Chilanga Shopping Trip

Tuesday 19 Jan 2010
(Pictures will come whenever they are emailed to me. I forgot my camera this day)

Day 4 without a shower. Sure, I had my indian bath but this was the fourth day in a row that my shower was not working. I washed up with a washcloth and tried to convince myself that the natural oils are good for my hair. Got ready and waited for my Chilangos (Mexico City natives) to come pick me up for our shopping day! (My Chilangos are actually my friends who live in Atlocamulco, Charro, Leti, and Hugo!)

Then these guys showed up and told me that they were here to fix the water problem. I was too thrilled.

Then my Chilangos showed up and we were off to the mall. We drove out of Toluca to Lerma, a town that was described to me by Kristan as have 'one of the most polluted rivers in the world'. It also happens to have an awesome outlet mall.

The outlet mall was VERY American, except for one thing... it had a petting zoo inside it!!! I thought that was AWESOME. It was called 'City Farm'. You pay 30 pesos ($2.5) to get in and you can buy carrots and baby bottles to feed the animals. The Chilangos weren't too impressed. It had a 'smell'.

I definitely smelled the smell but my inner 6 year old REALLY wanted to go feed animals. Alas. I lost.

Here in Toluca I have noticed that it is 'cool' to wear leather boots with skinny jeans (preferably 2 sized too small) tucked into them. I came to Mexico with two pairs of baggy jeans and one pair of fur boots. I decided to give in to fashion and get myself a new pair of boots and a new pair of skinny jeans.

We went to a store called 'SEXY JEANS'. I told the lady that I usually wear a size 10 or 12 and showed her which styles I liked. (In stores here you pick the style you like and they bring you our size from storage.) Note that these are stretch pants, SKINNY jeans cut to be small.

She brought be a size 8.

REALLY NOW? I'm flattered she thinks I should wear a size 8 (maybe she was judging me based on how lose the jeans I was wearing were) but there is no way I am going to wear a size 8. SURE I can get them ON... but then I have muffin top and camel toe! I'm no longer one of those girls who is hung up on what number my size is. I just try to wear whatever looks good... whether it's a 6 or a 16 I don't care.

I asked her again for a 12 and got a size 10.

I get that the fashion here is to wear pants that are 2 sizes too small... and I appreciate that lady's attempt to keep me up with the lastest trend... but WHEN I SAY 12 GIVE ME A 12 PLEASE!

I finally got 2 pairs of size 12s. (The cut is a bit tight for what I am used to but at least I don't look like a sausage. Size 8... omg. Puhlease.)

Next item on the agenda were BOOTS. We started looking but then took a lunch break.

We wandered around from shop to shop looking at all the boots in the mall only to end up going back to the first shop and buying the first pair that I liked. =D They are black with some straps and zippers on them. I am calling them my rock boots.

After the mall I ran to the school with Kristan to meet with Kirk and figure out my teaching schedule. I'll be teaching a workshop on Articulation on Mondays at noon. The drama club is still unfixed because I have to find out when the interested students are available.

Finally I went home with chicken, purple onion, black beans, and rice on the brain.

Apparently I was jinxed this night!

First I was out of purple onion. I shrugged it off since it isn't completely necessary. I put the rice in and got the water boiling... then I couldn't find the lid. I searched high and low... but no lid that would fit! I tried a lid that was too small and just fit it down into the pot. The steam flipped it over! I had to start over. I got a new pot, new rice, and tried again. This time I didn't turn the heat down low enough for the simmer and the water started to bubble and boil over, pushing the lid off. I regained control of the lid and turned the heat down more. Through all this I overcooked the chicken. My 10 minutes on the rice was up so I went to take it off the stove... and... the burner had turned itself off. So the rice didn't cook.

I sat down and started banging my head against the table... and I almost gave into despair when, suddenly, I heard one of the sweetest words in the Spanish Language come wafting delicately through the air....

TAMALE, TAMALE, TAMALE...

THE TAMALE MAN!!! I jumped up with glee and ran out the door. There he was, my prince charming, the tamale man. I bought two red tamales and ate them with my black beans, the only thing I cooked that actually turned out. It was delicious.

Oh joy! Oh rapture! The day was saved by TAMALE MAN!!!