Music & Food

Sometimes a theme pops up in your life and keeps reappearing.  The past two weeks, that theme was music.  It started with a stop to say hello to Tere, a local woman who lives down the street and is frequently in this awesome store with traditional Mexican clothes downtown.  During the course of our chat she invited me to both go to the beach on Sunday with a large group of locals (which was so much fun!) and to attend a Zumba dance class with her the next day.  I got clearance from my boss to leave work early and had a great time dancing with lots of women in the lobby of the local municipal building.  I love dance and hip hop music, so I’ve found my people.

 The water was 80 degrees which made it possible to float all day long. 

  The only source of my beloved shade.  

Last week was a quiet one in the office as several people were out traveling so we rocked out to all the best hits of the Cure and the Smashing Pumpkins.  I could feel my teen angst-filled-self coming back to life with the music of my youth.  Who would have thought coming to Mexico would remind me how much I love the Cure?  Or that there was a Mariachi version of Close to Me? I also heard Funky Town in the office the other day and I have to wonder how prolific English language songs are in other countries where the Peace Corps serves.  Are volunteers in Africa also asking the age-old question “won't you take me to funky town?” or rocking out to Pit Bull at the local gas station? 

Last week I also joined a crew from the office to visit different people in the countryside and – don’t ask me why – but we immediately started listening to Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night.  There is nothing odder, or perhaps more awesome, than rolling down the street in rural Mexico with Strangers in the Night playing loud for all to hear. We listened to that song 4 or 5 times before my coworker thankfully switched to traditional Mexican music. That’s when the next show began as the crew sang every single song and demonstrated the corresponding dance moves for each type of music.  I cannot fully describe the awesomeness of this performance but I can tell you that my face hurt from smiling and I can sing you all the words from Strangers in the Night when next we meet.  

 The church in Navidad.  

 

 

Giant plants and cool trees. 

 Short hike to a local river.

A 2-way-view selfie in Rancho Paraiso; I don't know why this is an option on my phone.

Last week I joined my family at a neighbor’s anniversary party, complete with another mariachi band and it was just as great as the first time.  Two nights later I went to a local church for a series of dance performances by groups of all ages in both traditional and modern styles.  I finally got to see one of the adult daughters in my family perform with her dance troupe and they were amazing!  The music was great, the skirts were twirling and I bonded with a woman on the bench next to me as she explained the geographic origin of each song. 

 Mariachis doing their awesome thing.

 

 Local dancers with lots of colors and great music. 

While out in the countryside last week, we also stopped to buy fresh cheese from a woman’s house.  We had to bypass several resting cows in front of her gate but the cheese was delicious and she insisted on giving us frijoles and warm tortillas, along with mango cajete.  This was another good week for food as my host mom made enchiladas, I ate lots of fresh papaya, pineapple and camarones embarazados, and I enjoyed an assortment of snacks at my neighbor’s anniversary party, including chicharrónes, boiled potatoes with spices, cheese cubes, crackers with cream cheese and a spicy marmalade, spiced peanuts, ham sandwiches and more.  Music and food – what more do you need? 

 Just some cows taking it easy.

Fresh cheese and mango cajete.