Do you like Mexican food?

---

I´ve been (mostly) fortunate enough on this trip to meet lots of Mexicans - (something easily avoided when sticking to the gringo trail). After basic introductions, the first thing every Mexican wants to know is whether you like their food. After agreeing that Mexican food is some of the best in the country I am given a list of the places I MUST go to, for the best mole/tamala/sopa etc. Although EVERY Mexican I have ever met would, without hesitation, say it is their mother that is the best chef they know.

So following my stay with the family in Minatitlan I moved onto Oaxaca City (capital of the region with the same name). It´s another beautiful colonial city filled with churches, parks and squares. I spent my first day in the city wandering and people watching, until I found myself in the midst of a (very peaceful) protest about teachers pay and conditions in the region. So to show solidarity to my comrades, I painstakingly translated an A4 leaflet I was handed (just to make sure I wasn´t accidently supporting some neo-Nazis) and joined in the march for a few blocks. I feel like I´ve been misisng out on British political unrest, so this was my way of making up for it (and warming up for some revoluntionary activity in Cuba).

The other highlights of Oaxaca included a night out with a few guys from the hostel. We ended up in some volunteer event, full of super-chirpy-never-stop-smiling-yanks and were entertained for our 50pesos by a Mexican ska band. As if the concept of Mexican ska wasn´t already comedy genius, the ´lead singer´ literally couldn´t sing and spend the whole gig jumping on the spot shouting ´HEY! HEY! HEY!´, then pointing his microphone at the audience.

The other highlight from Oaxaca was a cooking class with one of the city´s top chefs. The day started with (nursing a slight hangover from the previous evening´s ska filled fun) a trip to the local market where we got a lesson and tasting session in all kinds of fruits, vegetables and herbs I´ve never seen before. We went back to his restaurant and made tortillas, soup, 3 types of salsa (one including worms!), quesadillas, chiles relenos, mole, enchiladas, guacamole, jamaica juice and chocolate ice cream. We were served cold beers on the terrace of his restaurant while one of his sous chefs finished off the cooking. Of course the food was DELICIOUS and I´ve been provided with the recipes for replication at home (assuming I can source the ingredients).

After Oaxaca I found my way to Peurto Esconido, a beautiful beach spot on the Pacific coast. Despite the tepremental weather (rainy season), this small beach town soon became one of my favourite spots in Mexico. My hostel was literally on the beach and had the perfect chilled out atmosphere. Old habits die hard and I was always up at 7am (regardless of bedtime), but here this was no chore, sitting in my favourite spot watching the waves or reading a book.

The Pacific coast is known for the surf and not wanting to miss out I took a 2 hour lesson. The serious decline in my fitness was very apparent as I could barely swim back to the shore at the end of the lesson. But I proudly stood up on my third go and contemplated life as a full-time surf bum.

I also took a boat trip with some new friends from the hostel on the promise of turtles of dolphins. After about an hour of pouring rain and only a few turtles spotted we were all feeling seasick, cold, fed-up, and wondering why we had spent 300 pesos on the trip. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, around 30 dolphins appeared, swimming along beside the boat, jumping and generally larking about. Our captain encouraged us to jump in and although we didn´t quite have the Disney Land style riding on dolphins experience, it was probably the closest I´ll ever get to these incredible animals.

Sad to leave Peurto Esconido I moved on to Mexico City to stay with the other sister of my friend from England. I was surprised at how much I loved Mexico City and the diversity between one neighbourhood to the next (much in the same way as Lonodn). I geeked it up in a loads of museums and historical sights and again got to eat some fantastic Mexican food. The family has a son the same age as me and he took me out with his friends a few times . I showed off the best of British my downing a large glass of beer. Now, who says Northern girls aren´t classy?

Apologies for the length of this post. I´ll finish with my usual summaries:

Mishaps: A few words of advice: Mexican food and white clothes do not mix. Breaking a flip flop in the middle of a dirty market during terrential rainfail is not advised.

Men: A note on Mexican men: although many like to play the role of the perfect gentleman (I´ve yet to open a car door or pour myself a drink here), it turns out many (of course not all) adhere to the Latino stereotype. That´s all that needs to be said on that.

Size zero: As much as Mexican food is utterly divine, the meal times have been causing me serious issues. Breakfast isn´t often served until around 11 (after being awake for 4 hours my stomach thinks my throat has been cut), lunch is then served anytime between 2-5 and I´ve yet to even have dinner in official Mexican terms (unless 2am tacos count - which, by the way, are better than any dirty takeaway you´ll find in the UK at that time). Although I probably haven´t lost any weight the meal times make me feel like I´m wasting away.

---