Tequila 101

Wednesday, January 28, 2009


I hear shooting and birds squealing. A group of hunters is in my favorite walking area. I rather not be mistaken for a vulture, so I turn around to go back home.

We are not going on the bus with our usual group, but follow Ramiro to Suchitlan to see the house they have been working on so hard. It is looking really good. The crew does a great job. I think when we are home we will paint our house in purple, green, blue and pink as well. It looks so lively.

Mom and I go for a walk to the square. It’s quite a climb, but Mom is getting better every day and is able to keep up with me pretty good.
Walking around town give us a chance to see so much more than driving. We look inside all the little shops and whenever a door to a house is open we peek in.
It is odd to see a beautiful house on one side of the street and a shack on the other; Quite a contrast.

We go home for lunch and I spend the afternoon working on my various projects, including the new brochure for Project Amigo. Without the distraction I make a lot of progress. If I would have had Internet at home it would have been even better. It can be inconvenient having to go back and forth to the Hacienda. In between our excursions there is not always time to go on the computer.

The evening program looks like it could be fun. There is a large audience for Ted’s Tequila 101. He talks about the history of tequila and how it is made. After which he invites us all to taste the various grades. The darker the colour, the smoother.
Some of us taste all of them, I taste the last one only.
Everyone is in a good mood as we walk to Doña Meche’s house. Meche has a little artisan store, where she sells handmade clothing, shoes and more. There is also a small store next door where you can buy basics. She has a good clientele from the PA volunteers.
In the back of the store is a large patio with covered seating and cooking area.
Meche and her crew has prepared a wonderful meal for us of pork stew, beans and small crispy chicken tortillas.
Jorge, employee of PA, in charge of the student program, joins us with his family. Their oldest son enjoys being able too practice his English. I practice my Spanish on Jorge’s wife Lopita.

Before we go home, I check in the store next door to see if there is any fresh grapefruit. There’s none, but Lorenzo, Meche’s husband, tells me there are lots on the tree.
“How many would you like”, he asks. “How about four” I say.
A few minutes later he comes back with four giant grapefruits.
“These are less sweet than the ones you buy in the store, but they have lots of juice” he explains.