July 11, 2012

I apologize, I have fallen a little behind on my blog. There is so much going on during the day and evening, that by the nighttime I am too exhuasted to write. I'll catch you up on what I've done the past week. Last Thursday,  for our excursion we went to Tlaxcala, the smallest state of the republic. I would say it took us about an hour or so to get there. There, we saw some churches, we tried pulque, and visited a very nice museum called Regional Artisanry of Tlaxcala. On Friday, I took a bus to Mexico City to visit my family again. We took a "Turibus" or tourist bus, so that I could get a better view of the city. Afterwards we went to a fun restaurant where they had karaoke and impersonators such as the singer Selena. Monday I visited the Cultural Complex University, where I visited an art gallery and we walked around. Tuesday, we had class and went to a cafe and played a couple of board games. Today, we made cream of pea soup and chicken enchiladas with green salsa and afterwards I just walked around some parts of Puebla that I hadn't explored yet. 

My breakfast, a chalupa with tortillas, salsa, cheese and an egg on top!

                                        

The Virgin Temple of Ocotlan

It is a beautiful church where all the decorations are wood. 

A restaurant we visited to try pulque!

Pulque is a milk-colored, alcoholic beverage made from fermented sap of the maguey plant. It is a traditional native beverage of central Mexico. They have various flavors, like passion fruit, kiwi, mango, and the one in the picture is pistachio flavored. It is unknown who first made the drink, but it was created over 1,000 years ago!

Jorge "El Ranchero" Aguilar Bullring of Tlaxcala was built in the 1700s. The first bullfight was held in this plaza in 1788. 

 Museum of Regional Artisanry of Tlaxcala

This is the maguey plant, which is native to Mexico, where pulque is made from. It is also know as the century plant in English.This plant has been cultivated since at least 200 CE.

This is an example of a how they make the pulque. This production process is very long and delicate. The manguey plant needs 12 years of maturation before the sap can be extracted! The plant can produce for up to one year. They collect the juice in barrels and bring them to the fermentation vats. Fermentation takes up to 7-14 days, the climate has to be perfect or else is can easlity become sour. It has to be consumed within a certain time before it spoils.

Typical male work clothing

Typical female work clothing

Cooking tools

A man weavings rugs

Beautifully weaved rugs

The aisle runner is "alfromba de aserrin." 

(A rug made of colored sawdust.)

This is a temazcal, a type of sweat lodge, which originated with pre-Hispanic Indigenous people. It is still used today by many Indigenous cultures in Mexico and Central America. It is like a steam bath used not only for ceremonial purposes, but also for relaxation. The temazcal is usually made from volcanic rock and cement and is usually in the shape of a circular dome.

"lavadero" This is the washer, to hand wash your clothes. 

The biggest cazuela I've seen yet.

Homemade Chile Relleno (Poblano pepper stuffed with cheese)

Fresh Tamales

A tamal is made of masa (starchy dough, normally corn-based) which is steamed in a leaf wrapper. It can have various fillings. There are sweet ones too, such as strawberry and pineapple. Very tasty!

The left one, which is mostly eaten, (sorry) is filled with rajas and cheese, so delicious!

The right has shredded chicken and green salsa. 

The National Auditorium in Mexico City

The "Turibus" or Tourist bus I took in Mexico City

My cousins and I on the turibus

Parts of the city

Beautiful!

Wax Museum

(I'll have to visit again soon to go here!) 

Wax Museum

My cousins and I

Our dinner- Tacos!

In the park

Back in Puebla- My breakfast 

Eggs and Beans!

Albondigas -Meatballs with eggs inside for lunch

The Cultural Complex University

Very nice place

The exhibition I visited, unfortunately I could not take pictures inside the gallery, but they had some photos of the sculptures displayed outside. 

"La Era del Bronce"

"The Bronze Era"

Exhibition

A beautiful fountain in the complex

My breakfast- a huge double quesadilla stuffed with different types of cheese and ham.

Very filling!

We went to eat "tacos combianados"

These were made with longaniza a type of Mexican sausage, but is different from chorizo in that they substitute black pepper for paprika. We had the longaniza with carne asada (grilled meat). 

So tasty!

So pretty, I almost didn't want to eat them!

Today we made cream of pea soup and our own enchiladas de pollo con salsa verde. 

An enchilada is a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a salsa. It can have various fillings. 

July 4th, 2012 

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone is enjoying their 4th with friends and family! I am sad that I am unable to be with my friends and family to celebrate today, but the past couple of days have been nice. On Tuesday I went to a Talavera Factory called "Talavera  De la Luz." Like I've mentioned before, talavera is pottery that only comes from Puebla and three nearby communities, Atlixco, Cholula, and Tecali because of the quality of natural clay found there and the tradition of production, which dates back to the 16th century after the Spanish brought it during the colonial period. Today, however only pieces made by designated areas and from workshops that have been certified are allowed to call their work "Talavera." Only nine workshops have this certification, including Talavera De la Luz. Talavera is absolutely beautiful, but expensive. When I visited their warehouse, I wanted every single piece! I spent the past two days looking at different shops that sell it and none compare to the talavera that you will find at this factory. Other than looking at a lot of Talavera, I've explored different shops in Puebla and have spent time with my host family, well mostly with Fabricio and Fany!

The outside of the factory. It's a little odd because this is the only sign/advertisement of the factory. However, what's nice about this place is that they give tours!

Talavera pottery is made with two different types of clay, a dark clay and light clay. These clays only come from the state of Puebla. 

The clays are mixed together, strained and kneaded. Every piece is modeled by hand or pressed in a mold. The pieces are left to dry for 50 to 90 days. Once they are dry they go through a firing and then are hand dipped in a glaze which form the white background of the design. Afterwards, stencil designs are dusted onto the pieces with a charcoal power. Then each piece is hand-painted and for a second time fired. I took some pictures of the process, which I've posted below. 

All done by hand.

The oven (It was extremely hot in this room!)

Before and After

They said they usually set it up to 1000 degrees!

Afterwards

This guy has a great skill in painting. You have to have a really steady hand!

Great skill!

They gave my tour guide and I a piece to try to paint. 

Don't be fooled we painted the messed up part on the left of the tile. The other part with the light blue paint and flower on top were done by the talented worker. 

The warehouse of Talavera! 

The beautiful shop where I wanted to buy everything! Too bad, there is a weight limit for luggage!

This is jicama, which is a big round root vegetable. It can be eaten raw, but needs to be peeled before eating or cooking. The inside looks like the inside of a raw potato, but wetter and crunchier. The flavor is a little sweet and is very popular in Mexican cuisine. It's used in salads, salsas, vegetable platters and as a yummy snack! Usually as a snack it's prepared with lime and chili power.

Paty made me some with lime and chili power and I have to say this might be one of my new favorite snacks!

Today I had steak fajitas and rice made with rajas, which gives it it's green color. It was tasty, but today I had a craving for hot dogs and some 4th of July food!

A picture with almost all of the tours guides that I have had each week!

 Veronica is missing.