Food + love = happy day

I am writing this blog post now as a way to distract myself of how full I am, mostly of food, but also of love. We can start with the food. I have been fed so well here, it's almost embarrassing. My host mom, Lety, is incredibly sweet and an amazing cook. So far she's made eggs "a la mexicana" (eggs, tomato, onion), chicarones and dip (cabbage, tomato, onion, lime), guacamole, quesadillas, enchiladas, tamales, and more.

Chicarones de harina (fried flour bits?) and "salsa"

Eggs "a la mexicana" with beans and fresh squeezed orange juice

"Ponche" - Mexican fruit punch

Quesadillas (blue corn tortillas) and guacamole

 I've been spending a lot of time with my host family, watching movies, going shopping, eating, hanging out in the kitchen, and honestly it has been great! Occasionally I feel bad for not "going out," and meeting new people, but I think I am content in experiencing true Mexican life with a pretty cool set of people.

Last night, an exchange student from Canada, Fausiya, returned from her month long vacation all around Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America (she went to Cuba, Guatemala, Cancun, Belize, Jamaica, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and many other places I didn't catch). She has been staying with my host family for 4 months and will continue to stay until May. Needless to say, her Spanish is very good, and she is very close to the host family! They were laughing and joking around in the kitchen just like family.

This morning, Fau and I went to a church she has been going to, Iglesia de Cristos (Church of Christ), which was an interesting experience. We sang, took communion, sang, gave offering, sang, took a break, sang, had a sermon, and sang. The service was over 2 hours long! Everyone kept coming up to me and kissing and hugging me. I was almost a little overwhelmed because they all wanted to talk to me and would laugh when I didn't quite understand and just say "si."

On our way home from the church, Fau and I, walked back, but stopped a few (understatement) times to eat some local street food. YUM.

Stop #1. Street tacos. It was SO GOOD. I don't even know how! It was a plain corn tortilla with "carnitas" (pork), but add diced onion, cilantro, lime (they put lime on everything), salsa, and man was I happy. Also it was 80 cents.

Stop #2: Fresh potato chips. I don't know why this is a thing here, but there are all kinds of chips that Mexicans eat in a plastic bag, with different flavors, and they add salsa and lime in the bag. Did I mention they literally put lime on everything? Pretttttty good if you ask me. $1.10

Chipotle chips with salso and lime

Stop #3: Ice cream. I had THE best ice cream experience EVER today. This was a stand on our way home with about 4 workers scooping out ice cream of all sorts of flavors. When Fau and I were standing in line, the workers kept giving us samples, like literally we probably had about 15 samples, even after we ordered they were still giving us samples! And you got to add sprinkles, granola, dried fruit on top, for free. The smallest size was only $1!

Tamarind ice cream with "chamoy" (type of fruit, smashed, add lime, chile) sauce. Strange but so good!

And after we got home, of course, it was time to eat again. So now, I am sitting in bed, still attempting to convince myself that I'm not so full I'm about to burst, but writing about all this food is not quite helping. I feel so loved here, it's strange. My host family literally treats me like family, and everyone I meet wants to kiss me on the cheek and talk. I would definitely say that having lived in Chile, Mexicans are more hospitable and warm than Chileans. It's been really nice to have Fau here. She's great and is showing me the ropes/all the good food so far. :)

Tomorrow, is my first day teaching, so we will see how this goes!

So, recap: Mexicans put chile and lime on everything, Mexican food is delicious, everything is cheap, Eann will not be poor returning to the States, happy day.