|
By Dione Goyette (Feb 10, 2006) My husband Paul just left for three weeks to do some business back in Canada and the United States. When we gave him our goodbye hugs, I noticed a huge difference from his business trips this year over last year. When he first started traveling outside Mexico, the kids and I would spend days making up lists of things for him to bring back to us: licorice, Smarties, Tazo Chai mix from Starbucks, Diet Dr. Pepper, plain Cheerios and Cheese Whiz! Back then, absence made our stomachs grow fonder. When we first moved to Mexico, I faithfully dreamed of miso soup, onion bhajis and toast with Cheese Whiz. We liked missing these things, though, because it made us more appreciative. For once regular things became "special" things. Then a funny thing happened. We grew to adore the fresh Mexican food. We started by eating street tacos. At first we ordered bistec "sin nada" and then slowly we added "verdura"-onions, peppers, piña and cilantro. We tried jícama and tamarind, and then we tried jícama with chile and lime, then we tried chips with lime, peanuts with lime, cucumber with lime-and then we put lime on everything, using limes from our own tree to boot! From here we got really adventurous and expanded our "carnes" to include pastor, pollo and chorizo with various forms of salsas. We even tried grasshopper tacos. I knew something was hugely awry when my kids started begging for fresh guacamole after school. What happened to cookies, I wondered…and goldfish?...and all those other kiddie snacks? (Alright, already, I was a bad and lazy Mum.) What happened to pudding cups and chicken fingers? We had to stop ourselves one day and ask: What happened to all of us and who did this to us? Of all the souvenirs to take from Mexico, I never imagined taking away kids who liked "fresh foods" and "interesting" fresh foods, with taste. But here's the rub. Now I would have to learn to cook. No more boiling or baking frozen foods, no more trips out for fast food when Daddy was away on business, and no more "ordering in" either. Now my kids demanded "real" food. Help! My Mum visited over the Christmas holidays. She is an avid chef and a wonderful gardener, and she can't for the life of her understand where I came from. I have to admit I was very self-conscious her first night here when I made fresh green salsa and guacamole to go along with the carnitas we bought from the market. Although she didn't show it, I know she must have been flabbergasted when she saw the table bereft of mac & cheese or plain pasta for my kids. Many friends have visited us here in San Miguel and all of them have remarked on how much we have changed, but somehow having your Mum here to witness it makes it seem even more pronounced. After all, mothers are the ultimate judge of their children, no? Food has become an integral part of our adventure here. Every trip to the market broadens our horizons with some new and unknown fruit or vegetable. My kids seem willing to try just about anything. Perhaps it's because it's new for all of us. I can't say that my kids will eat anything now but I can say that every week or two we expand our regular palates and they will at least "try" anything. In Toronto, I was bad about offering new and different foods. It just didn't seem worth the expense or the effort or the waste. Here in Mexico, it's just so much easier. Not only can we not find our old standbys but everything is just more fresh and beautiful and interesting at the markets here, and because we have to shop almost every day, the kids are part of the process. They know how to choose a cantelope, which avocados are for today and which for two days from now, and how to peel (shell?) a tamarind. Just a few days ago we were kindly invited to comida at our friend's house. Sarah had prepared an incredible lentil soup that seemed to be filled with a cornucopia of delights other than the lentils themselves. I caught myself sweating slightly when I thought of my chicken-noodle-soup-eating kids and prayed they would eat enough not to appear rude. I was sipping away happily and enjoying every mouthful when Sarah announced, "If you find something odd, it'll be either a twig from my garden or a bone from the meat!" Hanna and Finleigh looked at me balefully, which I tried to ignore, but I was happily surprised to find, when I cleared their bowls, that they had eaten an admirable amount. When we got home, I asked them if they liked the soup. "You mean the twig and bone soup?" Finleigh said. "Not bad!" they all agreed. Wow! Which brings me back to our farewell to Paul yesterday. It struck me that I not only didn't have a list for him, I hadn't had a list for many previous departures either, and the kids didn't even bring it up. When Paul asked, as he was climbing into the shuttle van, if he could bring anything back for us, I was stumped. The kids and I ran after the van waving as it slowly pulled away. From some dark and private place in my subconscious, I blurted out loud at the last minute, "PEANUT BUTTER CUPS!" Oh well, maybe my kids have changed more than me. Dione Goyette is the mother of three and novia/esposa to one. She and her family currently live in San Miguel. She can be contacted at mexgoyettes@yahoo.com |