things I like about food in Mexico:
-every McDonald's comes with a separate Postres stand to the side, where they sell conos sencillos (vanilla ice cream cones) for $0.60 ish.
-avocado on hamburgers
-Nutridia cereal and snack bars are AMAZING - Lauren and I go through a box of each every week
-sorpresaaaaaa (obviously)
ha ha I sound like an obese kid. non-food-related updates coming soon.
lunes, 30 de junio de 2008
hummus in Mexico -- truth or legend??
Let me start by saying: now that I have to do it myself and can't leave it up to Mommy's expert judgment, grocery shopping has become incredibly interesting to me. On our weekly shopping trips, I get excited looking for things that might be good / easy to eat during the upcoming week. This is fun to a point, but the poor quality of our shopping options is becoming annoying. Let's just say that my experiences in Mexican grocery stores have made me nostalgic for Stop & Shop (yes, it's that bad). If I may generalize, Mexican food is not that healthy for you and what the grocery stores here lack for in staples (French bread, sugar snap peas, brownie mix), they do not make up for in their own unique produce (even though I can buy 3 limes for $0.10, which I kind of love). To my spoiled (but not too snobby) palette, it's pretty unacceptable.
Specifically, I am craving hummus. BADLY. My friends laugh at me and say I am never ever going to find hummus in Mexico, but I personally don't find the notion to be that ridiculous. Monterrey is the most affluent city in the country and at the Tec we are near the border of San Pedro, which I'm told is like the New Canaan, CT of Mexico. My logic follows: this country MUST contain at least a handful of grocery stores that sell hummus, and if it's sold anywhere, it's got to be here.
Unfortunately, my hopes have not panned out thus far. The first few weeks we shopped at the closest grocery store to us, Soriana. Let me put it on the public record: Soriana is a JOKE of a grocery store. They must restock like, once every two weeks or something because half the time we go there there is nothing to buy. One day the entire pasta aisle was 80% empty. What self-respecting grocery store does not have PASTA in stock?! For whatever reason, this angers me to no end. Suffice it to say, there's no chance in hell you'd find hummus at Soriana.
Some of our friends had been to the Super Wal-Mart down the street and said it had a considerably better selection. Armed with this info, my roommate and I gave it a try this past weekend. They were right -- it was well stocked and everything looked relatively clean and fresh. Optimistic, I headed toward the produce/deli section and decided to give my hummus quest a go. I approached one of the women giving out free samples and asked her if she knew where I could go to satisfy my craving. "Yes! Over there!" she exclaimed in Spanish, lighting a candle of hope inside me. When I looked "over there", however, there was no hummus in sight.
Reluctant to extinguish the flame, I decided to try the next sample lady. This one only gave me a look of confusion when I referred to "hummus" in my terrible accent. I gave this totally awkward explanation of hummus in Spanish: "It's like, a thick sauce ... with Garbanzo beans ... and oil ... you eat with pita". Shockingly, she understood what I meant and replied, "Not here. H-E-B will have it." I guess the first woman just wanted to shut up the bratty American girl.
After further investigation, I learned that H-E-B is the best grocery store in the area, but that no one in our group has had the good sense to go there yet. It is even closer than el Super Wal-Mart and holds great promise for the future. I am anxious for this weekend, when I will make my first voyage there and determine once and for all if there is hummus within a $4.00 taxi radius of the Tec. Stay tuned for the conclusion of this HIGHLY SUSPENSEFUL SAGA . . .
And for your entertainment, a picture of the sweet view outside of el Super Wal-Mart:
Specifically, I am craving hummus. BADLY. My friends laugh at me and say I am never ever going to find hummus in Mexico, but I personally don't find the notion to be that ridiculous. Monterrey is the most affluent city in the country and at the Tec we are near the border of San Pedro, which I'm told is like the New Canaan, CT of Mexico. My logic follows: this country MUST contain at least a handful of grocery stores that sell hummus, and if it's sold anywhere, it's got to be here.
Unfortunately, my hopes have not panned out thus far. The first few weeks we shopped at the closest grocery store to us, Soriana. Let me put it on the public record: Soriana is a JOKE of a grocery store. They must restock like, once every two weeks or something because half the time we go there there is nothing to buy. One day the entire pasta aisle was 80% empty. What self-respecting grocery store does not have PASTA in stock?! For whatever reason, this angers me to no end. Suffice it to say, there's no chance in hell you'd find hummus at Soriana.
Some of our friends had been to the Super Wal-Mart down the street and said it had a considerably better selection. Armed with this info, my roommate and I gave it a try this past weekend. They were right -- it was well stocked and everything looked relatively clean and fresh. Optimistic, I headed toward the produce/deli section and decided to give my hummus quest a go. I approached one of the women giving out free samples and asked her if she knew where I could go to satisfy my craving. "Yes! Over there!" she exclaimed in Spanish, lighting a candle of hope inside me. When I looked "over there", however, there was no hummus in sight.
Reluctant to extinguish the flame, I decided to try the next sample lady. This one only gave me a look of confusion when I referred to "hummus" in my terrible accent. I gave this totally awkward explanation of hummus in Spanish: "It's like, a thick sauce ... with Garbanzo beans ... and oil ... you eat with pita". Shockingly, she understood what I meant and replied, "Not here. H-E-B will have it." I guess the first woman just wanted to shut up the bratty American girl.
After further investigation, I learned that H-E-B is the best grocery store in the area, but that no one in our group has had the good sense to go there yet. It is even closer than el Super Wal-Mart and holds great promise for the future. I am anxious for this weekend, when I will make my first voyage there and determine once and for all if there is hummus within a $4.00 taxi radius of the Tec. Stay tuned for the conclusion of this HIGHLY SUSPENSEFUL SAGA . . .
And for your entertainment, a picture of the sweet view outside of el Super Wal-Mart:
lunes, 23 de junio de 2008
el fin de semana
Another relaxing weekend in sunny Monterrey.
Saturday Lauren and I woke up and grabbed coffee and snacks at Starbucks before laying out by the pool for an hour. My skin is getting darker, can you believe?! Note that I don't say "tan", hah, but I'm definitely getting color.
We craved shopping so the two of us decided to navigate the city bus system (there are 200 some routes!) to get to las Galerias Monterrey, one of two big shopping malls in the city. The shopping wasn't outstanding (nothing was on sale! donde estan las rebajas?! and a pair of Sevens costs $300 in Mexico -- for sale at Sears, of all places! Weird country.) but it was fun to walk around.
At night some of us went out to eat at el Rey del Cabrito, where they serve goat, Monterrey's famous delicacy. As it turns out my roommate is a vegetarian and I was not in the mood for baby goat (have I ever in my life been in that mood?) so we ate before and just went out to be social. The place was interesting, at least ... goat corpses hanging in the window and whatnot. Neat ...
After food we were ready for a nighttime adventure through Barrio Antiguo, the old part of town where most of the bars and clubs are located. We found a cute little bar with a rooftop terrace where we stopped for a couple of drinks, then headed out to La Puerta, a sketchy dance club with $0.50 tequila shots. After a few of those, we went to Ananna, a club with a live band where we got in free by virtue of being cute American girls. :) overall, a fun night out.
Sunday Lauren, Kelsey and I went to church at San Juan Bosco, the "university parish" close to campus. All I remember is that it was cold and I couldn't make out anything the priest was saying through the microphone. Also, I get a more conservative and paternalistic vibe from church in Mexico in comparison to New England -- it might be time to shop for a new place. I think next week we'll try the cathedral in the center of the city.
Later in the afternoon Vanessa took us on a tour of her museum, el Museo del Vidrio (glass). Glass is really cool if you think about it. Check out the adorable glass men on display:
That was pretty much the highlight of the day; afterwards I went to Soriana, the very mediocre grocery store close by the Tec. (I hear Walmart has a greater selection of groceries here, how sad/strange). On the way back I shot this picture:
it's some truck on a well-traveled road that seems to have stayed in the same spot for decades. We're not in the slums, either. Nice job, city of Monterrey, for taking notice. Regardless, it looks pretty cool ...
well now it's a new week and there's lots of biotechnology research to be done ... must rest up so I'll be on my A game tomorrow!! ha ha. xo
Saturday Lauren and I woke up and grabbed coffee and snacks at Starbucks before laying out by the pool for an hour. My skin is getting darker, can you believe?! Note that I don't say "tan", hah, but I'm definitely getting color.
We craved shopping so the two of us decided to navigate the city bus system (there are 200 some routes!) to get to las Galerias Monterrey, one of two big shopping malls in the city. The shopping wasn't outstanding (nothing was on sale! donde estan las rebajas?! and a pair of Sevens costs $300 in Mexico -- for sale at Sears, of all places! Weird country.) but it was fun to walk around.
At night some of us went out to eat at el Rey del Cabrito, where they serve goat, Monterrey's famous delicacy. As it turns out my roommate is a vegetarian and I was not in the mood for baby goat (have I ever in my life been in that mood?) so we ate before and just went out to be social. The place was interesting, at least ... goat corpses hanging in the window and whatnot. Neat ...
After food we were ready for a nighttime adventure through Barrio Antiguo, the old part of town where most of the bars and clubs are located. We found a cute little bar with a rooftop terrace where we stopped for a couple of drinks, then headed out to La Puerta, a sketchy dance club with $0.50 tequila shots. After a few of those, we went to Ananna, a club with a live band where we got in free by virtue of being cute American girls. :) overall, a fun night out.
Sunday Lauren, Kelsey and I went to church at San Juan Bosco, the "university parish" close to campus. All I remember is that it was cold and I couldn't make out anything the priest was saying through the microphone. Also, I get a more conservative and paternalistic vibe from church in Mexico in comparison to New England -- it might be time to shop for a new place. I think next week we'll try the cathedral in the center of the city.
Later in the afternoon Vanessa took us on a tour of her museum, el Museo del Vidrio (glass). Glass is really cool if you think about it. Check out the adorable glass men on display:
That was pretty much the highlight of the day; afterwards I went to Soriana, the very mediocre grocery store close by the Tec. (I hear Walmart has a greater selection of groceries here, how sad/strange). On the way back I shot this picture:
it's some truck on a well-traveled road that seems to have stayed in the same spot for decades. We're not in the slums, either. Nice job, city of Monterrey, for taking notice. Regardless, it looks pretty cool ...
well now it's a new week and there's lots of biotechnology research to be done ... must rest up so I'll be on my A game tomorrow!! ha ha. xo
jueves, 19 de junio de 2008
so
Suite blog clearly isn't happening so I'm going to start writing here again to document my summer in Mexico. I've been in Monterrey since the beginning of the month and will be here through July, living on the Tec de Monterrey campus and working in a lab on a project that relates to tissue engineering. No one wants to hear about science-y stuff, though, so I'm just going to talk about life outside of work -- which mostly involves reading, sleeping, eating, drinking, and exploring the city.
Last weekend I went to Mexico City (pictures and stories later). Weekend has arrived again but tonight we are all tired so some of us went to see Raices, a traditional dance show, and now that I'm back I'm curled up in my bed about to read The Brothers K and pass out. I want to finish it along with Cien Anos de Soledad before I leave.
Now for some pictures:
my place of employment
there are deer on campus, no big deal
La Catedral Metropolitana. I think I might go here this weekend.
Bad things about Mexico:
-the grocery stores nearby do not sell many of life's essentials (sugar snap peas, hummus, non-Jif peanut butter, brownie mix, 1% milk, decent-looking chicken breasts, decent-looking fish, the list goes on and on...)
-I don't have a phone (my fault, though)
-I don't get the YES network and they don't play Miley Cyrus on the radio
Good things about Mexico:
-sun --> tan
-cheap and abundant Kinder chocolates ... LA SORPRESA
-tequila and limes and quesadillas. mmmm.
-everyone's always late, just like me! yayy
okay, hasta luego! nos vemos! besos, abrasos, xox
Last weekend I went to Mexico City (pictures and stories later). Weekend has arrived again but tonight we are all tired so some of us went to see Raices, a traditional dance show, and now that I'm back I'm curled up in my bed about to read The Brothers K and pass out. I want to finish it along with Cien Anos de Soledad before I leave.
Now for some pictures:
Bad things about Mexico:
-the grocery stores nearby do not sell many of life's essentials (sugar snap peas, hummus, non-Jif peanut butter, brownie mix, 1% milk, decent-looking chicken breasts, decent-looking fish, the list goes on and on...)
-I don't have a phone (my fault, though)
-I don't get the YES network and they don't play Miley Cyrus on the radio
Good things about Mexico:
-sun --> tan
-cheap and abundant Kinder chocolates ... LA SORPRESA
-tequila and limes and quesadillas. mmmm.
-everyone's always late, just like me! yayy
okay, hasta luego! nos vemos! besos, abrasos, xox
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