Air's Wild Acres

CIMMYT is located about 5 km from the town of Texcoco de Mora, which is roughly 25 kilometers north and east of Mexico City.  Apparently, Texcoco was once a major Aztec city, located on a former lake of the same name.  There are several archaeological sites nearby, although I’m told that the town itself does not retain much of it’s former architecture.  There are a very high number of shoe stores in Texcoco for some reason, and it does seem like a lot of people spend their time in the commercial centers and shopping in the farmer’s markets.

I haven’t explored the whole town yet, but I did spend a lot of time walking around this weekend.  Right off the central plaza, Jardín Muncipal Constitucion, is a very large indoor market full of vegetables, clothes, more shoes, meat (I am not a fan of the smell of the meat section), and a ton of other things.  I probably spent an hour walking around just there yesterday, and consumed more aquas frescas (guanabana and lime) than a girl should in a normal day.

Today, I just cruised around town some more, looking for some coffee shops I had discovered on the interwebs.  I was mainly looking for a place that was a little quieter than the locations on the main streets of Texcoco, and something with wi-fi in case I felt the need to do some work or hang out away from home (which, will probably be necessary since I live with a very creative and energetic six year old who loves to engage me in his playtime).  A place by the name of Gaánu had piqued my interest due to it’s relative proximity to my house and their posts of Lykke Li on their facebook page (since I have a thing for Swedish pop, this meant I was probably going to be into this establishment).  They are relatively new (opened in February of this year), and seem to be going for something a little more “urban” than the standard Texcoco model, whatever both of those things might be.  Gaánu shares a location with a beer garden, Cervecería del Centro, and has a really nice covered patio.  I was totally into it and am more likely to frequent there for my coffee than some other locations I scoped out.

Some pictures!

My dog roommate

I think her name is Ubis or something like that. I can never remember.

Little boy roommate, shakin’ up the cereal

… in the Central Plaza. Jugglers and b-boys.

There are the most interesting mannequins I have ever seen in this town. Interesting in a creepy way.

That cookie was amazing. Something filled with something like cajeta, but from Argentina. I didn’t catch the name.

Cajeta and nuts, amazing.