Update on the Printer

This morning I wrote that the printer was supposed to call me today to let me know that she had a sample of my Christmas card ready for approval.  True to her word, she called around 11 o'clock this morning.  I went back to the location in Condesa, and when I arrived, she met me at the door with the sample.  The quality of the picture was very good, and the English words were all spelled correctly.  I told her to go ahead and print the cards.  They will be ready next Thursday.  The print shop that I went to previously could certainly learn a lesson on customer service from this lady with her humble, at-home business.

Of course, the subject of my painting is always a secret.  You will have to wait until December after the cards have been sent and received before I will show you what the card looks like.

Here are a few of the cards from years past...

2017 - Dusk at Tlalpujahua, Mexico

2019 - Street in Coyoacán, Mexico

2020 - Lake Hallwil, Switzerland

And here's the painting for the first Christmas card that I did...

2004 - New England Winter

 

Finding a Printer

Ever since I retired from teaching, I have been creating my own Christmas cards using a painting that I have done.  For many years I printed my own cards on the printer I had at home.  That was a very tedious task... trying to get set up the page so that the image of the painting was properly centered on one half of the paper, having the description of the painting positioned upside down on the other half that would be the back of the card, and running the cards through the printer again to print the inside verse.  Then I had to carefully fold all of the cards.

Finally, I think around 2018, I got smart and started going to a nearby print shop.  He scanned my painting, printed the cards, folded them, and even provided envelopes.  The cost was not much more than the expense of buying ink for my printer at home.

Well, now I am in Mexico, but I still intend to send my annual Christmas card.  I already have this year's painting completed.  My plan was to go to a print shop down here, have the cards printed, and then sign and address them.  In October, when I go back to Ohio to vote early, I can go to the post office, put stamps on them, and give them to a friend to mail after Thanksgiving.

So, my first job was to find a print shop.  I found one on Google Maps, not too far from me, that had good reviews.  I did a mock-up of how I wanted the card, with the inside greeting and description of the painting on the back.  I took it and the artwork to the print shop.

The fellow at the shop, an older man who was very talkative, but somewhat grumpy, told me that first I needed to go buy envelopes so he could determine the size of the card.  (They do not provide the envelopes.)  Then I would need to go to a store such as OfficeMax and have the painting scanned in high resolution onto a USB flash drive.  (Even though my original painting was not that large, their scanner was not big enough.)  He also said that I would have to have a minimum of 100 cards printed, which was more than I really needed.  

So, I went to the nearest OfficeMax with my painting, bought a flash drive, and had them scan the picture.  I also bought envelopes.  Then I went back to the print shop, but the guy grumbled that the image on the flash drive was a jpeg.  It had to be in PDF format.  So, I went back to OfficeMax.  I explained that the image needed to be a PDF, but when she scanned it in that format it looked terrible.  So, she converted the jpeg image that she had done previously into a PDF.  That looked fine.  I went to the print shop and told him about having to convert the jpeg.  "She doesn't know what she's doing," he grumbled.  Apparently, the image was good enough, however.  He downloaded the picture, took down the verse and description, and asked for my cellphone number and email address.  He said that his boss (I thought that he was the owner) would get back to me with an estimate of the cost.  I asked if a sample could be made first for my approval.  He said that would probably cost extra,

I waited for a call or email.  After a week, I went back to the shop.  "Oh, he hasn't called you yet?  I will remind him to get in touch with you."  I waited another week, and yesterday I decided to find another print shop.  I found another place, farther away in the neighborhood of Condesa.  I called first and asked if they do small jobs like printing a Christmas card.  She said, "Yes", and I said that I would come in later that afternoon.  She said to ring the doorbell for number 301 when I got there.

I took the Metrobus part of the way and then walked the rest of the way.  I found the address.  It was a small, non-descript apartment building.  

 

I found the doorbell for 301 which had a small sign saying "Imprenta Condesa" (Condesa Printing).  I rang several times, but there was no answer.  I called on my cellphone, and the lady answered.  She said that the battery on the doorbell must be dead.  She would come down and let me in.  A young woman with a baby in her arm appeared at the door and led me up the stairs to the third floor.  It was her apartment, but inside the entrance there was a cluttered office area with printing equipment.  It was an at-home business, and I frankly had my doubts.  But we discussed the project.  There was no minimum order, and the cost was 25 pesos per card (about $1.40 US).  I told her I wanted 75 cards.  I gave her the flash drive and the paper with the verse and description of the painting.  She said that she would do a sample card and call me today to come back and give my approval.

Even though it seems like a very informal business, I am, initially, much more satisfied than I was with the other print shop.  We shall see if I get a call today and how the sample card looks.  Fingers crossed!

   

Very Mexican!

 Last weekend I prepared a breakfast for us that was "muy mexicano".

I made "huevos a la mexicana"... scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes, chopped onion and jalapeño pepper.  It had been described as the most quintessential Mexican breakfast dish.  I topped it with a bit of shredded "cotija" cheese.  "Cotija" is an aged cheese that is somewhat similar to Parmesan in flavor.

I made the "frijoles refritos" (refried beans) from scratch, not from a can.  They are topped with "crema" and more "cotija" cheese.

I had a couple of extra avocados that needed to be used, so I also made some guacamole.

If I do say so myself, "¡Muy delicioso!"

A Change in the Weather

Usually when I wake up in the morning the sun is coming up.  It's the beginning of another brilliantly sunny day.  This morning, however, was different.  It was cloudy, and, when I looked out the window, the pavement on the street below was wet.

I turned on the laptop, and the radar on the Weather Channel showed that we are on the very southern fringe of the rain brought by Tropical Storm Alberto, the first of the season.  The storm made landfall last night near the city of Tampico, and brought heavy rains, flooding and fatalities to northeastern Mexico and Texas.

Rain is possible throughout the day and all night, and early this evening there is a 71% chance of thunderstorms.  The high temperature today will not even reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Looking at Google Maps, you can see that we are under an enormous swathe of clouds that covers nearly all of Mexico and stretches all the way through Central America to South America.

Forecasters are saying that another tropical storm may develop over the Gulf this weekend.

From the long-term forecast, it would appear that at long last we have truly entered the rainy season.  Each day there is a strong possibility for PM thunderstorms, and the high temperatures will only be in the seventies... normal weather for Mexico City this time of year. 

The Sandwich Is Drowning!

Last Thursday, I was taking one of my long walks, and I came to a restaurant about a block from the Paseo de la Reforma called "El Pialadero de Guadalajara".  I had passed the place many times but had never eaten there.  I decided to give it a try.

The specialty of the house is something that comes from Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city.  It's called a "torta ahogada".  I've talked about "tortas" before.  They are a kind of sandwich on a crusty roll, somewhat comparable to a sub sandwich.  "Ahogada" means drowned.  The sandwich which is filled with "carnitas" (braised, shredded pork) is completely submerged in sauce.  There are two different kinds of sauce that are used.  One is very spicy using vinegar, cumin and fiery "chile de árbol".  The other kind of sauce, which is what this restaurant uses, is a milder tomato-based sauce.

When the waiter served me the sandwich, he also offered me a plastic glove, because eating this drowned sandwich is very messy. (No knife and fork are offered.  You eat this with your hands.)  As you can see, the "torta" is served in a bowl, and after eating the sandwich, you then eat the sauce like a soup.

I had heard of "tortas ahogadas" before, but, after fifty years of traveling to Mexico, this was the very first time that I had eaten one.  The dish is beloved by the people of Guadalajara.  I wouldn't say that that it is my new favorite, but it was tasty.  I would come back here again.

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What I Hate About Mexico City

No place is perfect, and I am the first to admit that there are things about Mexico City that I do not like.

The Mexico City tourist department has adopted the slogan, "The city that has everything".  Yes, everything including horrendous traffic, the thing that I probably hate most about Mexico City.  

I took these photos from a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Viaducto Miguel Alemán, a major freeway that stretches in a west-east direction for about six miles from my neighborhood toward the airport.

The thing about Mexico City traffic is that it is not just during rush hours that the traffic is heavy.  The "viaducto" is usually congested throughout the day.  

More Art for the Wall

The nearby framing store has had a lot of business from me as I have pieces of art framed to hang on the walls of my apartment.  (Fortunately, the cost of framing here is a fraction of what it would cost in the States.)  The latest items to be framed and hung on the wall are two pieces of folk art painted on "amate" paper.  I purchased them a couple months ago at the Ciudadela Handicraft Market here in Mexico City.

"Amate" paper is made from the bark of a species of fig tree.  The bark is beaten into a pulp, stretched and dried.  In Aztec times, this paper was used for the creation of codices which were used for keeping records and historical chronicles in the Aztecs' pictographic writing.  The paper was folded accordion-style into "books".  Very few of these codices have survived to the present day since the Spanish viewed these writings as works of the devil.  The conquerors had the codices burned, and they outlawed the production of "amate" paper.

Nevertheless, the production of "amate" paper survived in numerous indigenous villages.  Today, most of the paper that is made commercially comes from the village of San Pablito in the northern mountains of the state of Puebla.  The residents, members of the Otomí tribe, originally used the paper for ritual purposes, but starting in the 1960s they began selling "amate" to artists in the state of Guerrero who used the paper for folk art paintings.  These artists, who belong to the Nahua tribe, live in eight villages in Guerrero.  "Amate" art has become one of the most common Mexican handicrafts, and the paintings have become the major commercial activity in those towns.  Some artists have achieved international fame, and some of their works are in museums. 

The two paintings that I bought are not signed and are not museum quality, but I like them.

The smaller of the two shows a village celebration of a girl's "quinceañera", her 15th birthday party.

  

The larger of the two shows a variety of scenes from village life.