Love from the Food Trucks

Apologies for my absence -- I caught blogger's flu -- but now am back on my feet, sort of. So what's been new?!?

I took on a new job that takes me way out into the woods of Mexico City. In doing so, I stepped into the world of the uber-rich, where families not only have their own maids but their own cooks, au pairs, drivers, and teachers (me). The taxi rides there and back have been good for Spanish fluency, learning random factoids about Mexico City, discovering obscure routes that only taxi drivers know about, and encountering death on nearly every occasion.

We've also been kickin' it in Texas. Went to Austin to catch some of our favorite bands at Austin City Limits Festival. They pushed back the festival a few weeks, and instead of steamy-hot September weather, we got cooler temperatures and rain. ACL paid for new grass to be put down in Zilker Park before the festival, but you wouldn't know it since there's no grass left, just mud. For optimal musical enjoyment, we decided that hot -- even if it's over 100F -- is actually more pleasurable than rain.

RAIN + 10,000 PEOPLE = MUD

From Flickr ChrisGoldNY

Another wonderful discovery is that Austin, like many other urban cities in the United States, is embracing the roving food truck idea (I believe we have our Mexican counterparts to thank for this). If you follow food trends, you probably heard about the Kogi BBQ food truck in Los Angeles that only discloses their location by Twitter, thus fueling a mob and obsessive-like behavior to find out where they'll be next. Fortunately, Austin is not as big as LA, and food trucks are easily found, i.e. right across the street from where we were staying. Me So Hungry is a mother-daughter collaboration of Asian fare, and seriously, it was THE best vietnamese sandwich I've ever had. Something about the mayo and the sweet marinade of the pork. Oh my, I may never have another one so good, but I shall keep looking. Cupcake trucks were everywhere, but I think I'm over the cupcake movement. They're good, but I'd rather have something like a kimchi-laced bulgogi taco.

Once I got over this annoying depiction of a demure, overly sexualized Asian, I was able to enjoy the delicious fare.

From Flickr Ydnar

And, on a more somber note, we are experiencing swine flu season. We have friends all over Texas catching the swine flu. Most cases have been mild, and my friend keeps telling me to catch it now rather than later. So maybe that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the week -- trying to catch swine flu so I can get it out of the way. It's funny the conversations we've been having with family about this -- whether to get the vaccine or just get the flu.

Before I leave, allow me to amuse you with the new location of "God's room" at Nick's house**. Hindus usually set up a home temple in their houses, and the temple can go anywhere. God's room used to be an entire bedroom set-up, but my in-laws decided to convert God's room to a baby nursery for the expanding clan, and God's room was moved. To where??

Now to be referred to as "God's saloon"

Behind the swinging doors, you can find the temple atop the wet bar!

**Explainer: Referred to this way by Nick's mom, and used in the following manner: "Grandma's sleeping in God's room" or "You can put your stuff in God's room"

RE: Washing Nose

In preparation for our return trip back to Mexico (yes, we are STILL in the US, and yes, that adds up to nearly a month-long hiatus from school, minus the four days between spring break and swine break), we have received well-wishes, advice, and no more than 20 masks from caring family and friends. Note the following "particulate mask" given to me by my loving father. Not the recommended N95 but the all-powerful P95, outfitted with a charcoal filter and scary enough to ward off all types of matter, living and non-living. Guaranteed to create panic outside a laboratory setting! 

And, in another effort to secure his daughter's health, I received this email today. I was going to preface the following with some background information, but I'll just let you have a good laugh first.

Subject: Washing Nose

I believe washing nose is as important as washing hands to prevent any kind of flu especially after talking to people who have flu. Breathing can take in lots of small aerosol liquid droplets from the other parties. Keep body hydrated and in healthy condition are an effective way to combat flu. I would try to avoid a long stay in some public places,  especially movie theaters, some restaurants and some Walmart stores for the time being.  --Dad

If you haven't noticed already, the man lives by one rule: SAFETY AND HEALTH FIRST! He also happens to hail from a country where something like this:

 Duh, mom! Two holes require two fingers!

Photo by au_tiger01 (Flickr)

is not considered unsightly or even funny. It's so ordinary that it makes an email about washing your nose just as ordinary. If that wasn't odd enough, let me tell you that I have been thoroughly schooled on the techniques of nose-washing and nose-picking. In elementary school (or maybe it was high school), my parents showed me not just how to properly wash my nose but was shown multiple, impromptu examples of how to pick your nose in public. If you ever need a demonstration on the proper techniques, I can show you or my parents would gladly show you without asking. :) Just kidding, they've become much more westernized in their ways...though I still have a lot of work to do with them before they graduate from Alice's School of Western Social Customs. Rule #1000 Do not write emails concerning "washing nose" unless you want it posted for everyone's pleasure.

Fort Worth/Fart Wurth/Furt Wurthless, Texas

When I went to college in the north, I never told people exactly where I was from because it took too long to explain. I would say "around Dallas" or "a small town in Texas". Well, no more! If you haven't heard of Fort Worth, Texas, before, you have now, thanks to porky pandamonia. Fort Worth was the first school district in the country to shut all their schools! I even heard Anderson Cooper mention Fort Worth last night, though he, too, probably had to go look on a map to find out just exactly where it is (fyi, 45 minutes west of Dallas if you drive normal or 1.5 hours if you drive like my dad). 

A FEW SWINE-Y NOTES OF INTEREST FROM FORT WORTH:

• Signs on various pharmacies delcaring "We have Tamiflu"
• Lady at Wal-Mart shouting "We ain't got no mo' hand gel or face masks!!"
• Freakish mother at the aforementioned store pouring hand gel she had not yet bought on her three children's hands and saying, "Now wipe it all ova' 'cuz we shore don't wanna git sick" and then proceeds to throw that used bottle of hand gel back on the shelf for some unsuspecting customer to buy half empty. 

FACTS ABOUT THE NOW FAMOUS FORT WORTH, TEXAS:

• Fort Worth was a stop on cattle drive north and prides itself to this day on its cowboy culture. If you fancy, you can attend a rodeo everyday of your natural life in the Fort Worth Stockyards and watch cattle get shocked while jerking around 'dem cowboys. And every year in school, you get a free ticket to the Stockyards Exposition, which, I've been to one too many times. 

Did anyone else have cowboy dress-up day at school? Growing up in a very non-cowboy culture at home, I felt embarrassed for not showing up with a cowboy hat and boots. An indirect thanks to my parents for having foresight on this one.

• Though originating from San Antonio, Fort Worth helps brew up one of the most tasteless lagers called "Lone Star Beer". Though I've never seen it out of Texas nor see people in Texas drinking it that often, it rides on the success of its name, even calling itself "The National Beer of Texas". And the price point it good for getting sloshed -- $7 for a 12-pack. Depending on your tolerance, let's say 4 beers on average, you can be sufficiently gone for less than $2.50. Or less if you go to a frat party at UT and chug down a few from the keg. 

Don't mistake this common roadkill as a rodent. Armadillos are the state mammal of Texas.

(Photos from "G" jewels g is for grandma. This is a grandma I'd like to meet -- "Whaddup G?!?")

Swine Flu Transmitted NOT by Pork But by Planes

A few months ago, we made plans to visit Texas during the upcoming long weekend. However, since school's been cancelled until May 6th and the airlines are waiving fees for us wee folks in the middle of the storm, I decided to push up my trip and head back to the US today. 

So here I am, back in Texas, and honestly, I am a little concerned by how little was done to "passively monitor" the situation both in Mexico and in the US. Here is what "passive" entails: not once was anyone asked about their health, not once was anyone's temperature taken, not once was anyone offered a mask or encouraged to wash their hands more frequently. Us young 'uns between the age of 25-37 were not even culled out for further questioning. And there I was trying not to sniffle, cough, or sneeze for fear of being detained. The only thing I saw differently was a leaflet handed out to some incoming passengers in the US concerning the flu.

Now that's passive. So passive I'd call it dismissive. Not that I believe this thing is spreading out of control, or that they should seal off borders, but you would think that authorities in both countries might be taking more precautions, especially when international boundaries are concerned. It's not that surprising to me now that there are cases showing up on nearly every continent-- so few precautions taken even up to today. Nick comes in tomorrow; let's see if the raised WHO alert level changes anything. 

Allow me to revise the hype: SWINE FLU NOT TRANSMITTED BY EATING PORK BUT BY PEOPLE TRAVELING BY PLANE FROM MEXICO.