Month: August 2019

Time for…. SALSA!!

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What’s the most important piece of Mexican cuisine? SALSA!!

So what is Salsa? Google defines it as: “Mezcla de sustancias comestibles trituradas y desleídas que se emplea para condimentar la comida, mezclada con ella o servida aparte.” Basically, a crushed mixture of edible substances used to flavor food.

Like every other house in Mexico, my host family consumes a lot of salsa. Every Sunday my host mother makes this delicious salsa for every meal for the rest of the week. Now, there are a lot of different types of salsa, but this is the one we eat the most in my house, and believe me, its worth making.

This recipe is very simple, and a lot of it is up to how you want it to taste. There are two ingredients: tomatoes and green chiles. You can choose how much you want, usually my host mother uses three medium/small tomatoes and one chile, you can change the ratios to determine how spicy and how much salsa you want to make. 

Boil the tomatoes and chiles until soft. Cut the top of the chiles, then put everything in a blender with enough water to blend until smooth. Viola! Ya terminaste! Enjoy your delicious salsa on top of any dish you can imagine. 

 

Provecho!

Before I left – A glimpse into the Past

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So I know I have safely made it to my city, but there are so many things I had to do to get here and so much that I went through that I think it would be valuable to type up. Lucky for me, I love journaling. 

I’ll be honest, this trip didn’t feel real for the longest time. I had known for years I wanted to study abroad, but I only realized it was really happening when I was sitting in the airport alone at 5 AM. Not to mention I had a bit of a difficult time with approvals – the state I am living in, Nuevo Leon, happens to have a safety warning in place (meaning my school wasn’t really sure they wanted me to go). Luckily, it only took three extra months of stress to get my travel plans approved!

As a note: Mexico in itself isn’t the safest place in the world, but as long as you take proper percauctions and don’t act super dumb you’ll be okay. Monterrey is a lot like any big city, there’s crime and danger, but it’s also full of people who have lived here their entire life and have never experienced any violence. The media always shows the worst that can happen, and while that is important to know, it’s never the whole story.

I realize most people reading this probably aren’t coming to Monterrey, for some reason it’s not the most popular destination for US students. But one of the things I found most difficult about preparing to come here was the lack of information. Monterrey is not a tourist destination or a traditional little Mexican town, it’s a huge city based in engineering and business. There are pretty much no books on this city and very few travel bloggers come here (at least the ones in english). The best resource I found was youtube, gotta love travel bloggers. 

I watched every video I could find on this city, which is only about five in total. I could see it was a huge city and there was like one place for tourists to go (the macro plaza which I’ve only just scratched the surface of, it’s on my list for next month). All this means i left the states with very little idea where I was going and what life would be like when I landed. 

So, how did I cope? I made up my mind before I had even packed my bags to say yes to as many opportunities as I could. If I wanted to learn about my city and experience life here the best thing to do is throw yourself into it. Maybe not the most calm and collected plan, but man, its paid off. I talk to every new person I meet and say yes to as many things as I reasonably can and have had so many life changing memories in just two weeks. I took all the nerves and doubts I had about my choices and used that energy to plunge headfirst. I’m already uncomfortable here, so adding a little more doesn’t hurt, talk to strangers, try new food, go on adventures. This is how you grow. 

My goals for studying abroad was to learn and grow. There is only so much you can learn in a classroom, full of people who have lived lives similar to yours. Studying abroad gives you a new perspective on life, and more than anything changes who you are. Life is about learning, and that requires you to grow, change, and experience new ways of life. My wish is that when I come home I’ll have grown as a person and be able to share that new knowledge and experience with people around me and in the conversations that matter to me. 

My advice for anyone taking the plunge and going abroad: when people say its life changing, they aren’t exaggerating, there is nothing that compares to immersing yourself in a new culture. You are forced to learn and grow, it’s hard and honestly pretty terrifying to get on that plane, but the experience cannot be replicated. Take those fears and anxieties and challenge them. Accept the nerves and just push on, use that energy to start running headfirst into your new life.

¡Viajes Seguros!

 

My New City

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Es Viernes! Sea feliz! 

I am writing this in a seat that’s far too low for my desk (but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to raise) inside the library of my new University: Tecnologico de Monterrey (the double ‘r’ gets a pretty serious tongue roll, and it shouldn’t be forgotten). I have successfully completed my first full week of classes, and am a few days from having lived in this city for two weeks. 

(FYI that metal was very hot, I kinda thought I may have burned my hands on it lol)

My school, TEC for short, is a private university that has campuses all across Mexico, both for secondary students and college students. The campus I’m at has a focus on engineering, business, and sciences. The best part about this school, for me, is that there are a good amount of classes taught in english. The campus is stunning, not only is it situated in the beautiful city of Monterrey, but there has been quite a bit of time and money put into the architecture. The buildings are beautiful, especially the library, with most of its out-facing walls made up of glass panes and the furniture looking like someone spilled a rainbow across the building. 

This Saturday I had the privilege of taking a tour to the big spots of the city. It was about 100 °F so I can’t say it was the best time of my life, however once things begin to cool down I’m excited to see more of these places.

The first place we visited was the ‘Mirador Asta Bandera’, or ‘Priests Point.’ This is a GIANT flag on top of an overlook giving you an amazing view of the city. When I say giant flag I mean it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flag as big as this one. But the really amazing part of this view is the mountains. Monterrey is surrounded by beautiful mountains that stand out starkly against the skyscrapers of the city. 

After this we went to the ‘La Gran Plaza’ or ‘macroplaza’, which is the place to visit if you are ever traveling through Monterrey. This is the biggest park of the city, and the seventh biggest plaza in the world. I didn’t have the chance to walk the length of it, nor did I want to succumb to heat stroke, but I did get the opportunity to see one of the many museums that dot this park. The museum of Monterrey’s history is free to enter and is also home to the Governor’s office on the second floor. In addition to the many museums there is a beautiful river running straight through the park, giving rise to fountains and an incredible boat tour.

Just like any other big city this one has so many places to go I’m sure I wont find them all in my short time here. Just one more suggestion today: ‘Barrio Antiguo’. This is the old town of Monterrey, and the center of young fun and art. There are a number of restaurants, bars, and clubs here that all contain a great artsy vibe. It may sound a bit touristy, but since Monterrey has very few tourists in the first place you will be partying with locals. 

 

New Discovery- Crema de Calabacitas

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One of the best things about living in another country is being exposed to new foods and recipes. This is a dinner my host family made for me a few nights ago, and believe me it’s worth a try. This is a crema, not a sopa, on account of the use of milk. This soup is a creamy, think, and delicious dish that would be perfect for a chilly autumn day.

Ingredients:

1/2 of an onion

garlic

3 medium zucchini

about 1 cup of milk (to taste)

Recipe:

Boil zucchini until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Put the zucchini in a blender, along with the onion, garlic and enough of the zucchini water to allow perfect blending. After blended to smooth, add the milk until creamy, and pour back into the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste, and heat the soup until preferred temperature and serve!

 

The Beginning of an Adventure

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Hola desde Monterrey, Mexico! After six hours on a plane and not nearly enough food I made it safely to Mexico. The first thing to note about this place, its very hot. 80 degrees is the low here and 100 is common. Just five minutes outside walking from the airport terminal to where my ride was and I was covered in sweat. Truly feels like summer here.

The city is very beautiful. There are both the high rise buildings like those you can find in New York, as well as the little casas and store fronts associated with Mexico. All of this is set up against beautiful mountains that tower above you wherever you go, and with the constantly sunny sky the view is always amazing. 

Everything feels both fast paced and slow here at the same time. Maybe its because its all so new but I feel as though there is always something going on, but there is no rush to get there. The people are some of the nicest I have ever met, they are happy to be here and excited to show their amazing country to you. Even the air feels welcoming as it envelopes you in its warm embrace.

I have been meeting new people everyday, a lot of them are exchange students, though I hope that will change when classes start. There are so many activities to help us meet other students and experience life here in Monterrey. You can never run out of things to do, that’s for certain. 

The most important part of the trip: the food. Every type of food I have tried here is amazing. The people here have pride in their cooking and the food they put on the table and the hard work and dedication shows through. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what anything is called, I just know that it is all amazing and worth the trip in itself. 

 

There is so much happening and so many things to explore that I don’t think my one semester here will be enough, but I hope to make the best out of what time I have here and bring back new ideas and experiences with me.