Papaya

This is our papaya tree.

It sits in the front Zen garden (and cat box).

 

I planted it from seed approximately a year and a half ago.  We have finally harvested two fruits!  The first one I blended with vanilla ice cream, a banana and milk.  It was delicious.  The second one we ate like fruit, though it tasted more like candy.  The third fruit is almost ripe.

This was grown from a local Yucatecan papaya seed.  It is not a seedless variety and I have no idea why it has no seeds.  It was delicious though, and the tree is still healthy and sprouting new fruits. 

Since the early 70's when I first started traveling through Mexico, I tried to like papaya. To me it tasted like my dad's stinky feet. Although I have never chewed on my dad's feet, my brothers used to have sniffing contests.....and I was put off papaya (among other things) forever.  Or so I thought.  I spent over 20 years in Hawaii and came to love papaya.   The best Hawaiian variety is called strawberry papaya; it's the cream of the crop! It's colorful and sweet like the papaya pictured above and not at all reminiscent of my dad.  I planted two batches of papaya seed at the same time last year, but unfortunately the strawberry papaya seeds I brought from Guatemala didn't fruit.  Or did they?

Chía Seeds

Several months back my sister-in-law sent me information about chía seeds. They are an Aztec food. She was trying to locate them in Houston, and wondered if we could find them here. At that time I couldn't. I have been keeping my eyes open for them all this time and recently found packages at...of all places...Chedraui (the Mexican WalMart). I don't usually post a blog like this, because the info below I copied from two different sources. But I thought it was blogworthy, and so here it is. When I googled chía seeds, there were noticeably more hits now than months ago, so maybe there is a rebirth of the chía seed.

Chia Seed - The Ancient Food of the Future (excerpts)

By: William Anderson http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html

"In the last twenty five years, there has been a resurrection in the definition of medicine, a resurrection that amplifies the significance of our eating habits and our lifestyle. Medicine is not only defined as a treatment for illness and disease, it is now understood to be for the prevention of illness and disease. That would mean, for example, laughter is a medicine because research found it to boost the immune system. Exercise is good medicine for its cardio-vascular stimulation, muscle toning and flexibility and expelling toxins and for giving you a feeling of well-being, all immune boosters. To express a positive attitude towards life is not only good medicine for you, it is good medicine for those in contact with you. But the most important medicine, especially for the prevention of illness and disease, is our diet. It only needs our cooperation in supplying proper hydration and the needed nutrients to effectively maintain a state of well-being.

Research has revealed that more than two thirds of all deaths in the United States are diet related. More than 50% of all deaths are caused from coronary occlusion, blockage of the blood flow to the heart and/or the brain. These are all preventable deaths according to the Journal of American Medical Association which published in 1961 that, “All coronary occlusion can be eliminated by 97% through a vegetarian diet.” Fourteen hundred American’s are dying of cancer every day. In the prestigious Advances in Cancer Research, they concluded, “At present, we have overwhelming evidence… (that) none of the risk factors for cancer is… more significant than diet and nutrition.”

Because the question of what might be the optimum diet can, at times, be emotionally charged for many people, having had a significant emotional commitment in believing they know what’s best, I would like to suspend the issues of diet and introduce you to a “super” food that all would agree on. It is known as the Chia Seed. Once valued so much that it was used as currency, this unique little seed has exceptional nutritive and structural benefits.

Chia, is familiar to most of us as a seed used for the novelty of the Chia Pet™, clay animals with sprouted Chia seeds covering their bodies. Little is known, however, of the seeds tremendous nutritional value and medicinal properties. For centuries this tiny little seed was used as a staple food by the Indians of the south west and Mexico. Known as the running food, its use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as the ancient Aztecs. It was said the Aztec warriors subsisted on the Chia seed during the conquests. The Indians of the south west would eat as little as a teaspoon full when going on a 24hr. forced march. Indians running form the Colorado River to the California coast to trade turquoise for seashells would only bring the Chia seed for their nourishment.

If you try mixing a spoonful of Chia in a glass of water and leaving it for approximately 30 minutes or so, when you return the glass will appear to contain not seeds or water, but an almost solid gelatin. This gel-forming reaction is due to the soluble fiber in the Chia. Research believe this same gel-forming phenomenon takes place in the stomach when food containing these gummy fibers, known as mucilages, are eaten. The gel that is formed in the stomach creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar.

In addition to the obvious benefits for diabetics, this slowing in the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar offers the ability for creating endurance. Carbohydrates are the fuel for energy in our bodies. Prolonging their conversion into sugar stabilizes metabolic changes, diminishing the surges of highs and lows creating a longer duration in their fueling effects.

One of the exceptional qualities of the Chia seed is its hydrophilic properties, having the ability to absorb more than 12 times its weigh in water. Its ability to hold on to water offers the ability to prolong hydration. Fluids and electrolytes provide the environment that supports the life of all the body’s cells. Their concentration and composition are regulated to remain as constant as possible. With Chia seeds, you retain moisture, regulate, more efficiently, the bodies absorption of nutrients and body fluids. Because there is a greater efficiency in the utilization of body fluids, the electrolyte balance is maintained.

..................................................................................Chia, as an ingredient, is a dieters dream food. There are limitless ways to incorporate the Chia seed into your diet. Chia must be prepared with pure water before using recipes. The seed will absorb 9 times it’s weight in water in less than 10 minutes and is very simple to prepare.


Food Extender/Calorie Displacer: The optimum ratio of water to seed, for most recipes, is 9 part water to 1 part seed. One pound if seed will make 10 pounds of Chia gel. This is the most unique structural quality of the Chia seed. The seed’s hydrophilic (water absorbing) saturated cells hold the water, so when it is mixed with foods, it displaces calories and fat without diluting flavor. In fact, I have found that because Chia gel displaces rather than dilutes, it creates more surface area and can actually enhance the flavor rather than dilute it. Chia gel also works as a fat replacer for many recipes.


Making Chia Gel (9to1 ratio): Put water in a sealable plastic container and slowly pour seed into water while briskly mixing with a wire whisk. This process will avoid any clumping of the seed. Wait a couple of minutes, whisk again and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk again before using or storing in refrigerator (Gel will keep up to 2 weeks). You can add this mix to jams, jellies, hot or cold cereals, yogurts, mustard, catsup, tarter sauce, BBQ sauce, etc.. Add the gel, between 50% to 75% by volume, to any of the non-bake mentioned foods, mix well and taste. You will notice a very smooth texture with the integrity of the flavour intact. In addition to adding up to 50% to 75% more volume to the foods used, you have displaced calories and fat by incorporating an ingredient that is 90% water. Use as a fat replacer, for energy and endurance, or for added great taste, buy substituting the oil in your breads with Chia gel. Top your favorite bread dough before baking with Chia gel (for toping on baked goods, breads, cookies, piecrust, etc., reduce the water ration to 8 parts water to 1 part Chia seed) for added shelf life.


There are additional benefits from the Chia seed aside from the nutritive enhancements when used as an ingredient. It was also used by the Indians and missionaries as a poultice for gunshot wounds and other serious injuries. They would pack the wounds with Chia seeds to avoid infections and promote haling. If you place a seed or two in your eyes it will clean your eyes and will also help to clear up any infections. There is a wealth of benefits beyond the information outlined in this article and treasure-trove of benefits yet to be discovered. Chia seed, having a qualitatively unique situational richness along with a profound nutritive profile is one of man’s most useful and beneficial foods and is destined to be the Ancient Food of the Future."

15 Facts About Chia Seeds http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/15-facts-about-chia-seeds.html

When you think of the word "chia" you probably think of chia pets. That's what came to mind when I first heard about it (for good reason - chia pets are grown with chia seeds). I didn't pay much attention to it and walked by the bags of it for sale in Whole Foods without a second thought. It turns out I was walking past a newly rediscovered "superfood."

I say "rediscovered" because chia was prized as a superfood for thousands of years before it was nearly forgotten.

Here are 15 facts I found out about chia:

The chia plant (Salvia hispanica), sometimes referred to as chia sage, originated in the central valley of Mexico and is a member of the mint family.

Records indicate chia seeds were used as a food source as far back as 3500 B.C.

It was the third most important crop for the Aztecs, who recognized it as a "superfood" and prized it so highly that it was often used as currency.

Aztec warriors and runners are believed to have sustained themselves for an entire day on just a tablespoon of chia.

After the Spanish conquest, chia seed nearly disappeared as the Spaniards banned foods that were linked in any way to Aztec religion or tradition and virtually wiped out the complex agricultural system established by the Aztecs in order to grow foods that were popular in Spain instead.

The word chia is derived from the Aztec word chian, which means "oily."

The name of the Mexican state of Chiapas, originally called Chiapan, translates loosely to "river where the chia sage grows."

According to Aztec mythology, chia seed came from the nose of the maize god, Cinteotl.

The Chumash Indians of California also cultivated chia and prized it for its beneficial properties.
This variety of chia is often referred to as chia sage or California chia.

Chia seeds have more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other plant food, including flax seeds.

Chia seeds are about 20% protein.

When soaked in water for 30 minutes, chia seeds form a thick gel. This gel also forms in the stomach when chia seeds are consumed. That sounds bad, but researchers believe it actually slows down the rate at which digestive enzymes turn carbs into sugar, making it especially beneficial for diabetics and others with blood sugar issues.

The popular Mexican drink chia fresca is made by soaking chia seeds in water until they become gelatinous and then adding sugar and lemon or lime juice.

Chia is hydrophilic and can absorb more than 12 times its weight in water. This makes it helpful in maintaining body hydration, something that is especially beneficial for athletes who need to remain hydrated during races and endurance activities.

Chia seeds are so high in antioxidants that they do not spoil easily and can be stored for long periods, unlike flax seeds.

Heaven on a Spoon: Mayan Chocolate Ice Cream

My favorite ice cream is Hagendaaz MAYAN CHOCOLATE, but they don't sell it here. On occasion I treat myself to a DULCE DE LECHE, but it is difficult to get ice cream home without it completely melting first. When refrozen it is icy and loses that creaminess I crave.

I have tried a few local brands of chocolate ice cream, but they just weren't very chocolaty. The other day at Chedraui I noticed Nestle Abuelita CHOCOLATE CON CANELA. That is chocolate with cinnamon, just like the Hagendaaz Mayan Chocolate. Chocolate Abuelita is a favored brand of chocolate here. It is packaged in octagonal (or are they hexagons?) discs and is blended with hot milk to make hot chocolate. When I saw the brand name on ice cream, I thought it was worth a try.

It is chocolatey, cinnamony, creamy....truly heaven on a spoon. Look for it in your favorite store and break that diet just once, give it the taste test.

Chocolate Tequila

There was a buy two - get one free oferta at the supermarket Sunday, and TEQUILADOR tequila was one of the specials. The bottles are beautiful, and we found the tequila to be top quality. We bought one white tequila, one gold reposado, and one Chocolate tequila.

The chocolate tequila reminds me of Bailey's Irish Cream; in consistency, not flavor. It was very tasty as a shooter or a sipper. It is 100% agave combined with Belgian chocolate, 17% alcohol content. Absolutely delicious. I just poured a taste tester to write this description. I think it would be good poured over ice, or mixed with kahlua and maybe a tad more tequila.

This was not an inexpensive extravagance, but it was a worthwhile one. When we got home from buying half the supermarket (we were hungry, breaking rule #1 of grocery shopping: always shop after eating, not before) we decided to taste the chocolate liqueur.

The new roommate needed an attitude adjustment to overcome computer frustrations as well as to celebrate her first two weeks immersed in the bizarre life we lead in Mérida...extreme heat, lots of people, weird black food, Spanish TV, etc. Pablo received a disturbing phone call while we were driving home from the store, and I was just in the mood to catch a good buzz. I too had been stressed out all week. So we broke into the gold tequila. It was smooth and delicious. Before we sucked that dry, I put it away and broke out the white bottle. It seemed pretty tasty, and it was definitely doing the trick. I had to make a phone call and was blabbering for about an hour in another room away from the tequila, or the difference of another 4 or 5 shots consumed by Pablo and Anonymous roommate. We laughed, told stories, and got to know each other better. Pablo's English improved immensely as roommate's Spanish flowed more fluently. We were dancing in the dining room. We had a great time. Then Pablo hit the hammock and was fast asleep, or passed out, depending on your assessment of the situation. Anonymous roommate went upstairs, not necessarily remembering the end of the fiesta the next morning. I went to bed too, planning to watch a midnight CSI without seeing even the opening scene.

We all suffered the next day, but the hangover of quality poison! My stomach didn't bother me at all, I had NO headache, and the only ill effects I felt were an insatiable hunger, thirst and approximately three brain cells in operation. I was able to do my daily chores, of which there are many right now with the cat sitting jobs besides the normal chaos of swim school. Luckily for us, we don't drink much alcohol and very rarely get bombed. But the full moon was rising and we had some bonding to do. We continued bonding with our mutual hangovers later. After a three hour nap in the hammock and another bowl of Midwestern chicken stew, I felt human again. Now it is 2am and I am fully recouperated and my mind is chock full of things I would like to post here. Onward nature lovers and crazy fun loving adventurers! (Onward Christian soldiers doesn't work for me.)

Next food item I have to try will be from the authentic Yucatecan Lebanese Taquería. Maybe we should take the chocolate tequila with us....it all makes about the same amount of sense to my taste feelers.

Pork and Beans Yucatecan Style

I really wanted to call this blog PIG'S ASS AND BLACK BEANS IN CIGARETTE BUTT SAUCE but I thought no one would want the recipe. So just bear with me.

This photo is actually Pork and Beans With Relleno Negro. I don't think it looks extremely appetizing, but it wasn't its appearance that put me off.

It might surprise you to learn that pork and beans is a popular Yucatecan entrée, that is, if you don't live here. Chunks of lean pork (I use pork butt) are cooked with black beans, onions, garlic, epazote, habanero, and other spices. Once prepared, I toss in tostadas with a handful of diced raw onion and cilantro. It is one of my favorite dishes.

People can be funny about black food. When we were little our Mom prepared a black soup. She told us it was chocolate soup and we loved it! The fact is it was duck blood soup, or czarnina. I'm sure it is an aquired taste, only acquired via Polish genes and the brainwashing of young and impressionable children. We ate other black foods, like kishka, which was made of pig's blood. I have seen blood sausage here, but I have already UNacquired a taste for that. I like my black bread, I have even tasted black tortillas in the Lacandon jungle made from black corn. And though not a huge fan, I have eaten caviar. Let's not forget mole which is black, delicious, and it really is made with chocolate. Black food can be great.

Ok, I digress. The point is, black food doesn't necessarily put me off. Two weeks ago, my housekeeper Maria made us some POLLO RELLENO NEGRO (Chicken with black relleno sauce). She brought the sauce from her pueblo, after it underwent a labor intensive preparation. They burn the shit out of a bunch of chiles and I am afraid to ask what they mix the chile ashes with, but the end product is a thick black substance consisting primarily of chile ashes. Maria cut pieces of chicken into the black sauce. This dish also calls for meatballs. Weird meatballs. She separated the hard boiled yolks from the whites. Leaving the yolks intact, she mixed raw hamburger with the chopped egg whites and patted them around the yolks to make meatballs. Those went into the stew with the chicken. It was a particularly thick and rich sauce, which we ate with chile habanero and hot corn tortillas. It was good, a little too rich for me, but good.

Maria left some of the relleno negro sauce in the freezer to use another time. I had no idea that the time would arrive as soon as the following week. She said she'd prepare pork and beans for lunch on Thursday . I was excited and waited till early afternoon to eat so I could eat a lot. Well, she made pork and beans all right, but she threw in that relleno negro sauce. Beans, when cooked correctly, are thick by themselves. The relleno sauce transformed the dish into black paste that tasted of cigarette butts. I don't know what went wrong with this dish, but I found it 100% inedible. I gagged on the first bite. I went hungry that day because my taste buds went on strike. My roommate Kris, who loved the chicken the week before, struggled through a plate of frijoles con puerco relleno negro, and then fessed up that it didn't taste good, nor did it sit well with her digestive system.

When even Pablo admitted it tasted horrible and no one had the nerve to eat it three days later, we started joking around. I called it Pig's Ass and Black Beans in Cigarette Butt Sauce. Then we drank some tequila and I took a photo to show you how it really tasted.

Let me know if you want the recipe.

A Good Cup of Coffee

My thoughtful and wonderful friend Maxine recently sent me 100% pure Kona coffee......Kunitake Farms, my favorite, maybe because the coffee Maxine and Larry Kunitake send has been tended to with love since the beans first sprouted on their trees. Coffee from the Big Island of Hawaii is always a welcomed gourmet treat, but this family's coffee is truly delicious.

I learned a lot about coffee in Kona when Max and I worked together roasting, packaging, and delivering coffee. We even had to do some of the field work, like hulling, grading, raking the coffee as it was drying, or put it through the coffee cherry washing machine-like process. (I don't know the technical terms, and if I stop and research them I will end up writing a 10 page story about some other topic. I sat down to write THIS and instead got sidetracked writing a long detailed story about the first times I visited my friend Rudy's coffee plantation in Chiapas. Sometimes this gift of gab is a curse.)



Left: Medium roast coffee from Chiapas. Right: dark roast Kona coffee.


Even if you don't know much about coffee, you would have to admit the one on the right is more appetizing. There are no off color beans. They are uniform in size. This is a batch of dark roasted Kona coffee, and should be darker than the Chiapan coffee on the left. What is inferior about the Chiapan coffee is the non-uniformity of the beans, the presence of off-colored beans which will be bitter, and lots of paper parchment that doesn't do harm but is not flavor enhancing either. Darker roasts heat up the coffee to a higher temperature and often lose their perfect shape during little explosions. I learned that when I roasted my little batch in the oven and thought I'd put popcorn in there.

The coffee grown in both Chiapas, México, and Kona,Hawaii is either Arabe (Arabic in English) or Márago(don't know English equivalent). These plants prefer deep dark volcanic soil, tropical yet mountainous conditions, and some giant shade trees to allow them some afternoon rest from the strong sunshine they enjoy in the morning. (Want a hammock and a beer with that?) Both Chiapas and Kona have excellent growing conditions and produce world class coffee. There are several premium coffee producers worldwide, Jamaica and Africa are two fine examples, but this blog is only about what I have at home today. It is a learning comparison, not a criticism. There is another type of coffee called Robusta that grows in lower elevations, nearer to the sea, and is harvested by machines. If I were to criticize any coffee, it would be this less flavorful improperly processed one. You know, the Folgers or worse, Nescafé, of the coffee world.

Starting from the field, coffee cherries have to be picked from the trees as they ripen. If a branch is stripped of all its beans, the green beans are added to the harvest. Unripened green beens are bitter. Only the ripest reddest cherries should be artfully plucked from the branches. This means you have to harvest the same tree over and over throughout picking season. There were coffee trees around the old coffee shack where we lived in Holualoa (Kona slopes). I decided one day to pick coffee. It took me five hours to fill one 5 gallon bucket. I was exhausted and scratched up. I got impatient picking the individual beans and took a lot of breaks. It's hard work, to put it mildly.

The coffee has to be washed to remove the outer layer, the cherry. Inside is the bean with its protective hull. Once washed of the somewhat slimy cherry, the beans are spread out to dry. In Kona the "coffee shacks" are so called because of their hoshidanas, sliding rooftops that slide over the coffee to protect it from the afternoon rains. It took me days to remove the cherries from my bucket, and the acid from the outer layer and constant popping the cherries, so to speak, left my fingers red and numb.

Once dried, the dried skin covering the bean has to be removed by a hulling machine. When I picked my own coffee that ONE time, I removed the hulls myself. They are crispy and the process left my red, numbed fingertips ripped apart and raw. Part of that process is removing the parchment, or paper thin flakes that remain on the bean. The machine is much more efficient in removing the parchment than blowing on it through a colandar.

From there the beans are graded. The grading machine reminded me of the old game Mouse Trap. I'd drop the beans into a bin at the top and they'd shimmy down a belt with different size holes. Beans would drop into bins by size, thus grading the coffee. They have different classifications in different countries, but Kona coffee is graded as Superior, #1 bean, #2 bean, prime and peaberry. Superior and #1 are the most sought after. Prime is coffee that will be sold ground, it is not shapely and beautiful to look at. Peaberry is a special bean! Most coffee beans are semi-ovals, I guess you could say, and peaberries are the whole beans found at the end of each cluster on the tree. Some folks prefer peaberry to any other grade, and they pay dearly for the luxury.

Below are #1 Kona beans. Before getting to this stage they were sorted and bagged as unroasted "green" coffee and finally shipped, stored or roasted. Many fancy names are given to coffee roasts. No matter what you call it, you basically are asking for a light, medium or dark roast.

These beans are a Kona medium roast and a #1 coffee bean.





This is what is called a family roast. The coffee is all great, but it is not graded as carefully. There are peaberries, superior beans, #1s, and an occasional odd sized piece. Still it is quality coffee processed carefully, clean, fresh and delectable.



The Chiapan coffee below I would also call a family roast. It is a light roast. Often that leaves some of the parchment behind that blows off in further roasting. I usually toss the off-color beans and I find the taste is cup-worthy. I am happy to have access to quality coffee at a reasonable price, and there is no complaint here. It is just that the difference in processing is very noticeable and I thought this a good opportunity to share some info about that cuppa' jo' that we take for granted most of the time. 100 lbs. of picked coffee yields 16 pounds of roasted coffee. It is a labor intensive art. If I remember correctly, my weeks of toiling and growing new fingertips yielded me about a half a pound of kona java.

Kona coffee sells for an average of $25 a pound. Chiapan coffee goes for 90 pesos ($6.77 US at today's rate) for a kilo (2.2 lbs.) See? It's all good. A gift of gold on occasion from Kona and quality locally grown coffee at a reasonable price...they even deliver! All I want is a tasty and strong cup, make that two, to get the day going right.....

Botana

Mike, Lin and Pablo enjoying a Friday afternoon cocktail and some botana at Los Barriles.

Most places have an entire band, but these two performers provided a pleasant ambiance. As you can see the duo did not draw in huge crowds.

When I lived in the Yucatán in the 80's, I used to come to Mérida for vacation. One of the unique features I remember from several visits to the city are the restaurants that serve up tons of botana. I would describe "botana" as samplings of lots of different dishes. In Hawaii we call them pupus.

There is Eladio's, which now boasts 9 locations. There is Los Henequenes, and I know of at least two of them. Last week we tried Los Barriles. These are mostly daytime restaurants. They are great places to have any kind of get together and often you see people celebrating something inside. The Yucatecans are fond of eating, drinking, music and dancing, and by mid afternoon most seats are occupied. They usually have two live bands that rotate so that there is no lull in the dancing music.

Once you are seated, your drink order is taken. In "the old days" the table would decide whether they wanted rum, tequila or brandy and a bottle would be set on the table with several cokes and mineral waters so each person could make his own cocktails. Today they have extensive bar options, including the fufu drinks so popular among tourists. Before your drinks arrive, several waiters bring plate after plate of botana. The standard fare is tortilla chips and salsa, guacamole, refried black beans, a local style potato salad made with onion, cilantro and lime juice. Also popular are kibis, the Lebanese fried finger hummus. At Los Barriles, they brought us papadzotes (rolled tacos of scrambled eggs and chaya, a local green), chicken in escabeche, tamalitos, tamales, rice with vegetables, empanadas, sopes, and chile verde. That was with the first drink. If you sit there drinking, they bring out more plates with new items. They want you to keep on drinking, but they like to see you nibble at the same time. The drinks are a little more expensive in these restaurants, but well worth the "free" meal you get.

This botana was brought to us at Viña del Mar in Progreso, where we went for mariscos after our trip to Xcambo last week. The orange is potato salad, the black refried beans, one salbute covered in red onions, and a snail ceviche. This was not conch, I think it was some kind of sea snail. It is very common to have a table full of snacks to accompany your main dish.

Of course I ordered the whole fried fish again. This is boquinete, or hogfish. Mouthwatering and delicioso! It was another beautiful day in paradise so I took a photo from our table looking out at the Gulf of Mexico.

Progreso or Puerto Yucatán?

This is the port of Progreso, 30 miles north of Mérida. Once a sleepy fishing village, it now boasts a population of around 50,000. The photo above was taken on Friday, November 15, 2008 at 11am. It was a beautiful day with the sky and the Gulf of México dueling for the deepest shades of blue.


This is Puerto Yucatán. Progreso takes on a new name and personality on cruise ship days. The cruise ships use made up names for their ports of call. As you can see, vendors line the streets, tourists walk, talk and gawk. This photo was taken in August, 2007. Mexican Nationals also flock to Progreso during the summer vacation months.

Looking down the sea wall, or malecon, from east to west. In the distance you can see the 7 km pier. It is so long you need binoculars to see how many ships might be out at its dock.

The cake house. This is the former beach home of famous Mexican actor/singer Pedro Infante.
I look at this house and wonder, why would you build a giant cake for a house? Sometimes we just sit across the street and stare at it. Was the designer on mushrooms or acid?

We often go to Eladio's Restaurant pbecause they have live music in the afternoons, they bring us a variety of tasty botana (snacks like fish ceviche, refried beans, guacamole, salsa, cucumber salad, potato salad, pumpkin seed salsa, kibis, taquitos, etc...), the Negra Modelos are icy cold, and the whole fried fish is fresh and delicious. At Eladio's they cater to the cruise ship crowd, so you can always find Chiapan girls selling clothing. Rosa, above, was a friendly Tzotzil girl from San Juan Chamula, who sold us some new cotton shirts and allowed me to photograph her. We also bought some pirated DVDs from a vendor who was trying to learn a few words of English. "I have the best movies in English," he finally managed to pronounce and remember. Then he sold us Madagascar 2 (which was in Russian!) and a few other new releases. Most of the DVDs have actual recordings, and only once did I get one that was filmed in the theater with the people coughing and/or walking around.

Nothing like fresh mero (grouper) or hogfish (boquinete) seaside. One of my favorite meals.

Doesn't Pablo have a beautiful smile? Well, he is looking over the rail at the scene below. It was a relaxing, peaceful brunch. We like to go to Progreso often just to breathe the salt air and feel the cooling Gulf breeze.