Summertime ‘22: Aguascalientes

When I was a kid, I lived in California before moving to Indiana. Over the years I have been often told that we would frequently visit Mexico. This is because my mom is Mexican and most of her family still lives there. I’ve seen so many photo albums of me in Mexico as a toddler. When we moved to Indiana, we still traveled semi-frequently for many years. It wasn’t until I was in high school that it began to slow down and unfortunately came to a halt at the end of college, when I became an adult. I only had the chance to visit twice in my early twenties.

I have always felt terrible about not visiting more as an adult. However, moving to Seattle and now Bangkok has made it very difficult. With plans to visit prior to moving to Thailand being thwarted by Covid, I knew I had to make even more of an effort. This summer my grandparents (mis abuelos) were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, so the timing felt just right.

Due to the length of my absence, I wasn’t sure how things would play out. I was wondering how I would be received after being gone so long. I was curious to see how my cousins had grown. I have been a bit nervous about the wellness of mis abuelos. There was much anticipation going into this trip.

The small state of Aguascalientes is located in North Central Mexico and only makes up .29% of the total size of Mexico. The population of the state is just under 1.5 million residents. Within the state of Aguascalientes is the capital city of the same name, Aguascalientes. There are also eleven municipalities within the state. Each municipality has a variety of small towns within it. Overall the state is mostly rural, arid, and filled with ranches and farms.

My mom’s side of the family is from a small town outside the capital city called El Niagara. This town is so small that after looking at the census information, (which I am sure many do not fill out), the population is said to be just over 400 residents. My mother and her siblings grew up there, and much of my family still lives there, only leaving the town to go into the city for groceries.

The town of El Niagara is quite traditional. There are no restaurants and only a few bodegas. It was only recently that the road in front of mis abuelos’ home was paved. Most of the surrounding roads remain unpaved. There are days where the power will cut. There are days where the water stops and a man with a truck full of water jugs comes around to make sure everyone has water until it comes back on.

At the top of the hill is a lienzo charro, or an arena where charros hold charreadas, which are rodeo-type competitions. Most members of my family are ranch workers and charros, or good ol’ Mexican cowboys. There is almost nothing to do in El Niagara besides visiting family and living a simple, slow ranch lifestyle. With all of this in mind, Emily and I tried to keep an open mind and open schedule because we weren't sure how our time would play out during our two week visit.

However, before leaving for the trip, I contacted a few of my family members to make it clear that food would be a central focus throughout my time in Mexico. If there was any cooking happening during those two weeks, I wanted to be a part of it. I requested mis tias teach me as many dishes as we could manage. I was just as excited to learn about the food in restaurants as in mi abuelita’s kitchen. I just wanted to learn and enjoy.

It might sound strange, but I didn’t eat a ton of Mexican food growing up. I was painfully picky so even though my mom would make Mexican food, I basically only ate tortillas with butter and salt. Since childhood I have tried a few dishes whenever I return back to Indiana, specifically tacos (with meat); however, I knew that I would be trying many foods for the first time and I couldn’t be more excited to get an inside look at Mexican cuisine.

With all of this in mind, we boarded the plane to fly from Chicago to Mexico!

The only cousin of mine on both sides of my family that is older than me is Juan. We were excited he was the one to first welcome us to the country since he picked us up from the airport. When I were young, he was one of my favorite cousins to visit. These days, he lives in the town next to El Niagara called El Salto de los Salado (El Salto for short). It was great to see him and be reminded of how fast he talks. He asked what we wanted to do once we made it to the city and we simply said, “Eat!”

Lucky for us, Juan's girlfriend works at a small carnitas tacos shop. Those happen to be Emily’s favorite kind of tacos, so it sounded like the ideal first stop. It was exactly what I had been waiting years to eat. The salsas, the juiciness of the meat, the crunchiness from the pork skin. I knew this was the start of what would be an amazing food journey for us both.

After our food stop Juan drove us through the city to head to El Niagara, I had glimpses of memories from past visits. But it wasn’t until we entered El NIagara that I began to become overwhelmed with nostalgia and evocation of the past.

Mis abuelos’ house was almost exactly how I remembered it. The chirping golondrinas (swallows) are always overhead in the rafters, the slight breeze from their patio, abuelito sitting at the far end of the room always watching who is passing by (and sometimes resting his eyes). Even after saying hello and reintroducing them to Emily, the reality of finally being back to Aguas hadn’t quite sunk in for me.

We arrived a couple of days before my mom and other family members who were coming to visit for the anniversary party. The first day or so were pretty quiet. Em and I sat around and talked to mis abuelos and anyone who came to visit them. Em and I took a short walk down the road to say hello to mi tia Chela and check out her new bodega that I had never seen before. We walked up the hill to see the lienzo charro, where charreadas occur.

We ate my abuelita’s mole dulce (a sweet mole rojo) for dinner, and made our way to the place where Emily and I would be sleeping for the next two weeks. My godmother, Gloria or “Nina”, built a beautiful expansive ranch home just around the corner from mis abuelos. The home is an Airbnb now that can house 20+ guests. There is a fire pit, horse stables, plenty of rooms, a courtyard, and much more. We were amazed and thankful that they were gracious enough to open it for us to stay. Check it out here.

I don't know if we chose the room or the room chose us but we ended up in the farthest room from the street at the back of the house. Our room came with a bathroom, king sized bed, a closet, and a view of the backyard. It is also the home of my Nina’s cross collection which were hung on the wall. Yes, it was very strange to have over twenty crosses, Jesuses, and angels watching us but it was the price to pay for the room, I guess.

Nina is a generous and adventurous person. Because of this perfect combo, I knew that she would be available for us and eager to show us around whenever she could. Her son, Mauricio, or Mau, is another one of my favorite cousins. I knew he would also make himself available if we needed anything at all. This power duo ended up being essential for making our trip awesome. Because they live in the city and had more flexibility with their schedules, they were able to hang out and take us places throughout our two weeks. It also helps that they speak English.

On our first full day in Mexico, mi Nina and Mau, along with mi Nino, Eduardo, picked us up for our first adventure. After we had tacos de papas y salchichas with mi abuelita, we hopped in the car to Malpaso, a small, middle of nowhere town in the municipality of Cavillo. Cavillo is the second largest city in the state of Aguascalientes, and a popular place to go for an afternoon. They took us to one of their favorite seafood restaurants in Malpaso that has a nice view of la presa (lake) and enjoyed the afternoon. After lunch we continued the drive through small towns until we got to the city center of Cavillo. Cavillo is known for producing guava and is seen as a delicacy in Aguas. We walked around the city square while eating some delicious guava ice cream.

They drove us back to Aguas and showed us the area where the city first began. It was a blast into the past while we saw and learned about the railroads, the labor workers’ old homes, and the neighborhoods.

After our history tour, they took us downtown to the iconic cathedral and garden, El Jardin de San Marcos.

We stopped at the town square to indulge in several churros both modern style and tradicionales. Up until this point, I had no idea what traditional churros were but now that I have tasted this version, I don't know if I can go back to the modern style. Churros tradicionales are crispy on the outside and much thicker on the inside. They are coated with sugar and when fresh, they are irresistible. The modern style ones were also amazing but were not as fresh or mind-blowing.

The day wouldn't be complete without some late night tacos. Nino knew of a place that sold tacos de cabeza on the way home. We stopped by and found any empty space left in our tummies to fill with tacos.

We knew after this first full day jam-packed with delicious foods that we were in good hands with my godparents.

Cooking Session 1

Nina knew I wanted to learn how to cook Mexican food. She set aside the entire day for gathering ingredients and cooking back at her place. Mau and Emily joined, of course.

I wasn’t sure what all we were going to make but after a trip to the market and to Nina’s favorite butcher, we were set. But before we began, we stopped for some birria tacos.

I told Nina I would prep all the ingredients and all she had to do was guide me. Over the course of several hours, we made mole verde, arroz blanco, cebollas desflemadas, and carlota de limon. Everything turned out delicious. I had no idea how much lard goes into making mole. And thinking about how transferable these dishes are in Thailand, everything is doable, aside from finding tomatillos. Mexican and Thai food share a lot of similarities even though they can taste totally different.

The next two days were quite eventful.

With a desert like climate, most of Aguas is barren with the only plants being cacti and mesquite trees spotting the landscape. To my surprise, this area actually lends itself well to an international interest due to its long open roads that are perfect for long distance cyclists.

Mau and his sister, Monica, wanted to take us to a favorite hiking spot and bring her dogs along. The entire way to El Ocote, our destination, we passed many groups of cyclists and I later found out that even my cyclist friends have heard of the routes in Aguas.

After getting a tiny bit lost, we finally arrived at our destination. There was a large pond and surrounding it were a few places people could set up to BBQ or camp. Small hills also surrounded the area where we hiked.

Having just met the dogs we could tell that their high energy and eagerness to explore was a perfect match for this hike. They were made to be out here. While the hike wasn’t the most strenuous we’ve ever done, it was nice to be outside in nature and enjoy the views and have time with family. The area was pretty and desolate.

Afterwards, they wanted to take us to another birria spot that they used to go to years ago. When we arrived, we were all in shock. It was loud, obnoxious and most people seemed very intoxicated…and it was only 1pm. The birria was very good but at no point could any of us talk to each other. We basically sat and watched the band calling customers to go to the stage and see how long they could drink a slow constant pour of tequila from the bottle. Many people lasted 40 or more seconds with the winner, an employee and crowd favorite, lasting over 80 seconds. It was complete madness. Emily thought this was a normal Sunday afternoon until afterwards when we were all talking about how strange and wild it was.

After lunch, Mau took us to the local charreada, or rodeo-type cowboy competition. Most of the time these events are quite long and drawn out and this one was no exception. The cool part was we were in a brand new, huge stadium. Everything was clean and it honestly was a cool place for events. Every seat in the stadium had a good view. Many of my family members were in the crowd watching, even mis abuelos. We were the only güeros, light skin/blondes, in the crowd.

While I don’t know the names of each event, I will try to describe a few. We watched one where the horse would race the length of the stadium and the charro would pull the reins and see how long of a skid mark the horse could make. Another event we saw was when a baby cow runs against the wall with the charro and horse pushing up against it so that the charro can grab its tail, wrap a leg around it and try to flip the cow over before the end of the line.

The escaramuza charras are the female equestrian team who ride their horses in impressive choreographed maneuvers. They would come and put on quick shows for the audience between the rounds of the charro competition. This was Emily’s favorite part (along with the guy who made the perfectly straight and circular lines after each round).

Mau could only take about an hour or so of the festivities before we decided we had seen enough. Charreadas can be entertaining but we were not drunk or invested enough to see it through.

Later that night we went on a taco tour with our trusty guide, Mau. First, we stopped to get tacos de higado (liver). Reflecting back on our trip, these may have been in my top two favorite taco spots. I am not a huge fan of liver but there was no denying how amazing those tacos tasted. It was incredible. We followed these tacos up with tacos de tripa (intestine) and chorizo down the road. Also incredible.

The night ended with us following the sweet smell of fried dough. We found an old man on a street corner selling churros tradicionales. These were even better than the last ones, which I didn’t think was possible. We stayed to talk to him about how he makes his churros and his background. His name was Jose and while he gave us his contact info to later see how he makes the churros, we never were able to get in contact again.

Cooking Session 2

Mi tia Cleme, Juan’s mother, lives in El Salto but not in the town. She lives in what my family calls el monte (but it is far from any mountain). It is actually just very deep and hard to get to farmland where there is no electricity or running water. Because they have animals and land to farm, instead of living in the town, they decided to build a tiny home next to their land so that they could work with ease.

Cleme invited us to her home to show me how to make a simple Mexican dish called Verdolagas en Chili Rojo. She also wanted us to experience foraging for the local plants that would be used in the dish.

Nine of us fit into one car (the Mexican way) and headed to el monte. The drive was beautiful but not for the faint of heart. Thankfully, my cousin Victor was up to the driving challenge (or pretended to be). Much of the way was a wet, unmaintained dirt road and we were being led by a ten year old who swore he knew how to get there. At one point, there was a broken down tractor in the middle of the the path that required us all to get out of the vehicle so that Victor could make it through a muddy off-road detour.

As soon as we arrived, Cleme put us all to work. We walked down the road to an herb patch to pick verdolagas and quelites. We filled a huge bucket with these herbs. Chickens, dogs, and cats all roamed around the property as we picked. Once gathered, we headed back to wash the herbs. We tore them in small pieces and soaked them in water. By this point, Cleme’s two children, Juan and Pepe, and their significant others all arrived to eat.

For a simple dish, it does take a long time to prepare and cook. We made a red sauce and cooked it with stock and pork over burning wood. In the meantime, we heated tortillas and made quesadillas to eat with the stew. We all ate under a large tree to escape the heat and hung around for several hours with the cows wandering near us. The stew was unique and unlike anything I’ve had. I was thankful to mi tia for showing me how it was done.

This excursion was the peak of Emily’s discomfort. Not because she was in danger but because the reality of life with my family on the ranch does not follow any type of “plan”. You take each day as it comes and whatever ends up happening, happens. Things move slowly and spending hours under a tree chatting in Spanish is normal to me but with everything new and unpredictable, Emily was hot, had a headache, and was ready for a nap by the end.

The next few days were very chill and involved mostly food related activities.

After you buy a bundle of freshly made tortillas, it is important to separate them all and spread them out so they do not stick to each other later.

While Emily went out shopping with my mom, I decided to keep my abuelita company. I wouldn’t call it a cooking session because I was just watching her make breakfast, but I was learning and observing. We cooked pork in adobo sauce. We only added potato and onion and that was it. It was simple, yet very delicious. We spent the rest of the morning relaxing and talking.

Cooking Session 3

A few days after we arrived, mi tio Jose had also made his way back to Aguas for my abuelos’ anniversary. I heard he was the pizza maker of the family these days, so I was definitely interested to try it. He invited me to his house to help make the pizza. One of his side jobs in Indiana was working at a pizza shop, so he more or less replicates it at his house in Mexico. He also remembered I made pizza for my family back in Indiana and wanted to show me his new pizza oven he recently bought. It was gas powered and could reach temperatures beyond 300 degrees Celsius! Bonding over pizza is always a good time.

By the time I made it to his house to help with the pizza, his eldest daughter, Chave, was helping roll out the dough. He was cutting and prepping all the toppings.

His pizza has been tried by all my cousins, multiple times. It was fun to see his process and use his oven. The quality of ingredients were far from restaurant quality, but the overall outcome wasn’t too bad. The dough turned out almost like a tart or pie crust, buttery and dense. Queso fresco ascerdoro actually makes for good pizza cheese.

Jose made about 10-15 pizzas which pretty much fed the whole family! Honestly, for a town with no restaurants, he could potentially make some dough with his dough in El Niagara.

Cooking Session 4

The most nostalgic Mexican thing in any category for me are my abuelita’s buñuelos. They are usually only made and eaten around Christmas and New Years but mi abuelita knows they are my favorite and makes the effort to make them for me anytime we visit each other. It is a thin disc of fried dough topped with cinnamon sugar. They are similar to elephant ears in the US, but they are more fragile, crispy, and better.

I insisted that I couldn’t leave Mexico if I did not watch each step to make this delicious dessert. Mi tia Lupe said she knew how to make them and that she would show me. I told her that would be fine but I would want abuelita nearby to make sure we were doing it all correctly.

One particular aspect about making buñuelos that I always enjoyed is the drying process. Once the dough is mixed and flattened, they need to dry. Yes you can set them outside to dry quickly, but growing up that wasn’t how mi abuelita made them. She would lay out a freshly washed bed sheet on the biggest bed in the house and she would set a single layer of the buñuelos and then flip them after an hour or so. Something about slowly drying dough on clean sheets always got me. Touching the smooth sheet with bits of flour left on them and the texture of the dough after it was dried on the sheet was always satisfying to me.

I will be forever grateful to both mi tia Lupe and abuelita for sharing this process with me.

Mi tia Lupe is the master at forming the dough balls and spreading them into the discs to dry and fry. However, I ended up frying all the buñuelos and adding the cinnamon sugar mix. I could only manage to save a few for mi Nina and her family before they were literally all eaten by family members before they could even cool down all the way.

Our next food tour with Mau included his sister Fernanda. They took us to get tacos de cabeza and lengua. These tacos were half the size of normal tacos and twice as good. Both the head and tongue are very tender, soft cuts of meat which makes the tacos extra suave. I mustered up the courage to try sesos, or brain. Unfortunately, this would be the only taco on our entire Mexican journey that I did not like. The texture was waaay too soft and I just couldn’t mentally get over it. Maybe another time.

Next, they took us to Vagabundo, a churro cafe. I remember the last time I was in Mexico, about eight years ago, Mau and his family told me we had to go try this new churro shop. That they were the best. I remember it was a tiny shop and he was just starting out. He had spent time in the states, tattoos all over his body, and could speak decent English. Now, several years later, as soon as I saw him it all came back to me. I was excited to learn that he now has two locations in the city and even has a food truck to cater events with his delightful treats. He claimed he remembered me but I am sure he was just being nice. He made our churros from scratch after we ordered both original unfilled and guava filled. There is nothing like a fresh churro. We sat on the rooftop and enjoyed the weather and view.

At Emily’s request we finished the night with her favorite treat of ice cream, or as it is called in Mexico, nieve (the Spanish word for snow). Mexican ice cream is some of the best I have ever had. Always very good. After taking Fernanda’s dog for a walk, we went home.

Our next adventure with mi Nina started with the breakfast of champions, gorditas. While we don't usually eat breakfast, we weren’t sure what the day had in store so we decided to eat when my Nina gave us the option. We ended up ordering too many gorditas but enjoyed them immensely. We got them filled with tinga, chorizo y papa, picadillo y papa, huevo y queso, and a plate of costilla. Nina should have told us that that was way too much food but unfortunately she didn't. The gordita de tinga was easily one of the best tasting dishes of our trip. It was a good thing we ate such a large breakfast because Nina and Mau took us to a temazcal spa that was quite far away and it would be a while before we made it back to the city.

Now that we have traveled to several parts of the world, we have learned that something like a temazcal is quite common in many cultures. A temazcal is a type of sweat lodge, or sauna which originates from the pre-Hispanic Indigenous people of Mexico. The temazcal they took us to was a more modern one that resembled a spa. We would later go to a much more traditional style temazcal in Oaxaca.

Our experience at Yolihuani Temazcales & Spa was wonderful. We started by changing into our swimsuits and heading into the temazcal. Each one was a cement, domed room that you sit in with heated volcanic rock that you pour herbed water on to create steam. We were given pastes and lotions for our hair, face, and body to assist with the detoxification. With a small opening at the top, the room would get hot, humid and thick with steam. Once the batch of rocks started to cool down, we would refresh ourselves by rinsing off right outside the room with cold water and then go back in for another round. We would reapply each paste and lotion and by the end our skin and body were completely renewed. After the 2 hours of steaming and detox, we were ushered into our massage rooms. We all enjoyed the much needed relaxing massages.

I have gotten used to the intense pressure from Thai massages, but was pleasantly surprised to experience a massage purely for relaxation. The whole experience was peaceful and left our bodies oiled up and unbelievably calm. The scenery was gorgeous and with a light drizzle throughout our stay, it was honestly the most relaxing day during our visit. Even the drive to and from Cavillo was beautiful to watch.

The day ended with dinner back in Aguas at La Quinta for pozole, flautas, enchiladas and more.

And now… for the main event, the anniversary party to celebrate mis abuelos 60 years of marriage.

The celebration would take place outdoors, at the top of the hill at the lienzo, just as my abuelito wanted. Unfortunately, the space was totally overgrown with many truck loads full of trash and debris. We spent the days before the party cleaning up the area for hundreds of expected guests.

The weather forecast the week leading up to the party had everyone worried. It was the beginning of the rainy season and it would regularly rain in the middle of the day through the evening. Many of mis primos and tios told us to cross two knives and lay them on the ground to drive away the rain the day of the party. There was a 70% chance of rain, so we hoped their superstition would prove lucky!

With the questionable weather and the flurry of family buzzing around the ranch, the entire day wavered between mildly and moderately chaotic.

A couple of hours before the party was supposed to start, Em and I got dressed. The rest of my family had been getting ready for HOURS; make up artists at the house and professional hair stylists. After our 15 minute prep, Emily was looking fine as hell as usual and I was dressed in my charro outfit. All the grandchildren were instructed to wear charro/escaramuza outfits. I had my charro pants, belt, and boots from their 50th anniversary, which thankfully fit for the most part. I didn’t have an official charro shirt and didn’t think it was necessary to buy one only for one day, so a fitted Calvin Klein borrowed from Mau would do.

Photos were supposed to be taken of all the family prior to church service and party. Unfortunately, the photographer never showed up. Em and I were waiting to get the word that the picture taking was starting, but that never happened. Instead, we heard live music from a distance getting louder and louder. We walked outside and saw a parade of people on horses, a horse drawn carriage, people playing music, and a long line of cars.

We were so confused since no one told us anything about this. Regardless, we followed on foot, eventually passing mi tia Lupe’s home. We helped her pack all the tequila into her car and got a ride to the lienzo up the hill.

Once we arrived, there were tents set up and at least a hundred people standing around. The procession of horses and the carriage carrying mis abuelos did a loop and came back around. Thankfully, we were able to watch it in its entirety. With mis abuelos in the front looking amazing, a mariachi band following them, and several family members on horses, it was beautiful to watch and listen to.

Once settled, family and guests started sitting for the ceremony. However, we were now missing the Father who was to perform the ceremony. Finally, the photographer arrived (late, obviously) and immediately started filming.

At last, the Father arrived and the service began. Because I was sitting with the family at the front I wasn’t aware until afterwards how many people were flowing into the lienzo to celebrate. It was hundreds!

The ceremony was pretty short and included some crude and off-handed jokes by the Father. Doh.

As soon as mass ended, the area quickly transformed and tables appeared. Suddenly it was a reception space prepared for a meal. But… you guessed it! The food was late.

After the service, mis Ninos came and we sat with them for the majority of the time. I had seen my Nina crocheting all week, but I wasn’t sure what she was making. As it turned out, she was making her dress for the party! It was impressive to say the least, and she looked incredible. I can’t believe she made her dress totally from scratch starting only weeks ago.

Throughout all of the waiting between each stage of the day I had the chance to mingle with friends and family I haven’t seen in many years, both people I was excited to see and some random people.

Not only had I been away for several years, but also being one of the few white-passing people at the party with a white woman by my side, we stuck out for sure. Throughout the party, people would come up to us to ask who we were and how we knew the anniversary couple. One drunk guy who might have been part of the mariachi band came out of nowhere to confirm that I did not speak Spanish, so I replied to him in Spanish and passed all of his tests. He even asked to take a picture with me before he left. Too often to too many people, I am a weird phenomena, a spectacle, for better or worse.

On the other hand, one of my favorite and long awaited interactions was with Danny, mi tio Chuy’s brother. He used to live with Chuy and Nena in Goshen but when a traffic stop went wrong and the police planted cocaine in his car, he was deported and I never saw him again. That was nearly twenty years ago. We hugged and chatted for awhile. It was amazing to catch up. Unfortunately, he and family are struggling right now. However, despite some difficult circumstances in his life, he is a kind and hardworking person. It was a special moment to reconnect with him after such a long time.

After quite a bit of mingling, the food finally arrived and the party got started. There was both mole verde with chicken and mole rojo with carnitas. Both were very tasty, especially the mole verde.

As far as the dreaded rain, it was almost a miracle — it barely even rained that evening! It did sprinkle here and there and large groups of people left each time, but it only lasted a few minutes and it was never more than a light sprinkle. When looking up at the sky it was the strangest thing. Most of the sky was dark with clouds and most likely raining all around El Niagara but in no exaggeration there was a big hole in the sky directly above us almost the whole time. I guess the knives superstition has validity after all.

Throughout the evening, various family and friends would visit with abuelita. Abuelito was drinking with all his charro pals and having a good time. Abuelita was just going through the motions. I could tell she was exhausted from the festivities and she was beyond ready to call it a night but she did her best to continue on.

There is a traditional dance where the couple dances with family members. Mi abuelita danced with all of the male grandchildren and nephews. It was lovely to watch. When it was my turn, because I don’t look Mexican, everyone watched a little too intently. No one wanted to take over and I just kept swaying back and forth for way longer than anyone else. Price to pay for being the white guy.

I enjoyed many aspects of the party - got to talk to lots of people I haven’t seen in a while, ate great food, enjoyed some lucky weather, and it was pretty tame for the most part. (At least for a Mexican party.) I made it clear to everyone that I missed visiting and how fortunate and blessed I was to be there to celebrate with them.

Our next adventure with mis Ninos!

Before we left for our summer trip we discussed the places we wanted to visit in Mexico. I wanted to visit Guadalajara because it is close to Aguas and I figured, why not? However, our plans to go kept falling through and it didn’t seem like it was going to happen.

Little did we know, we would get a chance to visit… for a few hours. One afternoon after the big party, Nino and Nina picked us up without telling us where we were going. We saw signs on the highway saying that we were heading towards Guadalajara. Emily and I kept looking at each other quizzically and whispering about where we thought we might be going.

The drive was beautiful. I had many places in Guadalajara that I wanted to check out. But once we arrived and passed through the iconic triangular shaped bridge, I knew where we were going. Years ago, they took me to a Hibachi restaurant called Restaurant Suntory, a favorite of theirs. I was disappointed that we didn’t have more time to explore Guadalajara, but also thankful that mis Ninos drove us several hours to enjoy a nice meal. The food wasn’t as good as the tacos we enjoyed the other days, but it was great to see mis Ninos happy.

After dinner we had a long conversation about life and spirituality. The main point I gathered was that I need to believe in God and that believing in a higher power could cure my depression. While I understand the sentiment behind these talks, discussing them almost entirely in Spanish made getting points across rather difficult and neither party was going to budge on their ideals.

During our life chat, it began to rain. And after a while it began to pour; thus making exploring around the city impossible. We decided to head back to Aguas but that would end up being easier said than done.

With an accident on the main road leaving the city and traffic unable to pass, we tried finding alternate routes. The amount of rain and flooding quickly became a hazard and we found ourselves on many flooded roads. We saw cars trying to get on off-ramps and off on-ramps. Even buses and large semis were turning around unexpectedly. After several attempts and a few hours, we finally were able to find a route that went through and headed back.

With only a few days left in Aguas, we wanted to be sure we saw where my mom was building her houses. She has always planned on retiring and moving back to Aguas to be closer to family. Recently, she has been paying for a small home in El Niagara to be built, as well as a home in the city of Aguascalientes. She was eager to show Em and I both houses even though they were far from finished.

The one in El Niagara is right up the hill from mis abuelos, and the other was in a small neighborhood in the city. Her house in the city looked the most modern, and the houses along her road loop were all quirky and unique. From the looks of it, the house will be a very nice home for them once it is finished. With plenty of space for people like Em and I to visit, I look forward to seeing the final product.

On one of our last nights Mau wanted to host a Carne Asade for the cousins. Because there was lots of family in town we wanted to have a BBQ and a bonfire to spend time together and catch up.

I spent the morning gathering materials like paper plates, forks, plastic cups, chasers, alcohol, ice, etc. Mau was in charge of getting all the meat and food.

Attendees: Monica, Fernanda, Mau, Emily, Me, Martin and partner, Julia and siblings, Victor and siblings, and Alex.

We grilled a lot of food and fed a lot of cousins. Mau made a tasty cocktail, heavy on the tequila and many drinks were enjoyed that night. We all eventually moved to the bonfire and played music into the night.

Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to be in Mexico surrounded by my cousins.

We brought our visit full circle by going with mi Nina, mom, and many of my cousins back to Malpaso to eat along the lake at Camino Viejo.

A few more aunts and uncles arrived and chatted while the cousins rested in the sun near the water.

After several hours, we came back to El Niagara to celebrate mi tia Pati’s birthday.

On our last full day in El Niagara, we had a list of last minute things we wanted to do. It went as follows.

Cooking Session 5

The day would start at Abuelita’s with tia Lupe showing me how to make two dishes, tinga and birria.

The tinga did not take long at all because boy was it easy, and delicious. I was very surprised at how simple it was compared to the flavor that is created within such a short time.

On the other hand, the birria took much longer. Lupe said the meat would only need to cook for a few hours but that would be an understatement. In the afternoon we prepped the salsa, which is the most important part. However, because we didn’t start until 3pm, it wouldn’t be until late into night that it would be ready. After our night ended we returned to try the birria. It came out exquisite and I hope to replicate it back in Thailand.

While the birria cooked, Mau came and picked us up for a final late night dinner with Nina and Monica. We started with tacos de lechon. It was the last type of taco I still needed to try before leaving Aguas. So juicy and definitely one of my favorite tacos. Then of course, we went to get churros tradicionales and ended the night with chascas. While I had never had a proper one, this first was incredible.

It was the perfect way to end our Aguas journey. Delicious food.

The next morning, we packed up and said goodbye to my mom and family who were around. Nino and Nina graciously picked us up and took us to the airport so that Em and I could continue our travels around Mexico as solo travelers.

Before I end this post, I want to share some of Emily’s thoughts on this part of our travels…

“Our trip to Mexico was highly anticipated for me. Not only had I not been to visit Eric’s family, but I have studied Spanish over the years, and heard many amazing things about Mexico from friends and students of mine. I was eager to explore the country and meet his family.
Complete immersion in the culture and lifestyle of his family was at times overwhelming and exhausting. The sheer number of friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles felt infinite. Once I made a list of the ones I had seen most frequently, I was able to keep track a little bit better. Also, the fact that almost all conversations were happening in Spanish (at high speeds) was at times tiring. I have a basic understanding of the language and could communicate fairly well for the most part, but my lack of vocabulary and slang, as well as contextual understanding left me often confused. It was a humbling experience to not be able to fully communicate my thoughts and feelings at times, and I felt like I wasn’t able to share my full self with his family. I had to accept this and be patient with myself and those around me that that level of connection I am used to wasn’t necessarily going to happen right away.
Eric’s family is generous, welcoming, and a reflection of the beautiful culture and tradition of central Mexico. They opened their homes, shared their recipes and foods with us, and showed us around the sights in the area. I am especially grateful to the familiarity of Eric’s mom, and to Gloria (Eric’s Nina) and her family for their consistent hospitality and kindness making me feel welcome and a part of the family.
I can’t wait to return! Now that I know more of what to expect, I think our next visit will feel more comfortable so I can enjoy it more fully. I look forward to seeing Eric’s mom’s houses once they are finished and we get to stay there for our future trips. Thank you to Eric for his patience and his Spanish skills that both were necessary during the trip.
-Em

Aguascalientes is always a great time. In a weird way, it's pure freedom for us cousins who grew up in the states. We find it exhilarating and freeing to have the wide open ranch at our fingertips. Even though it might seem like El Niagara has nothing to do, we always find something fun to pass the time.

It was amazing to finally have Emily see where I visited growing up and where my family is from. It was wonderful to be back after many years and get to see so many familiar faces.

If the job market and overall safety of living in Aguas was better, I could see myself moving there to be closer to that side of my family. Maybe without all the drama and gossip, but it’s a nice thought to have for the future.

Having been back and it being so successful, Em and I are both in agreement that trips there need to happen with more frequency.

I am grateful for Nina and Mau especially. Without them, our trip would have looked very different. I hope they can come visit Thailand soon so we can return the favor.

The first half of our trip was now complete. Next, Em and I explored parts of Mexico ourselves, Oaxaca and Mexico City. And after a quick trip to visit family in California we headed back home to Bangkok.

Restaurant/Food Truck meals:

Carnitas - here

Camino Viejo

Churros de la Merced

El Vagabundo Churreria 2

Tacos Don Polo

Birrieria Santacruz

Carrito de dulces - here

Birrieria Don Chuy IV

Tacos Toño

Tacos de tripa - here

Panaderia Mundipan