So I wake up around 8 and Roberto and I are supposed to go down to Hotel Calle Real to pick up our packets for an Alzheimer's benefit 5k/15k (!). His friend, Gerardo, swings by to pick us up around 9 and we cruise. The hotel was pretty nice and had some cool artwork, including this crazy water thing I couldn't get a good pic of, this Tamayo mural which was far too gargantuan to capture on film, and this spherical object to which Gerardo took a liking:
After the sign-up process we stop at a little bakery to pick up some treats then head back to Roberto's to indulge in a Mexican breakfast of egg, chorizo, ham, frijoles, blue corn tortillas, and chile rojo:
Because the housekeepers were busy, we went out to La Roma, an old European area very near Zona Rosa, and walked around and went to a cafe. Upon returning we relaxed a bit and then Roberto's sister and mother went to work preparing chiles en nogada. Ooo-freaking-wee!!
These things were amazing. I shall try to reiterate what I remember of the making of them. So obviously you have the skinned and seeded chiles, which you fill with a sort of stuffing consisting of (this is an incomplete list): pecans, almonds, peaches, apples, pears, raisins...ay, thought I'd remember more. Then there's the sauce, which is peeled walnuts, and of course the granada (pomegranate) seeds, which make everything better. In addition, Roberto brought out a Portoguese rose (wine--can't make the accent mark) entitled Mateus that he had purchased while in Lisbon, and we had a merry old time around the table: Roberto, Gerardo, Roberto's mother, his sister and her husband, and I. After the delicious (best meal of the trip!) and fruitful late lunch it was time to get ready for the serious business: a play! We were all set to go see The Tempest at UNAM. However, The Tempest featured, among other actors I'm sure, one of the recently crowned 12 sexiest men, so it was sold out. Luckily (doubly luckily as you will see), the building features both a theater (in which The Tempest was playing), and a forum, in which a minimalist play entitled Civilizacion was playing. Civilizacion, which had one backdrop, four actors, and about 5 props, was a story of Mexico, but through a modern medium. It dealt with slash alluded to all kinds of problems facing the country and it's internal/ancestral troubles and was quite well done, especially the acting. The Tempest, on the other hand, was hugely produced, poorly acted, and not worth the time (or so I hear), so huzzah to it being sold out. The three of us then returned to the Zona Rosa area (I don't think we were actually in the Zona, but nearby) and had a couple pizzas which I thought were quite superb: one pepperoni and one with ham, olives, and...something else I'm sure. Then off to bed: we have a race at 8am manana!
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