Happy Halloween 2012

Shortly after sun-up this morning, the full moon hovered over the mountains. Just as I snapped the photo, crows flew across the moon.

Happy Halloween from Mexico!

Hiking Huasteca

The most striking feature of Monterrey, Mexico is the line of jagged peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental that dominate the skyline everywhere you look. The town of Santa Catarina, where I live, is built in a narrow valley with tall, stone peaks that rise sharply on either side. On clear days, the peaks are illuminated by the sun and glow in brilliant whites, and other days low clouds simply hug the peaks as if cotton candy has been draped over them.

Just a few minutes drive from my home is the Huasteca Canyon. Just the other side of the dragon's back of peaks to the south of my house, you pass through a tiny, narrow canyon (currently unpaved, as a hurricane a few years ago destroyed all the roads) that, especially in late afternoon, has the appearance of the set of Lord of the Rings. Tall, graceful, white stone peaks shelter the dark passage into the canyon in a spectacular greeting. The canyon then widens into a beautiful, wide valley where there are a few quintas (small family plots of land with a few houses on them), but otherwise the valley is largely unpopulated. The silence, the beautiful light, and the adventure of driving on extremely rocky unpaved roads all add to the allure of visiting the canyon.

I've been to the canyon a few times to visit a friend who lives there, but yesterday my friend M, who has been wonderfully welcoming, took my roommate and I on a hike through the canyon and up to an abandoned house that was, at some point, built precariously into a hill/cliff face and subsequently abandoned. The two-hour hike featured beautiful vistas, hundreds of butterflies (the monarch butterfly migration is due to get here soon, I hope this cold front we are having doesn't deter them), and interesting bones of animals who have found their end on the canyon floor. In fact, driving through the canyon, you will find (live) wild donkeys, 'dingos', horses, cattle, and crickets that can jump as high as a man.

The hike probably could have been a half-hour shorter, but I slowed everyone down with my picture taking. Rather than ramble on anymore, here are a few of my favorite shots from the canyon:

a shanty in the canyon, poverty hidden in plain sight

abandoned house on the hill (photo taken by my roommate)

view from the abandoned house

All photos (except one) taken by the blogger in October 2012 - all were taken with a Sony NEX-C3.

COOKIES!

I just baked cookies for the first time in nearly 5 years (cookie making ingredients were not always readily available in Cairo).

Here's the BEFORE:

And here's the AFTER:

Ghirardelli chocolate and peanut butter chip = total tummy nummy-ness!

Before and After

Due to a phantom 'luggage embargo' when the new teachers were arriving in Monterrey (phantom because it seemed to only exist on an obscure link on the airline website, and not in reality), I arrived in Monterrey with only one suitcase (well, a suitcase, a carry-on, and a back-pack). I brought a few key non-clothing items: a photograph I cherish of me and some of my Baltimore Peeps that I do not have electronically, a wind-chime I've had at every apartment since I left America, a painting from Istanbul, some magnets, and some coasters (see previous decorating post).

As I mentioned two posts previous, the house was sparse when my roommate and I moved in. We each hung a few things we had squeezed into our luggage and the result was this:

Thanks to a few digital photos (that are now printed, framed and hung on the wall) and those key purchases I mentioned two posts previous, the result is this:

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Those orange leather barstools are gorgeous, are they not?

People at work keep saying "I can't believe how much money you are spending (it's really not that much) - you just got here!" but here is what I learned in Cairo (advice all international teachers should follow):

You will know pretty quickly whether or not you are a 'right fit' for your school and vice-versa. If you comfortable and plan to stay a few years, a little spending up-front for creature comforts (a microwave, a tv, some wall hangings, a table and chairs for the garden) that will stay with you for a few years is a good investment! I wish someone had given me this advice when I moved to Cairo - instead, after four years of slowly accumulating everything I needed to feel 'at home,' it was time to leave and I had to do what I would have had to do anyway had I bought everything my first year there: turn-around and sell it all.

Signing bonuses, settling-in allowances, and cashed-out 401Ks (you know, the one you cashed out because you didn't have enough in it to bother rolling it over to an IRA before leaving the US) are there for a reason: to help you set - up "HOME" in your new home so you don't feel so much like an transient (even if, in a way, you are) in your new country.

I still have a few purchases to make, but I know that, for however long I'm here, I'm going to be comfortable.

The Awesome Button

My microwave oven in Egypt was nothing special: sure it was huge, but the instructions were all in English and there were no fancy 'pre-programmed' buttons. There was no "popcorn" button, no "scones" button (it was a British microwave, after all), and certainly no "fuul" button.

My new Mexican Microwave, however, is extra special because of one button. Right there in the middle of the top row... see it? It's a CHILEQUILES button!

I was hoping that, much like a food replicator, I would press that button and chilequiles would magically appear in my microwave. While that didn't happen, I can tell you that two cycles on the chilequiles setting is perfect for warming up a kilo of ropa vieja that was accidentally ordered last night when someone at our table was trying to order 'another mojito'.

(note: stringy-meat is not the same as gin-y mint, no matter how delicious the meat is the next day)

(second note: this was a total Spanish fail right after Spanish class which makes it extra embarrassing...for everyone at the table who thought the order was placed correctly)

(third note: the problem may not have been so much Spanish as a gesturing/pointing fail, caused by the fact that the person ordering mas mojitos had already had a few).

Anyway, there's also a TORTILLAS button - although I kind of like my special tortilla grill-pan and doubt I nuke my tortillas anytime soon...aw, who am I kidding - I'll probably nuke the heck out of them! 

HOORAY for my Cocina Mexicana!