A White Christmas on the Mountaintop?

The last several nights here in Mexico City have been quite chilly with overnight lows dipping down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit.  Although there has been no precipitation here in the city recently, it must have snowed up in the nearby mountains.  This morning I took a look a the webcam of Popocatépetl (elevation 17,694 feet), and I saw that "Popo", fuming as always, was covered with a mantle of snow.

Although climbing of the active volcano has been prohibited for years, if you are dreaming of a white Christmas, you could drive up to the nearby mountain pass and probably see some of the white stuff that you are yearning for.

A World's Fair of Sorts

Many years ago, an international fair was held on the Zócalo.  If I remember correctly, it was called the Fair of Friendly Cultures, and it was an annual event.  The enormous plaza was filled with pavilions representing nations from all over the world.  The booths were staffed by people from those countries, many of them dressed in traditional attire.  A wide variety of handicrafts and souvenirs were for sale.  A few blocks away, on the Plaza of Santo Domingo, a culinary tent was set up with food from all over the world to enjoy.  It was a wonderful festival, and I hoped that it would return to the Zócalo.  Unfortunately, I think it went by the wayside with the pandemic.

There have been some smaller events which go by the name of "Feria del Mundo" (World's Fair"), but they have been a shadow of that festival years ago.  I saw an advertisement for one of these "World's Fairs" to be held this weekend... Friday through Sunday.

Even though I figured that I would be disappointed, I went downtown on Friday to see it anyways.  You may recall that I send dolls to the daughters of a friend of mine, and I hoped to find some dolls from different countries.

The fair was held in a building in the Historic Center called "el Palacio de la Autonomía" (The Palace of Autonomy).  

The ornate building stands on the site of a colonial convent.  In the late 19th century, the current structure was built, and it served as the National Teachers' School.  In 1929 an agreement was signed here in which the National University of Mexico was granted complete autonomy, free from government interference.  Hence the name of the building, and the official name of the university... "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México" (UNAM).  Even though the University moved from the city center to its new campus in the 1950s, the "Palacio de Autonomía" still belongs to UNAM.  Events and expositions are held here.

This "World's Fair" was indeed a disappointment.  Supposedly, there were 40 countries represented, although I don't think there were that many.  The booths were small, and most of the merchandise was clothing or touristy souvenirs.  The  U.S.A. booth was selling cheap fur coats.  What the heck?!

To top it off, I did not see any dolls for sale!

Fortunately, admission to this sad excuse for an international fair was free.   

The one experience that kept my visit from being a total waste of time came as I was about to leave.  There were several stalls selling foods from different countries, and I decided to stop and have a bite to eat.  There was a booth set up by a French pastry shop located in Mexico City, and a variety of sweet and savory pastries were for sale.  I had a chicken roll with bechamel sauce that was quite tasty.  I had a very nice conversation with the owner of the "patiserrie".  He is Mexican, but he studied cooking in Lyon, France.  When he returned to Mexico, he opened a shop in the neighborhood of Lindavista, which is not too far from where Alejandro's family live.

So, at least I ended my trip to the event on a pleasant note.  We might visit this fellow's pastry shop some day, but I am not going to bother with any more festivals that label themselves as "World's Fairs"! 

A Race to Christmas

Yesterday I went to the Zócalo, Mexico City's main plaza, where work is going on for the annual "Verbena navideña" (Christmas festival).  The festival is supposed to start today, but there was a lot of work to be done.  I couldn't help but thinking, "How are they going to get everything completed in time?" 

From the descriptions that I have read, it seems that the festival will be about the same as it has been for the last two years...  a tunnel of lights, three Christmas trees created from live poinsettia plants, a giant Nativity scene, a handicrafts market.  I'm not sure that I am going to bother going again this year and battle the crowds.

The Christmas lights are in place on the buildings around the Zócalo and have been turned on the last several nights.

Last year when Alejandro and I went to see the lights on a weekend evening, the crush of people was so insanely intense that it was the first time I have ever feared for my physical safety in Mexico City.  I may just pass entirely on the Zócalo this year.

(I checked the Zócalo webcam at 7:00 this morning, and work looks far from complete.  I don't know at what time they were planning to open the "verbena" today, but they are going to have to hustle to finish everything.)

More Christmas Pictures

Last Saturday, Alejandro and I went to the Paseo de la Reforma.  Last year, a long stretch of the boulevard was lined with a Christmas market with probably more than a hundred vendors' stalls. There was also the annual poinsettia festival with local flower growers selling not only poinsettias but a wide variety of other plants.  This year there was nothing, nada, zip.  In fact, other than a couple of festively decorated hotels, and a couple of displays set up by a Mexican insurance company, you would never know that it is the Christmas season along Mexico City's most famous street.  Given that the city government had gone all out decorating Reforma for the Day of the Dead, I thought that perhaps they would do the same for Christmas this year.

At the intersection of Reforma and Sevilla along the pedestrian walkway, the insurance company GNP had set up a "Santa Claus house".  We looked through the windows, and the interior was decorated, and there was a big chair.  It would seem that Santa is there at certain hours to hear children's requests, but he wasn't there at that time.

"Vivir es increíble" (Living is incredible) is the slogan of the insurance company.

Along the walkway on the opposite side of the boulevard, the same company had set up a Christmas tree.

The St. Regis Hotel, located at that intersection, was nicely decorated for the season.

A block farther down the boulevard, the Marquis Reforma Hotel, is always nicely decked out for holiday seasons.  (You may recall the photos I posted of the hotel for the Day of the Dead.)

Thinking that perhaps the Christmas market and the poinsettia festival had not yet been set up, I returned to Reforma on Thursday, but there still was nothing.

Fireworks, Begone!

The government of Mexico City has begun an ad campaign trying to discourage the use of fireworks.

"Let's celebrate without risks

for your family, your market, your city.

The holidays shine more without fire(works).

The unauthorized use of fireworks is prohibited in Mexico City, although the law is widely ignored and probably rarely enforced.  I could not find any statistics on how many people in the city are injured or killed each year from fireworks.  In 1988 a fireworks explosion at the Merced Market in central Mexico City resulted in 62 deaths and 82 injuries.  In 1999 an explosion in a fireworks warehouse in Celaya left 62 dead and 348 people injured.  The town of Tultepec on the outskirts of Mexico City is a center for the pyrotechnics industry, and in 2016 a massive explosion in the San Pablito Market in that town killed 36 and injured 84.  Among the injured were six children.  One girl, with burns over 90% of her body was sent to a Shriners' Hospital in Texas for treatment.

Fortunately, in the neighborhood of our apartment, fireworks are not a problem.  However, in the neighborhood where Alejandro's family lives the noise of firecrackers is a constant.  For every saint's day, every funeral, every holiday, religious or civil, firecrackers are set off, often in the wee hours of the morning.  Don't say that it is simply a part of Mexican culture that you have to accept.  It is part of SOME Mexicans' culture, but there are plenty of people, including Alejandro's family, who are sick and tired of not being able to get a good night's sleep.

I hope that this ad campaign is a sign of better enforcement of the existing laws.  Alejandro noticed that this year there were not as many firecrackers set off for the feast day of the Virgen of Guadalupe.  (Their home is just a couple blocks away from a route that many pilgrims take to the Basilica.)  I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I won't hold my breath.  

 

A Tradition Renewed

If you have been following this blog through the years, you know that when I was living in Ohio I would make fudge every year at Christmastime. It was a recipe for "soldier's fudge" that my father used to make.  After he passed away, I continued the tradition.  I would make batch after batch to give to friends and relatives.  I eventually changed the recipe a bit, and instead of putting in chopped nuts, I used dried cherries.  Most people preferred that.

"Soldier's fudge" is a recipe that has been around for a long time.  During the World Wars, people would make the confection for their loved ones serving in the military.  Because it does not require refrigeration and lasts for weeks, if not months, it could be sent to soldiers overseas.

I had not made any fudge since I moved to Mexico, but this year I decided to renew the tradition.  The question was, would I be able to find all the ingredients?  I figured that chocolate and vanilla would not be a problem.  After all they originated in Mexico.  The sweetened condensed milk would not be a problem either.  Instead of "Eagle Brand", here they have the "La Lechera" brand made by Nestle.

  

The one ingredient that I could not find, however, was dried cherries.  When my friends Al and Stew were here, they told me that I could find dried cherries at Costco.  So, Alejandro and I made a special trip to Costco, and after a bit of searching, we found the cherries.  I bought three large bags, more than enough for my batches of fudge.

I purchased a couple of metal pans at Woolworths, but I could not find a double boiler at any of the stores that carry housewares.  There is a word in Spanish for a double boiler.  It's called a "baño María" (Mary's bath).  However, nobody at any of the stores knew what I was talking about.  I guess that's something I should have shipped down from Ohio when I moved!  I had to improvise and set a small pot in a larger pot.  Water is boiled in the bottom pot, and the chocolate is melted in the smaller pot without scorching.  It was awkward, but it worked.

I went to Walmart to see what they had in the way of chocolate.  I was willing to settle for Hershey's for the unsweetened chocolate (one square goes into each batch), but for the rest I wanted a better quality of chocolate.  I went down the street to a branch of "Estado Natural", and chain of stores that sells natural foods in bulk.  My recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they had semi-bitter chips.  However, next to it was a bin filled with "trocitos" (little pieces) of chocolate.  Those had a somewhat higher sugar content so I figured that they would work.  The chocolate pieces were 100% Mexican from the state of Tabasco.

I now had all my ingredients, so I could start making fudge.  I melted the chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk in the improvised double boiler.  When it was velvety smooth, I turned off the flame and stirred in the vanilla and a generous helping of cherries.

I poured the fudge into one of my Woolworth pans and let it cool.  The fudge was still quite soft, so after wrapping the pan carefully, I put it in the freezer just long enough to let it set more.  I must say that with the Mexican chocolate, the fudge is even better than what I used to make in Ohio.

I have already made four batches.

Bill's Christmas fudge kitchen is in full swing!

Songs of Christmas

This year our nephew began his first year of high school at a "prepa", a public preparatory school affiliated with the National University of Mexico.  He has joined the high school choir, and last week we attended their Christmas concert.

The first portion of the concert consisted of Christmas songs from around the world (all sung in Spanish, of course).  All but one of them were familiar to me.

The second part of the program consisted of Mexican Christmas songs.

I left the concert in a Christmas spirit!