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We live in a very dry area of Mexico.  It typically doesn’t rain from November to March and It is a miracle that anything grows here at all.  Fortunately, there is a very good irrigation system set up, which allows people to take advantage of what is pretty much eternal summer. 

One of the interesting things that grows in the wild here is a wild cucumber.  It grows anywhere and everywhere.  This particular cucumber is not edible however it does have a use.  The cucumber is left on the vine to grow and mature and once it is ripe, it remains on the vine to dry out–not a problem around here.  Once the cucumber is completely dried out, they are picked and peeled, which is an easy task, the seeds are shaken out and replanted and the inside is sold in the markets in Juchitan for 10pesos (about $1). 

The inside of this cucumber, as you see can see, looks a lot like a loofah sponge and in fact, the people here use this wild cucumber for exactly this purpose.  Fortunately for us, the cucumbers grow wild here on the UNISTMO campus and I have found two of them.  The amazing part is, they do really work exactly like a loofah without using the real thing.  I was surprised that such an ugly thing on the outside could be such a useful plant.

On Saturday we went a fellow English teacher and his wife to the Ojo de Agua.  This is a freshwater spring about 20 minutes outside of Ixtepec in the town of Santiago Laollaga (lau-yag-a).    There are a few ojos in the area, but this one is the quickest and easiest to get to. 

The Ojo de Agua has three different parts to it; the first part is a set of pools that are fed by the spring and the children can play around in the water and the parents can eat under a huge palapa and buy inflatable water toys for their kids to play with.  It looks more like a water park than a natural spring.  The second part is a tree-lined stream where you can sling your hammock between some mango trees, sit in the river, cook along the bank of the stream or do your laundry (like the locals).  The third section is a bit of a walk further up stream to the source of the spring.  Here, the pool is less man-made looking and more natural looking and the water is a bit deeper.  There are also some little fish that swim in the water here and if you sit still for too long, they will come along and nibble on your dry skin.  It doesn’t hurt at all, it just kind of tickles.  The fish are supposed to be very good for your skin, but I am not sure I could sit still long enough to reap such benefits. 

The Ojo de Agua is quite popular with the locals on Sundays and it can be quite difficult to find a quiet spot to sit and relax.  We were fortunate because we chose to go on a Saturday so there were less people.  Finding a spot was rather easy and we decided to set up our picnic in the second section.  We brought in our cooler, chairs and BBQ and hopped in the cool refreshing water.  The temperature of the water was by no means cold (my daily shower is colder), but it was nice and refreshing. 

Don set up the BBQ while Mark, Lily and I sat in the water enjoying a few “refrescos”.  There were vendors that came by to sell us corn, mango and jicama to go along with our bbq’d steak, potatoes and mushrooms. 

The best part of the day was dessert.  We were set up under some mango trees and we are on the cusp of mango season, so for dessert we knocked a few mangoes off the trees and sliced them up.  There is nothing better than fresh mango!  I have never seen so many mangoes on a tree before.  I can’t wait until they are all ripe and ready to eat!   We have decided that we are going to come back in a couple of weeks when the mangoes will be ripe, pack a light lunch and load up on the mangoes. 

It rained last night.  Now normally this would not be something to blog about, but  it is.  It hasn’t rained here since late October or early November.  It happened around 3AM and it was a good solid rain.  It is actually still sprinkling a little.  The rain is good for the area as everything will turn back to a nice green–everything right now is really brown and crunchy.  The bad news is, with rain comes humidity.  You know that famous saying “it’s not the heat it’s the humidity”?  Well, that is what we are heading into.  It soon will be the rainy season (still not that rainy compared to other parts of the world) and it will be really hot.  Crazy hot.  40C hot.  40C with 100% humidity hot.  I am not looking forward to it.  In the meantime, it is nice to enjoy a cool rainy morning.  It feels kind of like spring, if I weren’t sitting at my desk with the windows open, ceiling fan on wearing a tank top…..

Don is writing two certification exams today and the closest city to do this in is Coatzacoalcos (Kwat-zah-kwal-cos).  This is a 6 hour bus ride across the isthmus however it is not like the isthmus we know.

Coatza is a Pemex refinery town of similar size to Salina Cruz, it is about 200km northeast of us in the state of Veracruz. The town itself really has nothing going for it, that is unless  you live on the other side of the isthmus.  It has a 5 star hotel (not possible in Salina Cruz), McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Blockbuster, Sam’s Club AND a Dairy Queen.  None of which exist in our neck of the woods.

We decided to make a weekend out of it, so we hopped on the bus on Saturday morning for the 6 hour trek across the isthmus.  It was a pretty uneventful ride.  When we arrived in Coatzacoalcos, it was raining (something that hasn’t happened here since late-October or early-November. 

We decided to stay at the hotel TerraNova as it had a really nice pool and we could kayak in the river in the afternoon.  Sadly, due to the rain and cool weather, we never got the chance.  Instead, we went shopping.  I needed to buy some jeans (my pair died) and a pair of shoes.  Sadly, this was much more difficult than I thought.  The jeans all had sparkly stuff on the back pockets (and I like to attract as little attention to my butt as possible).  The shoes were a completely different story.  There were lots of really nice pairs but one problem:  size.  Shoe sizes here are different than Europe and Canada.  I am a size 9.5-10 in Canada or about a 39-40 European.  Here, the sizes range from 22.5-27 with a 27 being about a size 9 Canadian or 37-38 European.  I believe I am about a 27.5-28 Mexican, but this size does not seem to exist here.  Hopefully, I can find some shoes in Oaxaca city, my last chance is to find the local blacksmith–he should have shoes to fit me!

We decided to have dinner at the hotel in the restaurant as the menu looked really good.  They had it both in Spanish and English, but the server gave us the English menu.  It was really strange because we are not used to English menus here and generally have an easier time with the Spanish menu.  The most interesting thing on the menu was a beef dish, where the last line of the description was “like a ride horse (with mounted egg) optional.”  Needless to say, I didn’t order it because I am not sure what the heck that was!  Sigh, the job of an English teacher is never done!

On the Sunday, we had to change hotels because the TerraNova was full for Sunday night, so we booked a room at the Best Western for Don.  We checked in and then walked down the the Malecon which is a boardwalk along the ocean.  We walked out to the lighthouse, which was really cool.  The waves were crashing into the rocks and splashing  lots of water onto the lighthouse. 

I returned on the bus yesterday afternoon, arriving in Salina Cruz at about 10PM and Don will be back tonight around the same time.  Overall it was a nice weekend getaway.  We were able to brush off the istmo dust, do a bit of shopping and  have hot showers (with no worry about running out of water).  Oh yeah, and I got my DQ Blizzard fix too!  German Chocolate Blizzard…yummy!

I have always had fond memories of my birthday.  When I was little, my mom made a cake, decorated it with cinnamon hearts and brought it into my school so I could celebrate my birthday with my classmates.  It was a really special day; I felt so lucky.  Not only did I have a mom that loved me lots, but also everyone at school knew it too. 

My birthday cake of choice is cherry chip cake with vanilla icing.  A few years back, my best friend Melanie made me a cherry chip cake with vanilla icing and sprinkles on top (cooked in a bundt pan).  It looked like a giant donut.  Regardless of the shape, it was still cherry chip and a great surprise from her.  The funny part was, she spent the night at my house and the next day we woke up to find that the cat had jumped up on the counter and eaten the donut cake!  We had a great laugh about it, and still talk about the donut cake to this day.

Today, I got to pick what I wanted for lunch and Don made me Philly Cheesesteaks (yeah, I know, not exactly Mexican) and he surprised me with a birthday cake.  It was a beautiful vanilla cake filled with fruit and covered in pink icing!  It was so perfect and I was so happy!  Now, the Mexican tradition is that the person celebrating the birthday is supposed to get the first bite (“mordida”).  Normally, for younger people they smush their face into the cake to make sure they get the first bite.  I am not sure why one would ruin a perfectly fine cake by smushing someone’s face into the cake, but hey, every culture is different.  Here I am ready to have my mordida no face smushing though….

Interestingly enough, I received a birthday card and a Christmas card today.  The Christmas was mailed on December 19th and the birthday card was mailed on January 16th.  You have to love the Mexican mail system!

Everyone always tells me that I am so lucky to have my birthday on Valentines Day, but the real truth is, I am so lucky to have such great people in my life to celebrate my birthday with–no matter what day it is and no matter where I am. 

We were at a solar cooker demonstration on Sunday.  Don stole my thunder.  He took all the good pictures  and did a really good posting on his blog.  Click here to check it out.  It was a great day. 

On Sunday, we were invited to the birthday part of a fellow Rotarian.  Our first invitation instructions were to come to Barcelo’s house for the party.  However on the Saturday before the party we were at a Polio vaccination event (see Don’s blog here ), and  we were told that things had changed and we were now going to be at Las Gaviotas. 

Las Gaviotas is a restaurant that is owned by Barcelo and it is located in Playa Ventosa.  It is a beautiful location.  The restaurant is located on a bluff with a view of the ocean.  It has an open air dining room and two pools for children to swim in.  It is a wonderful gem of a restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere.  There are also three bedrooms above the restaurant if people want to spend the night! 

Birthdays in this part of Mexico are pretty important events.  The birthday person holds their own birthday party and supplies the food, music and beer.  You are expected to have a birthday party like this every year regardless of what age you are turning.  The guests of course are expected to bring a good bottle of liquor (if it is a birthday boy) and either chocolates, flowers or liquor (if it is a birthday girl).  We were already aware of this custom and came with a bottle of good Canadian Whiskey (Canadian Club Classic aged 12 years), which was promptly put away to ensure that no one confused it as part of the bar.

It was a huge birthday party.  There were over 80 people there and there was LOTS of good food.  To start, we had jumbo shrimp cooked in garlic and butter, crab cooked in chili, garlic and butter (YUM!!!), shrimp ceviche and a fish pate/salad thing.  After the antojitos, we were offered plates of goat roasted in a red sauce, refried beans, rice and tortillas as well as sopa de mole negro.  Dessert was tres leches cake.  I am almost starting to change my mind about my birthday cake always having to be cherry chip; tres leches is moving up to second place!

There was lots of eating, drinking and dancing and some people got up and sang songs to Barcelo.  Although we were encouraged to get up and sing ourselves, we decided Mexico was not ready for our singing and we managed to avoid the torture. 

There was also a man that was taking photos and I thought I recognized him as the reporter from the day before, but I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me.   As it turned out it was the same reporter who works for one of the local newspapers,El Sol Del Istmo.  We ended up being in the social section of the newspaper the next day.  We discovered that our good friend Barcelo is a rather well-known, well respected individual in the community.  So much so, they call him don Barcelo, the “don” being reserved for only a few in the area. 

Overall, we spent a great day with our Rotary family and friends.  My only problem now is that MY birthday is next week and Barcelo has asked me about my birthday party.  He even offered up Las Gaviotas to me if I am concerned about space!  My biggest concern isn’t space, it’s the music, liquor and food that I would have to arrange!  I have to figure out how to dodge this bullet!

Tehuantepec is known to be a hot, windy, sleepy little town.  OK, it is hot, it is windy, but it can be interesting.  There is always something happening here, you just have to read the newspaper.  For example, here is a summary of the top three stories:

• the mayor of Tehuantepec, José Enrique Ojendis Garfias, was arrested last week and charged with embezzling 109million pesos (about $10 million Canadian) of municipal money.  He is currently being held in prison  in the state capital.  Ojendis supporters have set up road blocks at the bridge in Tehuantepec requesting his release.  The road they are blocking is the Trans-Isthmus highway and it is the main transportation artery for the Isthmus. 
• the municipal workers of Tehuantepec have also set up roadblocks on the Trans-Isthmus highway (when the Ojendis supporters aren’t blocking it).  The reason for their protest is simple:  they have not been paid for the entire month of January.  Apparently there is no money to pay them. (Coincidence?)
• 70% of the neighbourhoods in Tehuantepec do not have water.  Now, given that it hasn’t rained since November, one may be inclined to think this is due to drought, however the real reason is that people have not paid their water bills.  Due to the non-payment of the water bill, the town water supplier does not have the money to pay the electric bill to run the pumps to supply the water to the neighbourhoods.  The electric company has a very aggressive non-payment policy such that if you do not pay your bill on the due date, it will be cut off the following day. As a result of this policy, electricity to run all of the pumps has been cut off.  No pumps, no water.

Who says life on the Isthmus is boring? 

Before I left for Mexico, I decided that I needed to try the fish tacos in Oaxaca. I had heard many good things about them and I needed to try them myself.

Fish tacos are a variation on your regular taco.    They are most popular in Baja California, but because fish is so plentiful in Oaxaca, we have them here too.  The fish is a mild white fish (in Oaxaca, it tends to be snapper), shredded cabbage or lettuce, a spicy cream and pico de gallo.  Depending on who is cooking the fish, it will either be beer battered, coated in crumbs and fried or grilled.  The first two methods of cooking allow for the piece of fish to be served whole in the tortilla while the last method means that the fish will generally be flaked with a fork and then put in the tortilla

My first taste of fish tacos was at a Rotary meeting.  The Rotary meetings in Salina Cruz are held at Casa Flor–probably the best restaurant in town.  I was so excited to try them and at what better place?  The tacos were deep fried tacos (tacos dorados) and the filling inside was a mixture of flaked fish and spicy coleslaw.  Overall, they were pretty good, however I was certain that there were better ones to be had. 

After continually searching for my elusive fish tacos, I found them on the last day of a family vacation in Huatulco.  We were in Santa Cruz looking for a light bite before we bid farewell to the larger part of the family and we came across a small restaurant where the tables were plastic and set up on the sidewalk.  Seeing the fish tacos on the menu and smelling the fresh ocean air, I couldn’t resist ordering them.  The fish was coated in crumbs and fried and served on a tortilla with some spicy coleslaw.  One bite and I was in heaven.  The combination of hot, crunchy fish with spicy creamy coleslaw was a hit. Sadly, there were only four on my plate, but I could have eaten a dozen!  

I have been scouring the Internet now, searching for fish taco recipes and I believe I have found a good one.  I will give it a try and report back soon.  In the meantime, I will continue to dream of those tasty tacos and try to find a excuse to get back to Huatulco to have some more….

Anyone want to visit?  I’ll pick you up at the airport and we’ll stop for tacos on the way back!