Northern Flavor

When I started this blog, my intention was for it partly to be an explanation on how northern Mexico differs from central Mexico.  My first taste of Mexico was in Puebla.  Then I spent two years in Morelos, and the first year we were married we lived outside of Toluca.  We just kind of flirted around Mexico City.

Then we got exiled to Saltillo.

At least, that's how it felt when we were preparing to move.  It's so far away.  It's so far from anything else.  And how many people actually live in northern Mexico?

Then we came here.  Right away, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we liked it.  A lot.

But it can't be denied that northern Mexico is a whole different flavor in comparison to the greater Mexico City region.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  That's just how it is.

So what are northern Mexico's special flavors?

• Cowboys--This is cowboy country.  Now, in rural areas all over Mexico, cowboy hats are a common sight.  But here, we've got fancy-pants cowboy hats for special occasions, boots and buckles sold all over downtown--they even play country music on the radio here.  And I´m not talking about norteño, ranchero, or banda.  Real, good, ol' boy country music in English.  

          I never knew I liked country music so until I moved to                   Mexico.  Now, living in northern Mexico, I feel like I'm                 home.  Thanks, country music!  (And all you norteños who           insist on listening to it.)  

• Carne Asadas--Right along with the cowboy theme, beef is king here.  There's not much to write home about northern Mexican cuisine.  In fact, I'm not too sure there are many plates that can be wrapped up under a heading of "northern Mexican cuisine".  

       
             That's because it's all about the carne asadas.  Beef on the barbie.  Grilled onions.  Flour                       tortillas.  Top it off with some frijoles charros, and you're set for a long night.  Provided that               there's enough beer, of course!  

          Northern Mexican cuisine may be low on variety, but it's high on quality!    

• Roasted Goat--OK, northern Mexican food is known for one other thing, and yes--it's more meat.  Cattle grazing is rather intense on our fragile desert ecosystems, so goats are traditionally grazed here.  They're also traditionally roasted here, too.  

          The first kid I ate was at the Sunday Market in Arteaga.                 We sat down to eat around noon, which is wicked early by             Mexican standards.  But, apparently, that's the best time to             get the goat.  That kid was slathered with butter, and the                 meat seemed to melt in my mouth.  I've never           been               much of a meat fan, but that first experience with goat was             a transcendent experience.  

         Unfortunately, ever since then, I've been a bit disappointed.            But every year of two, I´ll try it again, for the hope of                    transcending through my tastebuds again.   

As a teacher at my kids' school put it when she was explaining Day of the Dead customs, "A lot of us don't really celebrate Day of the Dead [or other "standard Mexican traditions"].  We're kind of more Texan.

Texan is a pretty apt description for this region.  After all, a lot of those qualities that set Texans apart in the US are also good ways of defining Coahuilans.  In fact, during the colonial era, Texas and Coahuila were one province.  There may now be an imposing border between the two states, but Texas and Coahuila still share much of the same soul.

Texas is just more famous, so we'll keep calling those attributes "Texan".  

What Do I Miss About the Mexico City Area?  

 I miss that prehispanic vibe in the air.  Is it just me or is everything south of Querétaro Nahuatl-infused?  I miss looking out to volcanos with names like Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, knowing the legends surrounding them.  I like the way that names of towns get stuck in your throat when pronouncing them, as that's just the way it is with Nahuatl.

The flavors in the food are both more vibrant and more nuanced, infused with those ancient, nearly-forgotten civilizations that began Mexican food traditions.

But that's the beauty of central Mexico--those ancient civilizations aren't forgotten.  They live on in the majority of the population.  At certain times and places, those traditions are embraced, knowing that this mix of European and Indian is what makes Mexico Mexico.  While here in northern Mexico, we're grazing cattle and goats and building cars (all activities brought over brought over from Europe (and Detroit)).  However, well south of here, the clash of cultures that happened 500 years ago is still easily observed.  Except now, instead of clashing, those radically different cultures dance a complicated quadrille.  But they make it look good.

But that's my observation as an outsider.  I realize that an insider's perspective might be wildly different--and a great deal more authentic than mine.

But for what it's worth--that's my take.

An InLinkz Link-up

My New Project

Since this summer, I´ve been working on a new project which may or may not affect the life of this blog.  It´s been a long time in coming, and this blog has been instrumental in this new project.  Let me explain:

1. Earlier this year, we were throwing around possibilities of moving abroad.  First to Russia, then to Italy.  Mercifully, both opportunities are off the table for the time being.  However, when faced with the idea of moving to Russia, I was a bit terrified.  So I put my amazing internet skills to the test, and expat blog came through with a few Russian expats for me to glean some experience off of.  All of a sudden, Russia was a lot less scary.  If these people can do it, so can I.  
2. Over the past few years, and particularly this year, I´ve had people find my blog as they were in the process of moving to Saltillo.  I investigated a bit, and apart from wikipedia, there isn´t much information about Saltillo on the internet--less in English.  So this blog is the only source of information on Saltillo in English?  Yikes.  As most of you know from some of the randomness I post on here, that´s not leaving much for people to go on!
3. Furthermore, on my search for expats in Italy, I came across the International Women´s Club of Torino.  I investigated further and found out that there are organized groups of expat women all over the world!  For more information, click here for an example.  I thought to myself, "well, shoot--why don´t we do that here?"  

So I did.  

Having a core group of expat friends in Saltillo, and all this blogging experience from the last 5 years, I started a new site, SaltilloExpats.  The point is to present some more solid information on Saltillo (not just my take on things), and in the future I´m hoping to have a variety of people post on the site, not just myself.  After all, being married to a Mexican, I don´t have the typical expat experience.  

Then again, who does?  

But if we pool all our experiences together, that could paint a much more accurate picture of expat life in Saltillo--for all of us:  those here on business, accompanying spouses, English teachers, missionaries, those of us married to Mexicans, retirees, vagabonds . . . do we have any more expat subsets?

So if you notice that my solid posts about Saltillo seem to be disappearing, you might be right.  They´re just going to the other site.  I´ll leave my randomness and personal stories and tongue-in-cheek humor for this site.  

Kermesse at the Seminary

Earlier this month, the seminary held their annual kermesse to raise money fund the wonderful education that goes on within its walls.

At a kermesse, one simply buys food tickets, and then spends the afternoon eating burritos, tamales, tacos, fruit salad, etc.  A few rides and games for the kiddos and . . . well, that´s about it!  That, and because this is the seminary, they did have mass every hour on the hour.  And I like mass at the seminary, as it reminds me of my own college experience.  Maybe it´s the modern architecture, maybe the homily is a bit more academic, maybe it´s all those sweet, we´re-going-to-change-the-world vibes that just flow through such places.  Whatever, it is, I was pretty psyched to experience another mass at the seminary.  And I was not disappointed.

But, there isn´t much to say about the day in general.

However, there are a number of pictures to share!

The marble-rolling game that Clara chose.

Given her drive to "do it right" she got about 20 tries from her 6 marbles.

Guaranteed prizes(

Joey decided to spend his $20 on a car ride.  Of course.
And he wouldn´t look at me once.

Being northern Mexico, the ranchero band was, of course, present.

Captain America, Patrick, and Pluto donated their time for celebrity lucha libre.

Lucha libre commentators

I think Pluto got the worst of it.

The kids had free reign on the ring after the celebrities we chartered off to their swanky hotels in Monterrey.

However, there are a number of pictures to share!

Golfito

Last weekend, Patty expressed a desire to check out the ecotianguis.  I had been curious about it for awhile, as I haven´t visited it since it changed locations to the Biblioparque Norte.

So off we went.  The ecotianguis feels much more at home in their new space.  I´ll take pictures and post another week.  But, as we had never been to the Biblioparque Norte (I believe it just opened earlier this year), we wandered a bit.  They´ve got basketball courts, soccer fields with beautiful fake grass, tennis courts, and a baseball field.  Being that it´s the BIBLIOparque, they´re supposed to have a library.  Perhaps they do, but we went late enough on Saturday that the building was closed.  Looking through the windows, I spied shelves.  But they were empty.  Nice try, Biblioparque.

But really, I´ll get there during the week and get a better feel for the place.  They do offer yoga classes, tennis lessons, etc.  But what called our attention this last week was the miniature golf course.

I know I haven´t seen miniature golf in Saltillo--heck, in all of Mexico, now that I think of it.  But we now have a sweet, little course in Saltillo.  And it´s FREE.

So we had to play a round.

Saltillo has its ups and downs, but it sure puts some effort into its city parks.  Thanks, Biblioparque Norte!  I´ll be back!

The park must have once been a factory and this colossal tower must have been too big to remove.  Thank God Coahuila is not near ANY earthquake-prone areas!

The girl rocks out golf on the wii, so she was psyched to try it out in real life. 

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Where is the Biblioparque Norte?

Just north of the intersection of Isidro Lopez Zertuche and Colosio.  (By the Quinta Real.)  Look for a large but simple blue and white structure (sculpture?) on the south-bound side of the road.  That´s the entrance.  Plenty of parking.

Swan Lake on the Lake

 Last week´s newspaper mentioned that the State Ballet of Coahuila would present Swan Lake on the lake at the Alameda, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at 7pm.

Mario and I are suckers for ballet, so we were there with bells on.  While Clara has no interest in taking dance classes, she does like to watch the ballet.  We always told Clara that she had to be 4 to go to the ballet with us, but since this one was outside, it seemed safe to bring Joey along.

No worries--the kid was enthralled.


If you´re in Saltillo and missed this Swan Lake, I´ve heard rumors that a Russian company is coming next Monday, the 26th to the Soler Theater.  While the State Ballet did a great job, those Russians are just something else.  I´m curious to see what they´ll do with it!

But, like I said, the State Ballet did a lovely job and the setting at the Alameda made it unforgettable.

Thanks, State Ballet of Coahuila!  

Mesmerized

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! 

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!

Will I Be Known As THAT Lady?

After a great month of being a hermit, I decided I needed to shake things up a bit.

Then I realized that the Fourth of July was rounding the corner and I hadn't celebrated it for four years.  Time to break that tradition.

Over the last few months, and particularly weeks, gringos have just been coming out of the woodwork in Saltillo.  In April, I met a fellow gringo at our OXXO (convenience store) who lives a street away from us.  He and his wife have been dividing their time between Saltillo and the US for 10 years--how have I not run into them before?!?  Then a few weeks ago, not one--but two--new gringo families started going to the International Church. I've met one family.  The other family has been slipping by me.  However, I almost ran into them at the grocery store checkout.  I think the wife/mom recognized me from church.  She seemed to smile at me (we were a good 30 yards apart, so I couldn't be sure) and I was about to yell, "HEY--WANT TO COME TO MY FOURTH OF JULY PARTY?"

Then I decided that I didn't really want to be known as That Woman Who Yelled At Me At The Grocery Store, so I let her go about her merry way.

Then again, maybe I do want to be known as Crazy Gringa, as I met another half-gringo/half-Mexican family a few days later at the vaccine clinic (seriously, we're coming out of the woodwork).  We exchanged pleasantries as we were leaving the clinic, "How long have you been here?  Where are you from?", etc.  It was on the tip of my tongue to invite these complete strangers to my Fourth of July party.  Like me, she has been here since her marriage in 2007 (which she did not seem to think it was the amazing coincidence I thought it was, *sigh*).  Unlike me, she had the air of someone who had an outside job (ie:  engages in adult conversation on a daily basis) and yelling at them across the parking lot to invite them to my house might make me appear odder than I already appeared.

OK, maybe it doesn't take a "real" job to make that seem real odd.  

But despite all my missteps, we did manage to gather some friends, both new and established, and we celebrated the US, in our own ways, 3 hours south of the border.  I'm not usually one to be an organizer, but I'm glad I did.  It turned out to be one of my favorite weekends of 2013. 

On the other hand, with my Permanent Residence card en route, it been getting clearer to me that this odd focus I have on finding gringo/foreign friends is a bit skewed.  Not that I don't love my international community here--I do, and I sure don't want to lose any of you!  However, I do speak Spanish fluently and I do live clear across town from the "international" section of town, so having a clear preference for English-speaking friends seems a bit silly.  (Which I don't know is a real preference.  It's simply easier to make friends with others who don't already have family and scores of friends based on a lifetime of living here.)

So, in light of this, perhaps I'll host a posada at Christmas for my neighbor friends.  And my gringo friends.  It's a rather all-inclusive time of year.
 

Gran Bosque Urbano

Today was yet another Saturday that Mario had to work, so were we going to stay home and boo-hoo ourselves?

No way!

We had a lovely morning at the Gran Bosque Urbano (the Great Urban Woods).  We only stumbled upon this park a year ago when friends invited us for a picnic.  But in our defense, I didn't have much access to a car until a year ago, so our park options were limited to those within walking distance--the Alameda and Venustiano Carranza.

This prarie dog is the park's mascot.  There's a giant prarie dog right at the entrtance, and this one is at the entrance to the children's area.  Joey thinks he's the greatest thing ever and gets so excited every time he sees the prarie dog--both at the parking lot and here, before the playground.

As much as we love the Alameda, the Gran Bosque Urbano has replaced it as our favorite park in Saltillo.  Why?  For me, it's all about the trees and grass.  I'm still astonished by how many trees and how much healthy, luxurious grass is in that part--grass that we're allowed to sit on and walk in!  (As opposed to the Alameda and far too many other Mexican parks.)

For the kids, it's all about the sandbox.  Today, we didn't even venture out to the swings, slides or other play equipment.  A solid two hours was spent in the sandbox.

Heaven.

For those who have kids older than sandbox-age, the area with the play equipment is really well designed.  It's a fenced-in circular area, and smack in the center is a covered area with picnic benches, so parents can sit in shady comfort while keeping an eye on the kiddos.  There is a special area for very small children (which includes the sandbox) and this had an additional fence around it.  Very nice.  They even boast decent bathrooms which are almost always in service and drinking fountains which sometimes work.  And often don't.

The park overall isn't that big, despite its grandiose name.  A circle track winds it way through the woods, good for a walk or jogging, or frustrating a four-year-old who's not used to going up hills on a tricycle.  It boasts a teeny-tiny lake, which has a concession stand and picnic tables with which to comfortably view the lake.  Swimming, wading, boating are verboten--unless they do begin to rent boats in the future, which they've had rumors of at the Chapulin and Deportivo parks.  I've never seen it, but near the lake there is a labyrinth, which older kids seem to like to run in and out of.   One of these days we'll check it out.

If we ever get out of the sandbox.

In Search of Gringos

I was debating giving up this blog, but then a new friend of mine stopped me on Sunday and asked if I blogged.  She told me that she read this when she was looking for information (or maybe simply ANYTHING she could find) on Saltillo before she moved here two weeks ago.

Well, shoot.  That is why I write this, after all.  So I'll keep singing Saltillo's praises here.

How did I meet my new friend Beth?  Though one of my very favorite organizations, the Saltillo International Church.  Despite Saltillo's smallish size, there are an impressive number of expatriates here, thanks to a slew of multinational companies that have plants here.  However, after nearly a year of living here, I couldn't figure out where they were.

[Long Side Story, but I will make my point eventually]  One weekend we were in Parras, buying wine, and the other customers were also speaking native English.  Curious (and so lonely I was willing to approach people at wine counters), I found out that one of the couples lived in Saltillo.  They were Jehovah Witness missionaries, but instead of targeting the Mexican population, they were in town to evangelize all the expats. So lonely that I was, I gave her my phone number, essentially saying, "please evangelize me!  Just call me, talk to me, anything!"  I was so excited to meet this woman. 

Alas, she never called.  I guess those Jehovah's Witness missionaries like the hard-to-get type.

So I resorted to internet stalking.  And on facebook I found a gringa who was also married to a Mexican and living in Saltillo.  Thank goodness I did not creep her out.  Furthermore, she knew where the expats were hanging out!  (I'd love to hang out with Mexicans, too, but those circles are apparently a bit harder to break into.)  She knew of a secular coffee group that meets on Fridays, and a Wednesday morning Bible study for women.  The Bible study offered free babysitting.  I went to Bible study.

It turns out that the Jehova's Witnesses aren't the only ones who target the expats.  The Tripps, a missionary family who came to Mexico almost 17 years ago, came also to minister to the expat community.  Or, in their words, they came to "be family away from family."  For me, they really are. Four years ago, the Saltillo International Church, a nondenominational, English-dominant church, officially formed (having held services for a few years previously).  It began with a mainly expat membership, but now Mexicans make up at least 60% of the members.  So for those sent to Saltillo for a few years, it provides an easy means to hobnob with not just other expats, but to form meaningful relationships with Mexicans, too--even if your Spanish is nonexistent.

They have services at 11am on Sundays with about a half hour of  worship (singing) in both English and Spanish, followed by a sermon in English (Spanish translation is available).  Nursery service and kid's classes are held for kids (babies through 6th grade) during the sermon.  They also have my women's Bible study on Wednesday mornings, a youth group, men's groups, and a variety of other small groups throughout the week.      

I can't explain how much I appreciate this community.  And I can't quite imagine where I'd be mentally if I hadn't resorted to internet stalking and Missy was understanding enough to introduce me to this community.

By the way, if you're in Saltillo and looking for the expats, they're all way out north.

And those who want to go to church in English, the International Church is way out on Los Gonzalez, smack between Blvd. Colosio and Los Rodriguez--right next to the bar La Milla--and La Milla graciously lets the church borrow their parking lot. 

My Salute To Those Other Mexican Immigrants

While there are around a million of us gringos calling Mexico home, another group of immigrants to Mexico has been making their presence known for well over 100 years. 

Lebanon, of all places, has been providing Mexico with thousands upon thousands of wanna-be Mexicans.  After more than 100 years of Lebanese immigration, there are now an impressive number of Mexicans of Lebanese descent . . . their ancestors weren't just wanna-bes, like yours truly.

Saltillo's Lebanese Immigrant Plaza  (on Jose Musa de Leon)

Between escaping the Ottoman Empire in the 1890s and leaving civil war behind them in the 1990s, Lebanese have settled all over the Americas.  Some cities in Brazil claim to have a larger Lebanese population than Beirut.  But plenty have come to Mexico, particularly in Merida, Puebla, Mexico City, and Tampico (according to Wikipedia and other sources).  Glancing through the last names in Saltillo's social pages, plenty of Lebanese also decided that Saltillo is a pretty great place to live, too.

Why is this worth mentioning for me?  Arabic restaurants, baby!  During college, I got involved with a group that served international dinners once every couple of months, and I fell in love with Middle Eastern food.  Unfortunately, I'm from northeast Indiana, and Middle Eastern food is rather difficult to find.  To the best of my knowledge, the nearest restaurant that serves anything wrapped in grape leaves is in Ann Arbor, a good three hours from my house.  So how delightful was it to move to Saltillo, which--while twice the size of my hometown--seems half as small, I could find not one, but a number of Lebanese restaurants!    

Embarassingly, though, we have only tried one.  Almajal, on Jose Musa de Leon, just north of Figueroa, serves an excellent buffet every Sunday.  We like it so much, we haven't bothered trying anywhere else.  (But we will, we will!)

After a year of living in Puebla my hands-down favorite Mexican meal is really a Mexican-Lebanese creation, the taco arabe.  It deserves its own post.  We spent many a Saturday afternoon at the Antigua Taqueria Cholula, scarfing these babies down until I discovered something even better--the falafel taco.  Nestled in a big, warm, pita tortilla was a bed of slivered beets, cradling a generous portion of falafels, bathed in jocoque.  A-mazing.

Then Mario moved out of Cholula and the next thing we knew the Antigua Taqueria Cholula went out of business.  (If anyone in Cholula/Puebla can find out that they just moved, instead of going out of business, please let me know.  We will make the 12 hour drive some weekend just for the joy of the falafel taco.)

Recreation of the falafel taco--success!

A few months ago, when I was missing my falafel tacos more than usual, I was inspired while at the market.  My verdulero had great-looking beets for sale.  I had never bought them before, but thought, "Hmmm . . . with fresh flour tortillas, jocoque, these beets and falafels (from a recipe that I had just found on pinterest) I could make falafel tacos! 

And I did. 

And they were amazing.

And we even got Clara to eat beets, because my girly-girl three-year-old was pretty excited about a pink vegetable.

Anyway, that's all a very long, roundabout way of saying, thanks for coming to Mexico, all you Lebanese immigrants!  You make this country even tastier than it already was.