El Viento Viene, El Viento Se Va

One day after my long-anticipated arrival in Veracruz, Moctezuma took his revenge. In less than an hour, I went from feeling okay to “holy shit I think I’m going to die.” By 2pm, I was but a shell of my former self, shivering and whimpering and trying to remember the word for “blanket,” a word that I had never actually heard used in this steamy city. I stayed in bed for more than two full days without eating, speaking, or sitting up for longer than the time it takes to swallow pills, which my dear sweet Tio fed me every few hours. In between periods of delirium I had plenty of time to think about what I had eaten to cause such a reaction…lunch had been a big ass bowl of Pozole, a traditional soup with maiz and chunks of animal bone (that I somehow managed to ignore) with tortilla chips and plenty of chipotle. Later that night I partook in some tamales de elote, which, regrettably, I also covered in chile. We never did figure out where the bacterias came from, but cipro came to my rescue and by day three I began to desire food again. The only upside to the whole experience was that it just happened to coincide with “El Norte”, the extreme wind that shows up periodically and basically shuts down the city. Wind speeds reached 115 kilometers an hour in some places, which meant that I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

Gracias a Dios, by Thursday I had recovered enough to wash my underwear, which I did by hand with much gusto. The first few pairs were a breeze, but after pair number five I made a mental note that itsy bitsy panties made of synthetic fabrics make the best action panties.

Friday I spent the day visiting with Doña Sylvia, a very sweet Tia of mine who never stopped chatting the entire day. By 8pm I had lost my ability to focus and my Spanish was suffering. I admit that I felt relieved when she finally decided to bring me home. She is a sweet woman who I have neglected in the past, but the more time I spend in this culture the more I am absorbing about the proper way to comport myself, including the proper way to respect my elders. On Tuesday the two of us will make our way to Mexico City for a family reunion.

Saturday my cousin and I made our way to Cempoala, a small pueblo located about an hour north of here on the coast of Veracruz where the Totonacas built beautiful pyramids out of large round stones. It was a gorgeous day and the pyramids seemed to glisten. After visiting the museum, we spent a significant amount of time taking pictures of ourselves, which I will try to post next week…must run, estoy demorrando,

with love from Veracruz,
la ciudad mas preciosa de México,
LMA

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