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Last Day. We are up and packed and ready to go by 8:30. There’s time for a quick coffee and one those great Mexican sweet rolls in the hotel lobby before the van comes to pick us up. It’s a good thing we ordered the van, I’m not sure all our stuff would have fit in one of those dinky little Nissan cabs. I watch Sara walk back to the hotel and I can’t tell if she’s sad to see us leave or pleased to be finally rid of us. Probably both.
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From now on, it’s just a running game to endure the travel process and get home as swiftly as possible. We have an hour or so before the plane leaves. We have a little more substantial breakfast in the airport cafeteria--cheese and bacon omelet. Then it’s through security and on board.
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I peruse the in-flight magazine and find a few interesting articles that I rip out of the magazine. Mitch is appalled. He frets that the next person in that seat will be cruelly disappointed to find pages torn out of the magazine. For myself, I’d rather find that than the crossword puzzle half done. It’s a short hop to Mexico City where we must claim our luggage and haul ass down the very long corridor to Delta. We recheck the luggage and are sent to a holding area until the flight gate is announced. We will have some time here to wander about and check out the duty-free shops. We both wind up with bottles of mezcal. Mitch gets the 3-pack of worm, agave, and mature. I just get one bottle of the El Senorio mature reposado. |
Mezcal and tequila are Mexican spirits distilled from agaves (those spiky plants, also known as maguey). Mezcal (or mescal) is the generic term, tequila being a regional type of mezcal. The name mezcal comes from mexcalmetl, Nahuatl for agave. Making
Mezcal
Once the agave, or maguey, has reached maturity, it is harvested. The leaves are cut off; the heart of the agave, called the piña is used. Traditionally, the piñas are baked in rock-lined conical pits, or palenques, and then ground to a mash with a stone grinding wheel. The modern industrial producers cook the piñas in stainless steel steam ovens and use mechanical crushers. The mash is then fermented and double-distilled. The mezcal may be bottled immediately, or aged. Aging times are quite short compared to some other spirits (a 4 year old whiskey is young, a 4 year old mezcal is old). Tequila
Tequila is mezcal made in an area near the town of Tequila, in the state of Jalisco. Tequila is made from the blue agave, Agave tequilana. Tequila only needs to be made from 51% agave, the remainder usually being corn or cane sugar. Of course, there are 100% agave tequilas as well. Worms
Worms in tequila? Well, no, since worms are not on the list of ingredients allowed in tequila by the Mexican government. Worms in mezcal, yes, sometimes. The worm is an agave worm, or gusano.There is a lot of folklore surrounding the worm, with rumors that the worm is hallucinogenic, or a source of great heroism, or simply that the pickling of the worm is a proof of potency of the spirit. In any case, the eating of the worm is often made into a ritual of machismo. However, the worm isn't particularly traditional; it started out as a modern marketing gimmick to cover up the taste of poorly made mezcal Some tequila and mezcal terms: |
| Mitch is chomping at the bit, popping up and down, pacing back and forth. If he could gas up the plane, load the luggage and get everyone on board, he’d be doing it. Now that vacation is over, he just wants to be home. |
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Mitch in the Airport -- Willing Us Forward -- Let's Go! Let's Go! |
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In due course, they announce our flight and we head for the gate. We are in the first row of the coach cabin. I’m in the middle seat next to a poor girl who can’t access her tray table because my fat is overhanging it. She is pretty tolerant, though. One of these days they are going to make me buy two tickets. She has brought on board a beautiful totem pole about four feet long—very ornate carvings and studded with semi-precious stones. The flight attendants take it away from her and stow it somewhere. There is a move on this leg of the flight. Lara Croft II. It’s fine. Movies always make the time go faster for me. I’d watch anything. We have a pretty quick connection in Atlanta, and then I am asleep until Newark. A cab ride home and my own bed. Wonderful to go away, but nice to be home. Farewell Puerto and Oaxaca. |
Puerto
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