Sweet bread (pan dulce)

This has been a busy week.  Natalie’s parents are visiting.  It has been a lot of fun to show them around.  It makes what we are doing here seem more real.  Before visitors arrived from home, it felt like we could have pinched ourselves at any moment and woken up in Oakland.  Now we know that is not an option.  

This will be a quick entry.  Just a few, unrelated items.  

First, something we miss very much from home is the weekly bread delivery by our neighbor, Friedbert.  Once, or sometimes twice, a week, Friedbert goes door-to-door around the block distributing surplus bread he picks up at a community center where he teaches Tai Chi.  Helen especially loves to answer the door for Friedbert.  She likes to see if he has any of the small rolls that are her favorite.

Why do I mention this?  Today on our way home from school, one of Helen's classmates, Carla, gave her a bag with two pan dulce rolls.  It is not the first time Carla has given Helen bread.  I asked Helen where Carla gets the bread.  Helen's explanation:  "Carla has a Friedbert."  She said it so matter-of-factly that it took a moment to understand what she meant.  When I did, it gave me a tinge of homesickness.

Helen and her beribboned classmates.  Do they each have a Friedbert?

Second, Max really wants us to buy him a knife.  They sell hand-made, decorated knives at some of the outdoor markets.  We are waiting until we visit a workshop where they make the knives.  We heard there is one in Ocotlán.  Why does Max want a knife?  Ask the cucumbers.

Third, Max's soccer team finally has started to play games.  They suffered a 4-0 loss in the first game, but came back last week to win 4-1.  The next game is Saturday.  Watching games here is similar to watching games at home, with a few noteworthy differences.  In Oaxaca, (1) it is ok to yell at the players (yours and the other team's); (2) it is ok to yell at the referee; and (3) it is ok to wear porn.

Not your typical Soccer Dad tee-shirt.

Natalie captured this shirt art using skills she has honed photographing shoes.  --Harrison