Futbol, Pulque, and Baking

I really don't understand how I get so far behind in my blogging duties.  I tell myself I'll do it tomorrow, and apparently this goes on for two weeks, until finally I have no choice but to sit down and write some blog posts.  Sooo, two weeks ago I had a busy weekend.  On Friday, Jake, Arcelia, Dany, and I went to see the semi-finals of the under 20 tournament in the very fancy big stadium in Puebla.  The tickets for the whole tournament were free, so I actually got to see two games! A few days earlier, my friend Katelyn and I went to see the U.S. play Canada, in which the U.S. politely kicked Canada's bum.  Unfortunately, the first time I went was very spontaneous so I did not have my camera on me, and on Friday I remembered my camera, but was told it was not allowed.  So, sadly, I have no pictures, except the ones on my phone which are trapped there until I get back to the States.  

Futbol (soccer) in Mexico is quite different from any other sporting events in the U.S that I have witnessed.  Mexicans are crazy.  They joyfully scream PUTO (I won't translate that one) whenever the goalie of the not Mexican team kicks the ball, constantly yell and blow the zuzusuela thingies, and barely notice the hundreds of people walking around selling potato chips from giant baskets they carry on their heads.  There are also hundreds of people selling cemitas, the famous sandwich of Puebla, which are delicious.  And people with pastries. And beer.  As you can see, I went less for the soccer, and more for the food.  Well, the U.S. won against Cuba, and Mexico won against El Salvador, although we didn't see the goals they scored because after half time we left.  It was COLD (like 50s), and it started raining soon after we left.  Overall, good life choices.

On Saturday my family and I went to a family friend's birthday party.  Mexicans are much more creative in regards to their birthday song.  I counted, and our Birthday Song has 6 words.  Their's is an actual song called Mananitas. It's a bit long, so I feel like I would get a bit antsy as the birthday girl.

This, but times 12.

On Sunday, Jake, a few friends, and I went to Ozolco for the Pulque Fair! Pulque is an alcohol made from distilling juice from the maguey plant, which is a type of agave.  I think it's delicious despite its weird smell, but Jake maintains that it tastes like rotten melon.  Ah well, to each his own.

It's really good when mixed with fresh mango pulp.

Probably my favorite story to tell from this adventure is how we got there.  We found a "combi" aka a gutted 12 person van in Cholula that goes to Ozolco.  When we got there, we wondered if we should wait because there were only a few spots left on the benches.  We decided to just go for it, and Katelyn had to sit on our laps.  During the 1 hour ride through Cholula and into the mountains, more and more people kept getting on the bus.  Every time I thought, "no way, they're not going to fit."  Every time, they somehow did.  At one point, there were at least 37 people on this one tiny bus.  It was insane.  Getting out was like something out of Cirque de Soleil.  

Dancers at the fair.  It was packed!

The other highlight of the day was running into the director of Slow Food Cholula, who Katelyn knows, and who invited us to come to a food workshop and tasting.  We naturally accepted.  During the 7 course tasting, we got to try many different traditional foods of the area, including trout, nopales, some mushroom I forget the name of, roasted squash with sugar, and the best mole poblano I have ever had.  

Aubri, Katelyn, and Jeheily. Popo is in the background, smoking away

We also got to see some guys doing some cool indigenous dance thingy. That's the official name of it.

We hung around for a bit more and then headed back to Cholula, this time on a much more comfortable bus.  

This weekend I didn't do much of anything, although Jake and I did do some baking.  I have been spending way too much time reading food blogs and drooling quietly to myself in my room, so after spying some over ripe bananas on the counter, I decided to make banana bread.  At the grocery store, I noticed some herb bread that looked delicious, so I decided to make that too.  A few hours later, I had made delicious (if I do say so myself) garlic herb bread and chocolate chip banana bread.  My family loved them, especially the banana bread.  It was gone by the next morning.  I made a half a loaf last night just for fun, and somehow it all got eaten between 8 pm and 8am the next morning, even though only one person ate dinner after 8, and only my parents were up before me.  Well, I now know how to woo Mexicans. I don't think they understand how delicious butter is.  Their baked goods are just not as good as ours.

Maybe in two weeks you'll find out what I did this week! Just kidding, I will try to post more often.