), AND I was signed up to host the neighborhood rosary on October 31st.  Awesome. 

Clara skipped her nap, just so we could get her homework and pumpkin carving done.  These were our first jack ´o lanterns, so it was a bit of a big deal.  I saved the seeds, and scraped as much of the pumpkin walls as I could, rendering enough pumpkin puree (which broke our blender on its way to being puree) for 2 pies.  Being in Mexico, living near some families who I know are having a hard time putting enough food on the table, I feel terribly wasteful using pumpkins--a huge, expensive, EDIBLE fruit--for mere decoration.  While I know my neighbors don´t know that we are eating as much of these pumpkins as possible, my conscience is lightened. 

These were the first real jack ´o lanterns that I have ever seen on display in my eight years of living in Mexico.  Our garage got quite a few stares as the trick or treaters came around.  Clara was a big, big fan.  And I was pretty happy with them, too.  I´m not one to ge super excited about Halloween (now that I´m an adult).  However, there´s just something special about jack ´o lanterns! 

Unfortunately for me, I was in a bit of a dilemma with the rosary ladies coming over.  There don´t seem to be many things that Mexican Protestants and Catholics agree on, but being adamantly against Halloween is one of those things.  And here I was, inviting a bunch of little, old church ladies over to my house.  On Halloween.  With jack ´o lanterns on display.  [Signs of the devil, no doubt!  ;P  *gasp!*]  To be fair, if I were a traditional 100% Mexican lady, I´d probably be against Halloween, too.  It is kind of sad that it encroaches on Mexican traditions.  However, I am a gringa, and I celebrate Halloween, dang it!   But, just to cover all my bases, and in an attempt to not rain down judgement on me and my house (at least not little, old church lady judgement), I waited to put out the pumpkins until after they left.  In the end, the little old ladies probably would not have minded terribly.   

Anyway, we loved how pretty the jack ´o lanterns were, Clara and Joey got dressed up to go trick or treating.  Note:  ours seems to be the only private residence that gives out Halloween candy.  We hit up all the corner stores (and the tortilla store, of course) within a block radius of our house.  And, for future reference, the OXXO does NOT give out candy!  ;)  No real surprise there!

On Friday, Clara received more candy at school.  Presumably for Day of the Dead, but I realized that goody bags for kids were a traditional part of the Day of the Dead.  But who am I kidding?  This is Mexico and candy bags for kiddos seem to be a crucial part to ANY celebration.  

One of classrooms at Clara´s school was decorated with an elaborate ofrenda for Day of the Dead.  Another classroom sported a graveyard.  (We missed that one!  Oops!)  Clara´s class had their mini-altars on display, and another KIII class made skeleton paper dolls with very elaborate dresses.  Kids were allowed to come in costumes.  There were maybe two pumpkins, one mummy, two kids sporting horribly Freddy Kruger-type masks, but most were dressed as catrins or catrinas--skeletons dressed in elaborate turn-of-the-twentieth-century costumes--THE symbol of the Day of the Dead.    

We celebraed Day of the Dead by making pan de muerto--traditional bread that I eat far too much of during September and October.  I used a different recipe than last year.  It was good bread, but it didn´t call for orange extract, so it just didn´t taste like pan de muerto.  We´ll try a different recipe next year.  

Then on Sunday, the kids were finally allowed to eat their sugar skulls!   They only had a few pieces.  We had five skulls, once for every person in our house.  Two weeks later, there are still four skulls left, as I´m the only one who has eaten theirs (in its entirety).  Give me another day or two, and I´ll be starting in on others´ sugar skulls!  Muahaha!

Joey, attempting to break open his sugar skull.  Great symbolism of how Jesus broke the power that death has over us.  Granted, that may not be the traditional symbolism behind sugar skulls (given Day of the Dead´s strongAztec roots), but that´s the story I´m sticking to!  ;) 

Don´t Come Visit Us This Week

As much as I would love to have visitors, it´s just not going to work this week.

I´m not even sure that Mario will be able to get home tonight.

Or, better put, Mario will get home.  But I´m not sure where the car will be, as this is the view from our driveway.  

That trench right in front of our driveway?  Yeah, that´s at least four feet deep.  And it´s currently raining, so I´m doubtful that the construction workers will be able to lay the pipes today.  

On watching their progress up our street, they seem to do a very good job about starting work (aka:  ripping up the street) after most people are at work.  And, impressively, they finish or at least make the road passable, by 7pm when most people are coming back from work.   

 
 But, with the rain tonight, I´m not sure how they´re going to do that. 

But, on the bright side, the kids are REALLY entertained by watching the progress! 

Clearly, we are NOT taking the car anywhere this week.

Despite my nearly empty fridge.  

Thank goodness for corner stores and the butchers across the street! 

UN Day and Cascarones

Last week was another dress up day, but only for one of the 3-year-old classes.  Nuts.  I´m starting to consider sending Joey next year.  

They celebrated the United Nations, and those that dressed up, all represented different countries from all over the world.  My friend´s son, below, did a very handsome job of representing Germany!  (And flag-fighting with the Uruguayan and Panamanian boys.) 

 There was cuteness overload. It was fantastic.  However,  as it wasn´t my kids being cute and wearing costumes, I didn´t feel at liberty to take too many pictures of strange children.  Particularly with the purposes of posting said pictures on the internet. 

 After the UN honors, the PTA sponsored a kermess--lunch at a variety of booths selling snacky, lunch things (corn on a cob, burritos, chicharones, cake, tostadas, etc.)  And they sold the cascarones.  One of Clara´s first homework assignments.  They were intended for the kermess to celebrate Independence Day.  It rained on the 17th.  So the cascarones were packed away until . . . last week! 

What is a cascaron?  Egg shells.  Stuffed with confetti.  Or flour (but that just seems mean).   

 Lucky for you all, I documented the process of making one.  Or five. 




 





What does one do with a cascaron?  Unsurprisingly, you smash them on top of you friends´ heads.  However, as my very careful children spent quite some time observing, the preferred method of breaking cascarones among the preschool set it to launch them in the air and then gleefully enjoy the crash as they smash on the concrete.  Joey was OK with that.  He even made it one step simpler by smashing his cascaron on the concrete.  (And the living room floor as soon as we got home, as one of the teachers took pity on him as he was sad to leave the school and gave him ANOTHER cascaron.  Awesome.)   



Playing with the confetti is also super-fun. 

It´s the Little Things

Today is that point of the week where I´m starting to feel a little overwhelmed. 

But then I take a look at that grocery list. 

That is the awesomest grocery list.

Ever.

Notes on a Kid-Sized Guyabera

Sometime this year, my mother-in-law came back from Cancun with a beautiful, pint-sized guyabera shirt for Joey.  Gorgeous.  What to make the boy wear to Uncle Dan´s wedding?  Solved.

Guyaberas are traditional dress shirts for men from coastal areas and elsewhere in the Carribean.  I believe Raul Castro is seen wearing them often.  They´re not meant to be tucked in and made out of linen or cotton to make them extra cool.  Literally--not as in ¨cool¨--like I said, they´re worn in very hot and humid places.   They´re elaborately embroidered and tucked, a real work of art.   I was rather thrilled that Joey has the opportunity to look so dapper at such a young age. 

And apparently the child size 4 shirts are made every bit as authentically as the adult sizes.  When washing Joey´s, I was intrigued that the teeny-tiny pocket actually had a pocket sewn into it.  Not just a mock pocket, as is the case in so many toddler clothes.     

A very long, skinny pocket.  What the heck?  Why is this pocket so long and skinny? 

Of course.  For tucking one´s cigars into one´s guyabera. 

In a child´s size 4 guyabera. 

Can´t say it´s not authentic!

Just to prove how handsome he was in his cigarless guyabera.

Yaga--the marshmallow fruit!

A few months ago, I was at a friend´s house, and she showed me this huge, spiky, ugly fruit that her husband brought home on a whim.  We had no idea what to do with it, but dug into it, just to see how ugly it looked on the inside. 

It just got more and more interesting--but then came the goo!  Sticky, white liquid (rather like Elmer´s glue, without the smell) seeped out of every invisible fruit vein that me must have sliced through. I think we had to hold it over the sink to let it drain, then we were able to explore some more. 

The ¨meat¨ of the fruit started to look more and more like thin flower petals.  We braved it and tasted chunks, anxiously casting each other glances to see if we´d keel over from eating a part that was (unbeknownst to us) unedible.  No problems there.  The fruit was chewy and sweet.  It didn´t have much flavor, but the faint taste of that fake banana ¨flavor¨ (like that found in banana-flavored gum, popscicles, etc).  I know that turned most of you off, but, fortunately for me, I LOVE fake banana flavor. 

A few weeks after I had tried it at my friend´s house, I went to the store and was almost tempted to buy one.  It was pretty intriguing.  Furthermore, HEB must have gotten tired of people passing over their exotic fruits for lack of knowing what to do with them, as there was a full paper attached to the price sign, explaining what these fruits are. 

First of all, they´re called ¨yagas¨.  To me, they looked like pictures I´ve seen of breadfruit.  However, I´ve never seen breadfruit in real life, so I´ll take HEB´s word for it and call it a yaga.  They grow in Nayarit, a small state on the Pacific coast, just north of Puerto Vallarta.  But, given their breadfruit-y looks, I´m willing to bet that they have their roots in Asia.  HEB also informed me that yagas can be eaten while still green, mature, fried, boiled, steamed, mashed (basically any way one could possibly cook a fruit).  The yaga tree, or fruit--I´m not sure which--also provides latex.  So, if you have a latex allergy, do NOT attempt to eat one.

However, the thing is about the size of a hefty six-month-old baby, and when weighing it out for a price check, found out that it priced out at well over 100 pesos.  As intriguing as it was, I wasn´t going to spend that much on a fruit that I may or may not eat. 

Months have now passed, and HEB is continuing to wise up.  Today, I noticed quarter-sections of yaga.  And the price had gone down.  Considerably. 

Yaga, today is your lucky day.

I bought one.  Hacked into it and cut it up into chunks.  Word to the wise, that sticky stuff is a bear to get off one´s hands, knives, cutting board, etc.  Regular dish soap doesn´t do much to unstick anything.  JabonZote proved to be much more useful.  Pretty intense scrubbing was still necessary, but the gunk eventually came off.  Today.

The flower petal-y parts still proved to be intriguing, but still on the bland and chewy side.  But, while hacking up the yaga, I found the real jewel--each rock-sized seed was nestled in an orange bed of meaty fruit!  This must be the part for baking, frying, boiling, and mashing!  This part had flavor!  And texure that doesn´t make me worry about my digestive tract for the next few days!

Yes, it was worth taking a chance on the yaga.

I tried to talk Clara into it, by describing the flavor like a marshmallow--an honest description.  Contrary to her nature, she actually tried it!  And she said she liked it!  However, she did not have a second piece.  Joey tried a wee bit and, unsurprisingly did not seem overly impressed.

I, however, ate probably more than I should have eaten on a first sitting, so a follow-up post may have to do with what the yaga did to me.  Oops.  But here´s hoping that´s not the case.

So, as long as I´m not in the bathroom all night, I´m looking forward to having more yaga tomorrow.

Dress Up Days and Independence Musings

I have been excited about Clara starting school for a number of reasons and one of them was for all the dress up days that Mexican preschoolers are expected to participate in.  First of all, there´s Independence Day, where all the children were asked to come wearing some regional costume.  There´s about 8 different regions in Mexico that all sport different ways of traditional dress.  Fortunately for us, Clara´s teacher asked that the girls wear a China Poblana skirt (typical from the state of Puebla).  Clara´s abuela made Clara and her girl cousins china poblana skirts for the bicentinneal three years ago--whew!  (Of course, if we didn´t have one on hand, we could have easily found one at the market downtown.)

The other dress-up days are November 20, where all the kids are supposed to dress like revolutionaries (as it´s the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution).  The boys all sport mustaches.  That´s my favorite.  Then they´ll dress up again on March 21st, for the first day of Spring.  Then they´re expected to dress like animals, butterflies, flowers, etc.  Kind of makes up for the  hardcore-ness of Revolution Day. 

Thanks to Clara´s homework the other day--we were supposed to tell our kids about Mexican Independence and then Clara was supposed to draw something about what she heard--this is the first Independence Day that she´s ever been clued into.  As in, she had a bit of a clue about what was going on and why.  I explained about the grito, when at 11pm on the 15th of September every year the Mexican president (and every governor and mayor) stands on the balcony of the National Palace, waves the Mexican flag, and shouts, ¨Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!¨  (He also sends some shout-outs to the big-wig leaders of the Independence movement.)  The president does this in rememberence of Miguel Hidalgo doing more or less the same thing 203 years ago, kicking off the War for Independence.  Anyway, even a few days after explaining the grito to Clara, she remembered it, thought that sounded pretty cool, and nearly

stayed up to watch it.  Maybe next year. 

I was kind of sad that she wasn´t able to stay up and see the grito, too.  It´s very ¨pomp and circumstance¨ and would seem very silly except that it is really rather moving.  No matter what we think about the current president (who gets to do the grito), it´s still touching.  No matter how many thing we may complain about what may be wrong with this country, it´s a time that all Mexicans get together and boldly claim that this is THEIR country and they´re still proud to be Mexican.  Like I said, it´s a bit moving. 

And it makes me sad for my country, in a way.  Despite our fireworks and Fourth of July barbecues and Star Spangled Banners before sporting events, we have no one big ceremony to bring us all together like that.  (Then again, given the US´s rampant patriotism, maybe we don´t need that in the same way that Mexico does.)

So, in the end, I´m happy to be a guest in another country and grateful that I get to see the way that people in other countries get to celebrate being an independent nation, too.    

We´re Back . . . with a survey, to boot!

After our yearly, month-long hiatus in the US, we´re back!  But with readjusting, getting used to a school schedule, wrapping our heads around friends leaving, I was just out of blogging energy. 
But then I remembered that I was tagged in a *5 Things* survey, and realized that this is a project that I can handle in my current, fragile emotional state.  (Don´t worry, I don´t think it will last long!)

So, because I´m still a sucker for a survey, here goes: 

5 Things I Have a Passion For:

• my family
• Mexico (despite that my continued residence in this country is currently driving me nuts)
• a healthy planet
• treating others well (or social justice, or just plain ´ol justice, if you prefer)
• Drawing closer to my Creator, or contentment, or living in the moment, because they all seem to be connected.

5 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

• Walk across an entire state on the Appalachian Trail
• Do a cartwheel
• Do a handstand/headstand
• Go camping with my family, preferably at the Indiana Dunes
• Live longer stretches of time in contentment

5 Things I Say a Lot:

• WHY are you crying?  (I have a two-year-old who has the emotional range of . . . a two-year-old.)
• chingao (but only when I drive--I swear!)
• So . . . (I must begin most sentences with this, as my daughter does, too.)
• 5, 4, 3, 2, 1  (The time frame I give my kids to comply with a request of mine, after I´ve warned them of said change of activity.)
• So are you going to have ____?  (I´m a social eater, so if I´m craving something but know I´m not really hungry, I´ll wait until the hubs grabs a snack, or egg him on until he does.)

5 Books/Magazines I´ve Read Lately:

• Yellow Rose by Gilbert Morris
• Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
• The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond
• The Sunday newspaper
• Managing Mexico by Sarah Babb

5 Favorite Movies:

• Big Fish
• V for Vendetta
• Pride & Prejudice (both the Kiera Knightly and BBC versions . . . they both have their place)
• The Illusionist
• The Princess Bride

5 Places I´d Like to Visit:

• Ravenna, Italy
• I´d like to float in an innertube in a cenote in the Yucatan
• Baja California wineries
• I´d like to walk across at least part of northern Spain on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage
• La Huasteca region of San Luis Potosi

5 People I´d Like to Tag:

• Mami from Our Little Life
• Amanda from Borders Aside
• Krystal from Love my Husband More Than the USA
• Linda Lou at Good2Go2Mexico
• Sarah, the Greenga Girl

¡¡¡¡¡¡???????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡??????????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡????????????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡??????????

Note:  While I was gone, my computer got a makeover and a new version of Windows was installed.  I´m so excited and this is working soooo much faster.  Awesome. 

          But on the downside, this version of Windows was bought in Mexico and has therefore changed my English keyboard into a Spanish keyboard.  Ugh . . . (On the upside, I can now write in Spanish and include all my ñ´s and accented vowels fairly effortlessly.)  But I do have a wrack my brain a bit to figure out where all the punctuation marks should be, as all the stickers on my keyboard are still those of an English keyboard.

          And, for some reason this will not let me highlight information, so I can´t link the abovementioned blogs.  ¨sigh¨    I´ll be working on this.  And working on figuring out where the star symbol went.

      But YAY for faster internet!

Signs of Fall . . . already?

Yesterday at the butcher's I noticed a bowl full of pomegranates on the counter.  As the butcher handed me the 10 hot dogs I came in for, I asked if they were selling the pomegranates. 

Nope.  They were giving them away. 

Free pomegranates! 

I must have looked pretty excited about that, because instead of giving me two free pomegranates that I thought was reasonable, he chucked FOUR in the bag! 

The butchers are now officially my favorite neighbors.  ;)

So, for a grand total of 30 pesos, I walked out with 10 hot dogs and 4 very robust pomegranates. 

What a great day!

Parque Deportivo

Two years ago, dear friends of ours moved away from Saltillo.

Almost exactly two years later, they were able to come back for a visit!

We planned on meeting up at a park the other day.  My vote was all for the Gran Bosque Urbano.  They haven't ever been there, and I can't spend enough time there.  However, they have fond memories of the Parque Deportivo.  And, as their time in Saltillo is more limited, we met up at the Parque Deportivo.

I was so glad we did.

While Clara and I have been there before, it was when she was a baby and couldn't enjoy the park.  Furthermore, she was strapped to my back in a baby carrier, which made me hot and exhausted.

This time around we took full advantage of:

The giant slides!

More giant slides!

Swings!

More play equipment!  Although it was the icky, run-down variety, there were a few useful, safe-looking pieces.

The lake!

With ducks, so Joey could use his amazing quacking skills!

We did not take advantage of:

The tennis courts

More tennis and squash courts.  They apparently offer tennis leagues and classes for all ages, every day of the week, morning and afternoon.  Information in the clubhouse.  (Not sure where that would be.)

Mechanical games!  They weren't running the day we went.  Whew!

We did see these little, four-wheeled "bikes".  I was fascinated.  After watching them throughout our picnic, I decided that we HAD to go on one.  As I loaded kids into our chosen vehicle and was about to wheel away, reality crashed down on me and the man who was renting the "bikes" demanded payment.  Of course.

Turns out they're $20 pesos for a 10 minute ride.  Not bad, but I normally wouldn't pay that much for a mere 10 minutes.  However, after being embarrassed by almost running off with one, I probably would have shelled out whatever he asked. And, it turns out that 10 minutes on the little track they have is more than enough time.  My 10-year-old co-pilot was pretty exhausted at the end of it!

So, thank you friends for re-introducing me to the Parque Deportivo!  We will be back.

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The Parque Deportivo is just north of the Walmart on Reforma.  It's very, very close to the baseball stadium, and it hugs various buildings on the UA de C campus.  Coming from downtown, I took Coss east, to Nazario Ortiz Gonzalez.  Turn left on Nazario Ortiz Gonzalez, and almost immediately took a right on an unlabeled side street.  Parking on the street--so don't leave ANYTHING valuable in your car!

Or, the Ruta 6 (orange buses) go past the Walmart on Reforma.  Get off at Walmart, cross the new, big, red pedestrian bridge, walk north a block or two, and BAM!  There's the park!