LUNCH WITH MIRIAM....DINNER WITH HECTOR..DOMINOES...OPERA...GALA

      Well Miriam never showed or called.  I had a nice Comida and returned home.

Seasoned Pork,Cheese, Problano Peppers on two Tortilla filled with Re-fried Beans

       Later that evening Hector and I met at Quinque for another awesome meal.  I had the fish but not sure what it was. It tasted and looked like Halibut but I don't think Halibut comes from this area of the Pacific

Broiled Chicken Breast on Roasted Potatoes with Fresh Broccoli,Green Onions and Nopal...(Cactus Pod) .

Fresh Fish on Rice with Zucchini,Carrots, Avocado and onion

    . He came over to see my place and we had some coffee.  He thinks I'm being taken by my dentist and I agree.  Dr Mina has already started work and has half my money so I will let him complete it but want him to know that I'm not paying him more than the amount we agreed on. Hector's sister is a dentist but he never told me.  I will go to her for cleanings and if I need further work.  There are a lot of Dentist and Doctors here that will scam you for the money.  They are certified but try to get as much money as possible...kind of like the states...referrals, tests, labs, expensive meds, etc.

    Friday I met Bob, who took over the Dominoes game for Richard when he left.  Three more players arrived.  A couple of Irish retirees from near Catskill New York and Marc , an Rochester Institute of Technology Graduate that live with his wife in Harwich Ma.  I met them at a library lecture a week ago.  We left together and he joined me for the Rotisserie Chicken Restaurant around the corner.  He is a retired Photographer.  R.I.T is noted for it's excellent courses in Photography being the home of Eastman Kodak.  He invited me to the Cape this summer.  They have a Guest home in back and I love the area he lives in...so you never know.

     Saturday I headed for an Opera at the Teatro Macedonio Alcala..what I just call the Opera House.
Puccini's Turandot was being simulcast from The MET in New York. I was falling asleep so left during the first intermission and returned home.

THE MET ON SCREEN

OUR MACEDONIA ALCALA

     The library's 50 Anniversary Gala is at 4 pm in  a private home North of the Center.  I'm going to the library to get tickets for a lecture and a house tour coming up.  I'll stop by my favorite coffee house before attending the Gala.
     I met a couple as I was walking in that live in Los Cruzes that used to live on 10th St and Greenway when I lived on 7 St just North of Bell.  Dwight and his wife are here for 2 months and it is their second time.

Chuck with a friend.

Patty (?) and Jill .  Larry with his Camera

Our President on the right.

          It was crowded but I managed to get a drink, stake out a seat in the garden and get some appetizers.  Chicken wings is not what you put out on a 50 Anniversary Gala when everyone is sharing two bathrooms and there is only one napkin at your table.

 Finger food is OK but not greasy wings with sauce.  It was good as was the dinner.  They offered Beef Wellington or Lasagna but Chef Juan Carlos gave me both when I went through the line.  It was a poor excuse for Beef Wellington.

Ted...from Vancouver B.C, Retired and runs a B & B in Oaxaca

 It was overcooked, the Puff Pastry wrapping was soggy and there were no mushroom Duxelle or Goose liver pate that makes it a Wellington...I think it was a pork loin instead. Overall the meal was good and we all had a good time.  The Jazz Band was excellent.

The Bathroom was too..and the Dining Room and the HOUSE

Nice View of the Gardens

        Sunday and time to pack for my Bus trip to Mexico City tomorrow to meet Chris at the Airport then we will return to Oaxaca on the plane Tuesday.

OAXACA FILM FEST..COFFEE LECTURE...DENTIST

       Tuesday I spent running around doing nothing while Adeline cleaned the apartment.  That evening I returned to the Opera House  to see Mustang, a Turkish Movie about 5 young teens caught having fun, punished, re-educated and rebelled. I forgot it wasn't in English and only Spanish Sub-Titles so lost the meaning...

Certain Documents Require Typing by Law

      Wednesday I attended the Gay breakfast again.  This time my friend Hector showed.  We agreed to get together when Chris arrives for lunch or something.  He helped her out shopping last year. Ted, who runs his B & B brought three of his guests visiting Oaxaca from England.

Restaurant is like an Art Gallery

       I had a Noon appointment with the Dentist to start removal of my crown.  I brought the photo of my mouth to clarify which tooth was he working on.

 I had wanted to replace a cracked crown but he was replacing my Metal crown.  Metal is no good in your mouth so I decided to get that taken care of. He started but gave up when he discovered the Metal was hard? Duh.  He cut a hole in it then said it would take 4-5 sessions and a new bur to drill into the crown to remove and replace it. Not much I could do at this point.  

        I went to lunch,

bought some REAL yogurt with no sugar and returned home before leaving again to attend a lecture on coffee at the library.

        It was a full house.  The lecture was given by a man who arrived here from San Francisco in 1976 and lived in a remote village with an extended family in a one room house with a dirt floor and an out house 300 meters away.  He was a Tea drinker and hated coffee but all they drank at every meal was coffee out of large bowls.  They fed it to the babies with bottles.  He acquired a taste for it out in this remote jungle.

        He decided after 6 months to get a job so was accepted at a rehab center in Oaxaca for paraplegics, people with spinal injury, and handicapped people that required therapy.  He bathed them, helped them in and out of harnesses, wheelchairs, and beds. The Cuban Doctor that ran the place didn't like him and when he moved on, he recommended this person do so  too.  

         There was an opening for a physical education instructor at another school for handicapped children that had been experiencing discipline problems with the blind children.  They had policemen living on premise to help and thought a Phys Ed teacher would help.  The female administrator introduced him to all the teachers and explained he would come around each day and take their class out for Physical Therapy and on weekends for wheel chair races, soccer, etc.  These are Down Syndrome, blind, Palsy, children with lots of problems.

        He fell in love with the administrator and after dating he wanted to marry her so took her to some land in the mountains he was considering buying to build a home on.  She said it was too cold and she could never live there and took him to meet her father and his coffee plantation.    She was the last of his 12 children he raised while developing his plantation in the jungle with no roads, electricity or water.   He built the roads, put in canals systems, and expanded the plantation by buying a German Plantation near by when they sold to return to fight for Hitler in the late '30's.  He married her and 6 years later took over the plantation when the father passed away.  It was producing world class coffee recognized by premier world coffee buyers as one of the best. 

       The plantation was on the side of a steep mountain and the coffee trees were grown in the shade at different altitude.  Everything was done by hand.  The pickers that arrived in October for the harvest were families, including children, they got paid by the amount they picked. They had to tie themselves to ropes in some areas to avoid falling of the mountain.  Mexico and the world is suffering a blight that has destroyed 90% of the crops in Oaxaca.  The government has pledged all this money to help the owners but it is siphoned off to corrupt middlemen and never gets to the growers. The pickers have gone to Canada, USA and into urban areas to seek employment and aren't as available as before. So the future is bleak.  He gave us samples and when I returned home I realized I had his coffee that I haven't even tried yet.  It was being sold by University students to raise money for their extra curricular activities when I bought it.

9 Naked Virgins adds a nice touch.

      I saw a German movie that night ...a sort of Monty Python spoof but done by Germans in German with Spanish Sub Titles.  No more of these for me. I ate my Cubana Torta I picked up on the way home, and went to be.

CHILLY SUNDAY...HIGH 50'S LOW 60'S..DENTIST VISIT.

     It's 1:30 and time for me to take a shower and get out.  Yesterday I didn't leave the house until 6:30...cooked and caught up on my "lists".  I left around 4:30 for a gathering at A Sol, a B&B just down the street.  Sharon, who went to San Agustin with us, invited me to a roof top "Happy Hour" with the Virgin of La Noria as the focus.

Peter (Toronto)Canadian/ Halina (Detroit) Polish

David (Scottsdale) USA- Mina?(Chicago)USA

Patty ? Making a Point

Don with his drink in his pocket.

Helen...making her point with Patty and Sharon.

This was a religious celebration that ended in parade through our Colonial La Noria neighborhood.
     Halina was there and Helen came later.  We set up some chairs as the rest of the "residents" arrived with Seviche, Cheese and Crackers, Wine and Beer...now we had a party.  I met a lot of lovely people that I didn't know and some I hadn't seen in a while.  The parade ended up taking a different route than last year a by passed us down the street.

 No body cared at that point and the Cardinals match with the Panthers was just starting.  I excused myself and walked over to a local bar to watch the Cardinals humiliating defeat by the Panthers...I had to leave a Half Time and returned home.
      It's Monday morning and I have a 11:30 dentist appointment with Dr Mina to take an impression for a replacement Crown as mine cracked. My dentist quoted me $1673 .  Dr Mina's quote was around $600.  I booked a follow up for Wednesday then took the bus to Walmart to go shopping.  I arrived home around 2 pm.

MY MOUTH

     Movie at the Opera house tonight was 45 Years with Charlotte Rampling and Tim Courtenay , both excellent actors...I still have the hots for her...and she looked good!  I missed some of the dialog and the quality was lacking but for $1.80?  I would have paid that just to sit in the Opera house. This is part one of the the Oaxaca Cine Film Fest which will be 6 nights and 6 movies this week.  The second part in is May I think.
   

OAX-TURQUIA DINNER

       Annalisa Bandalera is a very knowledgeable "foodie" who is an expert on foods from around the world and all the Open Markets throughout the State of Oaxaca.   I attended one of her "Market" lectures at the library and when this event was offered I immediately signed up.   She grew up in a small town in Maryland with parents from the Philippines and Italy. I assume that is where she learned her Spanish language.

Oax-Turquía Dinner

USD $15 or MXN $270 (both accepted)

January 23, 2016 7 p.m. (sold-out)

January 24, 2016 2 p.m.

Set Menu

Appetizer:

Turkish Mezze

Kuru Paltican Dolma – stuffed dried eggplant which I, lovingly, hand carried back from my last trip to Istanbul.

Gavurdağı Salatası – Salad of Criollo tomatoes finished with pomegranate syrup and pecans.  It is quite possible to make pomegranate syrup, but currently is not the season for the fruit, so another item from Istanbul.  Pomegranate syrup has been a life changer. 

Salatalık Maydanoz Salatası – Cucumber Parsley Salad

Labneh Balls – Herbed yogurt balls.  Not quite Turkish, but from the region, and this is fusion!  Yogurt plays a large part in Turkish cuisine and the meal would not be complete without a representation.

Mezze accompanied with pide – homemade Turkish flat bread

Main Course:

Izmir Köfte – pork meatballs served with potatoes, peppers and carrots.  Izmir is a region in Turkey that is well renowned for its gastronomy.  There are as many varieties of köfte as there are of mole, or as some say, as many varieties as grandmothers cooking them, respectively.

Barbunya Pilaki – Turkish Baked Beans spiced not spicy ayocote beans slow cooked in a traditional Oaxacan cazuela. 

Accompanied with Basmati Rice – Corn doesn’t quite go with the meal, so I’ll go with rice from outside the region, and call it artistic license.

Dessert:

Sütlaç – Rice pudding

Includes: Agua del día and Turkish tea (another item, lovingly, hand carried from Istanbul).  

Mexican craft beers and mineral water available for purchase.

Service not included. 

Note: 

The meal is gluten free apart from the Turkish Pide and meatballs, and there will be  gluten free options available.  Please advise in advance if you would like a gluten free menu.

Some menu items may change due to availability of criollo ingredients.  Additionally, the meat will be hormone and antibiotic free.

I was booked for the Saturday evening dinner.  I took the bus to Llano Park where I was impressed with a   Espresso-mobile Cafe on three wheels...very efficient but no time to try it out.

       Annalisa's apartment was up on the hill above the Santo Domingo Plaza that was packed with young people doing their thing.  You remember that...don't you?

           I struggled very slowly up the steep hill until I reached her street and noticed a couple wandering around lost like me.  Her number was 109 but there are 109's on both sides and up and down the street.  She said she would add decoration to her's so when we saw a lighted Star at 109 we assumed it was her's.  It wasn't but a kind Mexican pointed us in another direction where Jack, his wife and I discovered a 109 with bells attached to the door!  We rang and were met be Annalisa who welcomed us into her lovely apartment all set up with a table for 8 and one for 5 persons.

        My friend Bob, who I play Mexican Train Dominoes with, was there with his wife and a couple he has know for 40 years.  We opened our wine, found our seats and were introduced as Annalisa served us with some Jamaica drink to accompany the meal.  The attendees were from Yonkers, Queens, San Francisco , Denver, Boston, etc...there was a ER Doctor, Food Coop Director, but mostly retirees like me. 

           The first course Appetizer that is listed on the menu was EXCELLENT.  Annalisa brought out a platter of warm "pide" Turkish flat bread just out of the oven that we passed around.  I took a photo of the Mezze but it never registered on the camera??  The apps were served side by side in a bowl....

ANNALISE EXPLAINING OUR APPETIZER'S INGREDIENTS SHE BROUGHT FROM TURKEY AND THE BREAD.

         Just as our entree was being served, a chair broke that the lady next to me was sitting in.  I gave her mine and got a stool for the rest of the meal.  The ER Doctor immediately dispensed some medicine from a plastic bag he carried for emergencies. 

       

 The Chef, in her kitchen,  preparing to serve the Sutlac , rice pudding with chopped nuts.  It was a great meal and lots of fun.  I packed up what was left of my wine and caught a taxi back home and right to bed.  Full moon night would have been perfect except it was in the 50's and has been the last few days...without heat it can be uncomfortable at times for us Arizonans!