Piñas y Pirámides!

Welcome to Tenango...the land of las piñas and pyramids. This past weekend I went to my friend Lety's house for a big birthday bash in her hometown of Tenango, a small town about 25 minutes from Toluca. The town is famous for a drink called las piñas, which is made with pineapple juice, a splash of vodka, ice and a bit of condensed milk. Yumm! Tenango is also famous for having pyramids, which happen to be about 5 blocks from Lety's house. Other than that....well, that's about it for the town, except for its charm.

Having been my first official birthday party in Mexico, I decided to live it up, which wasn't too difficult with a DJ at the house. After eating la comida and enjoying a piñas, a group of us started dancing (mind you this was at about 4pm) and we basically didn't stop until 11pm. While a good amount of the music was straight from the good 'ole US of A, some was more typically Mexican, which meant a lot of spinning and twirling and steps that I could hardly keep up with. Three of Lety's cousins were self-taught dancers, (and men! not something you find very often back home) and were kind enough (and extremely patient) to teach me a few moves. We had an excellent moment of cultural exchange when Christina Aguilera's "Come on over baby" came on in Spanish and I sang the song through in English. By the end, we had some sort of Spanglish mixture going on. I'm going to have to include that in my midterm report for Fulbright. The gringa is officially sharing her culture and amazing vocal prowess (hah).

The morning after the party, we woke up to a real-life rooster (Toto, we're not in New York anymore) and headed out to climb the pyramids. In order to enter before 9 am we had to convince the guard we were all from the town, so I was registered as Renée Díaz Mendez. It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? We also told them that we were there to run - and I was wearing a pair of silver flats and a peacoat...convincing, I'm sure. Somehow we charmed our way in and headed straight up to the pyramid, and I mean straight up. Nothing like altitude training before 9 am on a Saturday! Jokes aside, it was really beautiful and we got an incredible view from the top of the pyramids. That pretty much beats anything I could find within 5 blocks of my house on Long Island....well, besides that really great bagel shop. Did I mention I've been missing bagels?

That was pretty much the highlight of my weekend. I was adopted by Lety's family (I now have quite the extensive span of relatives here) and had such a great time living it up fiesta style.

Things at school are still going really well. I taught my students the word "brown noser" today and I happened to get a card from a student telling me that she thought I was really nice and that she wanted to be my friend and later a bag of candy as a thank you for correcting a paper. I'm thinking that was a coincidence, but I still have to wonder. There's no shortage of friendliness around here, that's for sure!

This weekend I'm off to Michoacán for Día de Muertos so I'll have plenty of pics next week!

Abrazos!

Weekend with my Aunt & Uncle

This weekend my Aunt Lupita and Uncle Lawrence came to visit! They flew directly into Toluca on Friday night and after renting a car, they came to pick me up at my house and we drove together into Mexico City, where we stayed with Lupita's sister, Veronica and her husband. On Saturday, we started our day off with fresh papaya followed by homemade molletes, which are made by baking bolillos (white bread) with refried beans and queso oaxaca (a Mexican cheese) and then topping them with fresh salsa. Needless to say, it was delicious.

After breakfast, we picked up a few things from the local market which was packed with people and any type of food product you could imagine. After walking around for a bit, we headed back to Veronica's house, where my two of my aunt's sisters had arrived along with their families. I feel like I spent most of the afternoon laughing. My aunt's family (who I haven't seen since I was 2) certainly doesn't lack personality and I had such a great time talking and laughing with them. At the end of the night, we went to the nearby Sky Mall to sip teas while enjoying the view of Mexico City by night. I have to say, Paris has some competition for the title of the city of lights.

On Sunday I went with my aunt and uncle to Valle de Bravo, a town about an hour west of Toluca that surrounds a beautiful lake. I have been hearing about this place since I arrived and it's considered the Hamptons of Mexico for residents in Mexico City. The town is full of quaint shops, restaurants with lake views, and colonial architecture. There happened to be a circus in town and while leaving the city we passed a truck with a caged tiger in the rear - not something you see everyday. It was a great weekend and despite the fact that it took coming to Mexico to see my aunt and uncle who live in California, it was really nice to see them and I will definitely be heading back to Valle de Bravo with some Fulbrighters soon!

A Camerific Weekend

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting Cammie (one of my lovely fellow Fulbrighters) in Toluca. I have to say, after having been told that Toluca is the coldest, ugliest city in all of this land, it's been a hot spot for the Fulbrighters- first Alexis, now Cammie... When Cammie first arrived from Mexico City we picked up a few things from the grocery store and decided to cook ourselves a feast. I know what you're thinking, this blog is turning into a chronicle of my eating/cooking habits, but that's a pretty big part of my life here.

After picking up some pechuga planchada (literally "ironed chicken breast") we headed back to what is now being referred to as my Tolucan villa and got our Martha Stewart on. We, and by we I mean Cammie did most of the work and I chopped some onions, made pechuga rellena, which is chicken breast stuffed with queso oaxaca, a mozzarella-like cheese, and cooked in a blend of tomatoes, chicken stock, onions, garlic, s&p, and a few chipotle chiles. As a side dish (my gourmet creation) we had sauteed black beans, corn and onion. It was delicious! For dessert, we fell off the Mexican bandwagon and ended up making chocolate-chip cookies. Cammie and I are now DEFINITELY ready to get married.

On Friday night we went out in Metepec again, which is a small city right outside of Toluca where many Toluqueños go out on the weekends. To be honest, the night was a blur of dancing, but it ended with roses and notes that said declared our "superness" so I really can't complain. I'd have to say that the highlight was the moment we were about to leave when suddenly Shania Twain's "I feel like a woman" came on and Cammie and I immediately ran back inside to have a last dance.

Other than that, I've been sticking with the routine at school and continuing to LOVE my students (not in the illegal way), oh yeah, and applying to law schools - that's fun!

I just found out that my Grandma (the crazy one) will be visiting in November and I am incredibly excited. Not to mention that my Aunt Lupita and Uncle Lawrence will be visiting a week from Friday....hmm, I may very well put this little city on the map! My door's always open!

Abrazos fuertes de México!