Happy Birthday, Clara!

Today we celebrated one year that Clara has been making her mark on the world. Being a weekday, we couldn't do anything super-special (Mario had to work, of course). However, I invited my friend Sheila and her daughter to spend the day with us.

After the girls had breakfast, we walked to the playground in the Alameda. For the first time in weeks, Clara's swing was free (the only piece of play equipment she is able to enjoy). We hung out by the swings, watching Katya and Sheila try out all the other stairs and slides.

Clara was just about finished with the swing when a class of second-graders came to the park for recess. They started flirting with us from a distance with shouts of "Hello!" "Hello!" What's you name?" "Hello!" A few kids got a big more adventurous and asked a number of questions, especially about Clara. Once they found out it was her first birthday, they got really excited and sang her both "Las Mananitas" and the Happy Birthday song. After that, they got really friendly and Clara decided she was a bit overwhelmed. I thought it was pretty cute.

On the way home, both girls zonked out and continued to sleep for an hour once we were home. Awesome. When they woke up, we had macaroni and cheese for lunch (Clara's new favorite) and then we went to the patio to play until both Katya's and Clara's dads came home.

Once Mario came home, we sang her Happy Birthday again, I tried to teach her how to blow out a candle (but she didn't catch on at all), and we attacked the cherry cake. Despite all the sugar, she was more than ready for bed and out by 7:30.

But before she crashed, she did want to share with her admirers her thoughts on the significance of being able to count her age in years, instead of just weeks for months.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

For those of you who haven't read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, I highly recommend it. For years I've become increasingly aware that one of the most effective ways to improve the economy and live in an eco-friendly lifestyle is to shop locally. Ms. Kingsolver candidly brings this point home via a plethora of personal stories, often uproariously funny and seldom preachy (although just by picking up the book, the reader shows a bit of interest for the topic). Recently, I lent the book to a friend here in Saltillo,which prompted the question: how does one be a "locavore" in Mexico, particularly in the middle of the deserts of the north?

While we may not have the farmers' markets found in the US (and the produce in traditional Mexican markets is 95% of the time NOT local), we've got a number of options open to us. My favorite is the fact that small, locally owned businesses are not dead yet. Mexico's family-owned stores are now facing the fight that their US counterparts lost a decade or two ago.

Beyond the obvious convenience of the big supermarkets, Mexico's supermarkets have the additional incentive of the vale. I call it Magic Money. It's an additional benefit that most large employers offer their employees. Essentially, vales are tax-exempt "gift certificates" to be used specifically at a large number of large stores, which comes in handy for grocery shopping. I put gift certificates in quotes because the money is part of the employee's salary. However, once designated to the vale account, that money is tax-free. Hence the incentive to use this program.

Unfortunately, by using these vales, we bypass the locally-owned stores.

When I worked at the American School, my vales could only be used in any of the 8 chains owned by Wal-Mart. This was at the height of my hatred toward Wal-Mart, and it infuriated me to no end that a part of my salary (albeit a small part) went straight toward stuffing Wal-Mart's already super-sized pockets. In an attempt to bring some good out of the evil empire, I saved up my vales and used them on the kids at NPH.

It also helped that I didn't have many groceries to buy in that stage of my life.

Now that we're a family of three (and in his days of a bachelor, Mario never had to excersize restraint with his vales), we run through Mario's vales in just two weeks. This forces us to decide on that which is worthwhile to buy at the grocery store and what money is better spent strengthening our local economy.

For instance, we have a butcher across the street. His meat tastes just as good, if not better, than Wal-Mart or Soriana's. It's also roughly the same price, if not cheaper. Furthermore, being a small business, he is likely to buy his meat from local ranches than from the large feedlots that Soriana uses. (Keep in mind, I haven't asked him about this. However, it is more likely. After all, Mario's uncle who has a successful small ranch only sells his meat to local butchers.) So one more guilt-free purchase!

I also noticed the other day that our butcher sells cheese. I got the guts to ask for a ball of it (either asadero or ranchero, neither of which I had tried before). Both kinds are AMAZING--so much better than the cheeses from the major brands. And as the butcher's cheese comes label-free, I'm fairly confident that it's made locally. Although again, I have not yet asked him.

While I know that our vegetables come from the ends of the earth, I am making more of an effort to buy them in the market in the centro, instead of at Soriana. After all, Soriana doesn't really care if I shop there or not, but my veggie man does visibly appreciate the fact that I purchase my fruit from him.

And, lest I forget, our wine comes from Casa Madero--just two hours away in Parras. Mmm . . .

Thanks for sticking with me while I stood on this soapbox for longer than I planned. Does anyone else have any more good ideas for incorporating more local selections into their purchasing habits?

She Thinks She's a Jedi

Clara thinks she has Jedi powers. Half the time, when she sees something she wants that's beyond her reach, instead of scooting herself over to get that object of her desires she simply stretches out her arm with all her might, willing that the Force will do the rest of the work and bring it to her.

So far she's been unsuccessful.


She also discovered a new favorite food this week: macaroni and cheese. It was homeade and baked in the oven and oh, so wonderful. However, as Clara thought this was the best thing that has ever found its way into her mouth, she has eaten the lion's share of the pan. Next time (for her birthday) I'll be making a double batch.

Happy Birthday, Expat Women!

ExpatWomen.com is celebrating their 3rd birthday! Yay, ExpatWomen.com!

This is a nice little website for me to stalk other expat women's blogs, which I do when I find myself with plenty of extra time on my hands. Actually, blog stalking is probably my new favorite hobby. I feel so sneaky.

But it is so entertaining.

Plus it helps me realize that I am far, far from alone in my whole gringa in Mexico experience.



ExpatWomen.com is a comprehensive, global website helping women living overseas. The site displays 1,000+ content pages, 1,000+ expat women blogs, 200+ readers' stories, invaluable country resource pages, interviews with successful expat women, loads of motivational articles and an inspirational blog and monthly newsletter.

Elotes

Last Sunday, Mario and I are were walking around downtown when we were suddenly overwhelmed by a craving for corn on the cob. Fortunately for us, they're sold on just about every street corner downtown.

In Mexico, corn on the cob isn't sweet corn, like in the US, but shoepeg corn. After adjusting my taste buds, both types of corn have won me over. Also, instead of dousing the corn with butter and salt, here the corn is bathed in mayonnaise and powdered chile (or, in Mario's case, cream and powdered chile . . . weenie). Really, it's an excellent combination. And I'm not usually a big fan of chile.

Clearly, from the photo, Clara was pretty interested in the corn. Of course, she's interested in whatever it is we're eating or drinking--candy, mole, beer, milk. She gets all excited until I put the desired food in her own plate or cup. Somehow it looses its appeal in the transfer.

The same went for the corn. I fed her a few kernels, but she decided that after 3 she had enough. Good thing, too, as she doesn't digest it well.

Destination: Laredo, TX

I know that for most people, Laredo isn't much of a destination. It's more of a place to pass through. As in, passing through to the other side of the border. However, we have found ourselves frequenting this border town this winter.

Conventional wisdom holds that life is cheaper in Mexico. In some ways that's true, and in other ways it really isn't. Rent is much cheaper here. Food is considerably cheaper here. Doctors are cheaper here. But everything else is about the same price or more expensive. That adds up to a lot more expensive, considering that salaries here are much less than they are in the US.

For this reason, the city of Laredo does a booming retail business, catering to the masses that flock from Monterrey (or even Mexico City) around the Christmas season. Like lemmings, Mario and I joined them. We originally went for tires. We came back for the electronics. And Old Navy's cargo pants. And Mountain Dew. I have learned that Mario is a sucker for a good deal (and Mountain Dew). I'm a bit terrified of the thought of him witnessing the real January clearance sales. He may just become like a Spanish man he knew in Sweden who bought a pair of shoes that didn't fit, just because they were a great deal. Yikes!

While in Laredo, the hordes from Mexico often zero in on the Mall del Norte, which if one drops the final 'l' from 'Mall', can be translated to the "Evil from the North". Wow, even in my anti-consumerist, self-righteous phase, I don't think I would have ever gone that far. Yet those who owned the mall named it that. And on any given Saturday over Christmas vacation, there are more cars with Mexican license plates in the parking lot than Texas ones. Just imagine if they named it something a bit more flattering.

I don't believe this misadventure in translation could have been a mistake by any Laredoan. From keeping my ears open, they are the most bilingual people I have ever met. [Keep in mind that I haven't traveled widely outside of North America.] Salespeople fluidly spoke to me in perfect English and the customer behind me in flawless Spanish. I noticed them talking to themselves in Spanish. And in English. For them, the choice of language really didn't matter. From what I heard, it also sounded like good English and good Spanish--not the goofy mix of Spanglish that I often fall into.

I've heard it said that the US/Mexican border is one of the most culturally jarring or divisive borders in the world. Meaning, over most international borders, there is a bit of overlap culturally. From my time in New Mexico and El Paso, this was clear. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez seemed to be worlds apart from each other, despite the fact that they were just separated by a few yards of bridge and river.

In Laredo however, I felt a bit more cohesion. Crossing the border, it was still glaringly obvious which side of the border we were on. But there seemed to be more ties across the bridge. Perhaps it was the heavy tourist traffic from Mexico. Perhaps it was the bilinguality/biculturality of the people of Laredo. Perhaps it was because Nuevo Laredo (in Mexico) is just much prettier than Cd. Juarez (it doesn't take much).

Whatever it was, I didn't feel quite like I was in as much of a time warp as when I've crossed from El Paso to Juarez.

Or when I've crossed by airplane, but clearly that's different altogether.








This last photo of of deer and jabali strolling the campus of Texas A&M International University. I had to add it, as it's not at all how I imagined Laredo.

It's Snowing! In Saltillo!

For those of you who won't believe me without proof, here it is.


There is snow on my potted garden. Of course, it's not sticking to the street, but I'll take what I can get.


While I realize that this winter is exceptionally colder than normal everywhere, people from Saltillo did tell us when we moved here that it does occasionally snow here. Even during a normal winter.

I guess they were right.

The Wizard Kings

Happy Epiphany! Or, Feliz Dia de los Reyes Magos!

Too true--in Spanish the 3 Wise Men are not just "wise guys" (as Pastor Derek would say), but Wizard Kings. Sweet. And they visit all good little Latin American (or at least Mexican) children on the 6th of January.

Except for my kid. I guess she's too young.

Clara and I were reminded of the date yesterday when we went walking downtown and found ourselves in the Plaza de Armas. The Christmas decorations are still up, and there was a line of people stretching from the Christmas tree in the middle of the plaza, winding its way around the city block. It looked like we were missing out on something.

Then I realized, it was the 6th of January. Surely the 3 Kings would be paying a visit. Much like Santa Claus, kids write letters to the kings and can visit with them to request specific gifts. Santa generally gets his spot in the mall, but here in Saltillo, apparently the kings get the plaza.

Last night in Mexico City, Mario's family were all together to break open a pinata and give gifts to the kiddos. I know, because Mario's sister called, double-checking which presents I left were destined for which child. And then they no doubt ate their rosca de reyes (King Bread) and had hot chocolate. Ah, to have been there . . .

But I bet Mario will pick us up a Rosca from Soriana today. After all, today they'll be half the price. Mmm . . .

We're Open . . . But We're Not

I see this all the time--stores proclaiming to be open while the doors are clearly locked.



Why display an "open" sign if no one is going to use it properly?

I just chalk it up to one more thing I'll never understand.