Back in Guanajuato, In Which We Actually Go Out

Ok, I have to admit it: Peter and I are not exactly party animals here, or barflies (there is actually a bar here named Bar Fly, and greetings to all who might have been searching for information about it). Many of our classmates seem to drift into class, complaining of how little sleep they got or how hung over they are, bragging about how great a night they had or how much they drank. However, many of our classmates' average age is about 22. Many of our evenings are spent at home, reading, watching tv over the internet, or doing doing stuff on this here internet thing. That said, this weekend we actually went out a fair amount (though no bars included, Bar Fly searchers, if you are still reading: why hello there! Really, no info here, though I will tell you it's next to the Casa Mexicana near the Teatro Cervantes).

Friday night we went to the orchestra. Guanajuato has one, and our friend Marie plays the oboe in it. We had not yet been, and it was great fun. The orchestra plays most Friday nights at the Teatro Principal when they are not on the road. They played some Dvorak and part of Beethoven's 6th. It was nice. All very springy. One of the things I like a lot about the Guanajuato Orchestra is how much it feels like part of the community. The musicians come from all over, but there are certain informalities that I appreciate. For example, when we were waiting for our friend Erika to meet us to buy tickets (before going to the nearby plaza to grab some tacos for dinner), we watched the musicians arrive, some on foot, some dropped off from cars or taxis, and some by bus. Similarly, after the show (and I think during the intermission, as well, though I didn't go outside during it), the musicians are out on the steps with the audience, chatting with their friends and getting ready to go home, but wearing their formal black (women) or tails (men). Also, how cool is it that a city this size supports a professional orchestra? The name suggests that it is part of the university, but none of the participants are students (well, none of them appeared young enough to be, and I know our friend is not) so I wonder how that works.

One fun sighting when we were waiting for Erika (though I mention it twice, that is not meant for emphasis or blame -- it was only a few minutes!): There was a guy selling donuts out front. The donuts were on a tray, propped up on a folding base. Attached to the front was a piece of paper that said, in our initial translation, "I am on the internet" and then gave something, though it clearly was neither a website nor an address. I pointed it out to Peter and he suggested that what it actually meant was "I am in the internet" aka, the internet cafe, and was a note to someone from a friend. Yes, that did seem more likely (especially since the part that was not a web address seemed to say "atte" and then a name), but we both like the idea that he might have a little sign telling us his donut tray website. And then we expanded it to the idea that the Bay Area's (and other regions'?) twitter food carts are also in Guanajuato...maybe you have to have been here to realize how absurd that last idea is. I really wished I had my camera to take a picture of the whole dealy, but no such luck.

Saturday night, we went over to Erika's apartment, which she shares with her nice roommates, Claudia (of Switzerland) and Claudia's boyfriend Juan (of Mexico). I finally got my good Asian food fix when we convened our Asian Food Symposium. Erika was already making green curry chicken and veggie sushi rolls when we arrived, and we jumped in and cooked somen noodles, fried tofu, and stir-fried some vegetable. Everything was delicious, and Juan enjoyed his first sushi. After, we talked for a while, then taught Erika to play a card game we learned in Vallarta.

Sunday was Valentine's day, but we abstained, though it was cute watching our buddy at the Bagel Cafe, Chui, exchange gifts with his boyfriend (whose name, incidentally, is also Chui - when I learned it, I felt like I was in a "Who's on First" sketch: "Yes, he's Chui. And your name is?"). That, and after closing, Bere and Sandra made us stay and join them all for Bere's homemade gorditas, with (store-bought, because they didn't have time) nopales and salsa. Yum.

This week, I am back taking 2 hours of grammar class and one hour of cooking. I already know my grammar classmates (all 2 of them) and teachers (this week there are 2!). In cooking, there are three other women. One of them has been at the school for some time, but I didn't know her well. I found her a bit annoying, but tried to get over it. I have met one other person like her here, and I just don't get it -- she is taking Spanish classes, indeed has been for 12 weeks, but she pretty much refuses to speak Spanish. Now, I can totally understand it if she tries and then struggles and gives up for a moment then tries again, as one of our other classmates so nobly did. However, she just doesn't seem to even try. Now, again, that would be ok just with us other classmates, who were all English speakers, but our teacher does not speak English at all, and this woman would just speak to her anyway. I guess she has also been taking cooking for a while (she shot down my proposal that we make Pozole Verde this week, as she has already made it 2-3 times in this class), so the teacher, Anna, knows her well enough to encourage her to use Spanish. By the end of class, I was encouraging her to, also, -- You have to practice! -- even as I continued to translate between the two of them. At one point, Anna and I were talking across the kitchen as we worked on something, and she walked into the middle of the space and loudly interrupted in English, as though we weren't talking. And yes, it didn't help that she was kind of domineering during the time when we choose what else we'll make this week, and kept choosing things that I thought were just a little too easy, and shooting down my proposals, or not listening (well, after all, she couldn't understand) to Anna when she was saying that I had some ideas of what we could make. However, I did get my ideas in in the end (we're making Chiles en Nogada on Wednesday!). I was not sure I could handle more classes this week with her, but once I got a little space from the initial situation (I immediately got Anna to let me grill the poblana chiles at the stove, while the others cut stuff up, and it was as if Anna understood why I would need that), and was able to appreciate my other two lovely classmates, I felt better. Oh, and today we made Alambres. It's something you can get in many taquerias here and is pretty simple to make and super yummy. And, um, thanks for allowing the rant.