Karina (the coordinator of the teacher exchange program) called me early today to invite me to her house for Pozole - eaten since Aztec times, when it was known as “pozolli” – a hominy stew (puffed and dried hulled whole kernels of corn that are eaten boiled) made with chicken or pork and garnished with radishes, oregano, chile, salt, lime, cream and onion. In this case it was filled with garbanzo beans and chicken and I topped it off with oregano, tons of limes and some cream.
To meet up with Karina I took off from the blue metro, #2, at the General Anaya stop (the second to last stop that is furthest south) and went all the way north and curved to the west, passing through the Historical Center. I disembarked at Cuitlahuac (the second to last stop that is furthest northwest) and met Andi at the Honda dealership at the corner of Cuitlahuac and México-Tacuba. Moments later Karina’s friend Tania met up with us and took us on two different buses until we were picked up by Karina and her nephew. Karina is also in charge of a business program and Yolanda, a new arrival from the U.S., was joining us. Yolanda is 40ish, married, from Arizona but grew up in Nicaragua and came to the states in the 80s. We circled the Zona Rosa trying to find her and when we did meet up, the 3 Americans stuffed into the back of the car with Karina’s nephew and headed towards a celebration for her oldest brother’s birthday.
I had a great time, as Karina’s family is so nice and welcoming. She has four older siblings and a lot of nieces and nephews who ran around playing with each other. After the pozole, the birthday cake was brought out and they did not sing “Feliz Cumpleaños” but instead, the traditional Mañanitas. The cake was covered with trick candles that spelled “Felicidades” (congratulations). After singing and blowing out the candles the family chanted what sounded like “take a bite, take a bite.” Karina’s brother complied and dipped his finger into the frosting. Then, he lifted his 4-year-old niece so she could do same, except she began crying hysterically. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but if someone were to force me to eat cake, I would be more than happy to comply.
One of my favorite parts of the evening was when we were chatting and I described the Stars of the Week initiative. Karina commented that it sounds as if I’m training dogs and I responded, “That’s exactly what I’m doing!” The students are my Pavlov dogs; they just need to hear that bell a bit more before they begin salivating knowing that the meat’s coming. Translation: The students need to go through the routine of earning and losing points a bit longer to get excited knowing that the more points they earn, the better their chance to win an award. As the evening came to an end, Karina’s mom gave Andi, Yolanda and me a homemade gift– she’s quite the artist, usually working with tiny seeds or sequins. Besides the company, I thoroughly enjoyed the scrumptious homemade food, the Pozole, the mouth-watering, light and full flan, all washed down by a couple of Corona’s.
