Probaditas de Morelia

This is long overdue.

I've always known I had cool parents but their visit to Morelia reminded me of that in spades. We hit all the local spots, took a day trip to the lakes, and enjoyed tons of good food including a home cooked meal at Marisol's house. Mostly we just sat around and talked which was the best part.

Prior to my move to Mexico my parents had only met the girlfriend for a two-hour breakfast at our house in Palo Alto. This trip gave everyone a little more time to get to know each other. Marisol's mom doesn't speak English, the rest of the family does, so Marisol and I got in a good dose of translating.

The hotel my parents stayed is amazing and just happens to be the oldest hotel in all of Mexico. It first served as an Inn in 1752.

I'll have to break the photos into a few post because there are lots. Here is the first set.

Dad and me in front of my corner store.

Look who was featured in a color picture in the most widely read newspaper in the state.


The caption reads,
"Local celebrity and hero, Nate Seaman, spotted enjoying a public art installation. Extra security called in to hold back crowd of screaming admirers. Mr. Seaman was unavailable for comment at press time."

Or something about Monarch butterflies...and...yeah whatever.
What do you want from me?! I'm still learning Spanish.

I stumbled across this car covered in Post-it Notes the other day and couldn't help but stop and laugh. I only had my cell phone camera to record the moment so the photo is a little fuzzy.

Each Post-it professed a different message of eternal love for the owner of this little, silver Chevy hatchback. "I love you", "I can't live without you", "I'm sorry", "I'm sorry that I'm this way", and "I need you" are just a few examples.

When I saw this colorful car, I instantly assumed this was the work of a desperate male who had screwed up in some major way and was now deeply afraid he had done irreparable damage to his relationship. It has all the trappings of classic, stupid male thinking. A last ditch act of desperation to show the strength of his love. To show he will go to any length to win back his girlfriend, yes, even so far as to cover her car in Post-it Notes. I've always felt girls were more clever about these things while guys assume that a show of "strength" or willingness to go to any length is what is necessary to save the relationship.

Marisol, on the other hand, upon hearing this story, immediately asked about the handwriting. I had to admit that it did look rather feminine. She feels this type of thing is clearly in the domain of the desperate, psycho-girl. The girl in question has decided the owner of this car is "the one" but he's moved on. She's not ready to accept this and feels a highly-public display with pretty pinks, yellows, and greens will win back the heart of her lost lover with the added bonus of scaring off any new hussy who might be with him when he returns to his car.

I fought it at first but she argues a compelling case. I hear the arguments on both sides. I guess we will never know which sex committed the crime but it still makes me laugh to see it.

I finished my Spanish classes a few weeks ago but never got the chance the share my walk to school with you. What a great way to start the day.

Hapless Male: (Looking in refrigerator) Do you think this pasta is still ok to eat?
Culinary Expert: No, probably not. You should throw it out.
Hapless Male: What? Are you kidding? It’s not that old. I’m sure it’s fine. I was a bachelor for years surviving on leftovers exactly like this slightly-funky pasta.
Culinary Expert: Honey, listen to me. Please don’t eat that.
Hapless Male: (Mumbles something unintelligible)


(The Next Day on the Phone)
Hapless Male: (Groans) Hello?
Culinary Expert: Is that you? What’s the matter? You sound terrible.
Hapless Male: Uh, well, you remember that pasta you told me to throw out? I was sort of eating that when all of sudden I was hit with the extremely violent urge to…
Culinary Expert: Oh no! Gross. Did you? Are you ok?
Hapless Male: Yeah, or I mean no, nothing happened. The sensation came fast and furious but I held it back. I’m in bed now, sweating. My face is pale...uh...er than normal, and the skin under my right eye is swollen and puffy. (Trying to sound upbeat) But actually I think I’m starting to feel better.
Culinary Expert: (Long Pause) Who told you not to eat that?

This dialog is a work of fiction. Any similarity between these characters and anyone you know, especially the author of this blog and his girlfriend, who may or may not be a professional chef, is entirely coincidental, ridiculous, and downright slanderous, so please stop thinking what you are thinking, unless of course you are thinking something other than what I think you are thinking and in that case, well, carry on compadre.

Wow, that was a short summer. The hottest time of the year here is April and it was hot but not the kind of crazy hot you would expect from Mexico. The rainy season, which just began, lasts until September. Now every day at 3pm huge rain drops, and frequently hail (yes, the ice kind), plummet from the sky producing a staggering amount of noise as they crash into the roof of my apartment. The drops are of such a size that you can feel each one as it hits you, instantly soaking through to your skin.

You know those huge rain-gutters they have in the parts of the mid-west where it dumps buckets every day in the summer? Yeah, those don’t exist here so everyday the streets turn into wild, rushing rivers for one hour and life sloshes to a standstill. People stand in doorways and under awnings waiting for the worst to pass.

I suppose that’s the big difference between living in a big city and a small town. Although Morelia has more people than San Francisco, it retains the soul of a small town when it comes to things like rushing around. Nothing is so important that you can’t wait one hour so you don’t get washed away in a temporary river.

It's still early to make a definitive judgement on this but the rainy season appears to consist of hot mornings, rainy afternoons, and cool, clear nights and evenings. Very nice.

I was looking through my website logs the other day, something I rarely do, when I noticed a lot of interest in the Red Cross Posters I wrote about. It looks like that post made the rounds, or at least a round, at the Red Cross offices in D.C. and California.

What a crazy world. How anyone from the Red Cross found my page is beyond me, but if you are still reading my page, hi. I hope you aren’t offended. I really do like those posters and I’m sure the U.S. based Red Cross also has an excellent sense of humor. ;-)

-n

They weren't kidding about the heat bringing out the critters.

• Smaller, still scary, scorpion in my closet. Not cool. The big one in the kitchen was very scary. A small one very close to my bed...uh, you know, more scary.
• Cockroaches. Averaging about one per night on the first floor. When startled, those suckers really get up and move. I prefer the smash with the side of the broom over the foot stomp. Still gives me the willies every time I see one. Always flip onto their backs during the final throes of death. Not sure why.
• Ants on my pillow. Gross.
• Spiders in all parts. Are they preying on or food for the scorpions?
• Unidentified, scratching sound coming from light fixture above my bed. Still working up the nerve to investigate that one.
• All kinds of random winged creatures and crickets. Yeah whatever, see previous bullets.