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Published: January 17th 2015
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Cafe de Olla
A popular regional coffee order, with milk, cinnamon and sugar. There was a time when "bucket lists" were required elements of high-school health ed classes; I imagine the exercise of penning fifty life goals was intended to
make us focus on the future and to underscore the rippling effect of actions taken in youth convince us not to make stupid choices. Unsurprisingly, mine more or less morphed into an ad nauseum list of places to visit, though somewhere along the way I switched gears, slightly, and decided how I'd finance these endeavors: "Get a job that pays me to travel." Brilliant.
Standing in line to board my flight to Guadalajara - ticket in hand booked through my company, lengthy instructions for how to file my expense report packed away - I can only think about how I am actually, finally, can't hardly believe it's true, traveling internationally for work (true - my trip to Sydney this past March was also paid travel, but whereas that trip was a one-off event - an break in the daily routine - this trip is part of my regular work-a-day job. Life uninterrupted, just relocated temporarily). We're talking "happy dance" level of excitement here, folks. Even better, Andras has taken some time off to
join me and we
finally leave the country together. I know. It only took us nine years (what can I say - there's a lot to see in the US!)
Though Mexico is, consistently, the top country visited by Americans, most are going to the beach-towns and resorts. Guadalajara has neither. Case it point, we were the only two foreign nationals on the plane, aside from the flight crew. It took us a whole five minutes after gathering our luggage to get through immigration and out to the main lobby, whereby we were greeted with an onslaught of ..... nothing. No time-share pitches, no "taxi" drivers, no touts. Just ordinary airport comings and goings.
We stayed in the Providencia neighborhood with faculty from the American School, a spare room in a standard house, a short up-hill walk to the school, and half a block away from a corner park and crêperie. That's right. Crepêrie. Providencia is a rather posh neighborhood in an already affluent city. It houses: the best Spanish tapas restaurant, the best Argentinian steakhouse, the best Italian pasta restaurant, the best .... you get the picture.
"What!? You went to Mexico and ate crêpes, pinxtos
Mexican Herbs
Bunches of fresh chamomile and sackfuls of cilantro? Yes, please! and arrabiata?"
Yes, yes we did, because they were delicious. And you know what? That's where everyone else (read: the "locals") ate too. Throw out your notions of what 'authentic Mexico' should look like. Like most major cities in the world, Guadalajara is authentically cosmopolitan; what better way to determine whether or not you're in 'a city' than when foreign cuisines start coming to you. Interpreted for the Mexican palate, of course, which means plenty of chile and salsa accompaniments. Perhaps we should amend Tolstoy: "Urban centers are all alike."
So here we are smack in the Mexican suburbs, doing suburban things, only abroad. "Oh honey, we need to go buy a hair-dryer" (coordinate a taxi-cab to the nearest box-store and then fumble around trying to give directions with limited use of the language) "When are you getting home from work? I might go for a run" (through the grounds of the Pan-American Games). "How was your day? Did you pick up some juice and yogurt at the grocery store?" (be sure to get the new-to-us tropical flavors, and don't forget to the tip the bagger, because that's customary here). "I don't feel like going out. Let's just
order in." (pizza with fresh corn and cochinita, slow-roasted pulled pork, delivered by motorbike. Thank you online-ordering because that was not happening over the phone). The closer we get to experiencing "Real Life" Guadalajara, filtered through our American habits, the more closely it began to resemble life at home. "Oof. I'm exhausted. Let's see what's on Netflix" (and get our fill of Mexican advertising to boot).
Hey-ho! Look at us go! We're truly immersing ourselves in Mexican life, now! (oh yes, even the "staying up late with the television" part. These walls may be good for security, but sound from the neighbors echo like none other). The more 'normal' our experiences were, the less genuine they seemed to people back home, so as per usual, half-way through the trip I find myself pondering this, spurred by demands for photos and tales of an exotic adventure, ultimately leading me wonder how best one would capture the MÉXICO of tourism propaganda our second week.
Step 1: Eat the Local Cuisine Logical response: But, I'm already eating what the locals eat. In fact, half of these were recommendations from my Mexican students. Bon-i-fide Travel-Foodie Answer: No, not the food Grocery Shopping
Walking back from the Superama consumed locally
but obtainable elsewhere, dummy. The real local cuisine. Quick - do a couple of internet searches for "must eat Guadalajaran food." Find any Top-Ten slideshows? You did?! Fabulous. Now go track those dishes down, immediately. Everyone knows that, much like Shakira's hips, lists don't lie. Truth be told, I really do like scouting out the specialities of the region. There's always a reason - historically, geographically - that a dish is associated with one place and not another, and it grounds me, to this place at this moment. What I don't like is feeling guilty every time I eat a meal that
doesn't fall into that category. Or rather, I wish my brain didn't work like this:
I come back from teaching and Andras talks about this great lunch spot he found on one of this walks. "I really want to take you there. I got to know the lady that runs the place, and the sandwiches are awesome. It was a ton of meat in roll, and then covered with this delicious sauce." That
should be enough to make me really want to go. But I press. "Covered in a sauce? Like ... how? A
Street Oranges
Growing everywhere deli sandwich?" "Just come with me tomorrow, you'll see." Attitude = skeptical.
But the same scenario
after reading several top-ten lists: "Wait, wait. Is this what you're talking about?" (show photo online). "Oh yeah, that looks like it." "That's
torta ahogada! It's a regional specialty that translates into 'drowned sandwich.' Apparently it's one of foods you have to try when you're here!" Attitude = excited.
Same sandwich - now consecrated by the internet.
Step 2: Take Iconic Photographs Logical response: Those don't capture the essence of what I experienced. Social Media Guru Answer: *eye roll* Who cares about what you actually experienced? These photos are to serve as visual proof that you've been where you claim. You would think that the increased accessibility of digital media would help combat the growing discrepancy between the reality and perceived reality, but I fear it's done the opposite. Case in point: many Americans think traveling to Mexico is dangerous (not just normal dangerous, but
extremely dangerous) and that entire population lives in dirt, biding their time until they can illegally enter the U.S to perform all the hard-labor that no one here would otherwise do
Corner of Calle Montreal and Venecia
These lovely morning glories greeted us on daily neighborhood strolls. Living at the intersection of Canada and Italy, in Mexico. (aka: "stealing" our jobs). So when I post a picture of an evergreen forest or a snapshot drinking tea is a stylish cafe, the response I get is "Are you sure you're in Mexico?" as opposed to, "I had no idea Mexico looked like that!" which leads me, consciously or otherwise, to conform to pre-set notions of what the place should offer as a way of saying, "No really guys, I'm
actually here." Quick, where's a piñata? See - Mexico.
Even when documenting the sights, it's still important to be aware of differences in interpretation. When we first arrived in Guadalajara, the neighborhoods were intimidating. Twenty-foot high fences, razor wire, iron bars and gates and locks creating a series of impenetrable household compounds all the way down the block.
"Oh my goodness," we say, looking around at all these obvious clues of danger. "Is this safe?"
"Of course it is!" comes the local reply. "Can't you see all the razor wire, fences and iron bars? It's the safest neighborhood around!"
Gotcha. Same scene - two perspectives. When I look back of all the photos I took of the neighborhood, the barbed wire is no where to
be found - I must have unconsciously cropped it out.
Step 3: Create an Itinerary (but Immediately Question It) Logical response: Now you're talking! Seems following an itinerary is the only surefire way to capture "the generally accepted version of Mexico." Experienced Traveller Answer: Look kid, if you want to reconstruct geography, you're inevitably going to have decide whose script to follow in the process. You want a trite inspirational travel quote about 'finding things where you least expect them?' Too bad. You get this one: “It remains the professional Orientalist's job to piece together a portrait, a restored picture as it were, of the Orient or the Oriental; (...) circumventing the unruly (un-Occidental) non-history of the Orient with orderly chronicle, portraits, and plots.” —Edward Said, Orientalism.
Globalization exists, my friend, and if you're looking to redefine the 'real' by what has remained isolated and fixed in time you're going to need a heck of a lot more than a passport. It's all real. To travel today is not to find yourself dropped into a foreign land, but to discover the connections between that distant land and yours, one culture and another. Hard to do Where in the World are Stephanie & Andras?
Bonus point if you read that to the "Carmen Sandiego" theme. Double bonus points if you can tell conclusively whether this supermarket in the US or Mexico - apart from maybe the 'Serrano Ham' flavor potato chips. when you're too busy chasing the carefully crafted scenes designed to do exactly the opposite.
Despite the hackneyed nature of most travel related quotes, the underlying premise that traveling is a vehicle for discovery holds true, though it has very little to do with where you go and what you see, and everything to do what what you realize as you're going and seeing, or in our case, living and being.
This is what takes me so long to blog about each destination. If it were simply a matter of sharing my photos and describing where I've been, the delay would be one of hours, not months. But it's in the process of analyzing why I want to share what I do that the real interest lies. Why have I written four hundred words about three staid basilicas and the hands-down worst time we had visiting the Centro Histórico, while I've written zero words about the fantastic eight course meal from a Michelin star chef, and molecular gastronome, at Lula Bistro that ? (Correction: Now I've written fifteen) Why did I feel that sitting on the steps of some empty neighborhood street, eating
tamals pulled
Desayuno at Café Expressamente Illy
Starting the morning with Earl Grey, thankyouverymuch. straight from the steaming pot from the corner tamale vendor and drinking blisteringly hot, thick,
champurrado as the church bells pealed across the street was the 'real Mexican moment' we'd been waiting for as opposed to, say, the afternoon spent grocery shopping at the Superama? Is it because one felt too familiar? Because of the tamales I ate in Mexico last time? Because of my desire to recreate that moment to share with Andras? Or because - all social influence aside - street tamales simply taste that good? (probably not. Good, yes, but it's my brain telling me it tastes exquisite, not my tongue).
I fear the answer lies in the impulse to widen the gap between home and away, to highlight the differences and, perhaps, try to capture the mystique of the world that used to exist before it became so small, before the internet brought us all together.
Working abroad, even for a short time, differed greatly from traveling abroad in ways I didn't anticipate, perhaps because I spent a substantial amount of time engaged in everyday tedium, as opposed to my usual style of running around like a mad women on a mission.
Neighborhood Bodega
Can't say much for their enchiladas, but for bottled water and snacks - it'll do. People often ask me what Mexico was like. My honest answer? More like life in the US than many are willing to admit.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Congratulations on finding a job that requires travel...
and thanks for correcting many misperceptions I have of the non-tourist part of Mexico.