Mango Season

It's mango season in México. Two of the varieties available are the Ataulfo (left) and Manila (right) mango.

John, Lucinda and I recently had a taste test to determine which we preferred.

The Ataulfo has a deep yellow-gold colour. It's texture is fairly firm and dense. It had a slightly tart taste, but the one we tried wasn't 100% ripe. In general they're quite sweet, without being overly so. The Ataulfo has a very rich, exotic taste.

The Manila's skin colour is lighter yellow-green. It's texture is softer, a little watery, somewhat peach-like. It's flavour is a little more peach-like as well.

Lucinda preferred the mellower taste of the Manila. John and I preferred the Ataulfo.

Right now mangoes cost about 14 pesos per kilo (about $1.40) and one kilo is about 4 good-sized mangoes.

"T---, I guess we're not in Kansas anymore" (Sue's visit part 2)

Who's this?



















Toto and one happy girl.

Toto, pre bath.









































Toto (photo by Lucinda)


















On Monday, Sue and I were walking through the pedestrain zone downtown, when we saw this cute, but scruffy, Toto-like street dog. We were able to give her some water and a bit of a pat. She declined the chicharrones we offered her. Then we sadly watched as she wandered off towards Plaza Patria.
Later that evening were just finishing up our tasty french fries at Café con Sentido (the café below our apartment) when we saw the same dog standing nearby watching some boys play soccer. We asked the boys if they knew the dog and they said no. To make a long story short, Toto now resides with us. And we hope if all goes well, she'll be able to accompany us home to Toronto in June.
We plan to get her to a vet soon and when we do we'll share some more details with you.

Sue's Visit - Part 1

Bean and Scoob
and cacti.





















Johnny and Sue exploring the desert near El Ocote






View of the small man-made
lake near El Ocote

Sue and Lucinda

Our friend Sue visited us for four days.

One of the places we went was the desert near El Ocote. Despite our best efforts, and with the help of a certain wildlife biologist, we did not find any lizards. There were plenty of cacti, two rabbits and flocks of large black birds (yet to be ID'd).

But there was another creature destined to come into our lives....

stay tuned for Sue's Visit part 2

Celebration of Spring and....

The band performing
"Long Cool Woman
in a Black Dress"
by the Hollies.

(in the background you see
one of the older students dressed
in traditional Oaxacan costume
- Oaxaca being the birthplace
of Benito Juárez)














The dancers.



























Lucinda with her friends,
Blanca (centre)
and Frida (right) in the bleechers
at her school.









On March 21st Lucinda's school hosted a celebration to commemorate the first day of spring and the birthday of Benito Juárez (México's only indigenous president), and the Expropriation of the Petroleum Industry (actually celebrated on March 18).
Her class dressed as hippies and danced to a Hollies song.

Sabinolandia revisited

This Sunday were invited by the family of Lucinda's best friend in México, Frida, to Parque Sabinal to celebrate Frida's 8th birthday.







The two girls playing house
under one of the Sabino trees.













The three caballeros preparing


the BBQ's in the back of the family's


pick up truck. That's Frida's dad on the right,
Ray, a family friend on the left, and Juanito
in the middle





















Enjoying the BBQ.

That's Frida's mom, Sori, on the


right.



















And later we saw this on our way home.

Mexican Beer Tasting

The choices

The tasters from right to left:

Luis, Ricardo, Freddie, John, Sabine

(I'm holding the score sheet)

Recently five us (2 Mexicans and 3 non) participated in a "blind" taste test of seven Mexican beers. These were Corona, Victoria, Leon, Sol Brava, Pacifico, Montejo, and Indio.

We covered each of the bottles so that they more or less anonymous. We tasted each beer and rated it on a scale of 1 to 5. 1= awful, 5= fantastic.

After the tasting we tallied the results and came up with an overall winner.

I know you connoisseurs out there would have much to say about our unscientific methods. For example, for full appreciation of the flavour we should have tasted the beer at room temperature (we voted that this would be a waste of good beer).

You could also claim that since no spitting out of beer was involved, our judgement would have been slightly impaired by the time we came to beer #6 or 7.

Here, along with each beer's total score, are a few comments provided by the tasters.

Pacifico Score 12 Comments: Bitter, boring after taste

Indio 12 Nice bronze colour, ok taste

Victoria 14 Very little after taste, soft

Sol Brava 14 Sweet, unique, dry

Montejo 15 A bit fruity

Corona 16 Clear, light, nice after taste

Leon 18 Nutty, heavy

There you have it! Leon was the winner.

It should be said that none of the tasters gave any of the beers a score of 5.

Note: Our tasting did not by any means include all the Mexican beers available.

Notably missing were Dos XX, Modelo and Modelo Negro, and Barrilito.

More visitor photos

On the road again.


On the last weekend of Freddie and Leo's visit we drove to Querétaro - a beautiful, quiet town about 3 hours south of Aguas. There we met one of Johnny's students, along with his family, for lunch and
sight-seeing.















Freddie and Sabine in Querétaro.































Lucinda and Abi in Querétaro.






Which of these two kids were more empapada at the end of the day?

Visitors from Canada

Lucinda, Leonie, and Freddie enjoying
the jardin.





















Freddie celebrated her birthday with us.







































Lucinda and Leonie discussing the
merits of putting extra crema
on tostadas.











Our two visitors have been enjoying themsleves here in Aguas, and especially the summer-like temperatures. It's been in the high 20's for the last few days. Sun, sun, sun.
(Sorry, Great White North readers)