Postal Experiment

Since I moved to Mexico, I have made out my Christmas cards early, and I have given them to a friend when I have visited Ohio.  He then would send them out after Thanksgiving.

My opinion of the Mexican postal service has long been very negative.  However, since I moved to Mexico, I have had some positive experiences receiving mail sent to my apartment address.  This year, I am toying with the idea of sending my cards from here.  So, this past week, I sent some cards... three to friends in Ohio, and one to my cousin in England.  I wanted to see if they arrive to their destinations and how long it takes.

Just a short walk from my apartment there is a post office in the World Trade Center.  So I went there to mail the cards.

The clerk in the post office was very congenial.  He said that the cards should arrive in four to six weeks, but during the Christmas season I should allow more time.  In the United States, first class postage to any foreign country is $1.70 US.  In Mexico, however, different regions of the world have different postage rates.  The cards to Ohio cost 18 pesos each ($1.03 US) while postage for the card to England was 21 pesos ($1.21 US).  I have informed the recipients that they will be receiving mail, and that they should notify me when the cards arrive.

We will see how my postal experiment works out.

Floral Opening

If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you have been following the story of the orchid that I bought a couple years ago.  After its original blossoms had dropped, it did not rebloom for over a year.  Then, not long after I had it repotted by a professional at a nursery, a flower stalk emerged, and it finally rebloomed last autumn.  The flowers lasted into January,  After just a couple of months, another flower stalk sprouted this year.  I have been watching the buds develop and grow larger.  This week one of them opened...

And by the way, my late-blooming poinsettia, which I bought three Christmases ago, is still full of red leaves.  I almost wish that it would finish blooming so that I can cut it back and prepare it for next season.  (I noticed that one of the red leaves dropped a few days ago, and that some of the green leaves are starting to yellow, so perhaps it is nearing the end of this year's late bloom.)

One Less Autocrat

I am sure that you have seen the bizarre picture which the "Pendejo-in-Chief" posted... the one in which he was portrayed as a Christ-like figure.  Just when we think that his administration could not be any more "loco", he manages to surpass himself.  The image was demented and disgusting; even people who are not religious found it blasphemous.

At least we had one piece of good news this past week.  Victor Orban, the autocratic prime minister of Hungary and good buddy of the "Orange Mussolini" and "Putin the Terrible" was decisively defeated in last Sunday's election.

One political cartoonist used the infamous picture to comment on the downfall of the autocrat...

 

(image taken from the internet)

One less wanna-be dictator on the world stage...

Hopefully the beginning of a trend.

A Museum Reopened

The Dolores Olmedo Museum was located in the far south of Mexico City in the district of Xochimilco.  It has been closed since the pandemic, but its reopening at the end of May of this year was recently announced.

(Images taken from the internet)

Dolores Olmedo was a wealthy Mexican businesswoman and art collector who was a personal friend of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  Over the years she purchased 145 Rivera paintings and 25 by Kahlo, making her collection of works by Diego and Frida the largest in the world.  She also acquired paintings by other contemporary artists as well as pre-Hispanic, colonial and folk art.

In 1962 Olmedo bought a former hacienda known La Noria, and she lived there until 1994 when she turned the property into a museum to house her collections.  She died in 2002, and in her will she left her house, its gardens, and her enormous art collection to the Mexican people.

Many years ago, I visited the museum, although at the time of my visit, the paintings by Frida Kahlo were on tour.

In 2024, the amusement park, Parque Aztlán, opened in Chapultepec.  It was announced that the Dolores Olmedo Museum would be moved to the park.  Parque Aztlán's website said "coming soon" in reference to the museum, but it never materialized.

The fact was that the transfer of the museum to Chapultepec was tied up in legal battles.  Dolores Olmedo's will clearly stipulated that the collection was to remain at the hacienda.  Mexican intellectuals and cultural figures as well as the museum's neighbors in Xochimilco have protested that the museum must remain intact.  

Finally last month, it was announced that the museum would open its doors once again on May 30.  (I just checked the Parque Aztlán website, and there is no longer any mention of the museum as a coming attraction.)  I am looking forward to revisiting the museum, although I will wait until the likely crowds and hubbub of the reopening have passed.

Kitchen Fiasco

I found a recipe on the internet that I wanted to try.  It was a dish from Spain called "tortilla de pisto"  

In Spain, a tortilla has no relation to the Mexican tortilla made from corn dough.  It is a kind of omelet very similar to the Italian "frittata".  The most famous Spanish tortilla is "tortilla española" which is made with eggs, potatoes and onions.  It is a dish that I have made numerous times. This "pisto" variation contains bell peppers, onion, zucchini, garlic and a can of drained diced tomatoes.  ("Pisto" is a Spanish vegetable stew similar to the French "ratatouille".)

I sauteed all the vegetable in a large frying pan.

It seemed that there were a lot of vegetables in relation to the number of eggs called for in the recipe.  So, I whisked ten eggs instead of six.

When the vegetables were cooked I added them to the bowl of eggs.

The mixture was put back in the frying pan and cooked over medium heat.

 This is where things get tricky.  Traditionally, you are supposed to flip the tortilla onto a plate and then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side.  Back in Ohio, instead of flipping the tortilla, I would put it in the oven under the broiler to cook the top.  (The recipe even mentioned this as an alternative to flipping,)  The problem is that ovens in Mexico (at least the ones that I have seen) do not have a broiler.  So I had to do the flip.  What a disaster.  I had uncooked egg running all over the counter.  Furthermore, even though I had cooked it for four minutes per the recipe, the bottom was almost burnt, and much of it was stuck to the pan.  I was ready to throw it all in the garbage, but I scraped the stuck portion onto the plate.

As my mother would have said, "It looked like slop."

To make it look better, I covered it with slices of Manchego cheese and put it in the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese.

I tried a slice, and it tasted good.  However, I must say that without the cheese it would have been rather bland.  I served it to Alejandro for supper.

I don't think I will be making this recipe again.

Birthday Time

 In Alejandro's family, a bunch of birthdays are clustered together.  You may remember that a couple weekends ago we celebrated Alejandro's sister's birthday.  This past week marked the birthdays of Alejandro and of his favorite aunt.

On Saturday we went to his aunt's home to celebrate.  The apartment was filled with her children, grandchildren and even an infant great-grandchild.

Then on Sunday, we had a smaller celebration of Alejandro's birthday.  His dad, sister, nephew and I went to a nearby restaurant, a burger joint that bills itself as a 60's / 70's retro cafe.  It's a fun place decorated with all sorts of music and movie memorabilia from the era, and the food is good.

After we took the rest of the family home, we then went to a nearby bakery.  I bought Alejandro a chocolate raspberry cake.

  

Dinner at the Top... Again

You may recall that a few weeks ago, we took my cousin's son and his girlfriend to the revolving restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center while they were visiting Mexico City.  The restaurant, called Bellini, is the largest revolving restaurant in the world, and its location on the 45th floor of the World Trade Center offers spectacular views of the city.

The Saturday before Easter, we returned to Bellini.  Alejandro's friends Andrés and Tonio wanted to get together with Alejandro for an early birthday celebration.  In earlier posts I have mentioned Charles whom we have been showing around during his vacation in Mexico City.  It was his last night here, so I invited him to join us.

Unfortunately, I never seem to have good luck with the weather when I make dinner reservations.  I always make the reservation for early evening hoping to have a nice view of the sunset.   But it always turns out to be overcast.

  

This is the closest we had to a sunset view.

Our leisurely meal stretched on until after dark, and we had a view of the city lights.

Even if the weather was not entirely cooperative, it was an enjoyable evening of good company.