Chula Cholula: Mexcaltitán

A pretty late post. I was in Mexcaltitán in January, and it was simply magic. Maybe that's why I was hesitant to publish the post. It just felt not right to post it without enough time to fully explain the special atmosphere in this hidden space. Yet, if I wait longer, I will never publish it. So, here we go. I'll do my best, despite severe time constraints (yes, thesis is over, but studies are in their final stage with lots of exams...).

Arriving during night time.

Mexcaltitán is said to be the Aztecs origin. It is a very (yes, very) small island in the state of Nayarit. It is also one of the places which I would recommend most to any tourist planning his Mexico trip. However, it is not that easy to reach the island. But that makes it just more luring.

Only reachable in small boats.

I arrived in local transportation at around 6 o'clock. Too late - boat service to the island was already dormant. But hey, we are in Mexico. Things are negotiable. And money moves mountains. Luckily, in Mexico mountains are moved with less money. Or well, in this case it was not a mountain, but just a small boat which departed solely for me.

Fire on an island (as a result of kids playing with fireworks) is not funny, if there are no firefighters...

Mexcaltitán is known for its sublime shrimps and derivate products like shrimp tamales, shrimp ceviche, shrimp-you-name-it. Slightly reminded me of the famous scene in Forrest Gump:

But guess what - when I arrived there at night and headed straight to the island's only hotel (there live around 300 people, so it's amazing that there is a hotel at all), there were no shrimp. The family who ran the hotel was having dinner, but no shrimp... Yet, they immediately invited me. In fact, the whole stay felt much more than a "homestay" rather than a hotel stay. Sooo kind and heartily those guys!

Shrimp tamales. But am I supposed to peel the shrimp inside the tamal or what?!

The family also explained that shrimp were only eaten in the morning and early afternoon. Pure freshness, ya know.

The map of the island. Not that this was necessary.

So, what did I do on such a small island? Basically, I spent the time with "my family". Four children, namely Karen, Ilse, Gerardo, and Tristan. Two elder ladies, one man. One of the señoras had a nephew in Aachen (Germany) and she felt it was destiny that I as a German visited them, after said nephew had not been able to come during Christmas. She was eager to find more similarities between her nephew and me, apart from the country of residence, or origin, respectively. And guess what - he also had studied ad UDLAP, he was also left-handed... well, ok he was not, but his father was, so she counted that one as well. Her nephew also had blond hair... I was immediately adopted as ersatz nephew (ersatz... always surprising which German words made it into the English language...).

Super tranquil Mexcaltitán

The señora then was eager to organize for me a boat tour through the laguna, to invite me to dinner, breakfast, she tried to convince me to stay longer on the island, she explained the different bird specied to me, and sat with me looking for at least an hour on the laguna. It was heart-touching...

During my stay, I indeed did get to try quite a number of different shrimp products: Tamales, shrimp in tomatoes, shrimp empanadas, shrimp in chili oil, shrimp cocktail... They were all good, and so I'd better stuck to the "seafood section". But no, of course I had to try everything that crossed my way, and hence a special beverage made it into my mouth: Basically water, but sweetened with whole cane sugar (piloncillo) and... erm... refined with salt and lemon. Well, especially salt. A LOT. Have you ever had a drink and felt the urge to drink in order to fight your emerging thirst? That´s how it must feel like when one drinks pure sea water... Yuck!

Karen, Ilse, Gerardo, Tristan having breakfast with me.

There were also some funny scenes. Gerardo, the young man on the right side in the picture above, felt the urge for some Cheetos. His mother told him that these were not nutritious at all and especially not recommendable to have as second breakfast. She vividly explained that neither did Cheetos contribute to the development of his "head", nor to the one of his bones. And smart Gerardo added: And neither are they something for the mouth. Hmm, wait, didn't he just want to have them exactly in his mouth?!

Ok, so he'll think about an alternative. Thinking... Thinking harder. Badaaa!

"Mom, I'll buy something different!"

"What are you thinking of?"

...

"Chips!"

...

Uuuh, that scene was hi-la-ri-ous!

But then again, his mother convinced him to have a quesadilla instead. Now, I'm not sure if deep-fried highly processed dough filled with a preservative-loaded cheese substitute is more nutritious...

Mexcaltitán at night

The señora seriously wanted to share everything with me. Even the previously described juice with a "hint" of salt. I politely declined. I however could not avoid the kiss on my forehead and the prayer. Although this was certainly nice, it felt awkward, because I was not sure if the elder lady after all was clear about me not being her actual nephew...

But she indeed was pretty funny, too. I mentioned that there were a lot of kids on the island. She replied that Mexcaltitán being an island did not offer much in terms of leisure-time activities :-D

She also explained me that a long time ago, five Chinese families had arrived at the island. This made fo some strange last names like "Moo Flores".

When I finally left the island, the kids and the señora accompanied me to the other side of the island and waited until my boat (this time not a private one) departed. Soooo unique!