Pica

When this was put on the table, the waiter made sure to make eye contact with me, the obvious gringo, and say very seriously, "Pica."


Yucatecan food is typically not terribly hot as compared to say Northern Mexican cuisine (or Southern Texas food for that matter). The one exception to this rule, though, seems to be Yucatecan salsas. This particular batch of salsa was basically just shredded habanero chiles and is among the more ferociously hot things I have ever put in my mouth. I imagine the stern warning was directed at me because once upon a time some poor unsuspecting German tourist mistook the small dish for carrots or coleslaw and ate a big forkful. It does look mostly harmless. I liked the heat, but I also appreciated the warning too.

Laguna Bacalar

Last weekend was spent cooling off on the shores of the redonkulously blue and beautiful Laguna Bacalar.



It has all the shades of turquoise water found in the Caribbean, but in a fresh water lake. No salt. No rip tides. No sharks. And the cool water is so clear it's almost invisible when you swim out into it. This was taken off the pier looking down through about three feet of water. There's water in the picture. Honest.



There's a small community of American expats that have washed up on the shores of Laguna Bacalar and they all seem very happy with life. The food was good too. Here's what the pescado frito looked like. I was honestly expecting something more like fish and chips. This was better.



We're planning a return visit soon. This has been everyone's favorite spot so far on the trip. And as it starts to get hotter here, I think we may need some more lake time.

Colorful Repast

A colorful late morning meal outdoors near the bay at the university's cafeteria after a morning spent dutifully writing in the library. Yum!



enchiladas de molé



agua de sandia -- watermelon juice.

Nescafé

I´ve started writing. But I´ve run into one completely unexpected difficulty here. There is no coffee.

I seem to be living in one of the few small pockets in Latin America where people don´t really drink coffee. It´s not that coffee is completely absent. You can order it in a restaurant. It´s not unknown. It´s more that no one really cares about their coffee. And finding things such as coffee filters can be difficult. Since going without coffee isn´t really an option for me, I´ve been reduced to drinking instant coffee. Nescafé is easy to find. It even seems to be what some of the restaurants serve.

The truly upsetting thing about this whole situation, however, is discovering that I don´t mind instant coffee. I like the Nescafé just fine. This has shattered my self image as someone who knows and appreciates good coffee. Perhaps there have been great strides in instant coffee technology in recent decades of which I am unaware. Or perhaps I really can´t tell good coffee from bad. In any case, I may just surrender and buy a jar of Nescafé for my office when I get home.

Piña Con Chile

My most interesting taste adventure to date - a paleta de piña con chile. This would be a pineapple popsicle with chili powder and big chunks of fresh pineapple frozen inside. Wonderful!