Mexico ~ Color and Tasty Food!

               

Rather than retracing our steps we chose to explore one last country Mexico before reentering our previous lives. Little did we know that starting our adventure in Oaxaca would be such a burst of flavorful food and vibrant colors.

Markets in every country reflect the culture, the hat styles and most importantly the diet of the people. Fortunately by now we both have enough hats, but  it quickly became apparent that there were many new flavors and  foods to EAT!

Really? Yes, even worms but only after they are fried, ground and blended into salt. The crickets on the other hand are simply fried, flavored and eaten in their pure form still looking like crickets. Yum?

Very tasty when accompanied with some mescal, beer or Gatorade for this niño who was happily eating up all his profits.

           

Take a close look at the image on the left, do you recognize this hanging shape? That's right it's a pig, this is chicarron or deep fried pig skin which can be eaten as a snack or used to add flavor to all kinds of soups and dishes. By contrast the cone shapes on the right are pure cane sugar which is much more appealing to my palette!

Time to get a little education on how to put all these unknown chili's to good use and good taste. Cooking classes anyone? You bet!

What heaven, all the ingredients were beautifully set aside and measured. All we had to do was enjoy the luxury of a beautiful kitchen, follow the recipe instructions and then sit down to a feast with all our fellow classmates. Beyondananda Yumm!

            

 

                                     

Besides being a foodie's mecca Oaxaca is abundant with folk art, ceramics and weaving's.... and very young entrepreneurs, as in 4 years old, like this niña whom we saw each day unaccompanied selling her candy. 

   

The begging and selling of gum or trinkets is much more prevalent in Central America than we ever experienced in South America. Although Mexico is a much wealthier country than many South American countries the disparity and proportion of poverty to wealth appears more out of balance here.

                    

Next stop Mexico City...where we joined a few thousand others to enjoy the Sunday morning cyclavia. 

                  

                     

Imagine 59 kilometers of the main central thoroughfare of one of the biggest cities in the world closed every Sunday to all vehicular traffic from 7 am to 2 pm  for the sole use of recreational cyclists and pedestrians. 

                      

We have experienced this also in Bogota, Medellin, Quito, and Santiago and I am sure there are more cities doing this. Remarkable and really fun! Wouldn't it be great if 5th Avenue in NYC was closed every Sunday morning for 7 hours to just stroll and bike ride!   

                          

The other plus is that many of the museums are free on Sundays so we took full advantage of that option also. 

                                           

At the end of the day we were as tired as this tortured soul. Poor guy I think being surrounded by so much gold with constant adoring and beseeching fans has just worn him out over all these centuries.

Mea Culpa for my sacrilege!