Chapter X:Tapalpa Weekend

Saturday morning we cleared off any remaining homework and packed our bags.  We were going to spend the weekend with our benefactors from our first few days in Guadalajara. Umberto and Laura and their two children and a Mexican couple, Juan and Margarita Montana, who had lived in California for several years and who were quite fluent in English, would be picking us up in their extra-large vehicle and we would be off to the mountains west of Tequila to spend two days at their retreat from the city. They were to pick us up at 11:00 a.m. which translated to noon, Mexican time. Juan, aka John, and Margarita would, along with young Umberto, serve as interpreter go-betweens for Umberto/Laura and Patti/Al Nathan/David.

We headed west for the lesser range, Sierra de Tapalpa, located in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. Their cabin was located at about the 2500m level. We would find that even this difference of 700 m from Guadalajara would make the temperature quite a lot cooler than in Guadalajara. On the way to Tapalpa we learned more about our two new friends and about how life was going for Umberto and Laura’s family. The drive took about an hour and a half along winding roads, cooler temperatures, burros along the roadside, and the mountains in the distance creeping closer. 

We stopped in Tapalpa for an authentic Mexican meal – chili rellenos, pollo with arrozo and cream and salt on delicious corn tortillas, guacamole, and frijoles, and all of it washed down with either Coca (Coke) or Spreet(Sprite) or Skweert(Squirt). It was delicious.

The town was quite primitive-looking with cobblestone streets, a village square book-ended by an old church and a newer one, burros in the streets along with gauchos on horseback, markets, mariachi bands (it was the weekend!), vendors wherever you looked, and many weathered-looking Mexicans. Laura bought some cheese from a family she knew, and also some walnuts and some “milk candy” ((Goat's Milk Caramel or Dulce De Leche). All of these were very flavorful!

We then drove out of town and up to their cottage in the tall pines. At first sight it looked so enchanting and pastoral. There were sheep and burros fenced in with rustic fences in the wide open spaces of the meadows which were covered with luscious grass and beautiful flowers. There were many people out for leisurely walks. Their cottage was quaint and also rustic looking.

Next to the cottage was a hut where Pancho and Petra lived with their two daughters and six sons. Petra was responsible for the house when it was occupied – cleaning up, doing dishes, making beds, preparing meals, etc. Pancho looked after the outside chores – pumping water, getting wood, cutting grass and maintaining the cottage and its grounds as well as any other duties that might come up. For this they got the hut to live in, a small salary, a free run of the estate when the owning family was not there, plus any leftover food from visits. Laura had brought enough food for a week even though we were only going to be there for parts of two days. Petra and Pedro and their family would receive many food supplies that would be left over.

We visited, ate, visited some more, ate, and really relaxed. The kids meanwhile took turns riding the motorized mini-bike non-stop. At nine o’clock, a very respectable Mexican hour for supper, we had the evening meal of quesadillas even though we had been snacking for hours before. At about 10:30 the women and children called it a day and retired for the evening. I had to stay up and pass the Mexican manhood test with Juan and Umberto. This entailed sitting in a screened veranda at a table with  3 shot glasses, several ash trays, a few packages of Marlboro cigarettes,  various trays of finger food, and a bottle of Alquima Reserva de Don Adolfo Extra Anejo tequila which currently retails for about $160 U.S.

They were going to show me how Mexicans drink tequila. No salt, no limes, no tossing drinks down the hatch. Umberto poured each of us two ounces of the amber colored tequila into our beautiful Mexican hand-made shot glasses. Juan’s instructions were that you sipped the whiskey and rolled it around your tongue and mouth before letting it slide down your throat. It was very smooth! After each sip you had some finger food. If you were a smoker you inhaled some smoke from your American cigarette and carefully blew it up into the air above your head so as not to blow it into your neighbor’s face. 

You talked, you sipped, you ate, and then you simply kept repeating the process. When your glass was empty one of your friends would refill it for you. In the course of 3 hours we sipped and ate and talked our way through $300 of wonderful tequila. One hardly noticed that one was now very relaxed. It must have been the refreshing air!

Sunday morning found us at the breakfast table. Surprisingly I had managed to keep up with my compadres the night before and I was mildly surprised to find that I was not experiencing any effects of the serious discussions from the night before. Breakfast consisted of delicious a chocolate drink that was thickened with corn meal or maize, quesadillas, a fruit tray with a huge assortment of choices of fruit, plus a plate of chicharrón or deep-fried pork rinds which Patti did not like and which the boys absolutely loved. The kids also got ham and eggs if they wanted.

After breakfast we went for a long hike. David made friends with a huge sow which was tied up in a pen and who weighed about 4 times as much as he did. The sow was delighted when he rubbed her behind her ears. Remembering my boyhood experiences with our pigs on the farm, I suggested he try a “piggy-back” ride. He wisely declined when I recounted how all my rides had ended with face-plants in the dirt when the pig decided to make an abrupt 90 degree turn at full speed.

On our walk we saw many cacti and different plant growths that were native to the higher and drier altitudes of Mexico. The boys via young Umberto discovered the nopal cactus whose pads can be eaten cooked or raw and which have a high manganese and Vitamin C content. They broke off the pads, carefully avoided the spines, and feasted on the succulent flesh. The children again rode the mini-bike all afternoon while the adults visited, had a siesta, and generally enjoyed the freshness of the mountain air after the diesel-laden fumes in the air in Guadalajara.

Around four o’clock the barbecue was fired up and for our afternoon meal we had choices of three kinds of meat, bean soup, tortillas hand-made by Petra, rice, and salsa. For dessert we had baked Mexican apples – apples with the core cut out and stuffed with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts. These were baked over the red-hot coals and then finished off in an in-door oven. Saying they were delicious did not do them enough justice!

We left for home at about six and got into our house around eight. We were all tired but so exhilarated by this wonderful weekend. Our hosts were so gracious and generous. This was our first experience with the Mexican phrase, “Mi casa es tu casa!" or "my house is your house.”  They loved their children and they had a very special relationship with them. Their children were treated in an adult-like manner. As a result the children were not whiny or demanding and very mature. It seemed to me we could learn a lot from our Mexican families.