The end of the first decade of the new millennium, half of which the Calypsos spent in Mexico, represents new beginnings rather than so many endings. Living on the edge of the pool we see United States republic-ism as just another form of fascism. It has become a place where style and greed are everything, seemingly unaware after all that content of work counts, too.
The U.S. culture ever increasingly enamored by simple minded stereotypes and special effects left behind, while we are fully invested in life in Mexico crusading for environmental consciousness, seriousness of mind for the future of our planet and the ongoing quest of defining moral and spiritual complexities.
At the dawn of a new decade we find ourselves like a Renaissance man in an era that favors specialization and that we must never lose our sense of wonder – or of outrage. We continue to strive to make life good reading. Get ready for another year of Blogging.
If you are thinking this is a Jamaica weather report – you are wrong. This is about a Mexican treat. In Mexico we have jamaica (Ha-MY-Ca) blossoms available at Super Chedraui (our local supermarkets) and in bins at most Mercados.
I seldom list recipes or food information as there are better Blogs that focus on food like my Global Post amigos Mexico Cooks and then there is Don Cuevas’ My Mexican Kitchen – both great sights for Mexican cooking.
Of course my longstanding amiga Billie over at BillieBlog is also a gourmet cook with a terrific Blog interspersed with lots of recipes and cooking tips.
But those great sites withstanding I am going to give you the details of Jamaica ice because it is soooo darned good.
Last year we bought a series of videos by Rick Bayless. His PBS series Mexico One Plate at a Time has some terrific recipes as well as some great travel logs.
In a few of the series of video programs Bayless uses a small ice cream maker – several actually. He had both a Krups and a Cuisinart. We opted for the Cuisinart during our last visit to the United States.
In my Blog entry Jamaica Sorbet in Our Future – Yum! I wrote about acquiring the Cuisinart. Before leaving Las Vegas we prepared a batch of margarita mix in the little ice cream make to be sure it worked before hauling it home here to Mexico. A good idea because warranties of any kind will be hard to enact – but especially for something you have purchased in another country.
Truthfully we have been here for about four months and had yet to try it. We decided to take a crack at the jamaica ice recipe that inspired us to buy the thing – finally.
So we are clear jamaica blossoms are the flowers of a Hibiscus plant. Sometimes you will see it as jamaica (hibiscus) blossoms. It is said that the darker blossoms are preferred if you have a bin where you can select the blossoms.
The recipe is:
3 cups water, 2 cups jamaica blossoms, 1 cup sugar, a third of a cup of corn syrup; and three tablespoons of lime. Simple really!
Mix this all together and simmer for about a half hour. Then let this sit for a couple of hours. After strain the blossom carcassesfrom the liquid syrup. The new frozen yogurt, sorbet and ice cream maker has a drum that you will keep in the freezer until moments like these. Assemble the drum in the housing and pour the Jamaica liquid in the drum.
We let it run for about 35 minutes. It should nearly double in volume and lighten in color; and of course have the consistency of soft sorbet or ice cream. Transfer this into a bowl you can cover and freeze for about 2 hours (no less – be patient).
If you want to dress up the already beautiful colored desert, top with a couple mint leaves – then you will have the $6.95US Rick Bayless Frontera Grill version. It tastes simply divine!
On a personal note the Calypso Couple is celebrating their 20th anniversary of marital bliss. It has indeed been that. I count myself among the very lucky in the romance department. This will be my last recipe of the year – hope you try it. Stay Tuned!
Christmas morning overlooking Xico, Veracruz is socked in. Not with hanging Christmas stockings, but with dense fog. Christmas Eve day was sunny and spectacular so we can’t complain – much.
Even though we live alongside a terrible surface of the moon road some 2 miles and about 1000 feet up from the cemetery in Xico, yesterday we had visitors including Bonnie and Charles, Rafael, Doctora Veronica and her sobrino (nephew).
We all enjoyed some Christmas cheer (save the young sobrino who enjoyed a couple small gifts and orange juice). Samples of our jamaica (ha-MY-ca) sorbet were distributed. Recipe to follow next week.
Later Bonnie and Charles, Anita and I cruised the rest of the way up the road to see the little village of Micoxtla – about 2 more miles of rough roadway.
We noted in the little village a new church has been constructed. Quite amazing to find in a very poor ejido village at the end of a terrible road; but then not really that amazing – we live amongst the very faithful.
Just a couple blocks up the road from our Rancho del Cielo we discovered one of our neighbors has built a new capilla (religious shrine). We don’t drive beyond our place very often.
I seized the opportunity to capture a photo. Aside from the remarkable showing of one’s personal faith at the top of her property and the tremendous view of Coatepec looming off to the north, there was what we thought to be the perfect Christmas tree.
The Perfect Christmas Tree Overlooking Coatepec, Veracruz (ENLARGE)
Aside from the amazingly perfect symmetry, the tree was in the ground and a natural occurrence rather than having been spawned in a farm like a pellet fed trout.
Christmas trees on sales lots are available here in Mexico, at a pretty peso I might add.
We have a lovely two foot lighted and decorated plastic green tree at the rancho – just right for two without children at home. The tree is actually a last year’s gift from Doctor Veronica having taken pity on us for our not having a tree at all.
I put the lights on and Anita and I decorated it with tiny ornaments.
But that magnificent solitary tree made me realize Mother Nature can’t be beat. The huge White House Christmas tree has nothing on our neighbor’s tree overlooking the little town of Coatepec in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. O Christmas Tree indeed! Merry Christmas to all! Stay Tuned!
Christmas Eve Morning in Xico Mexico: The sun also rises here up on the mountain at Rancho del Cielo. At 6:30 AM a balmy 65 degrees with a light wind produced a majestic sunrise with Mexican colors. The burnt orange sky and a fine cup of Mexican coffee has to be one of the best ways to wake up to another Christmas Eve morning.
There is no way I have the skills and the equipment to give the scene here justice captured with a digital camera – you the reader will have to imagine what an expanse like this might be here in living color.
This says a lot because writing about living in Mexico is the same in that we can only touch upon the beauty, grace and tranquility of our adopted land. It is like the photo – you really have to be here. (Click to Enlarge – it is worth it!)
As the sun dawns we are listening to O Come All Ye Faithful performed by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. From Colorado, U.S.A. to Veracruz, Mexico, to London, England – a glorious international morning sort of speak. We are after all one people.
Nearing the end of another year, moments like these in the quiet solitude of a Mexican sunrise pretty much puts it all in perspective. Life is good – better than we deserve I think. But we will not look a gift horse in the mouth.
The Calypso family wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday.
Xico, Mexico – On our streets cars and trucks must make way for horses, mules and burros. The fact is anything that can be made mobile may be seen on our streets; bicycles, 3 & 4 wheelers, push carts of all description, cars and trucks, and of course scooters from 50 to 1000+ (cc’s that is). But four legged steeds ride supreme on our calles (streets).
Having owned a few horses in my life time I can relate to their being referred to as “hay burners” or perhaps more accurately as pay burners. We know some folks in Ursulo Galvan that chunk down plenty of pesos to maintain a horse, mule or burro. – A lot relative to their total monthly pot of pesos.
This is horse country. In the nearby city of Coatepec back in the ‘70’s a long time local family of coffee growers and horse breeders sold a white Arabian stallion to then Mexican President José López Portillo y Pacheco. In 1981 just prior to Ronald Reagan’s inauguration Portillo gave the stallion to Reagan.
“Reagan adored his horses and often shared his jellybeans with them right from his hand. His favorite horse – the one with which he is often seen in photographs —- was a white Arabian stallion named El Alamein. The horse was a gift from Mexican President José López Portillo y Pachecho in 1981.”
At a White House state dinner for Portillo Reagan said in his welcoming speech, “… it would be difficult to match the gift that arrived at our ranch shortly before my Inauguration – El Alamein, a magnificent horse, your personal mount. Now, that was more than friendship; you took me into your family.” One for the Gipper I would say.
The Chedraui family (owners of Mexico’s fourth largest retail company) ships their horses around the world for equestrian events. Antonio Chedraui has participated in several Olympics in equestrian events. David Velasco Chedraui is currently El Presidente Municipal of Xalapa (The Mayor).
On the west side of our tri-cities in our town of Xico there is the “Asociacion de Charros de Xico”.
From a 1997 World News story titled Mexico’s charros are a breed apart: “The charros, Mexico’s tough cowboys and rodeo showmen, have long symbolized the ideal of the national character. Brave, self-reliant and proud, they are as Mexicans best like to see themselves.”
The other night arriving at our townhouse we encountered a frenzy of activity at the corner. There the horses not only commanded street privileges but totally usurped them. I grabbed my camera to capture some photos of the horsemen (and women) who were readying for a parade up Calle Miguel Hildalgo with the Virgen of Guadalupe.
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE
If you have horses and wondering about our area – bring ‘em on down pardner. Stay Tuned!
The other night The Callahan’s and The Calypso’s scooted around Xico after ten – most senior citizens were tucked warmly in their beds by then but not our intrepid biker angels.
My mission was to get some photos for you to see what goes on in our little town after dark during the long winter’s celebration.
So here we go (All photos will get LARGE by double clicking on them):
There are more cathedrals and capillas in Xico than tortillarias; or anything else for that matter. The Capilla Cristo Rey is at the far west end of Calle Vicente Guerrero. The Ten Commandments are etched into the stairway risers and it is currently adorned with a flower arco.
Everywhere we looked there were Madonna’s.
Looking in a doorway there knelt Juan Diego before the Madonna.
Even Tacos La Rana had a Madonna
And of course the band played while the Madonna looked on
Christ overlooks the two loveliest Madonna’s – One His and One Mine
Mexico is a great laboratory for the learning and exercise of patience. I have never been a particularly patient man. I am learning, but it is pretty apparent that I won’t complete the course before I die.
Here on my Blog I know I can open up to you – not necessarily without recriminations, but with some western understanding in any case. Excessive frankness or directness is considered rude behavior in Mexico. Even important meetings and conversation must be preceded by small talk. But I am going to get right to the point here.
Not one but three instances of stretching my patience occurred in the past few days.
It took three plumbers and the landlord several days to sort out a problem with our brand new water heater. I am a handy guy. I saw the problem and knew how to fix it; however in this case the water heater was new and so it had some sort of Mexican guarantee (we will go into that another time). When I tried to explain the problem each macho plumber insisted on ignoring my interventions. I reluctantly backed off watching them go about their work all wrong; using huge pipe wrenches to crank down on brass fittings and assessing parts to be bad that were ahead or behind of the problem – grrr. I had to let this Laurel and Hardy maintenance process play out and suffer the lack of a warm shower for days.
Ten days ago we dropped off a metal rack to be painted at an auto body shop just down the street. At drop off we were told it would be ready the next day. Anita gently reminds me I said, “No hurry”. But there I said that to let them know I was more interested in a good job than a fast one – take two days or even three if need be to do the job right; but ten days and no end in sight is starting to mess with me.
We have had several delayed or missed meetings with our landlord. He is an otherwise very nice young fellow. In just his mid forties he has two restaurants, a number of rental properties and two sons that are college attending and college bound and more – a lot on his plate – but my plate empty or full must wait on his whimsical way of doing business. Yesterday we had a meeting at five o’clock. He was not there – so we bought a couple expensive drinks at his upscale restaurant and waited – and waited. Finally we were told he wasn’t going to make it. I paid for the drinks filling his coffers just a little more and leaving me empty.
The Western sense of time has been resisted by Mexicans since the beginning. The concept of planning is not natural in Mexican society. Mexicans see little reason to discipline themselves to a routine. If the Mexican has some money they spend it rather than save. If they are happy where they are, where they are supposed to be is of little consequence.
Here in Mexico the rules of time must be resisted. On a daily basis, punctuality seems unimportant since nothing enjoyable or important now is worth cutting short for the sake of an appointment. Arriving an hour late or more for a dinner party doesn’t merit an apology; quite the contrary, arriving on time is considered rude as the host will not be prepared.
From official business to the local plumber, appointments and commitments are made with little expectation that they will be honored, and little offense is taken when they are ignored – unless you are me.
The mañana affectation is not a symptom of chronic inefficiency or rudeness, but rather evidence of an entirely different philosophy of time. If the past is safely put away, the present can be improvised and the future will take care of itself.
Obviously I must come to grips with this reality before it gets the better of me. I will have to heat some water on the stove and take a few G.I. showers until the plumbers get that water heater sorted out; just leave things that are waiting for that shelf on the floor a while longer; and when luck is with me and the stars are in alignment I will talk with the landlord.
The disasters that have happened to Mexicans over the centuries are not major disappointments because they are considered unavoidable – Ni Modo (tough luck). I didn’t even get to the histrionics of trying to get new telephone service here in Mexico – that for another time. My small problems are simply Ni Modo – no worries mate – color me at peace with space and time. I am but a lab rat in the laboratory of life – Stay Tuned!
This time of year almost all “extranjeros” Bloggers living in Mexico will be writing and showing photos about the celebrations. There are a lot of them. If you want to read and see photos about the season you have but to look over to the left on my Blog site and visit Decembers past.
Here in Mexico by the end of November through February second it is virtually non-stop celebrating.
Streets get closed; some will be ‘painted’ with colored sawdust designs; some adorned with shrines; some will have firework laden wooden framed ‘toros’ darting and dodging about with colorful rockets exploding in all directions, and still others with have real live bulls terrorizing borrachos (those in various stages of inebriation) within erected fence lined streets.
There will be music trucks with gargantuan speaker boxes driven by huge fire breathing amplifiers – dancing in the streets. Groups of the faithful in numbers that crowd and block streets as they follow behind hoisted plaster Madonna’s like mice behind the Pied Piper.
In each procession there is one or more young hombre in charge of igniting rockets lifting off from meter length sticks. A breathy whoosh and three or four seconds later a report that can be heard for a mile – more perhaps. The blasts start by 5 AM and continue until just a few hours before it will start all over again.
Dirt floor clap boarded shacks to the classiest casas display colorful shrines honoring the Madonna and occasionally even the birth of Jesus by way of a nativity scene.
This year we are touring around Xico on our little scooter stopping for the parades and looking into windows and open doorways to see the beautiful, colorful alters – it is really something to see the results of the energy, effort and faith.
Today is still more special. December 12, 1531 on a hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City the Virgin of Guadalupe’s image appeared miraculously on the cloak of a simple indigenous peasant by the name of Juan Diego.
That milargo is one of the high points of the season. The Mother of Jesus, her likeness emblazoned on this simple hombre’s coat on a hill in our adopted country lo those many years ago.
I woke up early this special day prepared to celebrate; to watch the running of the bulls in Ursulo Galvan and later the running of many fiery wood framed rocket launcher toros in the city of Xico. As I lay in bed I started thinking about our unlikely hero Juan Diego.
Since I wasn’t around back in 1531 I can only imagine how the fame might have affected Juan Diego. I mean here was a simple guy, a peasant, cast into apparent perpetual fame. If this event were to have happened in the late twentieth or early twenty-first century instead of the sixteenth century I imagined we would be seeing Juan Diego on Ed Sullivan or Oprah. There might be a line of jackets carrying the Juan Diego brand name and the Holy Mother’s image.
I imagined just what a good agent might do for a simple peasant like Juan Diego – even his name has a certain ring to it; T-shirts to cereal boxes to major endorsements this guy would be going places.
We don’t know if Juan was married. I imagined how different the holiday might be if our unlikely hero got caught cheating on his esposa. The endorsements might dry up and perhaps the entire holiday tarnished from his bad behavior?
Juan Diego was lucky to have fallen into fame before the paparazzi might have exposed his life to the public in an unsavory light – Hallelujah!
Our unlikely hero’s part was minor, his plaster statute is always smaller than that of the Madonna; yet here nearly 500 years later this simple indigenous peasant maintains his lofty place in history. I am glad for that because today will be a very good time here in Mexico – wish you were here (well at least for a visit). Stay Tuned!
Parts of Mexico are famous for bamboo furniture. Giant bamboo is the largest plant of the grass family; and we are hooked on it!
On a beautiful sunny afternoon three couples of new settlers in Xico drove up to Bamboo Town. There you will find several kilometers of furniture merchants – tienda after tienda of the fine tubular grass furniture.
One couple of the happy threesome already possesses several pieces; so they started out as leaders. But as often happens with a pack of excited shoppers it was soon each shopper for himself, moving from glistening lacquered piece to piece.
Anita hates it when I show our (read my) mess – looking through it you can see several bamboo pieces located at our Rancho.
The three couples are all settling into new housing in Xico. Together recently one evening we had reasoned out after several Don Julios that perhaps we might gain advantage by purchasing furniture in mass – a volume discount.
Looking past the language barrier, at least in my case as the other five spoke various levels of Spanish far better than my ability; we came away believing the volume buying did give us a bit better deal.
Deal or no deal even at the asking prices being there at the manufacturing level certainly offered some attractive pricing for the durable bamboo furniture.
We ordered 4 stools in sets of two of differing heights to accommodate differing length knee bones connected to ankle bones. We were after all at the manufactures level so adding a few centimeters here or there was no problem – all our purchases would be made to fit. The three hombres of the couples were all six feet or better so lengthening the sofas that normally accommodate the Mexican male frame was requested. There was also some widening of chairs to accommodate broader bottoms.
I really liked the bed frame seen below; although in a lighter color. But one savvy buyer in our group suggested that the natural creaking sounds when one sits on bamboo might disturb sleep. I am still mulling that one over.
Another in our group suggested leather cushions might be made up at Naolinco (Shoe Town) where leather hides abound and prices are very reasonable again at manufacturers (Mexican craftsmen’s) level. We will need to have cushions fabricated in any case.
At the end of the day retirement budgets were stretched. After all you don’t buy a living room set every month. Our three new places will be sporting some fine tropical furniture.
Plan on visiting the pueblos of Indepencia and Monte Blanco if you visit our area. There are even small bamboo creations that will fit in air travel like lamp shades, wall screens, magazine racks and color beaded necklaces with bamboo crosses.
And one last suggestion – bring insect repellent. It is the tropics and the bugs were here before you and savor your arrival. Stay Tuned!
If you have read any reviews of Mexico you already know it is a noisy country. Quiet at 10 PM until 8 in the morning kinds of rules simply do not exist.
If you can’t sleep unless it is quieter than a moment of silence at a wake you will either learn to sleep with wax earplugs or to sleep not at all.
I have a little secret to let you in on. During your waking hours the best defense to noise is a good bellowing offense.
If you have read here even a little you already know I am from a Rock N’ Roll background; Music before it started taking second fiddle to videos was my bread and butter. Now it is heart and soul to life across the border.
The secret to the adjustment to the sounds of Mexico is to embrace them – get the finest and most raucous music that delights you – turn the volume to at least 8 and become part of the problem!
If you can sit on your hands while Mariachi’s are revving up then you are probably not breathing.
This beautiful sunny morning under the volcano, that is Pico de Orizaba, the second most prominent volcanic peak in the world after Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro, I am listening at volume 8 to the CD VIVA MEXICO Y SUS CANCIONES.
The 1926 song El Son de La Negra lights the morning. A popular set starter song among Mariachi groups, and particularly for this rendition by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (recognized by many as the finest Mariachi band ever) because of its elaborate musical arrangement, written by Silvestre Vargas, the one-time musical director of the group.
In this arrangement by Vargas string and wind sections of the group are given a chance to alternate, providing an appropriate showcase for the group’s musicians to interact. Breathe it in – it will rock you!
Life doesn’t get any better than this.
“He upon whose heart the dust of Mexico has lain will find no peace in any other land.”
Malcolm Lowry
