At dinner Thursday night, Oscar looked up and said,
"I love Mexico."
Pause. Happy looks all around the table.Then a cloud across Oscar's expression...then the light breaking through again suddenly....
"But next year when people ask me about Mexico, I'm going to tell them I didn't like it.
I hate the way people at home were all, 'You're going to LOVE Mexico!!!!'"
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The kids are reading a book that somehow involves auras that somehow bear fragrance.
What would our auras smell like?
Oscar: burnt fireworks
Wilhelmina: mango
Kirstin: cinnamon
Sean: baking soda or rubber gloves (?)
If you're reading this, there's a good chance we discussed your aural odor, too. (No kidding. We have time for this kind of thing.) Email the kids for a personalized assessment---it's free!
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Every week, we learn more at the market. Today we focus on fauna.
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| The chicken is even fresher than we'd previously realized. |
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| Turkey is available, too. Start chasing your Thanksgiving order now? |
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| Head's up. |
About that last photo: Memo, our tutor, recently revealed to us the substance of a "taco de cabeza" -- an option we "enjoyed" somewhere near Morelia (we were a little lost on some road not the major highway, hungry and stressed) on our drive here. It's not brain, exactly (this was my theory after having a few bites), but rather ground beef. Of the head only. So yes, okay, it's brains...but so much more! All ground up.
Memo asserts that when it comes to tacos de cabeza, which have a distinct taste, "you either either love them or you hate them." Memo loves them. (And we love Memo.) Sean and Oscar didn't mind them. I ate one. Wilhelmina ate none. We love Memo.
Oscar's secret is out. And my aura would smell like...?
ReplyDeleteOscar thinks your aura smells like grass; Wilhelmina detects the smell of books. (Nice!)
DeleteA quality Taco de Cabeza shouldn't be brains (unless they're going cheap on you), but just the head, face, eye (anyone like eye meat?), and cheek meat from the animal. I was told that the meat on the face was especially tender, and therefore, choice. Brain Tacos (tacos de sessos) are in their own special category of gross, and I found them quite disgusting. The meat has the consistency of semi-raw ground beef, with a reddish-white color. I would recommend against it at all costs, not necessarily because of the disgusting factor, but more because of Mad Cow disease, which maybe explains a lot about me.
ReplyDeleteI've had quite a few nasty foods in Mexico, including fish-guts soup (they essentially gutted the fish and put the guts in a pot as a soup for an appetizer to the fish, which was the entree; I was hungry for neither), grilled iguana (tastes like greasy chicken), seviche (usually ground raw shrimp, sometimes fish, "cooked" in lemon juice, and served on a large crisp tortilla), and shrimp and chicken tamales (not necessarily gross, but they would often not remove the bones or clean the shrimp to make the tamale look fuller. I don't enjoy pulling shrimp antennae out of my mouth). Tacos de sessos would definitely be on this list.
That's interesting about the fine geographical distinctions as one eats one's way around the head of a cow. My taco was very slippery, is all I can say. (And you should talk to Sherri more at work!)
DeleteSean and Kirstin,
ReplyDeleteI'm loving reading your tales and seeing your photos. I feel as if I'm recognizing some places, but it may just be the generic Chiapan look I'm responding to. I'm not aware that I had Taco de Cabeza when I was there, but knowing little Spanish, I may have. Now that I'm aware of what it is, I might not be so brave.
I'm wondering what my aura is....any ideas?
Love you,
Mom/Nancy
Hi Nancy! The kids say you have an herbal aura (lavender and basil).
DeleteLavendar and basil....two of my favorite things. I have to agree with their choice.
DeleteNancy
Kirstin, I agree, you have a pleasant cinnamon aura! And Scott, I feel I'm learning more about you from these comments than from sitting 6 feet away from you at work! We need to chat more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update. I'll just be happy as long as my aura doesn't smell like Tacos de Cabeza.
I do chat with you! Brain tacos just doesn't seem to come up in our conversations very often. How would I inject that in our every day chat? "We need to split the child/adolescent MHI forms into two, and speaking of mental health, did you know I had brain tacos in Mexico? Crazy, huh!"
Delete