Veracruz, Mexico: My favourite things

First I’d like to apologize for the delay in this blog post. I have been in Mexico for the past week and the internet has been very unreliable. I was generally not able to connect for more than a couple minutes at a time before being disconnected, so I’ve needed to wait until better internet before posting my Mexico entries.

On May 30th I left Lima, Peru to fly to Veracruz, Mexico. This ended my South America portion of my travels, and began my week visiting my family in Mexico. It was bittersweet. I had loved my time in Peru, and I was not yet ready to say goodbye to such an amazing country! I felt like I had only seen the tip if the iceberg and I had wanted to stay to discover so much more. I also had an amazing time with my Contiki group for the duration of my 25 day tour through South America, and I had a hard time saying goodbye to them!

At the same time, I hadn’t seen my family in Mexico for 2 years and I was very much looking forward to spending time with them. In addition, my time in Peru, Argentina and Brazil, although amazing, was not relaxing! I was constantly on the move, touring different cities and sites, so my body was very ready for a week with family in Mexico where I knew I would be able to relax, eat good food and go to the beach!

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Mexico City from Lima (before changing planes and continuing on to Veracruz) was that everyone was searched by dogs! As we stepped off the plane there was a trained dog waiting for us and it smelled each and every passenger! It thoroughly smelled me and my carry-on bags. Then as I was waiting for my luggage I noticed that behind the conveyor belt there were dogs smelling each luggage before the bags came out to the passengers! I’m not sure if this is a new process used by the Mexican authorities for everyone, or if this was special treatment for my plane and other planes coming from South America!

My time in Mexico was spent mainly relaxing with family and eating really good food, and so I wanted to take this blog post to talk about some of my favourite things from whenever I visit Mexico.

The Beach - Playa Chachalacas: my grandmother lives about 15 minutes from the Chachalacas beach, which is a very large beach, mainly used by locals and tourists from different parts of Mexico. I love going there, and I have been going to that same beach since I was a child. I love that it’s not glamourized by touristy shops and attractions. It’s the perfect place to find beautiful sea shells and tan in the sun without fighting for a good spot in the sand.

But my favourite part of going to the beach is that you can get fresh, cold coconuts brought to your table! You order the coconuts from a restaurant, and they will chop the top off so you drink the coconut milk right out of the coconut. Once you are finished, they will cut the coconut open, scoop out the meat and bring it to you on a plate with chilli powder and lime. It is delicious!

My Grandmother’s House: My grandmother lives in Cardel, which is about 45 minutes from the city of Veracruz, within the state of Veracruz. Most of the houses there have high walls surrounding the property, to protect the property from theft. I love my grandmother’s house, once you enter the high walls of the property it’s very peaceful inside. The garden has lots of flowers and trees, and the house is scattered with family photos, and you can always find delicious Mexican food in the kitchen! Even the outer walls to enter the property are nice, as they are covered in vines:

Some photos from the garden:

 

The food. Whenever people find out I’m Mexican they always ask me what kind of Mexican food they should order in restaurants, or what my favourite dishes are. And I always have trouble answering because my favourite Mexican foods aren’t necessarily dishes that can be made in the kitchen, or ordered in a restaurant, they are foods that remind me of my time in Mexico growing up. I’ve listed a few of them below, and they truly are amazing!

• Rice pudding: my grandmother makes the best rice pudding you will ever taste. I’ve stopped buying rice pudding in stores or ordering it at restaurants because I’m always disappointed that it is not nearly as good as my grandmother’s rice pudding! 
• Fried banana’s with cheese: my grandmother makes the most amazing dish where she will make plantain banana patties with cheese inside. The plantain bananas are boiled, and then mashed (as if you were making mashed potatoes), then the mashed banana is moulded into a patty with a stick of cheese inside. The patties are breaded, then fried. The cheese inside the patty melts and they are delicious! Below is a photo of the patties before they are cooked.

• Apple pancakes: My grandmother will chop up apples, soak them in rum, dip them in pancake batter, and then fry them as if they were pancakes, so that there is more apple than pancake batter. She finishes them off by sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on them. Best breakfast ever!
• Horchata: This is sweet a drink made in Mexico from rice or coconut, and contains vanilla and cinnamon and sometimes milk. My grandmother makes it from rice and almonds, and she makes it especially for me whenever I visit, and I love it! Horchata can also be found throughout Latin America and in Spain, although the taste varies by region and depending on the ingredients.
• Mangos: in preparation for my visit my family will buy boxes of mangoes! And these mangos can not even compare to the ones we can buy in Canada. In Mexico they are so sweet and fresh. During this trip I’ve been eating approximately 3-5 mangos per day, and it’s been amazing!

• Popsicles: there is a store in the main square of Cardel that makes fruit popsicles, with chunks of fresh fruit, way more fresh fruit than we would ever find in a popsicle at home. My favourite are the coconut and the pineapple ones.
• Fresh coconuts: these are the coconuts I described above that I buy on the beach. But you an also buy them on the side of the road. The vendors will chop open the coconut, pour the juice into a bag and put a straw in, then they will scoop out the meat and put it in another bag with chilli and lime and you eat out of the bags while driving. If only we could get coconuts-to-go at home!

Although all of the things I listed above are great when I go to Mexico, but in reality the best thing about being in Mexico is spending time with my family. I barely see them, so being able to cook with my grandmother in the kitchen, or go exploring different sites with my uncle, or go to the beach with the family, or just hang out with my cousins and their kids are the real reasons I come to Mexico. It was wonderful to spend a whole week catching up with them.