Tres semanas

Time, per usual, has flown by. There are fewer than 3 weeks until I return to the good ol' U.S. of A. Today was the last session of my anthropology class (though I still have to write a final paper), my history class is finished save for a paper, all my grades are in for biology, and I've finished the final paper(11-pages of Spanish, bitchezzzz!!) for my dance class. By the beginning of next week I'll be able to sit back and enjoy the remaining week and half of my time here, then I can return home with my ridiculous tan and my new-found Spanish street slang.

I'm very excited to see everyone for the holidays! I'm torn because on the one hand I want to go home RIGHT NOW, but on the other hand I want to be able to stop time and stay in Mexico, perhaps not forever, but for a sizable chunk of time. I'm definitely glad that I will be coming back for the next semester but I would love to be able to spend more than a few weeks at home.

(sigh) So much love, so many people, so many places, and so little time. Guess it could be worse.

So on a less sentimental note, I've been continuing eating everything in sight. So far there are only two foods which I have discovered I do not really like: the tropical fruit papaya (it looks so good yet tastes like poo, what's up with that?) and mole de panza (basically consists of a spicy tomato-y broth with chunks of cow stomach floating in it. Sounds yummy, huh?). Interestingly enough, this particular dish (also known as menudo) is considered to be THE cure for a hangover, yet has some of the least nausea-quelling properties I've encountered in a food. Overall it tastes pretty good, but it has a sort of cow pat smell that my instincts have a difficult time telling me is okay to eat. Additionally, stomach has a unique consistency something like eating your own tongue. All that aside, I feel strangely drawn to it and will probably try it several more times. Maybe I'll learn to like it: even Wikipedia calls it "un platillo de gusto adquirido"; an acquired taste.

But aside from these particular foods everything else I've eaten has been wonderful. Greatest recent discoveries: esquites (basically cooked corn cut off the cob and mixed with broth, mayo, lime, and chile), barbacoa (a preparation of meat. goat? perhaps. sheep? maybe. delicious? definitely), molotes (a thick tortilla doubled over some sort of filling, traditionally cheese, chicken, or calf brains, then deep-fried and served with salsa), tortas (sandwiches that can include basically anything + cheese + pickled chiles) and, my all-time favorite, pozole (a soup which involves hunks of mystery meat and kernels of cooked corn the size of a playing die; don't ask questions, just eat).

Oh Mexico... you are, in a word, indescribable.

Safety precautions in vehicular travel are, to say the least, not common (aside from religious figurines). This means that seat-belts are practically unheard of, speed-limits do not exist, and children are held on the parents lap. Today I saw the very first child car-seat since arriving. The seat was strapped into the car, but the child was not strapped into the seat.

Another oddity (speaking of food, clearly I'm hungry): You can buy a kilo of carrots, which is more than two pounds and enough to serve as a dish for several people, for 2 pesos. A meat-topped gordita which will fill up one person for half the day goes for 7 pesos. If you want a soda to go with it, however, that'll cost you an additional 10 pesos. A cup of coffee? An extra 15 pesos.

Final comment: It is socially acceptable for anyone to wear lucha wrestling masks anywhere, at any time. This is not me.