I took a break in my blog to spend 5 days visiting family. I figure you might not find very interesting the day in and day out details, although a few highlights might give you a flavor of family life in Mexico.
Let me start by celebrating the fact that in my family each one of the girls is an Alfa Female, so we boys can kick back and let them run the show. My sister, Noemí, has been lovingly married with my brother Armando for 38 years, and today it warms my heart to see how much love and care she has for him, and at the same time is the busy Principal of one of Monclova’s leading private schools (elementary and junior high), and the able administrator who makes sure the finances of the family are on a steady keel.
Monica, one of my nieces, is married to my nephew Armando, and is the ultimate freelancer. She is a fashion designer, with her own line every year, and is the couturier of weddings, beauty pageants, Quinceaňeras¸and any other big event that happens in town. During the pandemic she started a line of DYI stuffed bears for girls and boys, but also dove deeply into her inner self and found a calling to promote yoga, meditation, and well being. She took a course in Peru to become a leader, and for the last year has run several retreats to pass on what she has learnt. Since I was in Oaxaca she asked me for a kilo of dry cacao beans, to perform a very special cacao ceremony, so we the boys asked for a demonstration: First she roasted the beans while intoning the right mantra “Om man pad …”, then we removed the skin from the toasted beans and took turns to grind them in a molcajete while repeating “Om man pad …”, then she cooked the grinds in boiling water (more “Om man pad …”), and finally we had the best cup of cocoa you could imagine! It had lots of granules floating in it, that when you crunched with your teeth were bombs of delicious chocolate flavor.
Paulina, my other niece, is married to my other nephew Renan, is mother to two tall and sweet 17-year old boys, and is also another go getter. For her latest venture she got hold of 20 chickens, which she is raising into laying hens at a property my brother has in the outskirts of Monclova. There are several unused dog kennels there, and two of them have now been transformed into hen houses. By now she has one rooster and seven hens, with 12 other chicks that are growing fast. As if this were not enough, she just got another 50 chicks and a duck (which came mixed in with the chicks), and as the hens start laying, she plans to market the eggs. We have suggested the slogan Para Huevos los de Paulina!, but she thought it was a little crass. In the meantime the boys have been busy clearing the weeds, preparing to paint the hen house, cleaning the kennels, and pretty soon will start building the nesting boxes. As the Good Book says, the family that tends hens together stays together!
I should of course add my wonderful daughter to this distinguished list, for she is also Super Mom, loving wife, and busy veterinarian. She started her own home call vet service in January, and by now she is keeping plenty busy with Ronnie, house visits to ailing pets, and euthanasias. Her professional name is Dr. Lola, but she is also known as Dr. Death, and according to my nephew Armando she should change her name to Dr. Lola Mento!
Finally, I should not forget my sister, Norma (I actually did forget her in the first version of this blog) who has gone through several professional lives, reaching great success in each of them. She started as a Conservation Biologist, then got a Masters in Public Administration, became regional manager of one of Mexico’s leading nature conservancy organizations, then married and moved to California, where she works in a non-profit Family Center, and only three months ago got her degree as Private Accountant. She is an avid bird-watcher and the happiest person ever.
Girl Power runs strong through the family!
Besides enjoying visiting with so many talented girls, I also enjoyed silly conversations with my big bro Armando, watering the trees at my Dad’s orchard (my parents have both passed, but my brother keeps the orchard in good shape as a memorial to them), glamping with the family (and Paulina’s Mom, and Sister Lupita and her family, who are an absolute riot; Lupita is the younger version of my Tia Mina, loud, brash, and very funny), visiting with Silvia (my parents nurse), and with Mary and her grandchildren (my parents housekeeper), and eating, eating, and eating.
When we went glamping we stayed the night at the El Nogalito cabins in Cuatro Cienegas, a hard desert landscape interrupted by springs and ponds of crystalline water, gypsum sand dunes of blinding whiteness, and La Cantera or The Quarry. The Quarry is, as the name implies, a rock quarry where blocks the size of VW’s have been cut and allowed to tumble helter skelter down the slope, forming a wild labyrinth where kids used to climb and fall to their deaths. To me, the most interesting feature is that the rocks are a unique type of algal reef limestone, sometimes with interbeds of beach rock with rounded pebbles of micrite; the algal reef limestone is porous and irregular, and is highly prized as construction stone for house facades or bathrooms.
A quick dash to Saltillo allowed me to visit my elderly aunt Tia Prieta and her husband Tio Bernardo, who I had not seen since the start of the pandemia. They have aged, as we all have, but they were delighted to see me and, given that I had timed my arrival to coincide with dinner time, my Tia had once again the delight to stuff me with delicious food.
I am so happy I had this chance to see my family again, and
look forward to this coming Christmas, where we will all congregate in Huatulco
to enjoy the beach, the sun, and the joy of belonging to the best family in the
world 😊
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