Postcard Love Note

Corazónes volando, Ave. Allende, Oaxaca, 29 de enero 2011. 

A postcard love note...

short, sweet, can be sent by mail, 

can be delivered personally, 

left or tucked-in somewhere

visible for the beloved to find.

I went out to pick up a few supplies from the mercado Saturday morning. Nothing better after a Friday night out with friends than tamalitos de mole negro, un atolito de panela, y unos cuantos churros for our mid-day cafecito. Got to the market and found myself in the middle of a party con todo y cumbia band. Just one of those not unusual yet unexpected surprises that make going to the mercado on a Saturday morning that much more exciting, one of those acontecimientos that makes one fall head-over-heels in-love with Oaxaca una y otra vez. Still feeling the tunda from the night before's events, zombyfied, and embrujada by the wooing cumbia beats, I took out my camera to film a little (see video bellow, I suggest watching it on the blog and not youtube for a less pixilated experience).

A que RE-CHULA es la Oaxaca...

Mercado Sanchez Pazcuas, Oaxaca, sábado, 29 de enero 2011.

When it's hot... ICE-CREAM!

Helado de leche quemada con tuna, Mercado de Ocotlán, Oaxaca, México, 2010.

There's no denying it, no use in pretending... I have a crazy sweet tooth. Got it straight from my father. I can still see his black mustache sprinkled with chocolate cupcake as I stormed all through the house, opening and slamming doors. Smoke rings coming out of my ears and nostrils as I tried to identify the culprit. The one who dared to steal one of my lovingly baked cupcakes for school. My father's ojos de vago barely able to contain their giggles as I interrogated him about the missing cupcake. No mija no fuí yo! Como crees! No mija preguntale al Edgar! My brother Edgar AY! An even more extreme case of uncurable sweet tooth in the family... Could have been if only my father's a la Jorge Negrete signature mustache had not given him away...

Oh how times change... or do they... The days in Oaxaca are simultaneously getting longer and hotter and we are only in February. We've been warned over and over again of just how hot it will be come April. I suppose the heat might not be too bad if it weren't for that darn almost vertical hill we have to trek to get to our house... So how has one uncurable sweet tooth decided to pass the next few weeks dealing with the abominable ball of flames shinning down on Oaxaca? ICE-CREAM of course! Had my first glass of leche quemada with tuna, (burnt milk and prickly pear, a favorite combination here in Oaxaca, and although it might sound strange to many it is really REALLY YUMMY delicious!), not long ago, and shared a tres marias, (three different flavored ice scream scoops in a wafer cone topped with chocolate, whip cream, waffer cookie, and a cherry on top), with M as a Sunday date... A date on which I discovered a list of flavors described as SABORES EXTREMOS!  That's right the EXTREME FLAVORS! The ones only hardcore ice-scream freaks might dare to try... mango-maracuya, kiwifresa, jicama-chile, mezcal, mango-chile, guanabana... and on and on...

All I can say is that I am ready, ready as I will ever be to take the SEs ON! I think the best way to follow my ice-scream declaration is to report back on the trials, triumphs, and tribulations that might come with eating the sabores extremos... So I sign off today with the promise of reporting back on the ice-cream eatathon.

Leche quemada con tuna, Mercado de Ocotlán, Oaxaca, México, 2010.