La Presa 2

Here are a couple of views of the actual river where it's been dammed. The water level is very low right now. I've been here before when it was so high it was all underwater. It's just beautiful no matter what, though. Very little to complain about. Except.
It was very hot. And in the plastic seats at the restaurant I did have swamp-ass so bad it looked like I'd been sitting in a puddle. Ugh.

La Presa

Homero invited us to go to the presa (the dam) that is the water source for Tuxtepec. He has a car so we went. We drove there, took fab pickies, ate a great meal, and came home stuffed and happy. The scenery around Tuxtepec is always breathtaking.

Tuxtepepper

This cute little shop is on the way home from the Tux van. We walk by it almost every day. This is where Maggie buys her coffee and I usually buy my garlic. I think I'm gonna start buying my granola there too.
But I want to talk a minute about peppers. Seeing the big bins of peppers everywhere here, makes me think that a lot of women are doing a lot of cooking with these peppers. And I have no idea how or what they are making.
I wish I knew.
And I wish I could cook something with them.
These peppers make me daydream of spicy, beautiful, mouthwatering, dishes. Of traditional kitchens and talaveraware and pots of beans steaming in pottery cookers.
It just seems a shame that I will probably always wonder about them.
Maybe one day I'll have a chance to find out what they do with them and what they taste like. Or maybe I wouldn't like it.

Tortillas in Tepoztlan

I want to write about tortillas. There is a trend in Mexican tortillerias to add flour to the corn meal, adulterating the tortillas. This is such a problem that I have seen many tortillerias with signs proclaiming their tortillas free from additives, "100% puro maiz!"
In the market in Tepoztlan, though, they do things the old fashioned way. You can go there and buy handmade, real, 100% corn tortillas, for about 9 pesos/dozen. I ate there one day, when I was staying with Mariana for those 10 hideous days. And I took these pictures for posterity. Actually, at this stall I ate one sope and one quesadilla. They were fantastic.

A Taste of India in Luxor

We met Dani and Katja and Dr. Onstine at this Indian Restaurant I believe called "A Taste of India" and the food was very very good. Luxor was decked out for Christmas so I had to get this picture from a tiny park-like area beside the road. Like Alice in Wonderland on acid in a happy kind of way. I love it, love it, love it!!!!

More Casa Italia

Some more views from and of the Casa Italia.
The Casa is always prepared for a party, apparently :)
AJ got a room with a balcony. I just got a window. But whatever, it's all cool really. He has more mosquitoes. Not that I want him to have mosquitoes. I want him to slay them all. DO they do any good? I guess some things eat them, but not enough things eat them, I think, for them to be worth their price in blood and agony. The mosquitoes in Egypt seem to be of a particularly martial variety. But there are NO bedbugs here! Yay!!!
And we finally got the password so we can use the wireless internet, so all is good now. And I dance on the roof in the afternoons. And if you are (un)fortunate enough to have ever seen me dance, you might appreciate the full hilarity and fun-ness of that. If you haven't seen me dance, you have missed out in life. So you won't be deprived, here you go:http://jennywinnywhiney.blogspot.com/2006/12/dancing.html
I have many skills, but I never said I could do everything.

Casa Italia Arrival

We are officially part of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Luxor since we are working in their tomb. So, we get to stay in the Casa Italiana. It is fabulous and has a an awesome staff with a chef who is either magically great or I am too used to my own crappy food. I had reached a point, I thought where I was actually making good food. Then I came here. And tasted the culinary masterpieces of Abdul Nassar. Now I am abashed and humbled.
Aside from the food, which I could rave about for days, the house itself is cool. It is on the edge of the desert with a gorgeous view of the mountains that surround the Valley of the Kings. We can't actually see the necropolis, but we can see the buses going in and out and the mountains around here and the desert are beautiful.
And the flatware is all printed with the Casa Italia logo which is totally cool.

More pictures at Dawn's

More San Giving Day pictures at Dawn's. These were before I jumped on the trampoline. Don't worry. I'll post those. I didn't throw up.

More Camel Riding

I met Samia at the Sufi dance and going camel riding was her idea. She organized the trip and it was totally great fun! We brought Ragab's guitar and a couple of Smaia's friends, Mahmoud and Ahmed, and then rode camels for hours and hours then watched the light show at the pyramids after dark (from an empty rooftop of a nearby house) and then we all went for koshary later.

Egyptian food

Here is my favorite food so far in Egypt. It's called kushari.

Blues Boogie Cafe

I think it's called the Blues Boogie Cafe. It's on Beale St. and the food is decent (being a vegetarian it's hard for me to tell, but they have fair salads). And the band was good.

Natalie's Visit

My friend Natalie lives in Texas and her dad lives in Chattanooga, TN. Memphis is conveniently in-between, so she stopped here on the drive there and on the way back. It was so much fun, hanging out with Natalie again. We were at college together in the 80s in Mobile at the University of South Alabama. I took her on what's quickly becoming the standard Jenny-Winny-Whiney tour of Memphis: Peabody ducks, Beale Street bars, Midtown nightlife and House of Mews. I never realize how much I miss Natalie till I get to see her. She's one of the most fun people I know and she laughs really loud.
Fortunately, I have to go to Dallas this spring and I can visit her then.

Doctor Luis - Part IV

After the first part of the ceremony we all went, along with Rodrigo's family, to a fast-food burrito place for a quick lunch before the second ceremony. I was only able to get one or two good pictures at the second ceremony. Luis' other brother Alfredo couldn't come, but he and his wife Lily sent a cake. The k9 boys couldn't keep their little eyes off of it.

The Beauty Shop Restaurant

Here is Raymond's crab plate. I can't remember the name of it. All of the food here was fabulous.

The Throne

Or...the booth of the King.

The Arcade Diner, again

Here we are in the very same booth where once upon a time Elvis sat, scarfing eggs and sausages. We are trying to mimic the Elvis snarl. Poor Jenny and Ginger and Raymond. They ARE from the south. Bless their hearts.