5 on the Fifth - Blur

This month's 5 on the fifth theme is Blur. Here some blurry stuff I encountered here in México:

A fish in a shopping centre.


An artist's paint mixing board.


A frock, my niece did not want to wear (I can't blame her).


Death can cause a blur of tears.


Anything but blurry: Pacifico Clara.

Sobre El Jorullo

Close to La Huacana is México's second youngest volcano of named El Jorullo. Although only a half an hour drive away, Toño and his sister have never been there.

El Jorullo was born on September 29, 1759, and had been active for 15 years. It a cinder cone volcano, which lies in a remote yet beautiful landscape. The drive goes through groves of elegant palmas real, the local variant of sabal mexicana. The farmers only harvest the top to leaves to make hats and brooms.

The head of the local environment protection agency was so kind to give us a tour. It is a half an hour hike to the crater, but the view up there is worth every step.



Our guide refused to take any money for his services, he just asked us, to promote a trip to the volcano. Hence, by writing this, I'm paying of our debt.

Location:18°58′19″N 101°43′05″W

The place where I cut both my feet and still have to be grateful for

Under this romantic chute Toño learned to swim (Toño is the one embarking on a dive):




Sadly, littering is an issue all over the globe and so it happened that I cut both my feet with broken beer bottles in this water right below the same chute today.

However, if Toño had not been pushed into the water here by an uncle, who happens to be the closest in that picture, and thus learned to swim we might never had met at the the pool in Zürich.

Location:La Huacana, Mexico

Dealing with Cutlery or the Lack Thereof

I am not talking about the basic differences of dealing with cutlery by Americans and Europeans. Others wrote about that conclusively (read about). I am talking about my intercultural competence being constantly challenged by the lack of basic cutlery here in México. At home in cosily boring Switzerland my cutlery concerns are being restricted to occasionally having to eat with a knife, of which the handle is not hollow (and thus not well balanced). Here in México I'm hardly given the opportunity of a knife at all. If so, I'm not even expecting a sharpened one anymore. What one can expect is a spoon or a fork at best. If you address this subject with Mexicans they point out that the tortilla acts as spoon in their culture. Fair enough, but I still find it rather challenging to eat bone-rich meat with just a fragile plastic spoon and a floppy tortilla.

Location:Morelos Sur,La Huacana,Mexico

Vida Rural

We had to get up early to see Toño's uncle Arturo milk his cows and to have a look at his maguey plantation.




It looks a bit like Japanese Kinbaku, but it keeps the cow calm and allows milking without a big installation on the field.




Sadly the prices for agave are rock bottom, and there is no point in harvesting them (to make tequila). In one or two years, the plants will blossom. This will be the grace period for the prices to recover, or a big investment will go down the drain.

It was hot out there in the country side, I continuously showered in my own sweat.

Location:Morelos Sur,La Huacana,Mexico

Pollo al Cuñete

We've reached La Huacana, where we can enjoy the fine cooking by Toño's sister Chilo. The first lunch she served us today was Pollo al Cuñete with pineapple, almonds and dried plums.




Start with a chopped pineapple, dried plums, a bit of water and a bit of white balsamic vinegar. Blend the mixture and pass through a sieve. Fry the chopped chicken in olive oil complemented with a bit of butter. Season every piece with salt and pepper while frying and add some pressed garlic after turning them over. Put the chicken pieces with the sauce in a casserole, add some plums, peeled almonds, a couple of chilli jalapeño, some sugar, peppercorns, marjoram and bay leafs. Put the casserole with a lid on into the oven for 1 hours and 20 minutes at 200C/390F. Remove the lid after 50 minutes.

Yes, I did ask for a second servings.

PS: If you have no peeled almonds, put the unpeeled ones in boiling water. The skin should go off in no time.

Location:Morelos Norte,La Huacana,Mexico

No Sports At Dawn (in speedos and in public)!

I'm currently in Bangolore, India for a three day meeting. Only on Monday evening we came back from México, where on the weekend, we had the pleasure to meet and dance with Dzyan*.

On Wednesday, I flew to India; and this morning at 7am I finally made it to the pool, just to realise again that I'm not a morning sports person, especially when being jet-lagged. In addition, I realised that I'm just not exhibitionist** enough to exercise in view of the the pool side breakfast restaurant and the treadmill robots.



* go there, meet him - this is highly recommended!
** or just have a "tiny bit" too much fat on the hips.

Cutlery - Revisited

There is not every thing just fine here in México. There is a constant lack of decent cutlery. Like today when I was given a nice sirloin steak for lunch which I was supposed to eat with a effin plastic fork and nothing else. I had to wrap the meat in some tortillas and had to bite pieces off it. wtf?

To eat or not to eat?

Baptism, Wedding, Party & Hangover Breakfast

One can easily forget that there was also Easter to be celebrated because on Easter Sunday* there were plenty of things going on here at La Huacana in México.

After noon mass, Katia, one of Toño's niece got baptised.



Getting baptised at Easter seems to be very popular. There were about 10 babies, toddlers and even children lining up to receive this sacrament.

The second important event was the wedding of Toño's brother Tito and Maria.



They were actually already married, but that was in the U.S. of A. For some unknown reasons to me, this was not accepted by the Méxican authorities and they had to do it again in order to be entitled to a certain type of mortgage. Whatever, it was very touching and just another reason to celebrate.

About 400 relatives showed up to celebrate Easter, baptism and the wedding. There were Mariachis and a 20 men Banda band to entertain them.



Toño's family definitely knowns how to party. I had a blast blast and a few Corona Extras and tequilas too much. I reckon at times, you just had to lick the sweat off my skin to get drunk.

My sleep was almost comatose, but Toño's relatives also took care for a healthy hangover breakfast - an intensely hot shrimp cocktail - to get me on my feet again.



* in Switzerland we also have an Easter Monday.

5 on the fifth - Spring

I thought I give this 5 on the fifth thing a try. I opted for the theme Spring.



In my parents' garden (Märstetten, Switzerland)



The first flower on our balcony (Zürich, Switzerland)



Carla Guadalupe in the car (Santa Clara del Cobre, México)



In the garden of Toño's sister Chilo (La Huacana, México)



Family party (La Huacana, México)

Sombrero de la Tierra Caliente

The area of México where Toño was born and bred is called Tierra Caliente. Yes, it is hot here, like for today 38°C/100°F are forecast. And it is only spring.

A thing I like about the Tierra Caliente are the sombreros, which the hombres wear.



I like the dynamic shape of these hats and the simplicity of the design, which is not only aesthetic but also functional. It keeps the head cool. The sombrero is made from the leaves of the royal palm.

Sadly, only the old geezers wear them nowadays. But Toño was so kind to wear one for me to take a picture.



No, I did not buy one. It is not for the lack of trying, but Méxicans seems to have smaller skulls. I could not find one that fits on mine, which has a circumference of 62 cm/24".

Saturday Flowers - México Edition

Comer con Chilo y la tía Lourdes

Today at noon, we went to Toño's sister Chilo. The question of dinner came up, a menu was found, a shopping list drafted and soon both Chilo and tía Lourdes were cooking for the 16 people that happen to be there.



Caldo de camarones



Filetes de pescado



This drink is called Michelada:



Tía Lourdes made it for me. She used tomato juice, lime juice, beer and seasoned it with chilli powder and salt. Very refreshing.

Yes, I'm having a good time :)

Cutlery

I will not go as far as to say that the way people handle their cutlery reveals their character. Although, the way people handle their cutlery tells a lot. Like you can easily spot the American in a restaurant (swap alert!). Nevertheless, I was quite flabbergasted when I was given my cutlery like this earlier this week:



¡Qué cabrón!

Just in case...

...you were wondering how we are spending our time here in México



This is Carla Guadalupe, Toño's youngest niece.

Viajar a México

The flight to México was uneventful, which is always good when flying. The most thrilling part was, when we approached Greenland. It has such a picturesque coast.



Of course, I was waved when we passed Toronto "Hi Tyler", Memphis "Hi Steve" and Austin "Hi Gauss". Sorry to the Brits, I was checking out the films when we passed you.

In México D.F. we are staying at the Hotel Presidente Intercontinental. Toño's hairdresser knows the manager and thus we got a complimentary upgrade to a room on the club level with nice amenities.

I was too tired but Toño had to take some tacos dorados after we'd arrived.



Our room is at the 39th floor and has a nice view to the south of the city.





We could even see the Popocatepetl volcano. This was at dawn, Now it's barely visible.



Later today, we will be heading to Morelia (4.5 hours by bus), where three of Toño's sibling live. In pre Easter, they have this tradition in Morelia is a tradition called Toritos de Petate. A couple of years ago, I took this video of it:



Of course, when being in Mexcio City one has to meet Dzyan, we plan to do this on our way back in two weeks. I'm so looking forward to this. He's such a fascinating lad.

We are in México

We are on our way to México visiting Toño's family. I missed enjoying a siesta in a hammock in the shade. I'm so longing for this.



Sorry, work has been a bitch recently and I neglected many things. Hope things will be better after our break. We will be back on April 13, 2010.

In the meantime, don't do anything I wouldn't do.

México is Calling!

My former flatmate Tigresa gave Toño and me a yearly subscription of Du, a Swiss magazine on culture, as a Christmas present. Today, we received the March issue, a special about 200 years of México's Independence from Spain.



Coincidentally yesterday, Toño was chanting...

Banderita, banderita.
Banderita tricolor,
Yo te doy toda mi vida
Y también mi corazón.

... because it was Mexican Flag Day. And it was only a week ago that we booked a trip to México for Easter. A niece of Toño will be baptised. So far, 300 guests have been invited. We were asked to share the cost for the band. I happily agreed, though I did not know yet that it will be Banda music. Not really my favourite kind of entertainment. But I reckon, it will be 1 against 299.

We will only be in México for a couple of weeks. Toño signed up again with his former employer, and they will be in the middle of the relaunch of their magazine. It was even difficult to get this break.

So till then, I should get a chance to read this issue of Du. I only breezed through it, and it looks really promising. Many thanks, Tigresa.

Update at 11:30pm

• Toño's sister Silvia gave birth to a cute girl in Morelia.
• Toño is right know on the phone with relatives in Los Angeles, and what I understood from the Spanish conversation, we will spend New Year's Eve in L.A.

Qui vivra verra

I'm currently parted from Toño. We will not see each other for 180 long hours. No no, we did not have a tiff. We are parted for money - that is, business trips keep us from seeing each other.

This weekend, Toño has to represent his caring employer at the wine fair Vinea and residing in the tower of this lovely hotel, as he told me earlier over the phone.



I wish I could enjoy the tower with Toño. Whatever, in twelve hours I will be on my way to Scandinavia. And on Monday, while I'm away, we will get a visitor.



This is Gerardo. He is a friend of Toño from La Huacana, Toño's home town in México. Gerardo will stay with us for two weeks. So I will still have a chance to see him, if I'll survive the keelhauling.