AKA Todos Santos

I have almost been here a whole week already! Wow. Time flies when you are having a good time! Last week seems like a blur. But I have more to say about Dia de los Muertos...
On Friday Brianne, Doug, their friend Suzanne (very fun, friendly person) and I took a short walk over to the old cemetery. They no longer bury people there because it got too small for the ever increasing population of SMA. Interestingly, there are plenty of gringos in the cemeteries. There was even one who died in 1908 or so. The old cemetery has been totally locked up for many years and only recently did they open in for Dia de los Muertos. A group of Mexican women get together on Nov. 1 and decorate all of the graves, hang papel picado, and make an altar. This year the altar was for a man who was a big radio personality in SMA who died last year. Apparently he was very well known and respected in the community.

After touring the cemetery we had a pleasant lunch at a small place on the way home. We all had beautiful salads with real lettuce, carrots, beets, cucumbers, and avocado. The wait staff all spoke perfect English. And if I spoke in Spanish they responded in English. I find many people will do that. It works for me. I get to practice my Spanish while they practice their English.

That was the big event of the day. I haven't been going out at night, because it feels weird to go alone and I am just as happy having dinner and conversation here with D&B. The first few nights we were trying out two different cooks. It was fun to do little critiques of their Mexican cooking. Some of it was excellent (the green salsa one made was to die for) and some was pretty bad (apples, pineapples, and nuts with cream). In any case, I have now been earning my keep by cooking a few things... which I am loving! It is so nice to be appreciated.

The first dish was chocolate bread pudding. I call it Pudding de Dia de los Muertos because I made it Friday and because I made it with pan de muertos (special bread for the day) and the chocolate (with cinnamon) they use here to make hot chocolate. It tasted really good, but it was not at all light and fluffy like the last bread pudding I made. Maybe the altitude was a problem? SMA is at 6500 feet.

Last night after visiting a really interesting gallery, owned by a couple from Berkeley (more on that later), I made potato leek soup, green salad, and zuccini cheddar muffins and bread. It all came out pretty well. Apparently Doug REALLY loves soup, so I made a friend! I just love cooking so much! I am going to do some chocolate chip cookies tonight because there are no good cookies here in SMA.

One thing I am not able to do as well as the Mexicans is their carnitas! On Saturday D&B and Suzanne and I took a ride into Delores Hidalgo. It is in this city that most of the talavera (brightly painted ceramic dishes, etc) are from. Puebla is also known for it's talavera, which is supposedly nicer and has a commiserate price tag. I personally think they are totally different, like comparing apples and oranges.

Running off to school.