Alvarado

My first view of the Gulf of Mexico from the coach

Last weekend (16th and 17th September) Evelyn invited me to her hometown of Alvarado. It's a small town just South of Veracruz, sandwiched between the river and the sea. (see http://maps.google.com.mx/maps?q=Alvarado,+VER&hl=es-419&ll=18.77526,-95.762587&spn=0.04307,0.075445&sll=23.625269,-102.540613&sspn=21.236465,38.62793&vpsrc=6&t=m&z=14 - zoom out a bit and you'll see)

The coach only took 2 hours and was quite a nice journey once it actually got going - it was half an hour late arriving... As you can see above, from the photo and from the map, the road leading to Alvarado is right next to the sea so I had great views of the Gulf :)

The main square

One of the first things I noticed about Alvarado was the heat. O.M.G. it is a lot hotter than Córdoba I was struggling quite massively. However, it cooled down in the evening, so after being fed a huge plate of squid and prawns, we went for a walk to the zócalo (main square). I was surprised, since everybody everywhere else is scared about going out at night cos it's getting quite dangerous, but apparently Alvarado is reasonably safe at the moment so out we went off into the night. Wandered around for a bit looking at all the pretty lights and banners still there from Independence Day and went for horchata. I don't think there's much to do, seeing as most people seemed to just be hanging around the square. As we sat, I watched several families do 3 or 4 laps of the square with their children running about or pushing younger brothers or sisters along on pushchairs or toy cars. There was also an outdoor bingo area where (as was to be expected) loads of old women were having a ball. All of a sudden, all the children in the square jumped up and started running around screaming about some kind of bull. People around me started worrying about where they could take cover and I had to stop them in all the excitement and ask what on earth was going on. I was told that a man runs around the square with a fake bull carriage on his head which is set alight and all the children run around after him trying not to set on fire. I thought it sounded cool, so when finally, after a lot of build up and excitement, the man and bull came out, I positioned myself nice and close to the action, camera at the ready. I wondered why Evelyn and family were so far back but presumed that they were less excited, having already seen it plenty of times. The fuse was lit with a cigarette, and, camera poised for the perfect shot, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. It was NOT a fire, but fireWORKS. Finger on button, as I was literally about to take a photo, fireworks came twirling at me from a 3 meter range and I RAN FOR MY LIFE. OMG I was terrified. I remember seeing orange at one point and frantically patting my back and hair to stop the sparks catching fire, though maybe I was just paranoid... Once I recovered from the shock, I managed to watch the rest of the 'show'. It was very hectic and the kids were running around everywhere. The rockets twirl round along the path, and once you think they're finished, they explode into more twirling ribbons of fire going in any which direction. At one point, I was literally trapped. There was a rocket at one end I thought was about to erupt with more, and the man was running at me from the other, so, panicking, I ran all the way across the grass in the middle to the amusement of the other daredevils jumping about the fireworks as though it was a simple game of dodgeball. Mexicans are CRAZY.

El Torito - see facebook for a poor quality video of the event.

The following day, we went down to the restaurant by the river for breakfast. On the way there I got to travel in the back of the truck - it was so cool (though actually not I was boiling and panicking that I'd forgotten to put suncream on - it is September, after all!). We started with a ginormous plate of prawns fresh from the river (they had to teach me how to peel them properly cos I was hopeless and apparently wasting all the good bits). They eat pretty much EVERYTHING. You're supposed to suck the head porque "sabe bueno". I was a bit freaked out by the idea of brain but tried it half-heartedly. Some of them also come with millions of tiny tiny eggs nestled around their leg area and you eat them too. I tried it (again, half-heartedly - it was prawn fetus after all!) and it was okay. They eat all the seafood with lime and salt and this tomatoey sauce that's a bit like a less sweet and more runny ketchup. It was all incredibly fresh and so so good.

I also tried OYSTERS. Evelyn's Dad shouted over to the fisherman next to the restaurant that I wanted to try some so he opened us some straight out of the crate and handed them over. I was SO nervous, but I actually like them! Okay, if you get a big one, it can be hard to swallow, but as far as the taste goes, well it doesn't really taste of anything except the lime, salt and tomatoey stuff you put on them cos it just slips straight down. I didn't even find the texture that bad. It wasn't particularly slimy, and even when I bit into one to see what it was like, it wasn't bad. I wouldn't say I love them, but they don't offend me at all. Though apparently they're good for you so I'll eat more.

After the prawns and oysters, we then had picadas. The tortilla like things with salsa and avocado and cheese that I talked about in my food post, but this one had prawns and onion on too. They were so good. I was ridiculously full at this point, but then a special crab dish was ordered so I had to try that too. It tasted really good but OH MY GOD if I was to live there I would be fat within a week.

We then went on a boatride along the river underneath the midday sun. Luckily the boat went fast enough that the wind stopped me from passing out. It was SO beautiful. At one point we went through a section where the river was so wide I thought it was the sea, it was ridiculous. We then went through more windy closed bits where we saw mangrove trees (maybe) and had to duck for branches and try not to panic when we turned a sharp corner and the boat tipped to the side! There were a few boats out fishing which was cool and lots of big birds that people got excited about, including pelicans which was cool :)

I need to go to bed. I know it's only 10pm here but I've had ridiculously late nights over the past 2 days so need to catch up! Also, the 15th birthday party needs a post on its own.