Whiling Away the Days in Irapuato

We arrived in Mexico City on Monday. I’ll have lots to tell you about that next post. For now, I’ll just catch you up on our weeks in Irapuato. Irapuato is hot and dusty. Although it was founded around 500 years ago, most of the old buildings were destroyed in a flood. Like all Mexican towns, there is an old church and a town plaza. They recently gussied up the plaza with a big fountain and light show. That is pretty much as close as Irapuato gets to a tourist attraction. Not surprisingly, there are no tourists - particularly in Los Cobos, the neighborhood where we stayed. Naturally, Chris and I were a bit of a spectacle. It made picture taking somewhat awkward. This is a sneaky shot we took from the roof of Marcela’s house. (We stayed with Chris’s, brother’s, wife’s, stepmother - Marcela.)

Marcela and Rafael’s house is in a neighborhood called Los Cobos. Like a lot of places in Mexico, Los Cobos looks half-done and worn-down at the same time. Most people build onto their houses as they have money, so everyone has rebar sticking up from their roofs (for that second or third floor they plan on adding) or partially constructed walls jutting out here and there. Marcela and Rafael’s house is big. We had a bedroom all to ourselves. This is a photo of it. Note the separate beds. Apparently, word has gotten out that we’re only fake-married. See the Jesus picture on the wall? (You cannot escape him. He’s everywhere in Mexico.) I don’t think he approved of us moving the beds together. Also, note the mosquito net. There were many flies and mosquitos in Irapuato. Chris had a nightly war with them. He went MacGyver on me and made a fly-swatter out of a hacksaw blade, some paper and some duck tape. (Duck tape fixes everything!) I hope that karma thing isn’t for real or Chris is in big trouble.

Every morning, we were woken by the crowing of roosters at the crack of dawn. Sometimes some sheep would join in and they would sing a little melody together. Later on, people turned on their radios full blast to the tune of what sounded like Mexico’s version of polka music. As they did not have a phone (much less internet) where we were, Chris and I often ended up at one of the local internet places. Near the house was a small shop where kids gathered for little LAN parties. Mostly, I must admit, we went to a little coffee shop in the mall. In fact, we spent so much time in Irapuato’s new mall that I felt like I was 14 all over again. The mall was kind of an interesting place. Marcela says it is for rich people. I definitely saw a lot of social climbers. We also saw a boy band playing for a bunch of screaming adolescents. (Some things are universal.) They had much of the usual mall stuff - Dominos pizza, Subway sandwiches, a Levis store. I even saw a Bar Mitzvah photo frame in one of the stores and bagels, cream cheese and lox offered in one of the restaurants - so there is probably at least one Jew in town. In addition to the mall, we made one shameful trip to Wal-Mart and several shameful trips to the Wal-Mart restaurant. (Yes, they have a restaurant.) What can I say, I’m a whore for free wireless. I’ll go wherever they give it to me.

We also went to the fair a couple times. The fair was huge and packed on the weekend. Unlike in the U.S., you don’t buy a bunch of tickets or a wristband to go on rides. You have to pay for each ride cash. The first time we went, it was with some of Isela’s family, who had been kind enough to pick us up at the bus station. We mostly just walked around looking at the exhibits, many of which related to strawberries. Irapuato is Mexico’s major strawberry producing region. The second time we went was with Marcela, her daughter Natalie, her neighbor Mari, and her niece. Here is Natalie on the carousel. After the rides we went to watch the rodeo. Mostly, it was a singer riding around on some very sad-looking horses that he made bow, dance, lay down, and do all sorts of other sad tricks. He had to try and make himself heard over the death metal band that was playing on a nearby stage. There was also some bull riding. The bulls go around the ring for a few seconds and then just stop. It looks like they have to force them to get crazy. Natalie’s favorite part was definitely the fireworks. My favorite part was when they got some guys from the audience to chug beers, run back and forth across the ring, and spin around in circles with their butts in the air - all of which they did for a few cans of free beer.

Mostly we avoided the crowds and hung out at the house. We read and wrote and occasionally did whatever chores needed doing. This is Chris doing laundry in a bucket with some baby shampoo. The clotheslines where Chris hung our stuff are attached to an old swing-set. The swing-set is on the roof, which struck me as a little bizarre. (Rest assured, no one actually uses the rooftop swing-set of death.) The nice thing is, it is so hot and dry in Irapuato, your laundry dries fast. (Which is good, because you don’t want it out there long enough to collect a layer of dust, thereby defeating the purpose of doing laundry in the first place). Seeing a guy do laundry was quite a shock for some. When Natalie first saw Chris doing laundry, she told her mom “look, he washes clothes like a girl” (in Spanish of course). Marcela says Mexican men never do laundry. I told her I thought that was very said. But truthfully, not many men seem to do laundry anywhere. Seriously guys, would you just walk around with stinky, dirty clothes all day?

The best part about Irapuato was hanging out with Marcela, Natalie, and Mari. Natalie and Chris became great friends (although, most of the time, neither of us had any idea what she was saying). Natalie thought Chris was hilarious, especially his Elmo dance. Sadly, I don’t have photos or video of that. I do; however, have a video of Marcela and Natalie. Our stupid government is preventing Marcela from being with her husband and older daughter in California. While they wait for years (literally) to hear something from someone, we made a little video so their family back in the states can see them. As you will see, Natalie is a superstar and, like most superstars, she was able to do a lot with a very poor script. Just click on the picture and it will take you to the video.


http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=1073182877999399833&pr=goog-sl

The second best part of Irapuato was the food. Marcela is a great cook. She taught me how to make pozole, chilaquiles and tinga (although it won’t be her fault when I try to make them and they suck). Chris and I tried to return the favor by cooking a couple times, but judging by the pained expressions on their faces as they ate, I don’t think it was a hit. Julia Child I’m not. Although the food was one of my favorite things in Irapuato, I do have a few food complaints.

Complaint No. 1: Why do they have to change the formula for everything. Aunt Jemima pancake mix (here called hot cake mix) has corn in it - totally different consistency. The mac and cheese has nacho cheese sauce. And the lasagna noodles are all these bizarre, square-shaped, thin “no pre-cooking required” things.

Complaint No. 2: In Mexico, the only available eggs are some scary frankeneggs that are not refrigerated and say “fortified” on the label. True, as Chris pointed out, they don’t come out of the chicken’s ass refrigerated. But I’m pretty sure they don’t come out fortified either.

Complaint No. 3: The cost of a quart of Haagen-Dazs, $12. (Yes I bought it. I was desperate dammit.)

Complaint No. 4: The coffee is the pits. Everyone uses instant Nescafe, even in restaurants. No one seems to have heard of half and half. It’s milk or Coffeemate or nada. Also, the only sugar around is that brown hippie stuff that smells bad.

More on all the excitement in Mexico City next post. Ciao.