Last weekend, I finally found my way to La Superior, the Latin American market in Durham. Let me tell you, I never thought an entire row of sickeningly fragrant detergent in bags could elicit such a warm and fuzzy feeling inside!
People spoke to me in Spanish. The Bimbo guys (Bimbo is the Mexican bread/pastry/junk food company) were making a delivery in the same dark blue jumpsuits that they wear on the other side of the border. I found hibiscus flowers, tomatillos, Lechera, and Maria's crackers. They wrap their fresh corn tortillas in the same gray butcher paper. Sigh.
Here's the bars of detergent/soap that I used with a washing board to do my laundry.
It's funny - I realize that I didn't take many pictures of the mundane, day-to-day life in Mexico. After a while, I just got used to everything. And while it can be a great exercise for an amateur photographer to try and capture the everyday objects and going-ons that are otherwise obscured by day-to-day life, I didn't like doing that when I was living there. I wanted to somehow fit in. Having a digital SLR camera around my neck and taking pictures while at the grocery store just wasn't something I could bring myself to do.
Of course, there were many times when I wished I had my camera along with me. Like that day during Semana Santa (holy week) when we saw a guy peddling plastic crucifixes at the local gas station. Really. He was hawking them like hot dogs - "Cristos!"
I was so happy to see a plastic Christo hanging out by the Virgins of Guadalupe and the devotional candles. It was then that I knew that the owners of La Superior must be Mexicans!
Thanks to this quick trip to "Mexico," the feast with friends that followed was full of familiar flavors. Yum.
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Gracias for all the baby knitting recommendations! I've had a discussion with the baby, telling him that the benefits of staying in there for a full 40 weeks are more Mama hand-knits. We'll see if he cares, eh? :)
