March in Mexico in a whirlwind…

Getting closer, folks. I have now caught up to MARCH blogging. Yes, it is July tomorrow….which means I’m only 4 months behind!  Ahhhh!!   But after today’s post, I will have covered at least half a month, and I’ll be closing in!!

In an effort to speed up March, here is March in a whirlwind…

First…just not-so-uncommon-but-I-still-find-funny daily life in Mexico….

The girls’ private bilingual school did a Spring celebration. This school is where some of the upper-class Mexicans in the area send their children to Kindergarten and Elementary school. It is a fantastic and high-quality school, but as one American described it–it is a bit “Diva.”  This cracked me up–because it is exactly that! DIVA!

Every celebration or even is over-the-top. So when they announced that they would have a little Kindergarten parade on bikes for the kids (like last year), I wasn’t surprised when people showed up will full-out costumes for their kids.

Parents go all-out in their efforts to make their kids’ bikes into mini-floats!

This butterfly has a crepe paper skirt…

Our daughter may have looked like the “poor American” with only some simple paper streamers on her bike and a Princess outfit from the dress-up box…but oh, well!!

Next, our new friends flew in to house sit for us, so we could take off on a nearly 2 month trip to Guatemala and back. They brought with them their 5 beautiful children who are ridiculously well-behaved, and make me dream of having a quiet and peaceful home some day!

They stayed with us in our home for 5 or so days before we left, so we oriented them and showed them around the area. First, we went to the Driscoll Raspberry growing fields in Jocotepec. Raspberry-eating is mandatory in this area, after all!

The pickers collect the berries in picking buckets…

And then they carefully select the pretties and most firm berries (aka: not as ripe) to put in the packages, so that by the time they arrive to their destination in a US grocery store they look perfect!

They pack them into the bigger Driscoll’s boxes to await pickup from a small delivery truck.

The kids were very excited to get their hands on some berries, and we waited patiently while they filled up several big bowls we had brought from home.

Less than $10 USD later, we left with a ton of berries–some to be eaten immediately, later that day, or frozen for smoothies at a later date 🙂

Next, we went over to the Jocotepec malecon to enjoy their playground and walk along their beautiful malecon.

While leaving, I ran across this father and his two daughters flying some kites.

I realized how long it had been since I’d flown a kite, and after showing interest in the kites, they handed one over and had me flying it with Ella!

I love how open and giving the Mexican people are. It’s as if they don’t know what a stranger is…EVERYONE is an amiga or amigo!!

Of course, had to buy the girls a super cheap kite before leaving the malecon…

 Which was well-loved for many many days afterwards…

On the way home from Jocotepec, we saw this sign for Tortas Ahogadas (drowned tortas/sandwiches), which I have always wanted to try. After all, they are a local cuisine specialty in the state of Jalisco.

The road-side stand was two folding tables big.

We discovered tortas ahogadas are made from cooked cold pork (kind of ham-style, but cut up in small bits), and is put on a tough (some might call it “stale”) bread roll…

No other topping or flavor is added…HOWEVER…there IS a reason they call them DROWNED tortas.

The man then put the tortas in a plastic to-go bag, and took a LADLE of cold flavored meat juice and POURED it into the bag. I give you DROWNED tortas.

My friend and I quickly tried to tell him just a TINY bit of juice would suffice…and it would be great if it was ON the sandwich…but out of the 10 we purchased, only the last few weren’t completely drowned.

I took a bite or two and realized it was not my thing. In fact, it wasn’t most of our “thing”…haha!  But at least we tried it!  Now I understand why they start with hard bread, too…because that juice quickly softens it up, anyways!

A few days later we took them to the Ajijic tianguis to see what their Monday market is like.

There are always beggars at the markets. I am torn about what to do—encourage begging by giving—or ignore them and tell myself they should be finding work to make a living. I tend to lean towards generosity most of the time…(who am I to judge, right?)

This is pig skin, which people purchase to fry into “chicarron“. I have tried this before, but not on purpose. Yuck!!

Or instead of frying it…eat it with the fixings above, or of course…just douse it in CHILI! That makes everything edible, right?

Fresh panela cheese….

I admit, most Mexican cheese tastes sour to me. I realized that if I pulled cheese out of the fridge and it tasted like Mexican cheese, I would throw it out–assuming it had gone bad.

Anyone want some of this meat?  I’ll pass!!

But count me in on the berries at less than 50 cents per pound!