The Early Days
No self-serve. Someone stood behind the counter then turned around and fetched items from stock. "Dame doscientos grammos de arroz" (200 grams of rice) "Blanquillos, seis" (six eggs) "A...
Forum Discussion
1964 was the 1st adventure. Didn't take long to jump the tracks and lose myself for months at a time. I had seasonal US businesses, which allowed me to escape.
Mexico is "easier" to navigate and easier to live in today than it was 54 years ago. From shopping to buying pesos is a cosmic difference. In overcrowded cities it was common to wait 45 minutes to exchange for pesos. Banco de Mexico.
It was in Chiapas that I found my first lettuce (Romanitas and butter lettuce) in 1974. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Mayonnaise, ketchup, limon juice and dried red chili for a dressing. Carved my first Halloween pumpkin in the mountains of Oaxaca sometime in the late seventies. It had a smile instead of a frown. My Mixtec housekeeper was afraid of it and nearly freaked-out when she saw it lit during Dias de Los Muertos. Wanted to know who I put the curse. on. She had the stature of a fireplug and knew more "green" risque jokes (chistes) than I can remember. "Where did these things come from?" she shook a sack of frijols that I arrived with me. "I will go to the house of Carmen and get good ones for you". I danged near lived on tortillas, beans, cabbage, eggs, tomatoes and machaca for two months.
Then there was the four strings of Christmas lights that were shinnied up a palm on Playa de Oro, Jalisco. The kid got stung by a scorpion. There were over a hundred lights lit during the week of Navidad. People walked for miles with their families to see the palm. There was no way to get the lights down but I'd bet they found a home a few hours after I departed.
To the south of Lake Zirahuen, in Michoacan I camped for a few days and found a stream a half mile upstream from the village that was loaded with ten in bass. Of all things they went nuts over a Mepps spinner. Fish fillets, wild onions, tortillas and pico de gallo salsa.
But the trips meant lots of labor. Erect this, level that, firewood, prepare meals, explore, and I cannot do that anymore. Time to reap the benefit of experience. In 17-minutes I turn 72 years of age.
Mexico is "easier" to navigate and easier to live in today than it was 54 years ago. From shopping to buying pesos is a cosmic difference. In overcrowded cities it was common to wait 45 minutes to exchange for pesos. Banco de Mexico.
It was in Chiapas that I found my first lettuce (Romanitas and butter lettuce) in 1974. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Mayonnaise, ketchup, limon juice and dried red chili for a dressing. Carved my first Halloween pumpkin in the mountains of Oaxaca sometime in the late seventies. It had a smile instead of a frown. My Mixtec housekeeper was afraid of it and nearly freaked-out when she saw it lit during Dias de Los Muertos. Wanted to know who I put the curse. on. She had the stature of a fireplug and knew more "green" risque jokes (chistes) than I can remember. "Where did these things come from?" she shook a sack of frijols that I arrived with me. "I will go to the house of Carmen and get good ones for you". I danged near lived on tortillas, beans, cabbage, eggs, tomatoes and machaca for two months.
Then there was the four strings of Christmas lights that were shinnied up a palm on Playa de Oro, Jalisco. The kid got stung by a scorpion. There were over a hundred lights lit during the week of Navidad. People walked for miles with their families to see the palm. There was no way to get the lights down but I'd bet they found a home a few hours after I departed.
To the south of Lake Zirahuen, in Michoacan I camped for a few days and found a stream a half mile upstream from the village that was loaded with ten in bass. Of all things they went nuts over a Mepps spinner. Fish fillets, wild onions, tortillas and pico de gallo salsa.
But the trips meant lots of labor. Erect this, level that, firewood, prepare meals, explore, and I cannot do that anymore. Time to reap the benefit of experience. In 17-minutes I turn 72 years of age.
