Lechugueros

Last Saturday I went to a Mexican Professional League Basketball game. It was the local team, the Leon Lechugueros vs. Monterrey Fuerza Regia. We lost but it was a close game and I had fun with my friends. The Lechugueros' mascot is a man with a flaming lettuce head. It is really quite comical - he looks like Sonic the Hedgehog. A lettuce-head isn't exactly the most intimidating opponent, but the name comes from the fact that people in Leon used to grow a lot of lettuce ... Now onto talk about a real intimidating opponent: the Wolverines! I was actually able to listen online to the local radio station broadcast Michigan vs. Connecticut. I hope our season opener is a good sign for things to come.

The past week I tried a lot of new foods:

• chiles en nogoda: this is the national dish of Mexico. It is a big pepper stuffed with chopped apples, nuts, and other fruits, then covered in a delicious cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. It is served at room temperature, and tastes bittersweet but delicious! The reason it is the national dish of Mexico is because the ingredients are the colors of the Mexican Flag (green pepper, white sauce, and red pomegranate).
• huarache: This is a dish that contains a thick, fried tortilla covered with some kind of meat , sauce, onions, cilantro, and cheese, and sometimes refried beans. It is yet another example of how Mexicans can prepare three staple ingredients (meat, tortillas, and cheese) in multiple ways. haha
• tuna: no - this is not fish, rather the fruit of the cactus plant! There are green tunas and red tunas. I would describe it like a sweet cucumber with LOTS of crunchy seeds. They are good.