June 29th, 2012

Yesterday, I went on an excursion with Scott, who is an instructor, and a couple of students. We first visited a market, not known to many, but that sells everything. When I say everything, I mean everything! This includes new and used things, anything you might need for your house, and even animals! They do not like if you come as a tourist to only take pictures, you have to buy something! So I bought two cazuelas (a cooking pot), which you can see in the first picture that I posted. I've never been to a market like this, but it was quite amusing because I've never seen a place where you can buy your groceries, household items and a cow or horse while your at it! Afterwards we visited the ex-convent of San Francisco de Asis of Caplan. It was built in 1548 and is really fascinating because every single detail added to the church and surrounding towers is symbolic of something. Unfortunately, we wanted to see the volcano Popcatepetl, which is an active volcano located here in Puebla, but it is very cloudy here in Puebla so you can't see it very well. It is Puebla's rainy season, so we will most likely not be able to see the volcano clearly until the rainy season is over in October. I'm only here for 2 1/2 - 3 more weeks, so I'm stuck in this rainy season. I did post a picture of the volcano, but it is somewhat hard to see with the clouds. Today was a relaxing day, we cooked a meal with our instructors and chatted for a while. I am hoping I will remember some of these recipes I am learning!

I bought two cazuelas (a cooking pot) and I'm looking forward to using them when I get home! 

They say that when you cook food out of these, it actually tastes different and better!

Some of the different foods sold at this market. 

A lot of tools and boots for sale.

A cow for sale!

                                       

Here was the section to buy animals. There were live turkeys, huge pigs (you can see a little one on the left side of the photo), horses, sheep, and many more animals for sale. 

The ex-convent of San Francisco de Asis de Calpan

One of the surrounding towers.

Mostly everything is original, including the doors and like I said, each little detail has a special meaning.

The church and the yellow building is where the monks use to live. 

This is the volcano Popocatepetl. It is the second highest peak in Mexico and is active!

I'm sharing this breakfast photo because it's eggs with chorizo (mexican sausage). I love having this for breakfast because the chorizo is spicy and delicious! If you haven't tried it yet, you should!

My plate of fruit that my host family member always gives me. Sometimes I think it's a little bit too much fruit, but somehow I manage to eat it all. 

For dinner my host family made homemade pozole. I posted a picture of the red pozole I ate at a restaurant for lunch, but this is the white pozole (it's a litter darker because I added a lot of chili!).

Today after class we made chilaquiles a la poblana and cream of carrot soup!

Here is a picture of one of the teachers cooking the chilaquiles. Not only is she a great teacher, but a great cook as well! The girl in back, Vanya, is her younger sister, who helps out now that she is out of school. The first question she asked me when I arrived was if I liked Justin Bieber. She's a sweet and funny girl. 

Our cream of carrot soup.

These are the chilaquiles a la poblana. In a casserole dish, we cut tortillas in quarters, then added the mix of chile poblanos peppers, cream of mushroom, and onions, then we added cheese and repeated this process. It's almost like making a casserole or lasagna. We're suppose to wait a while before eating it so it has more shape, but we were hungry!