The naysayers were indeed wrong this time, the Food and Wine Magazine sponsored Festival that is currently on here and in Ixtapa, our upscale neighbour, is a huge success. Of course, for the gourmands and wine connoiseurs who travelled from the US or Canada where it is still white or gray in this chilly Spring, how could it not be!
So Iris and I carefully chose the events we wanted to see, and headed off early yesterday morning to hear the guru of Mexican cooking, Rick Bayless, do the premier seminar at Hotel Las Brisas in Ixtapa. I may have been one of the few people there who do not watch Rick on Food TV, but I do know about Rick and I do have one of his cookbooks. Listening to Rick acclaim the wonders of our local cuisine, shopping for fresh ingredients in the mercado and watching him use the same techniques for making red chile salsas as my friend Monica, from The Cooking school at Patio Mexica, just reaffirmed my belief that the intuitive ways of cooking that happen here are indeed special. It is easy to forget that what we see on a daily basis is a culture still linked to its traditions and those traditions are sought after by people all around the world...and this weekend the people who are here prove it.
So as we enter our final 3 weeks before we return home to Victoria, I have a primary goal left. Our sponsored student in Nino's Adelante, Doraliz, will be turning 15 in this coming October. For most of the young women in Mexico this event is marked by the special celebration called Quinceneara. We were invited to be here for Doraliz's fiesta on October 29th so we will book our flights with that date in mind. But when I talked to our friends Shelagh and Ross who have attended so many of these events with families who they support, I wanted to know how I could help this family who have so little with the costs of the event. What could we do, what should we buy as a gift? Shelagh and Ross sagely said that whatever we did, we didn't want to buy the dress, because these dresses are very expensive...but they suggested we should ask Doraliz's Mom "como podemos ayudarles por la quincineara?" ("How can we help you with the party" ) Without a moment's hesitation, she looked at me and said "compra la vestido?" ("Buy the dress") But then she had a further request...that we not just purchase a dress at the store, but instead, we should find a dressmaker to make a custom dress of Doraliz's dreams for the occasion. Now, Doraliz is tall and very slim and in Mexico, most labour is very inexpensive, so without further thought I said "of course" Porsupuesto.....and the fun has begun.
With the help of my good friend Monica we have secured a costurera "Bety" who lives close to us and is capable of designing and making a dress based on a photo. So after assuring myself and Doraliz's Mom that the meeting between the designer and the debutante went well, we entered the realm of internet searching for dresses. Armed with prints of every dress she liked, Doraliz has made her selection....we have the measurements and our next step is to purchase the material....
For Doraliz, who lives at the top of a hill, her neighbours are squatters with no functioning plumbing, dirt floors and the threat of eviction by the city,....this will be the night of her dreams. Her family are devoted to the success of her and her 3 siblings. Her young parents with the weight of the world on their shoulders are committed to giving her the party of her dreams and how can we not help. We will do all we can to ensure that once in Doraliz's life her dreams can come true...because there may just be many other dreams that she can accomplish too and we hope we are playing a part in them too. Now how about a few school items for her classroom!
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