One thing I noticed about México was that everyone puts peppers and/or salsa on everything! Even small children put spicy sauce on everything. Would you believe even the Lolly pops are spicy?
Last night, I went to a fair and had a Michelada, which consisted of dark Victoria beer, lime, pimento, and a bunch of other cosas that I now forget. Not only was it spicy, but it came in one-liter portions! I wanted a small one, the smallest one they had was one liter. Needless to say, I didn’t finish it. I had about three gulps left.
I would have finished it, but my cousin asked me if I wanted papitas (potato chips) and I foolishly said yes. That’s right, even the potato chips had salsa. I almost OD’d on salsa last night.
Well, I sure learned a lot about my family on this trip to México. For one, most of the stories that my mother told me about her family weren’t true! While talking to my cousin, I realized that none of the facts matched most of the stories my mother told me when I was a boy.
For example, my mother would often tell me how when she was a girl, she wanted a life-like doll for her birthday. One that cried like a real baby, drank a bottle, and wet her diapers, etc. And on my mother’s birthday, my tía Jovita was born. That was the birthday present my mother really wanted! Well, I told my cousin this story and she said that tía Jovita’s birthday is on December 24. So, this doesn’t match up to my mother’s birthday on April 27! Later, I discovered that my mother did get her birthday present, but it is my aunt Matilde, not Jovita. I had forgotten the birthday present’s name.
Also, everyone in México always knew my mother as Helen. When I was little that’s what my father called her. I always knew her as Helen, too, until she became a U.S. citizen, and she changed her legal name to Carmen M. Rodríguez. When my mother died, I was surprised to discover that her real name, based on her birth certificate was María del Carmen Martínez Valdivia.
When I was little, my mother always told me how she and her sisters didn’t like their given names, so they changed them to something that they really liked. Mariana Anita became Esthela, María del Carmen became Helen, María became Marusa, Rebeca became Jovita. Unfortunately, I can’t remember her sister Laura’s original name. Their brother Alfredo always remained Alfredo. Go figure!
My cousin also told me that her mother told her how my mother used to dress in boy’s clothes and insisted on being called Alejandro. Of course, I’m not sure how true this story is because it turns out my tía also liked to embellish her stories. But if it is true, what a coincidence that I also liked the name so much that I named one of my sons Alejandro!
Mexico City is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. The traffic is a nightmare that I somehow managed to survive. And I did it at night.
My relatives in Celaya told me not to go to Mexico City just because of the traffic. Of course, that only served to make me even more determined to go. My aunt told me if the traffic scared me to turn around and go back to Celaya. But my cousin did give me some good advice: If you can’t find the address you’re looking for, ask a taxi driver to go there and follow him.
I was going to my cousin’s house in Mexico City, but I had no idea where in the city she lived. When I got to Mexico City, I’m driving in heavy rush hour traffic trying to read the map that didn’t really help me as other drivers were weaving all around me. Then, I see the sign for Paseo de Reforma, which I remember from my previous trip to México City 29 years earlier. So, I exit there and head to the Angel de la Independencia. There, I bought a map of the city and found her neighborhood and street address.
However, once I attempted to find her house, I couldn’t find her street. I circled the area several times before I finally gave up. I saw a taxi driver and asked him if he knew where la Calle Miguel Ocaranza was. He, a native Mexican, had never even heard of the street! I showed him the map and he said that he could find it. He led me there and I paid him 25 pesos plus tip. What an adventure it was driving in Mexico City! And I still have to drive through Mexico City to head home!!
Okay, now that I’ve spent some time in México, I realize that it’s been a little more than a short while since my last visit. My relatives who remembered my last visit asked me how long ago I came. Well, I visited them 29 years ago!
My! How everyone has changed since then! My cousins who were small children are now adults. Some of them are not only parents, but also grandparents. I should go back to México more frequently to keep up with the latest family additions.
They were also asking me about my first wife that I divorced long ago. I had to tell them about my second wife, whom I also married and divorced since my last visit to México, and my three sons. Everyone expressed genuine interest in our family in Chicago, my sons, and me.
I felt very welcome in México, especially since I have a lot of relatives here. At the border, there was a big sign that read, “Bienvenido paisano.” And there were a lot of Mexicans like me returning to visit family. I was considering moving to México after my retirement from the police department and now I have the opportunity to do it. I’ll have to think it over carefully when I return to Chicago. Of course, I’d have to live in a house with Internet access and all the amenities. I wrote my last two Blog entries from an Internet Cafe. For me, that’s roughing it!
Okay, while in Celaya, Guanajuato, México, I met another David Rodríguez! I have a cousin named David Rodríguez!
Before I met him again, I introduced myself to his brothers and sisters, also my cousins, as David Rodríguez. They all gave me that same puzzled look because the only David Rodríguez they know is their brother. Add another list to the world population of David Rodríguezes. This one plus the two that one of my Spanish students told me about. She had two, count them, two Spanish teachers who were named David Rodríguez before me!
Chicago USA 