It's all set and decided for a departure date of April 28, but my return date is yet to be decided. Week one is in Telchac Puerto, where my friend Jeanne-Marie will be celebrating her birthday with a group of her friends mostly from all over Canada and the States. So far we are filling up 4 houses, and looking for one more... woo hoo!
As much as I am thrilled about this, I feel thorn about my return to Telchac - which was initially meant to be for teaching, and visit Merida to develop some possible paying teaching gigs. It's very important to try hard this time around, because if I can not somehow partially finance my travels there in the future, I will not be able to go and volunteer my teaching in the village either.
So from the start, I was keen on keeping the spring trip at a low cost since I can't afford to go simply for a vacation. Now the plan has developed otherwise with the birthday celebration, and I feel that every single aspect of my trip has changed, and there is definitely a much higher price tag to it all - the flight, the transfer from Cancun to Telchac, the accommodation, and even the food. I will have to make some changes to bring some aspects back to the initial plan. Otherwise, I know that I will feel some resentment - and that's not healthy.
I have a good friend who owns and manages a business similar to mine, her area of teaching is applied arts. We have collaborated over the years, and she has been very interested in the Yucatan project for the last couple of years. She has a good connection with the Alliance Française, and has been considering some volunteer work as well. It would be nice to have someone to share the focus with, and I do need a photographer/videographer to document my work. It would also be a good thing to not be alone in the little house that will be provided to me for the teaching work. I will ask her to pursue her Alliance Française contact to hopefully develop something more in Merida.
Here in Toronto, business is still developing very nicely. I have landed two more daycare contracts in the West, and strong leads are opening-up in the East with the help of my good friend Véronique. I have given her a list of 30 daycares for a telemarketing sweep, and a bunch of them would like me to contact them for more details on our programs. If this keeps going the right way, I have 2 teachers waiting for work in the East end of Toronto. Of course, this would also mean a period of intense training to get them started. I am hoping to have at least one teacher trained and booked by February. I'll do my best!
Somewhere between Izamal and Sudzal, Yucatan.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Tourtière - a French Canadian staple!
As we get deeper into fall and the weather is cooling off, I get the urge to cook homy dishes from my childhood. In this season and all throughout the winter months in Quebec, tourtière is certainly a favorite. We also have it over the Holidays, and I clearly remember smelling the cooking and looking forward to our Christmas eve feast, which always included tourtière.
It's a meat pie made mainly with ground pork and onion, and seasoned with allspice, clove, and/or nutmeg. I also remember adding the recipe to my little cookbook, as my mom was explaining each step - the same way her own mom always made it. So here is our family recipe for French Canadian Tourtière, and the crust!
French Canadian Tourtière
Filling:
In a thick pot, brown 4lb of lean ground pork, making sure to crumble it well (a potato masher works well). Add 5 big onions finely diced, and keep cooking, stirring regularly until the onions are also cooked. Add salt and pepper, allspice and/or ground clove and/or ground nutmeg - to taste (don't over season it though...). Add one large potato, peeled and diced, and enough water to almost cover the meat mixture. Stir, reduce the heat and simmer on low heat for about 4 hours, stirring regularly.
The ultimate test to know when the meat is ready is when the onions and potatoes have completely disappeared, and you can see the bottom of the pot when you push the meat sideways with a wooden spoon (no runny liquid). Taste again and add more spices if needed.
Crust:
Mix 3 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix in 1 cup of fat (butter is yummy) until you get a coarse texture, and add 1 cup of milk. Mix until you get a nice sticky dough texture. Separate into 4 balls. Roll the dough and line 2 round pie plates/pans, fill with the meat (heaping a little is nice), cover with the other rolled dough. Poke the pies with a fork of a knife to let the steam escape. Cook at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
Tourtière is delicious with pretty much any home made ketshup or sweet pickeled veggies. Also very nice with a green salad of your choice.
Enjoy!
It's a meat pie made mainly with ground pork and onion, and seasoned with allspice, clove, and/or nutmeg. I also remember adding the recipe to my little cookbook, as my mom was explaining each step - the same way her own mom always made it. So here is our family recipe for French Canadian Tourtière, and the crust!
French Canadian Tourtière
Filling:
In a thick pot, brown 4lb of lean ground pork, making sure to crumble it well (a potato masher works well). Add 5 big onions finely diced, and keep cooking, stirring regularly until the onions are also cooked. Add salt and pepper, allspice and/or ground clove and/or ground nutmeg - to taste (don't over season it though...). Add one large potato, peeled and diced, and enough water to almost cover the meat mixture. Stir, reduce the heat and simmer on low heat for about 4 hours, stirring regularly.
The ultimate test to know when the meat is ready is when the onions and potatoes have completely disappeared, and you can see the bottom of the pot when you push the meat sideways with a wooden spoon (no runny liquid). Taste again and add more spices if needed.
Crust:
Mix 3 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix in 1 cup of fat (butter is yummy) until you get a coarse texture, and add 1 cup of milk. Mix until you get a nice sticky dough texture. Separate into 4 balls. Roll the dough and line 2 round pie plates/pans, fill with the meat (heaping a little is nice), cover with the other rolled dough. Poke the pies with a fork of a knife to let the steam escape. Cook at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
Tourtière is delicious with pretty much any home made ketshup or sweet pickeled veggies. Also very nice with a green salad of your choice.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Mérida - en français!
I finally took the time to send out a couple of emails to scope out the possibility of teaching in Mérida in the spring, and I began with the French community. I sent 2 emails, received 2 replies... sweet! It's too early to know if it will work out, but it sure is a good start to know that some people are willing to help me out. At this time, the plan is to teach in French. There is a small French community in Mérida, and they seem pretty tight.
I also emailed Judy from Telchac Education, and let her know that my plans are firming-up for the last week of April. I am hoping to go back to the little Diego Rivera preschool, and add the Grade 1 class of the elementary school to my list since most of these kids know me from last January and February.
For my next teaching project in Telchac, I am hoping to get a local traditional band to come and play for the kids - sponsored by Le Petit Atelier. It's important for the kids to get these close encounters at a young age, and learn about their own regional musical culture in this developing internet environment. With this project, I am hoping to see if some children are keen to learn to play, and possibly start a little sponsorship program for children to learn music in the village. I call this the 'Victor Velasquez effect' - a wonderful and inspiring man who made a memorable impression on me. He is the main music teacher on Isla Holbox, and his oldest students are now young adults who constitute the two local bands with seemingly a fair amount of work on the small island. I believe that a community with it's own music makers is a healthy and happy community, and I am hoping to promote music making in Telchac Puerto - one student at the time - if the stars line-up properly.
Here in Toronto, things are getting very very busy on the work front between now and the Holidays... for the first time in almost a year I will be back to teaching in the classroom - with a couple of teacher trainings on the schedule. I am also launching a series of mini-concerts in the currently ongoing daycare series and afterschool music classes - the first one will feature my amazing partner in life; Tim Posgate. He is a wonderful multi-instrumentalist and a great teacher, so we are putting together a short presentation focused on string instruments, with a Halloween twist. We have 6 mini-concerts scheduled before the end of October.
So with all that on the go, I guess I should get to work!!! Okay, let's do it!
I also emailed Judy from Telchac Education, and let her know that my plans are firming-up for the last week of April. I am hoping to go back to the little Diego Rivera preschool, and add the Grade 1 class of the elementary school to my list since most of these kids know me from last January and February.
For my next teaching project in Telchac, I am hoping to get a local traditional band to come and play for the kids - sponsored by Le Petit Atelier. It's important for the kids to get these close encounters at a young age, and learn about their own regional musical culture in this developing internet environment. With this project, I am hoping to see if some children are keen to learn to play, and possibly start a little sponsorship program for children to learn music in the village. I call this the 'Victor Velasquez effect' - a wonderful and inspiring man who made a memorable impression on me. He is the main music teacher on Isla Holbox, and his oldest students are now young adults who constitute the two local bands with seemingly a fair amount of work on the small island. I believe that a community with it's own music makers is a healthy and happy community, and I am hoping to promote music making in Telchac Puerto - one student at the time - if the stars line-up properly.
Here in Toronto, things are getting very very busy on the work front between now and the Holidays... for the first time in almost a year I will be back to teaching in the classroom - with a couple of teacher trainings on the schedule. I am also launching a series of mini-concerts in the currently ongoing daycare series and afterschool music classes - the first one will feature my amazing partner in life; Tim Posgate. He is a wonderful multi-instrumentalist and a great teacher, so we are putting together a short presentation focused on string instruments, with a Halloween twist. We have 6 mini-concerts scheduled before the end of October.
So with all that on the go, I guess I should get to work!!! Okay, let's do it!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Thanksgiving in Canada
We went to our Muskoka family cottage to celebrate yet another beautiful Thanksgiving with our extended family. The weather was unusually warm for an October day, between 24 and 28 celcius - and the trend is continuing, to everyone's delight.
The family celebration took place on Saturday this year, and we canoed across the lake to uncle Ken's cottage - it was his turn to host the event - 48 guests this year! Sunny and warm, and no wind, beautiful fall colours... Best conditions for a family paddle, and a family party! It was fun. It's the only family tradition that survived the past ten years or so for Tim's family, and it makes it very special and important for us. Important for our kids to experience these gatherings on the actual day of the celebration.
It's great to see the family grow along the years; new baby on the way, upcoming wedding, everything ever changing, as the rest of the world. But the tradition remains, and it's a beautiful thing.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my canadian friends - and hoping that you have the good fortune to share it with your loved ones. xoxo
The family celebration took place on Saturday this year, and we canoed across the lake to uncle Ken's cottage - it was his turn to host the event - 48 guests this year! Sunny and warm, and no wind, beautiful fall colours... Best conditions for a family paddle, and a family party! It was fun. It's the only family tradition that survived the past ten years or so for Tim's family, and it makes it very special and important for us. Important for our kids to experience these gatherings on the actual day of the celebration.
It's great to see the family grow along the years; new baby on the way, upcoming wedding, everything ever changing, as the rest of the world. But the tradition remains, and it's a beautiful thing.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my canadian friends - and hoping that you have the good fortune to share it with your loved ones. xoxo
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Mexico - Another Good Story...
In my intention to let Mexico shine for it's goodness and alter the negative public opinion - one reader at the time - I would like to share another good story. I really want to stress that I have been to the Yucatan peninsula many times, lived there on my own, went back for vacations with family and friends over the past 25 years. I always highly recommend traveling in that region, and I am always delighted to go back with people who have never been there before. Here is today's story...
1986 - I was 22, and had just returned to Cancun after spending a few months in Toronto to work on my English. I was with a good friend of mine, which was not always easy because I had to look out for her and she had a hard time adjusting. We both found work very quickly, one job each at the Paradise Beach Club - she was hostess at the restaurant, and I was PR for their new condo development. We also worked for the brand new Hard Rock Cafe, and we were both in charge of training the team of waiters. It was interesting to say the least... we basically worked in a construction site, and had little uniforms which made us look like a bunch of kinky fantasy nurses... but there was a big buzz in town about the place, and it was fun to be part of that. I had the honnor for driving the pink Cadillac to it's final destination in front of the main entrance - engine removed and lifted to rest on top of a big pillar.
With all the buzzing and booming developments, there was frequent cashflow glitches and our pay was often late by a few days. We were paid in cash because we were foreign workers. We were at the youth hostel and eventually, we had to consider moving out of there because they were getting nervous about our frequent lateness in paying the bill.
A good friend of mine, Luis Macuzet, was living in an apartment which a friend of his was letting him have for free (he owned the building), and had promised to live there on his own. When he learned of our situation, he decided to take a chance and invited us to move in, until we could find an apartment of our own. We had to be extremely discreet, and try to come and go unnoticed so that his friend would not know that we were there. He eventually found out, and evicted Luis at once.
I felt terrible of course, but luckily Luis found another place immediately (and my friend and I went back to the youth hostel...). He always told me that he did not regret taking us in, because he was lucky to have friends who did the same for him when he needed help. We tried to stay in touch over the years, but he got married and his wife is terribly jealous and would not tolerate it. He told me to pretend that I wa his cousin from Verracruz the last time I called him... it got him in a whole lot of trouble... and it was the end of that. It's sad... he was a good friend.
Luis had started a little business called 'Fumigadora Mac', an insect control and extermination service. He had invented the product he was using, got a tank and spraying hose which he carried on his back, and serviced as many hotels as he could - keeping the cucarachas in check. His nick name was the ghostbuster - because welll... he looked like one! Today, his little business has become El Grupo Mac, an international corporation specialised in chemical treatments, and with a division which manufacture ice cream machines (not sure why he operates that under the same company...). I ran into his brother in a grocery store in Tulum about six years ago, and Luis now has three children. I still hope that we can see each other again some day, and catch-up on the past 25 years. I would love that.
I share these memories because Luis's friendship also shaped my opinion of Mexico, and Mexicans. He's a great, kind guy, with an amazing sense of humour. Saludos!
1986 - I was 22, and had just returned to Cancun after spending a few months in Toronto to work on my English. I was with a good friend of mine, which was not always easy because I had to look out for her and she had a hard time adjusting. We both found work very quickly, one job each at the Paradise Beach Club - she was hostess at the restaurant, and I was PR for their new condo development. We also worked for the brand new Hard Rock Cafe, and we were both in charge of training the team of waiters. It was interesting to say the least... we basically worked in a construction site, and had little uniforms which made us look like a bunch of kinky fantasy nurses... but there was a big buzz in town about the place, and it was fun to be part of that. I had the honnor for driving the pink Cadillac to it's final destination in front of the main entrance - engine removed and lifted to rest on top of a big pillar.
With all the buzzing and booming developments, there was frequent cashflow glitches and our pay was often late by a few days. We were paid in cash because we were foreign workers. We were at the youth hostel and eventually, we had to consider moving out of there because they were getting nervous about our frequent lateness in paying the bill.
A good friend of mine, Luis Macuzet, was living in an apartment which a friend of his was letting him have for free (he owned the building), and had promised to live there on his own. When he learned of our situation, he decided to take a chance and invited us to move in, until we could find an apartment of our own. We had to be extremely discreet, and try to come and go unnoticed so that his friend would not know that we were there. He eventually found out, and evicted Luis at once.
I felt terrible of course, but luckily Luis found another place immediately (and my friend and I went back to the youth hostel...). He always told me that he did not regret taking us in, because he was lucky to have friends who did the same for him when he needed help. We tried to stay in touch over the years, but he got married and his wife is terribly jealous and would not tolerate it. He told me to pretend that I wa his cousin from Verracruz the last time I called him... it got him in a whole lot of trouble... and it was the end of that. It's sad... he was a good friend.
Luis had started a little business called 'Fumigadora Mac', an insect control and extermination service. He had invented the product he was using, got a tank and spraying hose which he carried on his back, and serviced as many hotels as he could - keeping the cucarachas in check. His nick name was the ghostbuster - because welll... he looked like one! Today, his little business has become El Grupo Mac, an international corporation specialised in chemical treatments, and with a division which manufacture ice cream machines (not sure why he operates that under the same company...). I ran into his brother in a grocery store in Tulum about six years ago, and Luis now has three children. I still hope that we can see each other again some day, and catch-up on the past 25 years. I would love that.
I share these memories because Luis's friendship also shaped my opinion of Mexico, and Mexicans. He's a great, kind guy, with an amazing sense of humour. Saludos!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Mexico - One of the Many Good Stories...
It's a fact that the Canadian and American press seem to relish in depicting Mexico as a very dangerous place filled with despicable individuals who will not hesitate to rob you blind or beat you up. Overtime, this unfair depiction has tainted people's opinion of course. That horrible place is NOT the Mexico that I know and love. I find this 'dirt campaign' very disturbing - because for every terrible story you hear on the news about Mexico, there are 100 beautiful ones which the press won't bother telling you about. So I decided to tell you the stories that shaped my opinion of Mexico - and Mexicans.
November 1985 - I was 21 years old, working in Cancun, which was still in the early stage of it's booming development. I was there on my own, and at the time I only spoke French, very little English, and I was learning Spanish fairly fast because people could not really speak English with me. I was the Public Relations for Royal Tour International, a corporation from Madrid who had just arrived on the coast to get their share of the booming Cancun tourist market. It was a dream job for me, which I had found 3 weeks after I landed. I had made some friends at the youth hostel, mostly Mexicans from various parts of the country, and there was an amazing culture developing with the local community. We were all helping each other - and if someone was looking for a job, or an apartment, furniture, etc. - the word would spread in a jiffy and amazing things happened which allowed many, many people to settle there in the early days. Like many others, that's how I found my job and eventually, my apartment as well.
So one day I was working at promoting our 'overbooking' rates to other hotels (so that overbooked hotels would send us their guest overload - which the overbooked hotel paid for) and I was in the area called Zona B - the newest hotel developments ( most of them not yet open to the public), and pretty far from downtown. I took a taxi to the last hotel in the zone, and I walked my way back from one hotel to the other and met the various managing team members. The hotels were sometimes up to 1km apart in Zona B at the time. When I finally got to the last one and finished my business, I was very much looking forward to going back to my home hotel just in time for siesta, and jump in the pool. Again, Zona B was new, with many construction sites, and very few taxis were going that far from downtown.
So as I walked out of the last hotel on the strip, I was delighted to see a taxi - and simply got in and instructed the driver on my destination. We didn't chat much along the way... I was tired and hot and didn't feel like making conversation. When we finally arrived I systematically asked how much I owed - and he turned to me with a big smile and said 'Nothing miss, I'm not a taxi' (his car was dark green, like all Cancun taxis at the time). I could not believe it. ' What? Are you serious? You just drove me all the way down the coast... you should have told me, I would have radio'd a taxi' (yeah... we used a CB to do that in 1986...). Still with a smile on his face, he said that he had plenty of time, and it was a good deed on such a hot day. We had a good laugh... what a funny story! He would not take money either. I thanked him for his amazing kindness, and he wished me well.
And this is one of the many stories that shaped my opinion of Mexico, and Mexicans. Stories of kindness and generosity.
November 1985 - I was 21 years old, working in Cancun, which was still in the early stage of it's booming development. I was there on my own, and at the time I only spoke French, very little English, and I was learning Spanish fairly fast because people could not really speak English with me. I was the Public Relations for Royal Tour International, a corporation from Madrid who had just arrived on the coast to get their share of the booming Cancun tourist market. It was a dream job for me, which I had found 3 weeks after I landed. I had made some friends at the youth hostel, mostly Mexicans from various parts of the country, and there was an amazing culture developing with the local community. We were all helping each other - and if someone was looking for a job, or an apartment, furniture, etc. - the word would spread in a jiffy and amazing things happened which allowed many, many people to settle there in the early days. Like many others, that's how I found my job and eventually, my apartment as well.
So one day I was working at promoting our 'overbooking' rates to other hotels (so that overbooked hotels would send us their guest overload - which the overbooked hotel paid for) and I was in the area called Zona B - the newest hotel developments ( most of them not yet open to the public), and pretty far from downtown. I took a taxi to the last hotel in the zone, and I walked my way back from one hotel to the other and met the various managing team members. The hotels were sometimes up to 1km apart in Zona B at the time. When I finally got to the last one and finished my business, I was very much looking forward to going back to my home hotel just in time for siesta, and jump in the pool. Again, Zona B was new, with many construction sites, and very few taxis were going that far from downtown.
So as I walked out of the last hotel on the strip, I was delighted to see a taxi - and simply got in and instructed the driver on my destination. We didn't chat much along the way... I was tired and hot and didn't feel like making conversation. When we finally arrived I systematically asked how much I owed - and he turned to me with a big smile and said 'Nothing miss, I'm not a taxi' (his car was dark green, like all Cancun taxis at the time). I could not believe it. ' What? Are you serious? You just drove me all the way down the coast... you should have told me, I would have radio'd a taxi' (yeah... we used a CB to do that in 1986...). Still with a smile on his face, he said that he had plenty of time, and it was a good deed on such a hot day. We had a good laugh... what a funny story! He would not take money either. I thanked him for his amazing kindness, and he wished me well.
And this is one of the many stories that shaped my opinion of Mexico, and Mexicans. Stories of kindness and generosity.
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