Amecameca, Mexico

Amecameca is not Mexico's version of Mecca, but a sleepy town on the outskirts of Mexico City. Outskirts is relative though as it took us 1 hour to get OUT of Mexico City and another hour to get there (Sunday night was a smoother 1 hour drive total!). My housemate's family have a holiday home there and were kind enough to invite me to tag along to sample so real mexicana.


Amecameca lies at the feet of the Sierra Nevada, just a stone throw away from the impressive active volcano Popocatépetl (altitude of 5450m). There is a cool legend about the mountains of Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl (taken from Wikipedia below)

In Aztec mythology, Popocatépetl was a warrior who loved Iztaccíhuatl. Iztaccíhuatl's father sent Popocatepetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him his daughter as his wife if he returned (which Iztaccíhuatl's father presumed he would not). Iztaccíhuatl's father told her that her lover had fallen in battle and she died of grief. When Popocatépetl returned, and discovered the death of his lover, he committed suicide by plunging a dagger through his heart. The gods covered them with snow and changed them into mountains. Iztaccíhuatl's mountain was called "La Mujer Dormida, (the "Sleeping Woman"), because it bears a resemblance to a woman sleeping on her back. Popocatépetl became the volcano Popocatépetl, raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved.

And it's true, one definitely looks like a woman lying down!

So back to the story, we arrived late Saturday afternoon, and went straight to the local market to stock up on staples, such as Corona (very important), avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, lime (for the guacamole), tortillas, meat (thin marinated beef and chorizo) and chicheron (fried pork skins...yeah i know!).

Key ingredients

Chicheron

The beef Master!

So the menu for the evening was Tacos al pobre (sweet as! ... beef + chorizo + spicy tomato sauce + chicheron all cooked on the bbq), homemade guacamole and to finish it all all we had marshamllows on the fire! ... Nicole... don't think of the calories!!!

Sounds pretty sweet to me!

The weekend was extremely pleasant and chilled! We ate (a lot), had a good few beers watching the stars and toasting marshmallows. I was taught how to play a mexican card game that is similar to Rummy (I sucked!) that is played in rounds.

The next day, we visited Amecameca, following a procession up the very steep hill that led to the church (why do they make it so hard?). Then as a reward we made out way to the local market to eat a typical mexican breakfast, of bean tortilla, stomach soup and quesadilla.

And before we knew it, it was time to leave and head back into the hussle and busle of Mexico City!

Until next time...Cheers to everyone, it was a blast!

All about .... Confusion

How do you go from planning to see an Almodovar film to actually seeing a Norwegian documentary about a transgender man in Norway?

Well, you take a spoonful of misinformation, add a twist of incomprehension and mix it all up in a bowl called Mexico City.

The adventure began when my flatmate suggested we go see "All about my mother", the film directed by Pedro Almodovar which was showing in a Museum/Cinema in the centre of town called El Museo del Chopo , an arty place owned by the University (UNAM). It all started relatively well. We boarded the metrobus and got off 20 stops later.

Mexico has a remarkably efficient bus system. The Metrobus is one line that goes from North to South of the city and the bus has its own independent lane. It is relatively quick and efficient and only costs 2.5 pesos erhem..1 pound equals 20 pesos approx!

We were 10 minutes late for the start of the film, discreetly sat down in the nearly empty cinema, only to notice that the film was actually a documentary filmed in black and white and in a language that was completely unknown to me. After a few minutes I realised that the film was in fact in Norwegian and spoke about a male transvestite and his relationship with his family (the documentary was filmed by his son). So in the end instead of seeing "All about my mother" we actually saw "All about my father" .

So much for a good ol' Almodovar film ... at least I got to practice my spanish reading skills!

Sigh.