Happy Father's Day!

The picture says it all (well, far from all, because there is MUCH to say about my Dad). In the spirit of celebrating my papa, Dave, who has taught me innumerable things in innumerable life categories, here are ten things* I have learned over the past few days:

1. Traveling, and especially moving to a new place for a given number of months, seems to require a new personal conception of time, that one must find, parse out and adapt to (without too much thought or that would defeat it's purpose).



Slimy Nopales with rice is actually delish.

2. The big bags of green veggies in the teinda fridges that I always thought were green bell peppers are actually nopales, or cactus fruit. They are the slimiest vegetable I've ever eaten. Last night Stephanie and I stirfried them over rice. The flavor is great and really want to like them but slime is slime... I think I'll try making a raw nopales salad, and then we'll see.
3. The noises here are unlike those of any place I've been. They are not city noises, though they include loud music, laughter, yelling, and bright lights in the Jardín past midnight, because they also include church bells and early morning hymns, gas trucks song-horns and tropical bird twitters. 
4. At night these noises really comfort me, reminding me that people are awake and playing.
5. I cannot kill large bugs (ie. cockroaches and scorpions) because I am afraid of the "crunch."
6. I actually enjoy watching a cockroach move, exploring the space of my bathroom with antennas that are as long as its body. But, when I decide all of its interest would be better served outside, and try to catch it with my tooth-brushing cup, it skitters around, I jump up on my blue bathtub, and it flips over. Watching a cockroach on its back is much less fun. I flip it over with Lydia Davis's The Cows, which is fitting to the situation, and let it retreat to the dark, cool space behind my toilet.
7. You can put dry oats in smoothies. 
8. You can fry up jicama just like hashbrowned potatoes.
9. My mama got a promotion! Now we will both be in positions where we have to tell people what to do, which we are both normally hesitant of, but will raise to the occasion and be very happy. Congratulations Mama, you are so great! 
10. Masapan (those double-silver-dollar sized crumbly peanut butter candies that you kind of have to lick off the wrapper) are even better when in tiny, quarter-sized form. Especially when found in a box of about 200, as a gift from a friend (Nancy, you are great), and with a serving size of 5.

* Though I started writing this list in my journal naturally, I think it was probably inspired by the well written and entertaining lists of my good friend Maya, on her new [reborn] blog, Escape from Limbo. Thanks M!

A reminder that my dad, Dave T, is awesome. But who needs a reminder?