Quince de Julio

118 Ady in Mexico!
Originally uploaded by pastry_child

This morning we drove from Obregon to Mazatlan, where we stopped for a quick visit at the beach. The sand is so fine and soft here – not at all like the course sand on the upper west coast. When we first stood on the tide edge and the water splashed up, I let out a yelp, expecting it to be cold! The water was fantastic. We had just begun talking about going for an all out swim, when we saw the warning signs for “sea jello”. Of course, despite the signs and the little jelly fish globs on the sand, the locals were all about swimming! Apparently this particular breed does not sting, but will make you very itchy! I asked Adrianna why they were swimming, and she explained that the locals are stupid and crazy. ;>

From Mazatlan we continued our drive toward Guadalajara. We stopped along the way at a small store on the side of the road to use the bathrooms and for Adrianna to call her sister with our location. We had homemade tamales which were pretty much amazing (“esta muy rico!”). Up until this point, I had been pretty lucky with the spice factor – for the most part, everything is exceptionally seasoned, but you add the chili sauce yourself. However, just as I was getting really into my tamales, I got a nice big bite with a big chunk of cerrano in it! Oy! Luckily Nick had gotten milk to go with his meal, which I was happy to help him drink!

Continuing our trek, we drove and drove and drove…and then I’m pretty sure we drove some more! Driving over the mountain pass west of Guadalajara, there was quite the traffic backup, due to only one of the two lanes being open in our direction. We passed through that delay still wondering what the problem was. Further along the pass, we slowed due to flares on the side of the road. The flares down here are much more impressive than in the states. They have actual flames! I’m not sure what they are exactly, but they sortof look like very small barbeques with flames shooting out the top! Of course, once we came around the corner where the accident was, we were all mesmerized by the flares, and almost didn’t see the semi truck turned over on its side! Thank you, Adrianna, for having such great reflexes!

We finally made it to Guadalajara around midnight. We had planned quite carefully to ensure we would not be driving at night, but there were several detours and an accident to slow us down considerably. I assumed that everyone would be asleep when we arrived, but I guess the rumors are true about the people of Mexico not sleeping! Adrianna’s sister Veronica and brother in-law Braulio greeted us at the door, and took us into the house, toward the back, I assume under the guise that it was much cooler outside. Once through the back door, we were attacked by Adrianna’s entire family (cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, nieces, nephews, siblings…) with shaving cream and balloons! Once the craziness had subsided, we all sat around the back yard and had cervesas, quesadillas and chips.

I didn’t sleep well that night due to the heat, being in a new place, and all the damn mosquitoes! In the states, they don’t really bother me, but here they are eating me alive! Luckily I have calamine lotion, and I wear long skirts, so I don’t itch too much and no one can see the bites!