I know it is Tuesday but I had a busy weekend.
Friday evening exhausted from a week of classes. I stopped detoxing and went drinking with my friend Pam.
Saturday I had a lot of homework to do but instead I went with my mother, and one of the Zapotec families I frequently write about, to a pumpkin patch. It was hilarious. A bunch of city folk driving out of the city to go ride on a wagon get taken to a pumpkin patch get a big orange squash to decorate, not eat, and then running through a corn maze, well if you weren’t used to this mid-western American culture you would think it was weird too. The family included the grandmother, her daughter age 14, grandmother’s oldest daughter and her husband and two children, grandmother’s youngest son and his wife and child, in total we were 7 adults, and 4 children. We get on the hay ride to go out to the pumpkin patch and the eldest daughter began to recount to me how they (the women) stole some of those squashes (the pumpkins) and that it was awful tasting squash and not even good in a soup. I laughed. They had thought they could cook the pumpkin the same they would a zucchini or butternut squash. They also asked me why the people were getting pumpkins to make faces out of them. I didn’t know how to explain that one. The wagon came to a stop and all the gringos rushed out to pick their big orange pumpkins, the Zapotec women pulled plastic grocery bags out of their pockets and started picking the green leafy parts (esquites) of the pumpkin vines my mother doesn’t eat the esquites but rather we eat the flower. And so my mother and I inspired by the family began to pick the pumpkin flowers. The gringos didn’t understand us not picking big orange pumpkins, and the Zapotec family didn’t understand why they would pick a squash they wouldn’t eat.
On the drive back to Columbus not more than a mile from the pumpkin farm we saw a sign “Chickens $6, Turkeys $15â€Â. We pulled over and bought two live chickens and a live turkey and for a price that was even lower than the one quoted! We put the Turkey in a large costal (sack?) and the chickens were held in their laps as I drove back to Columbus. On the ride to Columbus the family debated whether to keep the birds alive a bit longer to let them plump up or to cook them right away. In the end it was decided that they would cook them right away since there didn’t seem to be enough room in their urban two bedroom apartment with 14 people. They killed the birds that night and let the blood drain. Early in the morning the rose and made lots of soup, esquelites (tipo Oaxaca no de maiz sino de las ojas de la calabaza) and Oaxacan tortillas (in Zapoteco, Yetas) which are large, thick and communal.
It was a great feast. And my favorite little girl, Olga the five-year-old of the family told me that one of the chickens came with extra. “Extra†she explained was two fully developed eggs where found in one of the chickens, and she got to eat the eggs for breakfast!
Sunday after the feast, I picked up two CD’s at the library. One inspired pick up from Gustavo, Ozomatli and the other a generic CD titled Trinidad Carnival, Steel Bands of Trinidad and Tobago. I love steel band music. I’ll let you know what I think and keep sending music recommendations my way.
Ozo rocks!!! They’re awesome live!!!
what do you think of Ozomatli? I had seen them open for Ben Harper and picked up their CD. Fun times.
Luis, who listens to very little hip hop, had recommended Boca Floja, who he described as being a more ‘conscientious’ hip hop artist.
Channel Four in Sweden has this weird show done by Edward James Olmos called American Family. Last weeek they had the one where the members of Ozomatli appear. They gave a show plus they showed my city, Tijuana. :)