Experiencing Tecoman

We have been walking around in the colony where Joses uncle lives. A colony is like a little town, or maybe a neighborhood, outside of the downtown of the city. The streets are dirt, or loosely lined with large stones. The streets with stones are very hard to walk down. Most people have small houses, but some families have large tents that are covered with little additions made out of wood scraps. There are taco stands, taquerias, and shops everywhere. Joses great uncle, Lucio, has one of the nicest houses we have seen. His house is shaped like an L, and the inside of the L is a nice courtyard in the back. The ground is all covered in brick and very clean, there is a big tree in the middle, and it is closed off from the neighbors by a tall brick fence. Lucio has a hamock tied to the tree that he spends most of his time in. There is also a bed outside under an eave that he naps on during the day, which I think is a wonderful idea. I hope to have my own outside daybed someday.

Yesterday we went downtown on the bus, and were not very impressed. It was busy and crowded. It was our first time walking around in a city in Mexico, and we were annoyed that pedestrians have no rights. There are no crosswalks. Pedestrians cross wherever they get the chance. There were so many cars that we had to wait awhile before we could cross, and then if a car came while we were crossing, they felt no need to slow down, because we were in their way. It was a stressful experience.

The downtown did not offer much. There are mostly shops, and we do not want to shop, so there was not anything for us to do. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home, and spent forever, but finally found enough food for a few gluten free meals. Last night, we cooked refried beans, Mexican rice, enchiladas, and arroz con leche (rice pudding). It was our first complete, home-cooked mean in Mexico. It was so nice to finally have a dinner that was not almost pure meat. Everywhere we have gone in Mexico, taquerias and food stands only offer tacos with two choices of meat, and sometimes quesadillas. Even Jose has gotten sick of meat tacos. I have gotten good at not thinking about the meat, and being able to eat it like a meat eater. I do not plan on continuing to eat it when we get back to the United States. I think I have already eaten enough meat for the rest of my life. It was so nice to spend a few hours in a kitchen, though. We want to do more cooking, but we have not been able to find the ingredients for many gluten free meals.

There is a family next door to us with 6 children. They make donuts and sell them. Jose told Alejandra Yolanda, the 1st grader, that he wanted to buy some, and later that night we heard "pst, pst" in the dark, and looked up to see Alejandra Yolanda on the fence with a bag of donuts. The young kids have blonde hair. They look like beach bums with tan skin and blonde hair. Alejandra Yolanda loves to talk about school. We hear her over the fence telling her mother all the things the teacher taught her that day. All of the kids have fallen in love with Jose. When we left this morning to use the internet, one of the boys said to Jose, "Youre not leaving yet, are you?" He broke into a huge smile when Jose said no. There are many little boys on the street who have all decided that Jose is very cool, and they spend most of their time sitting in front of Lucios fence.

We have to admit it: we are ready to go home. Mexico is just not for us.

-Emma