A Coffee Cup from memory lane

Coffee cup from 1993 working at AIM Aviation

The Cup and the Coffee

Cuzalapa

Who would have thought a coffee cup would last for 22 years but this one is in daily use. Everything else in the kitchen is plastic.

So in '93 I was working contract for AIM in Renton Washington upgrading and expanding their computer network from Arcnet to Ethernet. They had some big new contracts and with computers being added Ethernet was much faster. They did leave Arcnet out on the factory floor because it's less sensitive around heavy machinery and can go longer distances. Not only were they installing new computers and the software on them, AutoCAD, but hiring draftsmen that had never used a computer. They had to figure out the inner workings of the software but I taught them how to use the computer and how to send to the Plotter/Printer via the network.

That was also my first encounter with a very old version of Novell Netware which helped in '95 when I got the SVI school job. Printer/Plotter drivers varied with the version of Windows and the version of AutoCAD so that was a constant job chasing down the right match. 

All in all a very good experience and led into the next job of upgrading the City of Bellevue's network from mainframe terminals to PC's connected on Novell Netware.

Three Kings Day

Three Kings Day or El Dia de Reyes is tomorrow, Monday, and without going into any religious significance .... for us it's just a day for cake, coffee, get together and fun. The fun comes from discovering who gets the plastic baby Jesus in their piece of cake. The person that finds a baby has to buy or make tamales for the next party. Actually there are usually more than one baby in the cake which spreads the responsibility.

 Rosca de Reyes or kings' ring

The cake we bought yesterday looks very similar to this but is still double wrapped to keep it fresh until tomorrow night.   Gonna have to make sure I have enough good coffee (no Nescafe) for some cake dunking.

Storms, Birthdays and CFE

.... and Ants. I started my day with ants who had made a nest in my coffee maker. I use this coffee maker every day so how they had time to get the queen in there and lay all those eggs I don't have a clue. I took it outside, sprayed it with bug kill and then turned the hose on it. Down to the store for a jar of Nescafe since I need my coffee and will give the machine a thorough cleaning later.

Night before last a large branch fell on the power lines to the house next to Lorena's. That left the neighbors with no power, a live wire in the street and Lorena's pole bend over at about a 45 degree angle. The owner of the rental who owns the only real store in town said it's the renters responsibility. After complaining to neighbors about the owner, trying a few local CFE numbers, Lorena finally asked me if I had an emergency number. I had the National number and after about 20 minutes of explaining and telling them where we lived, she said a crew was coming. Sure enough, as it was getting dark they showed up and even tied up the bent pole. Hugo is going to case it in cement another meter higher.

So yesterday was Nahima's third birthday with a cake from Bodega and homemade tamales. About 15 of us with kids in the pool and plenty of beer. I had told Lorena I was going to cut down my bananas and plant something else so they asked if we could cut a few leaves for wrapping the tamales. They had a limited amount of corn husks and wanted to make a lot.

Nahima's cake

Banana and corn wrapped tamales

My neighbor across the street is a fisherman and knows I get weather info from the Internet. The skies were looking real ominous last night and he was going out so he asked me about storms in the area. I told him about Manuel but that it won't be here until tonight or Sunday. It did rain last night but not much. So Manuel keeps moving north and it looks like lots of rain and maybe wind Sunday and Monday.

Manuel aiming right for us

Cafe de Mojote de Cuzalapa

We went up to Cuzalapa today since my friends hadn't been. This was about my 4th trip and I always enjoy it as the countryside is beautiful and the COOP people are nice. Today we met a young Mexican woman, helping at the COOP, studying her PHD in Switzerland and chose to do her study near her home town of Guadalajara. Beautiful young girl with very good English and she acted as our guide. I didn't really need the English but my friends Spanish is weak.

Anyway, part of the story is they sell "mojote" coffee which tastes like the real thing but is caffeine free. She showed us a large mojote tree right behind the COOP store after we each bought a 1/4 kilo bag ... roasted just like coffee.  Mojote was a staple food and beverage of the indigenous peoples of the area many years ago. I found the following quote on an Internet site where they are selling Mojote among other things.

Mojote The coffee is made from dried seeds from the mojote tree, which are roasted and ground to prepare a nutritious beverage similar to coffee.

Mojote seed is considered a highly nutritious food, containing Calcium, Potassium, Iron, Folate, Fiber , protein and vitamins A and B.

This product is made by a group of women Cuzalapa indigenous community, which is in the Biosphere Reserve of Manantlán. By purchasing this product you favor the conservation of the resources of this place and the development of the Women "Colour of the Earth"

Foto on their ad

Large mojote tree behind their drying coffee

Night of the 3 Kings cake

Jania cutting the cake

I was in town yesterday but had enough other things to do that I forgot I wanted to buy a 3 Kings cake.   I seem to have a limited memory these days.  Didn't remember until Hugo and family came over and the kids started talking about it.  I don't know the exact details of how it worked except they knew someone that would deliver.   So with 150 pesos and a 1/2 hour later it was there.   I made a pot of coffee and we went after the cake.

January 6th marks the end of Christmas and New Year festivities and is celebrated with a 3 Kings cake or Rosca de Reyes. According to tradition whoever finds a little doll in their slice of sweet bread must give a party on February 2nd, Candlemas Day or Dia de la Candelaria, offering tamales, hot chocolate and atole to their guests. Without my glasses I couldn't see the little doll sticking out of the piece I chose, so I was the first. Luckily there were multiple dolls so 4 of us have to contribute to the Febuary party.

Typical doll hidden inside

Cuzalapa again for coffee

Took a drive up to Cuzalapa again a few days ago with neighbors. They had never been there and I needed coffee to take north to family. Except for the hundreds of large potholes between highway 80 and Cuautitlán it was a pleasant drive and a lot cooler beyond La Huerta.

I'd heard that the bridge was not repaired that collapsed with Jova but they had propped up one end of it. Large vehicles and people afraid of the bridge were still using the river level crossing.

I had called ahead the day before and they had 8 bags waiting. The Coop has a new stucco and paint job on the front and they are tiling the floors inside.  We stopped by the river for the kids and over all an enjoyable day.  I didn't even have dreams of dodging potholes that night. 

Spent more than enough time putting fotos in a "table"

La Huerta, Cuautitlan and Cuzapala for coffee

I was getting low on coffee and very tired of Nescafe. The place(s) here in Melaque are charging 90 pesos a 1/2 kilo when only a few years ago I was paying 50 pesos. I'm referring to Cuzalapa coffee, the best coffee around and the only ones that do a dark roast. Anyway, all my neighbors were busy so I decided to drive up and see what the prices were and how the Coop was doing. It is suggested you call first if you want a lot of coffee ... but my cel phone wasn't working.

It had been over two years since I've driven up highway 80 and I was surprised to find the highway thru La Huerta paved, 4 lanes and nice laterals. They even have a traffic light. It is the County Seat so I guess it's about time. Continue past La Huerta to La Conch and take the next major right. Signs should say Cuautitlan which is another County Seat of the Municipio of the same name. Lots of sugar cane grown in the area

Pass thru Cuautitlan (don't get lost) and continue for maybe 10 miles to the very little town of La Rosa. There you turn left for another few miles to Cuzalapa. Hurricane Jova took out the bridge just before town but it's an easy river ford at this time of year.

The Coop is fine and the prices are still reasonable ... only 55 pesos a 1/2 kilo. I had an order for 20 bags and I should have called the day before because all they had was 8 bags from the morning roast. Anyway I'm set for awhile. I'll add a link from a past visit at the bottom.

La Huertas new highway

Country around Cuautitlan and sugar cane in the background

Entrance to Cuautitlan

Cuzalapa bridge out

Cuzalapa traffic

Cuzalapa Coop Website

Cuzalapa visit 2008

Gardenia and Coffee

Fresh brewed coffee that is ... both have great aromas, are in the same family ... but luckily smell nothing alike.

Gardenia is a genus of 142 species of flowering plants in the coffee family

People have been giving me plants over the last year and I've had no idea what some of them are. Some died of natural causes, some the dog dug up and some were just plain ugly and I pulled them up. When the rain and humidity starts here they all begin to do what they are supposed to do.

My best survivor is this Gardenia bush ... at least I think Gardenia. The one flower smells wonderful. It just bloomed today but has about 20 more blossoms on it. My sixth year in Mexico but the first where I get to watch my plants do what they do over the whole year. I'll be able to make more educated choices next year

Gardenia the flower

Gardenia the plant

Another flower/plant

This plant/flower came along with a vine that I really like. Actually there were three plants in the same pot but the third faded when I tranplanted it. The red centers are part of the leaves but it does look like there may be blossoms coming in the middle. This is another that I have no idea what it is.

Rained out in Amacueca

We made a big loop from lake Chapala to Tapalpa yesterday with the idea of seeing a few things I've not seen before First stop was Ferreria de Tula, just outside Tapalapa, which has a very interesting Colonial era dam. On to Tapalpa which is a story itself ... and on to Amacueca.

Amacueca is back down in the valley where the dry lakes are (not so dry now). It was supposed to have some good organic coffee, a museum and a skeleton of a mastodon or dinosaur of some type. Sadly just as we pulled up to the coffee place the sky let loose and the street became a river. That was enough for us and I was the only one to get out of the car just for pictures.

What taking back roads can turn into

This we found taking an alternet route from Cuzalapa Jalisco to Santiago Colima after visiting a coffee plantation.   And no, I was not just having fun ... that was the road or river ford.



Cuzulapa coffee trip