Saturday, October 30, 2010

Una hada muy bonita!


Mexicans have taken to celebrating Halloween in recent years and Ruby's school was no exception. As for candy, well, the take was impressive, as Mexicans are also very indulgent with their kids in the arena of sweets. Ruby did indeed make for a very pretty fairy and came home exhausted by the excitement and sugar high, and that was just the first day of four of Halloween-related festivities.

In the zone

That glazed look in their eyes is the result of cable after a two month hiatus. Even little Iris, who at her age, should have better things to do, followed her sister's example and plugged right in to the 'toons. And given that we were still drowning in boxes, one of which had also contained the TV, I didn't feel guilty in the least since it bought me a little time to unpack.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Things to love about Mexico: Cheap valet parking

After dealing with the financially painful parking scene in Seattle on our various trips for cultural and culinary refueling from the other side of the mountains for many years, it's just fabulous to pull up to a busy restaurant in GDL on a Friday or Saturday night, or for that matter, breakfast on the weekend, hand over the keys, and sail right in to eat, all for the whopping sum of anywhere between two and three bucks a pop. That's living large south of the border (and they actually bring your car back too!).

Sunday, October 24, 2010

GDLicious: latina i and Anita li

Last night we took a drive down by the railroad tracks on Inglaterra, where a couple of restaurants with just the right dose of west coast kitsch and fusion sabor have taken the food scene by storm here in Guadalajara. We took a table upstairs at Latina i with a view of the piggies (scroll through the photos to find them) behind the bar and sipped a "negrony" and some delightful kiwi vodka concoction, accompanied by spring rolls with a kicking chile verde peanut sauce and some really fabulous cachos, or scallops, also with a divine sauce, before moving on to the sister restaurant down the block. Anita li is a little more upscale, a little flashier, with lots of crystal chandeliers and decor by lolo!. There, while Mike inhaled an espresso and a creme de vainilla, I headed straight for one of their very popular entrees, the flauta del mar, which was delicately doused with simply one of the best green salsas I've ever had the pleasure of trying, made on this occasion with chile guero and avocado. Aside from the refreshingly unstuffy ambiance, what I really loved was the vodka maracuya. Passionfruit is one of those flavors that always transports me back to my first encounter with Latin America, some (gulp) nearly twenty years ago, where the juice was served at nearly every little family restaurant and cafe in Ecuador. We'll go back (to both the restaurants and South America) as soon as appetite and opportunity combine.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Trash and treasure at El Trocadero

I took a break from unpacking our junk to look at what kind of trash and treasure the local tianguis, or market, known as El Trocadero, had to offer this fine Sunday afternoon. Costume jewelry, antique metalwork, Hot Wheels and Barbies, angels and skeletons, old movie posters and the occasional box of puppies lined the sidewalks of a park nestled inside Av. Mexico. After the last two weeks' confrontation with our material existence, I was, needless to say, just looking.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

What a week!

Our HHE came Monday, Iris suffered her first bout of Moctezuma's revenge which required the full ped/lab/pharmacy routine in the midst of the movers coming, I made lunch for 25 kids at Ruby's school today, and they decided to paint our entire house, after our stuff came of course, starting next week. Add in a couple of cable guys, a nervous dog (who did calm down once his favorite bed emerged from a box), and some wrecked antiques, and you can tell it's been a load of fun. The girls are thrilled, however, as the stash of toys that we've had with us for the last six months had grown rather stale and every box reveals new/old wonders. Iris is now sleeping well in a real crib for the first time in several months and Ruby, who has spent the last few days riding her purple bike dressed in a matching fairy costume, wings and all, collapses with relief into her fortress bed at night. I can almost see the floor in the living room, our kitchen is nearly unpacked, and I'm awfully happy to have more than two or three pairs of shoes to choose from each day. If only I could find the Christmas ornaments, but there are still boxes to be unpacked, and therefore, still hope on that front.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Hilarious posting: Signs you might be in the foreign service

Check out this very funny posting "Signs you might be in the foreign service" on Beyond the cornfields, another foreign service spouse blog. We were fortunate to not have nearly as much to contend with vaccination wise here, although this did remind me the girls are probably due for some more shots soon.