So I know that a lot of people have been celebrating halloween since Wednesday here at Yale (and it looks like it has been fun!) but somehow my halloweekend turned into a mexiweekend! I have probably done more traditional stuff in the past few days than I did all of last year... and I love it!!
I'll begin with Friday afternoon. Natalia and I took the bus into Fair Haven for our first trip to C-town. And fell in love. We walked right into the produce section and both died from happiness. Chile Verde! Mangos! Chile de Arbol! Nopales! Chile Poblano! Guayabanas! Pan dulce! So many things! We purchased a lovely mix of thi
ngs for our project today (which I will share with you) as well as some feel good things. (Chocolate Abuelita! Tomatillos (for salsa verde that I made for my party this evening), jugo de maracuya...) It was like being back in a Mexican grocery store in el DF! (except cleaner)
We came back from our expedition, laden with goods and agreed on a time to make dinner this evening. Next I went home, and instead of writing my paper on national identities in Tibet, I painted my face. I was going to be a Kandinsky painting, but found myself inspired earlier this week. The product is below:
I went as a calavera! Just like I used to dress up when I was little! But this time, a little scarier. It was really fun! A lot of people were very startled when they first looked at my face, but a lot of people were then interested by it and asked me what all this was about. (Another moment when I loved Yale! So many people were curious and then very interested in the story of Dia de los Muertos!)
I went out and found 2 other people dressed like people from Dia de los Muertos! Including MEChA's very own Jazzmin!! I have a picture of this somewhere that I can put up later.
Anyway, this afternoon I met up with Jazzmin and Natalia and Karen to make Mole Poblano! We labored in the Davenport kitchen, chopping vegetables, cooking chicken and creating delicious smells that caused people in the davenport underground to ask what we were creating. I also made some salsa verde to go with our delicious locally made tortillas (next time we'll make them ourselves?!) and we shared stories with each other about our summers and times at home cooking these recipes with our families.
If you have a chance, go and ask Natalia about her time in Bolivia this past summer helping collectives of women who had been abused and were trying to help others organize to improve their quality of life. She has done some truly fantastic work, and she is an inspiration to work (and cook!) with. We can thank her too for giving me an idea on what to write on this week!
I have to say that this has been one of my best weekends at Yale. It represents everything I hoped I'd find, but wasnt sure that I ever would. In the United States I grew up in a very white area. You had to search far for things like Chiles and Tomatillos. When you found them, they were purchased in bulk to sustain our addiction to salsas, enchiladas, chilaquiles and other magical things. So instead of cooking but myself, I cooked with MEChistas!!! And yeah, we need to do this as a bonding thing again! Next time we're planning to make Tinga! So let us know if you want to join in on the fun!!
So tonight, I have braided hair, braided flowers into it, found images of patterns to draw on my face this evening, and I am sitting in my common room after introducing my suite mates to Salsa verde and mole. They all seemed to like it! Here's to globalism at its best!! and here's to halloweekend/mexiweekend! Enjoy!
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