SHOPPING FOR DINNER

Last night we were communicating via Internet with our comadre, Eliza. Eliza is the mother of our godchild, Robertito. She told us that Robertito has his own email address. So this morning, we emailed him in Spanish using a translator program on our computer. We also added him to instant messenger live.


The day begins early here, about 8:15. We know it’s time to rise when the housekeeper arrives. Every morning while we are having our coffee and keeping up-to-date on worldly news, Sam’s Facebook and USA Today, we also decide what we would like to do for the day. Today, we wanted to find a store that sells fresh meat. Last night, we received a store name from Marielena, and we thought we would check it out. We also wanted to find a small tienda (store) in our barrio (neighborhood) that sells organic fruits and vegetables as well as some meats. Sam also wanted to find a highly recommended restaurant, Catedral.

After speaking our best Spanish with Elpedia (our housekeeper), she gave us directions to the organic tienda. So about 10:30 a.m., we left for our daily adventure. Our first stop was the organic store. We found it pretty quickly. It is just across from the Inglesia (church), San Matias Jalatlaco. We went inside and found it to be very clean. They had some fresh organic produce. Bob spoke to the lady in Spanish about the organic meats. She had rabbit, chicken and lamb (shoulders, leg and ribs). We looked around and thanked her for her time.

We have all the time in the world, so we can shop around and decide what and where we want to purchase our food. So, the next stop would be the tienda called, Carnes de Oaxaca. Once again, because we studied our map, we found it pretty quickly. You see, we don’t like to pull the map out on the street. We don’t want to look like we don’t know where we are going. Anyway, this carneceria (butcher shop) was disappointing. The lady was very nice but we decided to pass. Maybe some other day we will try it again.

Now we were off to find the restaurant, Catedral. This was also an easy task. We went inside and were very impressed with the restaurant. They were advertising a dinner special for, “Cena de Navidad”…Christmas Dinner. Here the big Christmas celebration is on Christmas Eve. They have a set menu with a set price. We took the information, and we were on our way.

On our way where? Well, we decided to see what was happening in the zocalo (town square). When we got to the zocalo, we took a seat and just watched all the people coming and going. We also looked over the information for “Cena de Navidad”. We decided that this is something we would like to do. On our way back to the house, we will stop and make reservations.

We continued to walk around the zocalo. We made a great find. We found the public banos (bathrooms). They are actually under the zocalo fountain. Sam was so excited. For two pesos, she can use the restroom and wash her hands. They also give you a few sheets of toilet paper when you pay your pesos. Now, we can drink all the water we want when we are out walking around. It is very important to stay hydrated. Now that Sam was refreshed, it was time for lunch. We found some local vendors, also located under the fountain, selling pressed sandwiches (tortas), like a Panini. We shared a torta (jamon, queso, aguacate, jalapeno, etc.) and a diet coke. There were two vendors next to each other (about one inch apart) selling the same things. They both wanted our business. We told the other vendor that we would be back and next time it was his turn for our business. Everyone is always very nice and friendly. The torta was good. The price was better.

Along our journey home, we stopped at Catedral and made our reservations for Christmas Eve dinner. We will be eating out on the patio at a nice table for two. We were able to select the table. We met the waiter we will have that night; his name is Raphael. We’ll see!

Our next stop was the organic tienda. We decided to purchase half a chicken for dinner. We also bought some fresh spinach. The leg of lamb looked really good but it was way too much for the two of us. We made a couple of other small stops…looking at various restaurants in the area. We also purchased corn starch (Maizena). We will definitely be eating at some of the restaurants later in the week.

When we got home, we had a very nice surprise. Robertito had sent us an instant message about an hour earlier. We answered him and he was still online. We chatted with him for about 45 minutes. It made our day. It made his day as well, we are sure.

Maybe tomorrow we will give you a tour of our home. Does anyone have any questions?