One of the realities of life in Ban
ámichi
is that occasionally trips to Hermosillo become necessary. Where is Hermosillo?
It is 2.5 hours drive to the south of us, and is the capital of the state of
Sonora, our nearest large city. Why do such trips become necessary? It could be
anything from a need for diversion from the quietude of Ban
ámichi, to a desperate need
for items not available locally.
One such item is fresh vegetables. Well, OK, we can get some things
locally... iceberg lettuce, green chilis, onions, and sometimes some limp green
beans. As you may have surmised I am a bit of a "foodie" and am
especially partial to good veggies. So when our friend Gerlinde showed
Lynn a special market with fresh produce, I planned a trip to Hermosillo.
It is a big deal to go to Hermosillo. It requires a whole day and is always
a bit of an adventure. You never know what you will encounter and where. This
time our first surprise was at the military check point in Mazocahui, about an
hour down the road from Ban
ámichi.
This is a place where the military is usually out in the road with
automatic weapons asking "Where are you going? Where are you from? What
are you carrying?" I suppose this could be somewhat intimidating, but
generally they are very young good-looking men, who are given to being friendly
and polite when they find we are cooperative and also friendly.
This time, we pulled up to the checkpoint and the men were chatting off to
one side, not at all interested in us. But a medium size brown dog with curly
fur stood in the road in our path, staring at us. Dan inched the vehicle
towards him. He didn't blink. Dan honked, and he continued staring as if deaf.
Finally, Dan sighed and drove around him. The military guys cracked up,
smacking their hands together as if to say "just hit him!" and
waving us on. We all had a good laugh and off we went.
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| The main room of the "Old Ferreteria" |
Our first stop in Hermosillo was at the Ferreteria Maderas, AKA the
"Old Ferreteria," a hardware store that surely must date back to
Aztec times. It is the only place around that sells an assortment of Talavera
tiles and many unidentifiable bits of rusty metal. Oh, and it also has
birdcages, ancient pink toilets, tortilla presses and brown clay cooking pots.
It is a truly strange establishment that closes for the day at 12:30PM, meaning
that we have to leave Ban
ámichi
very early to get there. Anyway, I got the Talavera tiles that I need to re-do
a window ledge at the house, and off we went to look for the veggie market.
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| Random metal parts inside the "Old Ferreteria" |
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| Talavera Tile display inside the "Old Ferreteria" |
Driving in Hermosillo can be a nightmare. Most maps are inadequate to the
maze of one way streets, huge traffic circles and terrifying flyover bridges.
After being in rural Ban
ámichi, the
traffic seems insane.
Fortunately we had Lynn with us who mostly knows her way around and so we
wove our way to Bulevar Solidaridad and headed north. Lynn said "There it
is! Turn left by the tall circular sign." and I realized we would never
have found this on our own.
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| Chaos at the market |
We took a ticket to get into the parking area and headed into the utterly
chaotic fray. There were cars and trucks driving in every direction, guys
weaving in and out on bicycles, and people calling out to us, inviting us to
buy huge sacks of potatoes that had to weigh 50 pounds. This was obviously the
place where all the restaurants and stores in town came to buy their produce.
The market was probably not meant for individual buyers, but since no one
stopped us, we entered a lovely shop.
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| Me choosing avocados |
There were some of the most beautiful vegetables I have ever seen.. big,
perfect and fresh. There was most of the stuff you can get in a US supermarket,
only fresher and prettier, as well as some more exotic items. WOW! I wanted
some of everything! I bought stuff without regard to how I would use it, just
because it appealed. I wound up with huge green Mexican grilling onions, lots
of avocados, super hot jalapenos, gorgeous cilantro, Mexican limes, tomatoes,
mandarin oranges, persimmons that were sweet and soft as mush and just ready to
eat, and guyabas - guavas. All of this was well under 10 bucks!
Then we headed across the way to a meat shop. Somehow I thought we would
find beautiful New York steaks neatly laid out in plastic trays, but instead we were led into a cutting room,
where random hunks of meat were sitting on counters and a spray of red meat
coated the wall behind a saw. The man pointed to his head and offered us cabeza
- head meat, a Mexican delicacy - and pointed to a bloody blob on the table. No
thanks! This is why I was a vegetarian for 25 years! We wound up buying a 5
pound block of frozen shrimp for a ridiculously low price and calling it good.
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| Restaurant Xochimilco |
After running several more errands to Supermercado Ley and Costco, we
decided to go to the Restaurant Xochimilco for lunch, which we had heard about
but never visited. They have been in operation since 1949 (they must be doing
something right,) and specialize in grilled meat. We ordered the goat to avoid
the beef tripe which we were all a bit squeamish about. The Mexicans eat
everything from the cow but the moo, and I admit that as Americans we are
spoiled, but tripe? I don't think so! Anyway, we got a big plate of grilled
goat, and it fabulous! Melt in the mouth tender and mild flavor - like the very
best lamb. It was simply some of the best meat I have ever eaten anywhere in
the world, and it came with a large salad, beans, tortillas, salsa and
guacamole. What a treat!
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| Salad at Xochimilco |
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| Meat grilling behind glass partition at Xochimilco |
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| Trailer selling fireworks |
After lunch we made a few more stops - one has to make the most of
these outings since they are so arduous - and then got on the road back to Ban
ámichi. The last stop
was just north of the town of Ures where there is a solitary trailer in a dusty
field selling "cohetes" - fireworks. We wanted some for the New
Year's Eve party at
Los Arcos Hotel that
has become a tradition in out little community. It had clouded over, and the
wind had picked up. Outside, a stray dog jumped, startled by a piece of flying
cardboard, and inside, the trailer rocked on its foundation in the wind and the
doors banged and pounded. The mood was high, though, as we joked with the clerk
and picked out a large assortment of miscellaneous things that go BANG!, and
another large "box o' bombs"...ball shaped fireworks about 2 inches
in diameter with a big gnarly fuse. Should be fun. I wouldn't light them
myself, but have to admit that I like explosions!
By then it was almost 4PM and time to make tracks for home before darkness
settled in. As we passed the town of Huepac, it started to rain. Winter has
finally come to the Rio Sonora. Hermosillo was fun this time and then it was so good
to get back to our nice warm, dry little house in Ban
ámichi!
