Grasshoppers for Lunch

Hola amigos,

Today, I ate grasshoppers for lunch! My host mom called them "chapulines," and in Spain they are "saltamontes" (but not food), as in the verb saltar, to jump. (Another cool Spanish language fun-fact to think about: "paragua" is the word for umbrella, literally translating into "for water;" whereas a "parasol" means "for sun." Sorry, these things excite me.) Mis padres mexicanos and I went to their house in the countryside, and afterwards we met up with two señores (who were their friends, but I'm not sure what was the connection? Hard to hear over the live music, y todavía no estoy acustombrada al accento mexicano) in an open-air, buffet-style restaurant with loads of colorful decorations and waitresses dressed in brightly-colored, traditional garb.

I. Ate. So. Much. Food. My first plate consisted of my little insect friends (one of the men commented on how great it was that I was trying the insects! Yay for being an adventurous American! Anna the Awesome, Amazing, Adventurous American...new blog title anyone? No? Mmmkay); mole verde with rice; a potato cake; chile relleno with chicken; a flauta/taquito topped with guacamole and cheese; freshly chopped salsa on the side. My second plate was a bowl filled with pumpkin-flower soup, that was one of the best things I've EVER tasted en mi vida. My third round was a smaller bowl of soup with zucchini and a bit of cheese; on my plate, a piece of chicken flavored with a reddish-brown mole with some kind of leaf (I forget the name!). For dessert, I ate tiny apples in a sweet sauce; a pulpy pumpkin dessert with cinnamon; arroz con leche. Horchata washed it all down. ¡Buen provecho!

After eating, mis padres mexicanos and I walked around behind the restaurant where there was a small playground for the children. My host mom wanted to show me the emus in a cage, and I laughed when she said to the emu, "Emu, ¡qué feo eres! Ugly, ugly, ugly!" She's a lot of fun, and guapísima to boot! As a psychologist, she has an interesting perspective on one of my favorite Spanish movies, El laberinto del fauno. While I think that Ofelia's imaginative world is beautfiul and magical, my host mom bluntly stated, "That girl is psychotic. The man is a killer, he's a sociopath, which is a different disease. She had to escape from her hard reality, and the reality was worse than her crazy world. But she's a psycho." Perhaps one day we will debate our differeing perspectives on the film.

Some beautiful things I saw: cacti hanging over the edge of a crumbling wall; an ENORMOUS tree with massive roots jutting out through that same wall; children riding in the back of pick-up trucks; a mural of street art with bees; the decorations in the restaurant catching the light of the sun; my host parents holding hands.

Gotta read now, as I have un montón of reading before my first class has even started. Back to the UChicago grind I suppose, only Oaxaca-style!

Besos,
Anna