North America,  Mexico,  Travel

San Cristóbal daily routine for the third week

September 18, 2022 /

On Sunday, I went to Zinacantán, a small town nearby, where the local aboriginal people's costumes are very characteristic. In many aboriginal towns I visited before, only women wore local special clothes, but the men here also wore traditional clothes with embroidery of various flowers and bright colors. There are also many small shops selling flowers on the street.

In the evening, I went to a Chinese restaurant with a local friend that was recommended by many people. I didn't have any expectations before going there. After all, in such a small place with only two or three Chinese restaurants, I am not sure whether the dishes are authentic. After I went, I waited for my friend for half an hour. I was always punctual, but in Latin American countries such as Mexico, many locals usually arrive later than the scheduled time, and I had to gradually adapt to their time concept. After he came to order, he waited for a long time before serving. Both waiters were native Mexicans, and I was a bit preconceived, let alone expected the food to be authentic. But after trying the food, it was really unexpected. I ordered beef noodles and my friend ordered Chongqing noodles. The beef noodles are super good, the soup is very pure and delicious, the amount of beef is also very good, and the stew is very tender. The noodle taste is also good, it feels like it is made by hand. So happy to have such authentic beef noodles in such a small city in Mexico. While eating noodles, some customers came, some of whom were acquaintances of friends. After eating, I was very curious and wanted to chat with the boss who made the noodles in the back kitchen. At this time, a Chinese girl came in, chatted with a regular customer next to her, and learned that she was the proprietress. After chatting with her for a few words, I felt very cordial. She also knew the proprietress of another Taiwanese restaurant. Coincidentally, my friend knew too. Really, their noodles are all handmade and pressed. Many of her ingredients are sent all the way from China. She said that the noodles she chooses on the menu are not difficult to make. She has taught several of her Mexican employees how to make them, and they don't need her anymore. Instructed themselves to do it, no wonder the wait time was long, they worked as waiters and cooks. Going to try their handmade dumplings and biangbiang noodles next time. Because I could chat with her very well, we exchanged contact information and made an appointment to eat on Monday, because she does not open the store on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I met her on Monday to continue chatting. She is 40 but looks young. She is from Northeast China, but moved to Tianjin at a young age and graduated from Beijing Renmin University. After graduation, he worked as an auditor for three or four years, and then resigned to open a small shop in Nanluoguxiang, but later sold the shop because the rent became more and more expensive. Five years ago, I came to California with my ex-boyfriend (due to work), bought a car and planned to travel by car, but the two broke up for various reasons, so she spent a month alone, driving all the way from California to this place. Small town, I liked it very much when I came here, so I stayed. Suffering from the lack of delicious Chinese restaurants here, she originally planned to open a restaurant in 2019, but fortunately it did not. During the two years of the epidemic, she spent most of her time in China. She studied Spanish at New Oriental. She came back in the middle of last year and opened it in November. The restaurant also operates the adjacent Airbnb hotel. She also recommended me to go to salsa dance lessons and some local performances, and said that I would be called to eat hot pot in the future. There are only a handful of Chinese here, and it feels very kind to know her.

I have time this week to continue chatting with the proprietress of the restaurant at the door, and found that although there are not many customers coming to the store, many people actually use food delivery software. This month is the rainy season, and it rains heavily every afternoon, so there are a lot of people ordering takeaway. of. I also learned that the food delivery software charges a service fee of 10-20%, so the price of takeaway will be higher. One day, I made a tuna sandwich, and I also made one for them. The proprietress deserves to go to the chef school for four years, and can immediately taste the various ingredients and seasonings in it. Another uncle from the neighbor went back to his hometown on the weekend to celebrate his grandson's birthday. He came back on Monday and brought me some of their local dessert cookies. When I happened to go to the vegetable market on the weekend, I also bought him a bag of the drink he mentioned earlier. drinks.

Went to a coffee shop on Tuesday afternoon for their weekly meeting of language partners, and several of them were familiar, either at a Chinese restaurant or at a coffee shop. I also met a lot of foreigners who have lived here for a long time or will live here for a long time. Coincidentally, the four Americans I chatted with were from four places where I lived before: Georgia, Chicago, Southern California near Los Angeles, and Northern California Bay Area. After that, I went to the salsa dance elementary class recommended by the Chinese girl out of curiosity, and I met a few people I just met. There are a lot of people in this elementary class, and the teacher is very good. One hour passed quickly, which is very interesting.

This week is the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the Spanish language school, and there is a small party after class to celebrate. I like only one teacher among the three fixed teachers before the Spanish class, and the other two are fine, but I feel that after learning with the same teacher for two weeks, it would be better to make some changes, so I asked for a new teacher this week. , the teaching methods of most grammar teachers are a bit boring for me, and the effect is not very satisfactory. A few days ago, I asked my favorite teacher who wants to continue studying with her to go out to dinner and asked her if she would like to teach me outside of class, because I knew that if I paid her tuition directly, she would get more money than she does now. It will also be more favorable for me, because the school will deduct a lot of intermediate fees. She told me that she only got 50 pesos ($2.50) an hour, and that all the teachers in Spanish schools here are paid that much. I was very surprised to hear that because they charge students 190 pesos ($9.50) an hour, I didn't expect the school to deduct so much money. So of course she is willing to teach me directly outside the school, but she only has one hour from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm every day, because at 3:00 pm she has to work at the front desk of a hotel until 10:00 pm, which is really not easy. A new friend from Georgia who I met a few days ago recommended another Spanish language school to me. I tried two different teachers' classes. One of them felt familiar when we met. She said we met in a cafe. This teacher is very good, and I plan to pay her tuition directly next week to study with her.

September 16th is Mexican Independence Day, and the previous Thursday night there are many festivities in the city center: cabaret performances, fireworks and more. In the evening, I went to the city center with my friends for a stroll. There were people everywhere and it was very lively. But it is not uncommon to see drunk people on the street, and there are people who are carried away by friends. There was also a small military parade on the morning of Independence Day.

Every time I chat with the proprietress of the restaurant in front of my house, most of the time I talk about food. On Saturday, she asked me to order takeaway to eat pig trotters together. There are three or four local traditional shops selling pig trotters next to us, but there is no name at the door, and I have never noticed it. I heard that it has been open for 25 years, and generally only local people know to patronize it. Their pig trotters here are marinated in vinegar, sprinkled with sweet and sour sauce of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and eaten with tacos. To be honest, Chinese sauce pork trotters are delicious. This week I tasted a new fruit (picture 3-2), which is of the same variety as the fruit papausa in picture 3-3, similar to the Sakyamuni fruit, with thorns on the outside, and it looks like a mini jackfruit. The Argentinian-style ham and eggplant pizza (Figure 3-6) is much thicker than the average American pizza. Pink Atole agrio fermented corn juice (picture 3-7), champorrado corn chocolate juice (picture 3-9). Chile en nogada (Figure 4-1) This dish is usually only available in September when Mexico’s Independence Day is celebrated, because the colors are red, green and white, the same color as the Mexican flag, and many ingredients are only available this season. I ate for the first time in Mexico City in July. Marquesita (Picture 4-2) is a common street food. In fact, it is a rolled crepe, which can be added with different ingredients.

On Saturday night, I went to a free dance class recommended by a friend of the Chinese proprietress. Because there are too few men, I danced with a Mexican aunt. Aunt has danced for many years, and she dances very well. After class, she wanted to take a photo with me, saying that her boyfriend was on a business trip in Shanghai, and rarely met a Chinese here.

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