Comida y compañeros

Yesterday afternoon I was wandering around in the biology building searching for my classroom, and I ran into a guy who I had met earlier, as he is the best friend of the daughter of the General Director. We were chatting, and I mentioned that I live in el Carmen, a neighborhood near the central campus. He asked me (as has everyone to whom I've ever mentioned el Carmen) whether or not I've tried the famous cemitas del Carmen, a sandwich sold in the market. I replied that I had not, and he informed me that we needed to change that. So we and a few others (a mixture of US and Mexican students) met up after our classes and went on something of an eating tour of the neighborhood.

We began with paletas, popsicles, in various flavours. Lime, chocolate, and tuna (the fruit, not the fish) were among the mix, but my favorite was mango with chile. At first I was skeptical, but it's an amazingly complex, super-refreshing flavour.

After this, as well as plenty of wandering around the Centro, we hit the market. First on our list were aguas, drinks made of fruit and water, sold by the liter, which are somehow not quite juice and not quite smoothie, but which are undeniably delicious. And because we now had something to put out the fire of a spicy cemita, we went for it. While there are multiple cemita stands in the market, there is only one which attracts a crowd, and that is of course the one we visited (it was dinnertime, the wait was at least 15 minutes). The cemitas are made assembly-line style to accommodate the many customers, and you can watch them being made as you wait in line. Each gigantic sandwich costs 20 pesos, less than $2 US; It's no wonder they're popular.



This is the actual stand we went to. I stole the picture from the "Rancho Gordo" blog, which clearly did not visit at mealtime, since the line is fewer than 15 people.


The sandwiches (we got Milanesa style, but there are several others) consist of slice ham, a very thin piece of breaded and fried meat (I think beef, but I'm not completely certain), avocado, cheese (VAST amounts of cheese), chipotles, and a mixture of pickled jalapeños, carrots, and onions, all layered into an egg-y bun at least 8 inches in diameter. As a show of mercy, my new friends ordered my cemita with only half the jalapeño mixture, but it was still pretty darn picante.

After stuffing ourselves to the point of labored breathing, we wandered around the city for several hours, pausing to chill in a grassy park here, a fountain there, admiring the city as the street lights came on, and generally just getting an informal tour with a very cool group of people. We finished our evening at a coffee shop in the artist's barrio, with a live band, Modelo Negro (a Mexican beer), and rompope (sort of like eggnog).

See? Biology really is the coolest subject.