Tofu-tastic

Every Tuesday is Market day in Erongaricuaro, which is a fun little change from life in the forest. We stock up on fruits and veggies for the week that we can't get here, plus some bread, tortillas, cheese, and eggs. It is interesting to learn to cook in the order in which things will go bad without refrigeration. Sundays and Mondays we eat salads from the garden, as not much produce lasts the whole seven days (though surprisingly, things like carrots and some fruits can last a super long time!). Cooking here is nearly preferable to eating in town, since the food there lacks variety and healthiness... (I still like to eat in town sometimes. Easier. And it can be fun to order something when you aren't totally sure what it is.)

This Tuesday was REVOLUTIONARY in the market. TOFU exists here! There is a couple in a rancho nearby who make tofu weekly (**fresh**) and sell it in the market. Holy crap! It is so good! I made broccoli tofu stir fry and was in heaven. Yum! The same couple sells amazing baked goods. They bring a bit of variety which is nice, since many of the vendors sell exactly the same stuff. They also have a cutie baby and a nice dog, and they speak decent English so I can talk to them. Bonus!

Tomorrow I head to Morelia for the first time since the night I arrived. It is mostly a non-touristy type trip, but it will be fun to see a bigger Mexican city. Eronga, the town with the market, is something like 5000 people. The other two towns within walking distance are 400ish each. Morelia is around 600,000. Big change! I'm looking forward to it, but I already know that I'm glad I don't live there-- I still do not miss traffic lights and busy people running around blathering. The forest is nice and peaceful.

In other news, things continue to happen here. We've been clearing trails that have become nearly grown over, which is fun because it involves wandering around in the nice place. Some of the dogs have been getting fixed which is *great* since there are already ten of them (though every one of the ten is sweet and adorable and awesome). And a vet might come up and vaccinate them all, which is awesome because it is a pain in the neck to get dogs into town. There is one older dog here, Goldie (golden retriever awww awww awww), who just got heart medication and is about a million times healthier looking. She is a sweetie. It is amazing how one teeny half pill can improve health by such an insane degree.

So it goes!!

Topes

In the US, one of my least favorite things to experience is red lights. I'm not a patient person, and the lights on the way to work every day last year drove me craaazy!

Here, my least favorite thing to experience is topes, or speed bumps. They are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Grrrrr!!!!

This is Honey Cupcake. She just had surgery so no puppies for her! She is a sweet little thing, nearly narcoleptic, and goofily disproportionate. She makes me smile!

Things happening

I saw the lunar eclipse a few nights ago and forgot to write about it the 29th. It was pretty sweet! I woke up around 5:20 to use the bathroom, and while peeing I remembered that it was supposedly going to happen between 3ish and 6ish in the morning. Stepped outside, saw shadowy moon, and within about ten minutes it happened! Great timing! And, immediately after the eclipse ended clouds came by and covered up all the moon and the stars and everything. And I went back to bed. I don't think I've seen that before.

A guy came by yesterday to collect mushroom micillium for his garden. Cool dude! I made some wraps out of orejas de raton, which are my favorite mushrooms so far. They look like rat's ears, which is the name in Spanish. They are tasty! Apparently there is another mushroom that is edible and ALL over the place, and supposedly quite flavorful (chanterelle). But there are poisonous mushrooms that look kind of like this one, so it's uncertain whether or not to eat it. Mushrooms are tricky.

Toadstool mushrooms! (Amanita muscaria) Famous kind! They are 'poisonous'. I think they are also hallucinogenic (but *extremely* bad for your internal organs). The guy who came to collect micillium said that somewhere there is a group of people where the shaman eats the correct amount of mushroom, and then his pee contains the drug, so they save the pee to drink. And then anyone who drinks the pee also contaminates their own pee, and so on. Good to know, right?

Pasiflora

Check out this crazy looking flower!!

It is from pasiflora plant, or passion fruit, which is an odd fruit I tried yesterday. Tangy! We visited a dude who has an awesome garden, and he made passion fruit drinks in his blender. Very tasty with a bit of sugar!

I also tried lechi, which is not local, and is very strange. I will take pictures of it. Spiky.

Mushyrooms

A nice thing about this place is that, although technically this time of year is the rainy season, the rain never comes until late afternoon. At the moment (6pm) I can hear the thunder rolling in, but it has been sunny and mild all day. Plenty of time to play in the sun.

This morning I collected a million mushrooms with Beto who knows the land. He also knows no English, and I know very little Spanish, so our conversations were of course super complex and interesting. He's got good eyes! He could spot a mushroom from thirty feet away. We collected three types of edible mushrooms and he taught me the kinds not to eat, which is helpful, although my memory sucks so I think for the time being I will only eat the three that we found today. Tonight I will make mushroom tacos!

Tomorrow I get to visit Patzcuaro, which is a city type place nearby. Should be interesting and fun!

Finally!

After a few months of daily thoughts on this trip, I'm finally in Mexico!

It is much as I expected! Friendly and welcoming people, super amazing weather, gorgeous location... I'm staying in a forest near a lake and a few cute towns. No major cities nearby. I flew in to a majorish city, which was about an hour drive from here. Pretty perfect location to stay. Yesterday I walked into a teeny little town nearby that has a few little stores to get some basic stuff as well as a nice view... Tuesday I experienced the market in Erongaricuaro, which had everything anyone needs to eat. I got to try starfruit and prickly pair for the first time. Yum to both, though I like starfruit best.

It was a little difficult to post this blog as my computer knows I'm in Mexico and has made everything into Spanish. But that is kind of good, since I can understand some exposure to more won't hurt.

I've posted some pics to flickr, more later I'm sure.

Oh my gosh!

Tomorrow I leave for Mexico! Mysterious future! Plane from here to Ohio, Texas, then Morelia. Wheeeeeeeee!!

This blog will be more informative in a few days, I think.