Mexico: today is puente!

16/03/2015

Puente means bridge. It's a public holiday this Monday. You should know that in Mexico public holidays get moved so as to create long weekends — in this case, the day in question is officially 21 March, the birth date of Benito Juárez.

So no dance classes in DF, which meant I set off for a short trip to Puebla, where I'm being put up by my friend Armando and his novia Laura.

I arrived on Sunday evening and went straight on to the "mambito social" night. I'd recommend it to any mambo lover passing through Mexico — nothing but good vibes :). This kind of night puts me back in touch with the original reasons for this trip, and with the reasons I keep dancing: to exchange, to communicate, to meet people. It was really good because I danced a lot, but not only that — I found time to socialise with several dancers too, and we had some very interesting conversations. Then we went to a taco place at 2am (the night had started at 6pm). A pretty full day, then :). I'm generally getting on better in Spanish in Mexico... I find they enunciate better than Cubans, though I still struggle to follow when they're telling jokes..

On the Monday, Armando had a family meal at his place, and the least you can say is that food, on occasions like this here, is taken very very seriously... I've rarely eaten so much, or so well, in my life... Special mention for a discovery typical of Puebla called mole (pronounced "molay"): a very mild sauce, sweet even, with beef marinating in it... hmmm... I really do need to be careful in this country, or when I get back from this trip they'll be calling me "Didier el Gordo" :D . We talked, laughed and ate well once again.... As with the night before, this day brought me back to the reasons for my trip... meeting people from different cultures, exchanging with them, always to realise how much, behind our apparent differences of language and colour, we are human and so very alike :) . Thank you Armando, Laura, and everyone who made this magnificent day happen!