And so far, the roof rack is coming in quite handy! We got to put it to use once again as we loaded up the (brasero) stand for the coals to put the comal on, and a big tank full of “pulque” a fermented drink that is made from the pencas from the maguey plant. The same kind they use for making tequila. This pulque is a thicker drink, and sort of resembles beer more, but is definitely an acquired taste. Some drink it straight and natural, others add or mix in fruity flavors! So far, the only one I’ve tried that I can have more than one taste of was mixed with coco (coconut).
We took the road from San Jose further up, in to an area called Los Ranchos, through that and into the mountains. There was some off roading and Charlena handled very well… with the exception of those few times when she just dies out… but that’s been happening, it’s something on our list we need to get checked out still! But other than that, the car did fine, and even got baptized in pulque because of the rocky bumpy road. And even though she wasn’t built to have passengers really, since we took out the back seat, she’s getting quite used to having people in the back! That board we made to level out the back is coming in handy so far!
When we got to our destination, it was this little clearing, surrounded by pine trees at the base of the mountain. Immediately all the cooks, get to the task of setting up the kitchen, and all the food, others gathered leña (firewood) to start heating the comal. And the rest of us got to finding and positioning big rocks for goal posts and splitting up teams for another cascarita! We played with all the kids until the call came “¡A comer!”… and we’d worked up a hunger by then so we all went running!
Lunch was gorditas de ava y frijol, quesadillas, tacos de chorizo, carne asada, bistek de pollo; fresh salsas, sliced pepinos in jugo de limon! What a picnic! All hot food!
We grubbed then all layed around for a bit. Then the kids said they were going to hike up to the “Virgen”. Apparently at the top of this mountain, it’s known for showing the image of the virgen. At one point there was a major rock slide, and when it settled there was an image of the Virgen de Guadalupe that was revealed. This mountain is known for it, they say. So, all full we start tagging along. We ask how long of a hike it is, and they say about a 20 minute hike!
So, after an hour of almost a straight up inclined trail - we finally reached our goal!!! Pheeeeeeeeeeeeew! Perhaps this is one way to work off all that good food we’ve been eating! This was a rough trail, but at the top was a beautiful view of all the surrounding area! We were high up there! And we got to see the Virgen!
We laughed with our guides, saying it was a 20 minute hike. Even the hike down took longer at 30 minutes. But we arrived just in time to eat at the picnic one more time.
All the kids seem to taken quite a liking to Charlena. I guess all the metal makes them think thoughts of a jungle gym, because they climb all over her!
Since we didn’t get any shopping in on Wednesday, we were still trying to get to Tenancingo to give it a try again. So we started trying to rally our group to wrap up the day. As it was, it was starting to get dark anyway, and all the drinks were out, except for a little pulque.
So, we packed it up and on the way in, stopped off at the place where they make the pulque and got to see barrels and barrels of it, in different stages of the fermenting process.
Once back in San Jose, we thanked our kind hosts and said our goodbyes.
Can you see the Virgen?
Josue and I headed off towards Tenancingo once again. Since it’s Friday night we thought we’d find a lot more happening. But as far as vendors went not so much!
But what we did find that caught Josue’s attention were what looked to be some kids dancing up top of the kiosko (gazebo) in the center of the jardin, b-boy style. So we went up top to check it out….
Sure enough it was a group of kids showing off their skills, but the thing we found most curious was that they didn’t have any music. Josue started a conversation with them and found that they are usually there on the weekend nights, and for sure every Sunday night. So we talked to them for a bit and then headed back to the car. On our way to the car, Josue was all excited and wanting to go back to hang out. I reminded him we had our music with us and our little Makita radio, so we decided to grab that and go hang out for a while.
When we got back to the centro, the kids seemed a little excited to have some music. Although, in the car, the Makita sounds loud enough, but in the middle of a town it gets drowned out easily on most songs. Still it was better than no music at all - how do you dance with no music?!
So they start showing out, and taking turns, and Josue even got in on the action and showed them some of his moves. He was so happy and seemed to be having fun. Not long after, another guy got there and he seemed to be a little more advanced, and a lot more interested in talking with Josue and learning more. A little while later, another guy got there, who seemed to be more advanced still. We kept the music going as long as we could, but the battery was going to die, since we used it for the majority of the day. Josue danced with them and talked to them, and I took a lot of pictures and gave some of the guys our cards, told them to keep an eye out on the website for their pics.
What we learned is they’re still kind of new at getting their group together, but so far their name is “B-boys Tenancingo”, but they all gather here from the surrounding towns.
We said bye to our new friends and took off towards home. That was an unexpected end to the night.
Back at home we find the family winding down to the usual tea and pan dulce, before bed.
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